CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
Royal Navy and Royal Marines
12.
In the nine months from April to December 1974, 4,881 men were
recruited into the Royal Navy and 1,229 into the Royal Marines,
compared with 4,198 and 920 respectively in the corresponding period
in 1973. Last year, the first year following the raising of the
school leaving age, the number of summer school leavers applying to
join the Royal Navy and Royal Marines was most encouraging and gives
hope for further improvement in 1975. Nevertheless, there will still
be manpower shortages in several Branches of the Royal Navy, for example Marine Engineering and Operations Branch Junior ratings. Recruitment
details are as follows:
Method of Entry
1 April-31 December
(9 months)
Percentage Difference
1974 over 1973 (+ or -)
1973
1974
Adults
1,857
1,353
-27
Juniors
3,051
4,560
+49
Junior Artificer Apprentices*
210
197
6
Total:
5,118
6,110
+19
Army
13. The decline in adult and young soldier recruiting which started in
1972 continued into 1973-74 but there are signs that this trend may now
have been halted. The total of 11,598 recruits for the year 1973-74
reflected a drop of some 25 per cent over 1972-73. A total of some 13,000
adult and young soldier recruits is forecast for 1974-75.
The Junior
*Artificer Apprentices aged 17 and over are included in the Adult
figures. The total number of Artificer Apprentices recruited for the periods shown in the table was 345 in 1973 and 276 in 1974, a fall of 20%.
5 CONFIDENT IAL CONFIDENTIAL