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Personnel (Overseas Deaths)

Volume 641: debated on Friday 5 May 1961

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asked the Secretary of State for Air, how many men and women are now serving in the Royal Air Force; how many of these are serving abroad; how many of those serving abroad have died, or been killed, since 1945; and in how many cases their bodies were brought home at Government expense.

At 1st April, 1961, 158,152 men and women were serving in the Royal Air Force, 38,100 of them overseas. Between January, 1946, and April, 1961, there were 2,395 deaths overseas. During this period, nine bodies were brought home, in Royal Air Force aircraft, at public expense. This was exceptional as it is a long-standing practice that members of the Forces who die overseas are buried there.