HC Deb 14 June 1961 vol 642 cc411-2
9. Mr. Donnelly

asked the Minister of Defence under what terms facilities at Castlemartin are being made available to German forces.

14. Mr. G. Brown

asked the Minister of Defence if he will make a statement giving full details of the facilities now made available to German troops in this country.

Mr. Watkinson

Parties of German officers have visited both the range and the storage facilities that might be made available. We are now considering what help we can offer. As soon as a final decision is reached I will inform the House.

Mr. Donnelly

Surely the right hon. Gentleman has some idea of the implications involved? What sort of terms is he considering?

Mr. Watkinson

If it helps the hon. Gentleman, perhaps I can give a short guide. First, there will be storage facilities in various parts of the country. Second, it will be a limited requirement for practice firing at the Castlemartin range, which I believe is in his constituency. These are practice firings. They are not in any sense manoeuvres, and it is not a base of any kind.

21. Mr. Mayhew

asked the Minister of Defence how many North Atlantic Treaty Organisation troops have been sent to the United Kingdom for training during each of the past three years; from how many countries they came; and what proportion in each year were German.

Mr. Watkinson

In 1958–59, 1,866, of which 649 were German.

In 1959–60, 1,571, of which 355 were German.

In 1960–61, 1,468, of which 290 were German.

In each year they came from twelve N.A.T.O. countries.

Mr. Mayhew

How many German troops does the Minister expect in the current year, and what proportion of the total will they represent?

Mr. Watkinson

I cannot give those figures without notice. The hon. Gentleman will see from my Answer that very substantial numbers of German troops have already been here. If he will put down a Question about the current position, I shall be glad to answer it.