SIZE OF AUSTRALIAN FORCE

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26186, 9 August 1950, Page 7

SIZE OF AUSTRALIAN FORCE

NEWSPAPER COMMENT ON PROPOSALS

(Rec. 8 p.m.) SYDNEY, August 8. * A great deal of unnecessary confusion has been caused by the vagueness of the Government announcements regarding the Australian ground force to be sent to Korea, ’ comments the “Sydney Morning Herald.” “Even now. with recruiting in full swing, no official statement has been made as to the ultimate size. “Unofficially it is known that volunteers have so far been sought for one battalion of infantry drawn from the British Commonwealth Occupation Force and the regular Army, with 1000 replacements from former servicemen. But the Government has so far failed to elucidate the vital question' of •whether this is to be the total edntributipn or merely the advance guard of a larger contingent. “Il is unthinkable that Australia’s contribution should be Iknited, as far as 'the ground troops are concerned, to a single fighting battalion. The smallest force commensurate with Australia’s international status and special Pacific resnonsibilities is a brigade of three battalions. That wou’d involve the enlistment of from 3000 to 4000 more volunteers—no great burden on a nation of 8,000,000 people.”