HL Deb 06 March 1989 vol 504 cc1350-1WA
Lord Hill-Norton asked Her Majesty's Government

What was the uniformed strength of the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force on 1st January 1939, 1949, 1959, 1969, 1979 and 1989, and what were the figures on the same date for the WRNS, WRAC and WRAF.

The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Lord Trefgarne)

The strengths of the Royal Navy (including the Royal Marines), the Army and the Royal Air Force on 1st January 1949, 1959, 1969, 1979 and 1989 were as tabulated below. Details for 1st January 1939 are not available. Numbers at 1st July 1939 have been listed but because of a build-up of forces during the preceding 12 months the numbers at 1st January are likely to have been considerably lower. Numbers for the WRNS, WRAC and WRAF and female personnel of the three Nursing Services at the same dates are also shown below.

RN/RM Army RAF
1st July 1939 127,000 238,000 112,000
1st January 1949 136,600 417,900 219,200
1st January 1959 99,400 306,200 170,200
1st January 1969 88,200 176,100 110,500
1st January 1979 69,600 152,413 80,000
1st January 1989 61,300 149,700 85,800
Women's Services
WRNS WRAC WRAF
1st July 1939 N/A 16,300 N/A
1st January 1949 6,700 11,500 14,500
1st January 1959 3,300 4,300 4,400
1st January 1969 3,000 4,000 4,500
1st January 1979 3,000 4,200 4,600
1st January 1989 3,000 4,800 5,800
Nursing Services
QARNNS QARANC PMRAFNS
1st July 1939 N/A 1,200 200
1st January 1949 700 900 300
1st January 1959 300 1,600 400
1st January 1969 550 1,550 700
1st January 1979 650 1,500 750
1st January 1989 350 1,550 500
Notes:
1. The RN and RAF numbers for 1989 include male personnel of the QARNNS and PMRAFNS respectively.
2. The WRAC and WRAF were formally constituted from the ATS and WAAF in February 1949. Numbers shown for earlier dates are for the ATS and WAAF. The QARANC was constituted in July 1950 from the QAIMNS and Army Territorial and Volunteer Nursing Services.
3. All numbers are rounded to the nearest 100 except male numbers in 1939 which are rounded to the nearest 1,000 and Nursing Services numbers for 1969 onwards which are rounded to the nearest 50.