HC Deb 14 July 1925 vol 186 c1087W
Major C. BROWN

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office what financial considerations govern the selection of Territorial camps for annual training; and if the expenditure involved in transporting large bodies of troops from the North of England to Wales can in future be saved without doing any harm to recruiting or training?

Captain KING

The Regulations prescribe that, as a rule, the annual training should take place within a reasonable distance from the centre of the recruiting area of the larger formations and the headquarters of units respectively, and that proposals involving long railway journeys shall not be put forward oftener than once in three years. All proposals are submitted to the War Office, where they are carefully scrutinised from the point of view of whether they involve greater expenditure on travelling than is justified by recruiting and training requirements. I do not think Territorial camps could always be confined to the localities in which the units are raised without very great prejudice to recruiting or training, but unnecessarily long journeys are not permitted.