HC Deb 14 May 1981 vol 4 c340W
Mr. Grylls

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what acreage was owned by his Department, or its predecessor, the War Office, in what is now known as the borough of Surrey Heath, at: 1 June 1946 and 1 June 1980; and what was the numerical size of the British Army on those dates as between (a) those normally based in the United Kingdom and (b) those normally based overseas.

Mr. Goodhart

The amount of land owned by the Ministry of Defence in the borough of Surrey Heath on 1 June 1980 was approximately 4,525 acres freehold and 87 acres leasehold. We have no detailed records of the War Office holdings in the area of the present borough on 1 June 1946, but they seem likely to have been only slightly greater than those in 1980. The size of the British Army on those dates was:

Total United Kingdom Overseas
1June 1948 1,219,712 512,316 707,396
1 June 1980 151,052 83,811 67,241