HC Deb 20 March 1968 vol 761 c388
2. Mr. James Davidson

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how long it will take to transport and deploy the one British Army of the Rhine brigade stationed in the United Kingdom to its war station on the continent of Europe.

The Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Army (Mr. James Boyden)

A matter of days.

Mr. Davidson

May I ask where its transport and other equipment will be kept, and whether the duty of the brigade being based in the United Kingdom will be taken by each brigade in rotation or whether it will be taken by one brigade?

Mr. Boyden

It is not the practice to give details of operational contingency planning.

Mr. Ramsden

In view of Herr Kiesinger's statement that the quarters vacated by this brigade will be required by the Germans for an enlarged Bundeswehr, where will the brigade go either for training or in a contingency which did not require it to go straight into the field?

Mr. Boyden

It will be located at the direction of the C.-in-C., B.A.O.R.