§ 56. Mr. Swinglerasked the Secretary of State for War if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a list of the numbers of men who have registered for the Home Guard in each of the counties and county boroughs of England and Wales at the latest date for which figures are available.
§ Mr. HeadI cannot give the figures for county boroughs and all counties separately, but an analysis of registrations by Territorial and Auxiliary Forces Association areas is available, including Scotland, as well as England and Wales, up to 26th April, as follows:
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TERRITORIAL AND AUXILIARY FORCES ASSOCIATION Number of Registrations Aberdeen County, City, Banff and Kincardine 239 Anglesey and Caernarvon 153 Angus and Dundee 163 Argyll 125 Ayr 153 Bedford 272 Berkshire 355 Brecknock, Hereford and Radnor 197 Buckingham 330 Cambridge and Isle of Ely 240 Cardigan, Carmarthen and Pembroke 161 Chester 774 Cornwall 388 Cumberland and Westmorland 362 Denbigh and Flint 230 Derby 375 Devon 826 Dorset 396 Dumbarton 46 Dumfries, Kirkcudbright and Wigtown 147 Durham 703 Edinburgh, Lothian and Peebles 438 Essex 1,555 Fife 133 Glamorgan 644 Glasgow 275 Gloucester 709 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 1,163 Hertford 631 Huntingdon and Northampton 422 Inverness, Caithness, Moray, Nairn, Ross and Cromarty and Sutherland 223 Isle of Man 34 Kent 1,933 Lanark 149 Lancaster (West) 1,200 Lancaster (East) 1,078 Leicester and Rutland 409 Lincoln 708 London City 416 London County 1,736 Merioneth and Montgomery 82 Middlesex 1,716 Monmouth 251
Number of Registrations Norfolk 630 Northumberland 552 Nottingham 599 Orkney 3 Oxford 296 Perth 109 Renfrew and Bute 106 Roxburgh, Berwick and Selkirk 102 Shropshire 231 Somerset 903 Stafford 579 Stirling and Clackmannan 88 Suffolk 694 Surrey 1,758 Sussex 1,413 Warwick 1,243 Wiltshire 393 Worcester 340 York (East Riding) 352 York (North Riding) 361 York (West Riding) 2,017 Zetland 17 TOTAL 35,326 Note: The few registrations which have been sent direct to Associations are not included in these figures, which relate to registations received by the War Office.
§ 57. Mr. Swinglerasked the Secretary of State for War how many of those who have so far registered for the Home Guard are Z reservists.
§ Mr. HeadThis information is not available and could only be obtained after considerable administrative effort. The Reserve liability of volunteers is checked with record offices by the Home Guard unit concerned.
§ 61. Captain Orrasked the Secretary of State for War what plans exist to raise the Home Guard in Northern Ireland in peace-time.
§ Mr. HeadIt is proposed, in agreement with the Government of Northern Ireland, to raise 10 battalions of the Home Guard in cadre form at an early date. These battalions will form a military force under the command of the General Officer Commanding, Northern Ireland District. Their role in war, organisation and conditions of service will be similar to those of the Home Guard in this country except that the lower age limit for enrolment will be 30 instead of 18. Apart from this, Regulations for the Home Guard, 1952, will apply to Northern Ireland. I hope that registration of volunteers will begin next month.