§ Major Beamishasked the Secretary of State for Air whether he is aware of the growing public concern that so many young women are being kept in the Services; how many women are now in the W.A.A.F.; by when the last of these women will have been demobilised; and whether he will speed up the whole release system and review the system of deferments.
§ Mr. de FreitasWe are releasing members of the W.A.A.F. as quickly as we can and over 100,000 have already been released. The strength of the W.A.A.F. on 1st October, 1946, was 32,600. In accordance with the policy outlined in the White Paper on Call-Up to the Forces (Cmd. 6831) we aim to release by the end of 1948 all those serving in the W.A.A.F. at 31st December, 1946; and to release by the end of 1947 all who were called up before the 1st January, 1944. There are no individual deferments in the W.A.A.F. and we are doing all we can to maintain the same release rate in all branches and trades.
§ 32. Major Beamishasked the Secretary of State for Air to what extent women are being voluntarily recruited to the W.A.A.F.; and how many have volunteered and been accepted since VJ-Day.
§ Mr. de FreitasWe are enrolling every suitable volunteer for the W.A.A.F. Out of 15,375 volunteers since VJ-Day, 7,946 have been taken into the Service.