HC Deb 07 May 1969 vol 783 cc423-4
3. Mr. Dodds-Parker

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how long it is estimated to take to move the brigade from the British Army of the Rhine, stationed in the United Kingdom, all the reserves required to bring the British Army of the Rhine up to war establishment, the Third Division and other troops earmarked for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to their war stations on an alert being given.

Mr. Healey

It is not our practice to disclose details of operational contingency plans.

Mr. Dodds-Parker

While I do not, of course, expect the Minister to do that, can he say whether he is satisfied after the technique of Czechoslovakia that these troops can be moved in due course?

Mr. Healey

Yes. If I may comment on the Question, as already stated Six Brigade can carry out its move in days. The time it took to deploy all the forces to which the hon. Member has referred would depend on whether they were concurrent or consecutive, and how long it took the division to move to war stations would depend on where it was. This is essentially a division which can be used by SACEUR where the commander wishes in the light of circumstances at the time.

Mr. Rippon

Apart from the Brigade and the Third Division and problems of moving them and difficulties of increasing tension in certain circumstances, how many of the 60,000 reserves needed to bring B.A.O.R. up to wartime establishment would be immediately available?

Mr. Healey

We would expect them to be immediately available to move from stations in England. The time it took them to get to their units would compare quite favourably with the time it took Germans to get to their stations, and our reserves are better trained than the German ones.

Mr. Paget

Has my right hon. Friend considered—I am sure he has—the slight awkwardness which results from the fact that the Russians could get to these deployment positions a lot faster?

Mr. Healey

I recall that before the Czech crisis the Russians took a very long time to move their reserves to their units in Eastern Europe. The importance of having as many people as possible on the ground all the time is one of the many answers to the extraordinary argument in The Times in recent days.