Today in 1959, it was reported that more men – 150,000 of them – were wanted for the British Army, partly because so many soldiers were required for duty in Cyprus. As The Times of Cyprus reported:The British Government has decided to authorize a small but significant increase in the size of the Regular Army.
According to the Observer’s defence Correspondent, the War Office now wants 180,000 men instead of 165,000 partly because of the demands of combating Colonel Grivas in Cyprus.
Later this week, probably on Tuesday, Mr Duncan Sandys, the Defence Minister, will give Parliament his revised assessment of the country’s needs in his third defence White Paper.
He Intends to continue, broadly speaking, the policy he laid down two years ago, when he announced ‘the big-gest change in military policy ever made in normal times’.
MP’s expect this week’s White Paper to disclose how big or small, the change has been in fact.
The governments calculations about the size of the Army have been upset by two events – EOKA’s campaign in Cyprus, and NATO’s objections to reductions at British garrisons in Germany.