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Written question asked by David Laws (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 11 February 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 February 2009. It was answered by Bob Ainsworth (Labour) on Monday, 23 February 2009 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Infantry: Manpower

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) full strength and (b) actual number of deployable troops is of each infantry battalion; and if he will make a statement.
Answer

The figures requested are shown in the following table:

Division Unit Actual strength Number of deployable troops
Guards 1 Grenadier Guards 549 494
1 Coldstream Guards 511 490
1 Scots Guards 548 515
1 Irish Guards 602 528
1 Welsh Guards 584 492
Scots 1 Scots 554 486
2 Scots 476 391
3 Scots 575 512
4 Scots 588 507
5 Scots 561 494
Queen's 1 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment 683 600
2 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment 524 491
1 Royal Regt Fusiliers 677 629
2 Royal Regt Fusiliers 505 412
1 Royal Anglian 733 683
2 Royal Anglian 627 568
King's 1 Lancs 670 609
2 Lancs 607 527
1 Yorks 519 457
2 Yorks 489 430
3 Yorks 626 540
PoW 1 Mercian 523 468
2 Mercian 564 476
3 Mercian 594 528
1 Royal Welsh 543 494
2 Royal Welsh 625 521
Rifles 1 Rifles 542 477
2 Rifles 619 518
3 Rifles 634 602
4 Rifles 647 558
5 Rifles 712 613
RI 1 Royal Irish 571 477
Para 2 Para 677 588
3 Para 662 605
RGR 1 Royal Gurkha Rifles 739 713
2 Royal Gurkha Rifles 925 895

In addition to the battalions shown in the table there are three incremental Guards companies which are primarily for public duties but which can also be used to augment the other Guards battalions as required.

Unit Actual strength Number of deployable troops
Nijmegen Coy Grenadier Guards 109 99
7 Coy Coldstream Guards 90 88
F Coy Scots Guards 108 98

The figures in both tables include personnel filling all roles within each battalion, not just infantrymen. Some of these roles are by their nature non-deployable, for instance forming part of the rear party of a deployed unit.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
488 c31-3W; 257345
Session
2008-09
Subjects
Armed forces Deployment
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk