British troops based in Germany to return home

Ministers said 1,800 British soldiers will leave Germany and return to the UK.

The first unit to come home will be 43 Close Support Squadron of the Royal Logistic Corps, which will move from Gutersloh, Germany, to Abingdon in Oxfordshire by the end of January.

Military chiefs will send another returning unit, the 7 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, to a former RAF base at Cottesmore in Rutland along with the 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, which will move from Cyprus.

This base had been mothballed under previous defence decisions but now it will become home to hundreds of soldiers.

Ministers announced plans to pull out of Germany, where the British Army has had a presence since the end of the Second World War, as part of the strategic defence and security review in October 2010.

Economic contribution

The Ministry of Defence estimated that the repatriation of troops from Germany will save it £250m a year – the additional cost of having the Army in Germany.

It said that bringing the forces currently based in Germany back to the UK will contribute around £650m per year to the economy, as wages are spent in the UK instead of in Germany.

Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said: “We welcome the return of troops from Germany but today we have yet more confusion over the government’s defence policy.

“Previous governments have found it to be cost-effective to have troops in Germany and so ministers must tell us what has changed. Ministers appear to have plucked figures from the air.

“We need to know precisely how this is being funded and want cast-iron assurances that budgets for troops’ welfare and accommodation are not being raided.”