§ Mr. Piratinasked the Secretary of State for War how many officers were commissioned in the Army during each half-yearly period from 1st January, 1942, to 31st December, 1945; and, in respect of each such periods, what proportion of the officers so commissioned were educated at public elementary schools, headmasters' conference schools and schools receiving no form of financial aid from the Ministry of Education or local education authorities, respectively.
§ Mr. Lawson:The numbers of officers commissioned into the Army during the half-yearly periods from 1st January, 1942, to 31st December, 1945, were as follow:
January-June, 1942 … … … 12,824 July-December, 1942 … … … 16,824 January-June, 1943 … … … 19,270 July-December, 1943 … … … 15,714 January-June, 1944 … … … 14,411 July-December, 1944 … … … 11,082 January-June, 1945 … … … 7,525 July-December, 1945 … … … 7,587 Total … … … 105,237 The information asked for in the second part of the Question is not available from the records, nor do the records kept, which do not cover the whole period, relate to those actually granted commissions but to those accepted for training. The following sample figures show the proportions in the case of the 1,218 candidates who were accepted for training for commissions in July and August, 1945:
34.15 per cent. public schools.
20.69 per cent, elementary schools.
16.58 per cent. grant aided independent schools.
24.31 per cent. grant aided municipal schools.
4.27 per cent. other schools receiving no financial aid.
§ Mr. Piratinasked the Secretary of State for War how many officers were commissioned to the Brigade of Guards in each of the half-yearly periods from 1st January, 1942, to 31st December, 1945; and, in respect of each of those periods, how many of the officers so commissioned were educated at Eton, Harrow, or Winchester, at other headmasters' conference schools 423W and at public elementary schools, respectively.
§ Mr. Lawson:The numbers of officers commissioned into the Foot Guards during the half-yearly periods from 1st January, 1942, to 31st December, 1945, were as follow:
January—June, 1942 … … … 170 July—December, 1942 … … … 165 January—June, 1943 … … … 90 July—December, 1943 … … … 128 January—June, 1944 … … … 199 July—December, 1944 … … … 121 January—June, 1945 … … … 126 July—December, 1945 … … … 177 Total … … … 1,176 The information asked for in the second part of the Question is not readily available, and could not be obtained without a disproportionate amount of labour.