§ Mr. Wiggasked the Secretary of State for War if he will state the strength of the following units and sub-units of the services on 1st January, 1963, in relation to their peace establishment expressed in the same manner as was done in answer to a similar Written Question on 31st January, 1963, namely, Royal Army Medical Corps, Corps of Military Police, Royal Army Pay Corps, Military Provost Staff Corps, Royal Army Dental Corps, Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Royal Pioneer Corps, Royal Army Veterinary Corps and Army Catering Corps.
§ Mr. ProfumoI regret that a comparison for the services on the same basis as I gave for the "teeth" arms in my Answer on 31st January, 1963, is not practicable, since generally speaking the services are organised in very small units and sub-units. The following statement shows the position of the services in relation to their current other rank manpower ceilings.
143WOn 1st January, 1963, the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Royal Army Pay Corps, Royal Army Veterinary Corps and Military Provost Staff Corps were up to strength. The total numerical shortages of men for the other services were as follows:
144W
Royal Army Service Corps … 308 Royal Army Medical Corps … 512 Royal Military Police … 175 Royal Army Dental Corps … 53 Royal Pioneer Corps … 30 Army Catering Corps … 666 Most of these deficiencies will be made good in the next few months.