HC Deb 08 November 1961 vol 648 cc959-60
15. Mr. Paget

asked the Minister of Defence what further redeployment of the air, sea and land forces of the Crown he is proposing in order to strengthen Great Britain's contribution to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Mr. Watkinson

The hon. and learned Gentleman will be aware, from measures already announced, that a carefully prepared plan for reinforcing our N.A.T.O. forces is in hand. I have no statement to make at present about further redeployment.

Mr. Paget

What does the right hon. Gentleman mean by "in hand"? The only thing that we could discover was in the speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday which seemed to indicate that it was weaker still.

Mr. Watkinson

There has been a clear announcement of the various reinforcing measures that we are taking. For example, we have already sent our first guided missile regiment to Germany to reinforce B.A.O.R. It is being followed by two of our most modern anti-aircraft regiments and there are a good many other measures as well.

Mr. Wigg

Can the right hon. Gentleman give an assurance that the antiaircraft regiments that went to Germany were fully equipped with the most modern equipment?

Mr. Watkinson

I think that in general they are as fully equipped as they could be.

Mr. Wigg

Can the right hon. Gentleman give an assurance that both regiments were equipped with"Yellow Fever"?

Mr. Watkinson

That is quite a different question and I have no intention of answering it off the cuff.