§ Mr. Chetwyndasked the Minister of Defence whether he will make a statement on the adjustments of service of members of the Armed Forces called up before 1st January, 1949; and if he will publish a revised programme of release.
§ Mr. IsaacsI have been asked to reply. Yes. Briefly, the arrangement is that men called up in the first half of 1947 will serve not more than two years and three months. Thereafter two months' intake will be released each month thus gradually reducing the length of service until those called up in November and December, 1948, will serve one year and six months, the same as those called up in 1949 and later. The following table, which supersedes the table which I gave in reply to a Question on 18th December, 1947, sets the position out in detail. Subject to any unforeseen developments that might lead to a revision of the table, these men will, provided their service is continuous, not be retained beyond the last day of the months shown in the column headed "Month of Release." There will be differences in the actual dates of release as between the three Services and as between different branches, categories and trades within each Service so that the actual dates of release will, in many cases, be earlier than those indicated.
In the case of intending students who were called up to the Forces before the end of July, 1948, and who, but for the general slow-down in releases would have been released in time to start their studies this Autumn, early release will be allowed if applied for by universities, technical colleges or teachers' training colleges.
14W
PERIODS OF SERVICE OF MEN CALLED UP IN 1947 AND 1948 Date of Entry Period of Service Month of Release 1947 Years Months January … 2 3 4/49 February … 2 3 5/49 March … 2 3 6/49 April … 2 3 7/49 May … 2 3 8/49 June … 2 3 9/49 July … 2 2 9/49 August … 2 2 10/49 September … 2 1 10/49 October … 2 1 11/49 November … 2 0 11/49 December … 2 0 12/49 1948 January … 1 11 12/49 February … 1 11 1/50 March … 1 10 1/50 April … 1 10 2/50 May … 1 9 2/50 June … 1 9 3/50 July … 1 8 3/50 August … 1 8 4/50 September … 1 7 4/50 October … 1 7 5/50 November … 1 6 5/50 December 1 6 6/50