§ 8. Mr. Lewisasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Defence to what extent our fighting formations have been increased since October, 1951; how far these increases are due to the pruning of non-essential administrative units; and what was the total of men and women in the three services in October, 1951, and at the latest convenient stated date.
§ Mr. BirchAs regards the first part of the Question, I cannot add to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member on 19th November. The increases which have been made have been effected by a variety of measures, including the most rigorous economies in administrative and 1536 training units. At 1st October, 1951, there were some 840,000 men and women in the three Services: at 1st November, 1952, the comparable figure was some 873,000.