§ Mr. McENTEEasked the Under-Secretary of State for War what was the total number of women who served as clerks in the general service voluntary aid detachment overseas and at home, respectively; whether any considerable proportion of the other general service voluntary aid detachment members were recruited from amongst women clerks; and how many of the women were discharged between 1918 and October, 1920, and since that date, respectively?
Lieut.-Colonel GUINNESSI am informed by the Women's Voluntary Aid Detachment Department that the approximate number of women clerks in question was: Overseas, 400 to 500; at home, 2,000. About 1,500 of those were demobilised by December, 1920, and the rest later. No considerable number of the other general service voluntary aid detachment members were recruited from amongst women clerks.
§ Mr. McENTEEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty how many women served in the Women's Royal Naval Service as women clerks, overseas and on mobile and immobile home-service work, respectively; whether any considerable proportion of other ranks were recruited from women normally employed as clerks; and how many of the women were discharged and demobilised between 1918 and October, 1921?
§ Commander EYRES-MONSELLThis information could only be extracted from the records by the expenditure of a very considerable amount of time and labour, the cost of which would not, I think, be justified.
§ Mr. HAYDAYasked the Secretary of State for Air how many women served in the W. R. A. F. as women clerks, overseas and on mobile and immobile home service work, respectively; whether any considerable proportion of other ranks were recruited from women normally employed as clerks; and how many of the women were demobilised and discharged between 1918 and October, 1921?
§ Sir S. HOARETo obtain the detailed information required for the hon. Member in the first two parts of his question would involve the scrutiny of many thousands of individual records of the W. R. A. F., and I do not think that the2302W labour would be justified. It may, however, serve his purpose if I state, from the records which axe readily available, that it appears that the total strength of the W. R. A. F. on 30th November, 1918, was about 26,000, that of these about 8,000 belonged to the mobile and about 18,000 to the immobile sections, that about 9,300 of those in Loth sections were classed as clerical, and that the whole force was disbanded in March, 1920.