§ Mr. Brooksasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will indicate, for each of the years 1950 to 1968, the annual cost of stationing British forces in Germany, expressed in constant prices, the actual number of such forces, and the planned total of such forces as provided for in formal agreements.
§ Mr. HealeyI regret that information on stationing costs is not available in the form requested, as the practice in recording it has changed over the years.298W Up to 1954 all our foreign exchange costs in Germany were met in full. Figures of net costs after that date were given in the OFFICIAL REPORT as follows:
Up to 1960: 9th June, 1964.
From 1961 to 1966–67: 23rd February 1967.
Estimates for the following two financial years were given to the House on 11th April, 1967 and 1st April, 1968 respectively.
Total strength figures including B.A.O.R. and Berlin, and the Royal Air Force are shown below:
There is no planned total of British forces in Germany provided for under formal agreements except that contained in the terms of Article VI of Protocol II of the Revised Brussels Treaty which involves only a commitment of certain formations.—[Vol. 696, c. 47–8; Vol. 741, c. 338–9; Vol. 744, c. 981; Vol. 762, c. 32–3.]
Strength as at 20th June to nearest thousand 1950 … … 54,000 1951 … … 74,000 1952 … … 94,000 1953 … … 95,000 1954 … … 102,000 1955 … … 108,000 1956 … … 106,000 1957 … … 96,000 1958 … … 76.000 1959 … … 67,000 1960 … … 66,000 1961 … … 67,000 1962 … … 65,000 1963 … … 64,000 1964 … … 63,000 1965 … … 63,000 1966 … … 62,000 1967 … … 62,000 1968 … … 64,000