§ Mr. William Rossasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many regular soldiers there are in Northern Ireland at the present time; what was the average number in each of the years from 1968; and in each year how many of these soldiers were (a) on administrative duties (b) on other logistic duties and (c) serving with the Ulster Defence Regiment.
§ Mr. StanleyRecords of numbers of regular soldiers in Northern Ireland are available only from 1969. The average number for each year since then is as follows. The table also shows how many of them were serving with the Ulster Defence Regiment:
Year Average total of Regular Soldiers* Average number serving with UDR 1969 6,107 0 1970 7,537 34 1971 11,322 39 1972 16,867 71 1973 16,814 86 1974 15,911 94 1975 14,701 96 1976 14,906 97 1977 14,286 111 1978 13,452 121 1979 12,984 123 1980 12,141 123 1981 11,098 121 1982 10,538 116 1983 †9,882 †115 * Including RM Commando when in infantry role. † Up to and including 31 October 1973. It is not possible to identify separately numbers of those engaged on administrative or logistic duties. The total Regular Army strength at 31 October 1983, which is the most recent date for which information is available, was 9,523.