HC Deb 07 March 1939 vol 344 cc1937-8W
Sir E. Grigg

asked the Secretary of State for War on what ground the establishment for all ranks of the Territorial Army infantry has been reduced from 88,041 in 1938 to 69,207 in 1939?

Mr. Hore-Belisha

The reduction in the infantry establishment is a consequence of the reorganisation of the field portion of the Territorial Army on the lines of the new Regular Army organisation. This has involved the fixing of a proper relationship of the number of infantry to the number of other arms, the reduction of each infantry brigade from four battalions to three, and the allotment of other infantry battalions no longer required as such, to new roles, such as tank battalions, anti-tank regiments and light anti-aircraft regiments, now incorporated in the Territorial Field Army for the first time.

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