§ 6. Mr. Bellengerasked the Secretary of State for War what plans he has to create a strategic reserve in this country; how it will be organised; and what effect it will have on the existing barrack accommodation, in view of the fact that much of it is already in need of modernisation.
§ Mr. HeadThe strategic reserve will be built up as units return from the Middle East and Korea and will be organised as a field force in the normal way. Units will go into existing barracks and camps. We have already started a modernisation programme.
§ Mr. BellengerIf the strategic reserve is to be as large as we imagine it will be, considering the number of troops returning from the Middle East, will it not overcrowd the existing barrack accommodation, in spite of the modernisation being carried out?
§ Mr. HeadNo, it will not overcrowd it. As I have often said in this House, it is not all that one could desire in the way of single accommodation, and in this country we have a modernisation programme which, of course, it will be the harder to complete because of the number of barracks that will be full.