§ 77. Major Beamishasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that the People's Police in East Germany are now to be developed into an effective and militant army; and what information he has on the matter.
§ Lord John HopeAs stated in Cmd. 9213, by the end of 1952 a full-scale Soviet-type rifle corps had been created; by the summer of 1954 this force had been increased to two such corps, plus one independent mechanised division. Hitherto the East German authorities have refused to admit that these so-called police forces constitute a military force. In a statement published on 17th April, however, the East German Minister of the Interior said that the "Barracks-based People's Police" was to become a powerful cadre army.