HC Deb 29 July 1964 vol 699 cc332-4W
Mr. Hendry

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will make a further statement about the rôle of the Territorial Army.

Mr. Thorneycroft

On 22nd January my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for War told the House of certain extensions to the rôles of the Territorial Army. He explained that from 1965 the Territorial Army would be more widely involved than hitherto in the reinforcement and support of the British Army of the Rhine and that civil defence training would in future include instruction in fire-fighting.

The Territorial Army itself has been associated from the start with the study of these developments, and full discussions have taken place at all levels which have proved most valuable. There has been a general welcome from the Territorial Army for the wider tasks that they are being given and the way in which these tasks are being planned in detail.

All this has a bearing on the training of the Territorial Army and its dress and equipment. I should like to tell the House something of our present intentions.

First, we intend to give more of its members practical experience of the Regular Army by attaching them to Regular units, particularly in B.A.O.R. The number of these attachments will be greatly increased from next year onwards by sending parties of volunteers from a wide range of Territorial Army units, including the Territorial Army Emergency Reserve, who will continue training overseas in other theatres as well. We shall also begin next year a gradual increase in the number of paid training days for the Territorial Army.

Secondly, we shall press on with the current re-equipment programme for the Territorial Army, and a further re-equipment programme is in preparation to continue after the present one ends in 1966.

Thirdly, as regards combat clothing, we accept that the Territorial Army need combat suits, particularly when they take their place alongside the Regular Army. As a first step we intend next year to provide a personal issue of combat dress for all members of the T.A.E.R.; and also to enable those members of the Territorial Army who do their training with units of the Regular Army to draw combat suits for that training.

Finally, we have recognised the need to review the present bounty arrangements to see what needs to be done to encourage members of the Territorial Army to renew their engagements. This review is now in progress.

The enlarged tasks allotted to the Territorial Army have increased their relevance to the needs of modern war. The improvements which I have outlined today reflect the Government's determination to ensure that the Territorial Army is trained and equipped for those tasks.