Mr. H. Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for War how many National Service men at present serving with the British Army of the Rhine, will be required to serve a further six months; and how many of these have already been informed of their extended liability.
§ Mr. ProfumoI expect to have to retain about 6,000 National Service men in B.A.O.R. from those who would be due for release by the end of September: I cannot yet announce plans for later release groups. Of these, 3,628 have so far been warned, and the rest will be notified by the end of March.
Mr. H. Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for War what is the average period of notice given to National Service men of the decision to keep them in the forces for a further six months.
§ Mr. ProfumoNo one should receive less than eight weeks' notice of retention, and the longest possible notice will always be given. This will in some cases be up to five months. I regret that I cannot estimate an average figure.
— Fatal Serious Slight Total 1959 — 1 11 12 1960 — 2 5 7 1st January—25th November, 1961 — 1 5 6 26th November, 1961–16th March, 1962 — — 1 1