HC Deb 15 April 1964 vol 693 c61W
Mr. Wingfield Digby

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will consider the feasibility of gradually replacing Army units at Gibraltar with Royal Marines, to further simplify the administrative arrangements there and to save Army manpower.

Mr. Thorneycroft

As recent operations have demonstrated, units of the Royal Marines and Army units are in many rôles interchangeable. I intend to take full advantage of this. I am not however anxious to employ units of the Royal Marines with their specialist assault training in static garrison rôles.