§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list all infantry battalions in the British Army, indicating in respect of each the total number of persons currently serving and how many of these are female. [HL531]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)The infantry battalions in the British Army as at 1 November 2004 are as listed in the table below.
Females are not enlisted into the infantry (nor the Household Cavalry or the Royal Armoured Corps), though women may serve alongside the infantry as attached personnel. Therefore, the numbers shown in the table below refer only to male serving officers and soldiers.
65WA
(a) Infantry personnel serving with the battalion (b) Battalion personnel serving outside their battalion Total [(a)+(b)] Officer Soldier Officer Soldier Officer Soldier D and D 35 505 40 50 75 555 C 35 470 30 50 75 520 RWF 40 510 50 75 90 585 RRW 30 455 40 90 70 545 WFR 40 465 40 60 80 525 S 35 505 40 45 75 550 RGBW 40 505 45 60 85 565 1LI 30 490 80 200 140 1190 2 LI 30 500 1 RGJ 35 500 50 170 115 1170 2 RGJ 30 500 1 R I 35 465 90 70 125 535 1 P 40 530 140 370 255 1905 2 P 35 505 3 P 40 500 Battalions Total 1,320 19,215 1,485 3,040 2,815 22,255 The data have been rounded to the nearest five. Because of the rounding method used in all tables, the subtotals and grand total may not be the same as the constituent parts.