COMRADES OF THE EMPIRE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 91, 11 January 1919, Page 12

COMRADES OF THE EMPIRE

LEAGUE FOR THE FORCES

AIMS AND ACTIVITIES

Tli6 Secretary of the War Office states that under the authority of the Admiralty, the War- Office, and the Ail' Ministry, a, conference was held on Tuesday, November 5, at tho Horse tiuards, Whitehall, to consider and report on tho best method of fostering the spirit of comradeship and mutual belp among all who have served and are serving in the Eoyal Navy, the A.rmy, and the .Ttoyal Air Force... The conference was also directed to discuss our co-operation with the forces of the oversea Dominions with a viow to promoting throughout the Empire a feeling of comradeship among all who have served in the present war. The conferenco was constituted as follows:— Chairman: General Sir lan Hamilton, G.C.8., D.S.O. Members: One officer, one other rank, one member of the AV.I'.N.S., nominated by the Admiralty. One officer, one other rank, one member of tho Q.M.A.A.C., nominated by the War Office. Ono. officer, one other rank, one member of the W.11.A.T'., nominated by the Air Jtinisiepresentatives of the following forces: •—Overseas military forces of Canada, Australian Imperial Eorce, New Zealand Imperial Force, South African Overseas Expeditionary Force. One officer and one other ranlc, representing each of the following:—The Grand Meet, the British, nrmies in France, the military forces in Great Britain, the army ill India. ' Honorary secretary: Major H. Jellicorse, Reserve of Officers. '■ .On the recommendation of the conference a consultative committee has been formed with General Sir lan Hamilton as chairman, consisting of nine members, composed of equal- numbers of past or present, and other ranks, past or present, as well as three women's .representatives,of the Eoyal Navy, tho Army, and the Eoyal Air Force. This committee has power,to add to its number with a view to securing adequate representation of all interests concerned. The committee will take evidence from existing organisations working on behalf of those who have served or aro serving, will collect facts concerning the same, and will report on the best method whereby the existing effort may ho -utilised or co-or-dinated to secure the first object discussed at the conference, and what further effort in this direction is needed. A second committee has also been formed under tho chairmanship of Admiral Lord Jellicoe, G.C.8., 0.M., to consider the promotion of comradeship throughout tho Empire among all who. have served in tho present war. This committee will consist of two members of the Imperial Forces and five members representing India, Canada, Australia,. New Zealand, and South Africa respectively* A I.osgue of Comradeship.

The growth, of tho spirit of comradoship, not cniy in the fighting services, but also in the nation and throughout the , Empire (comments a correspondent of tho London "Times," has undoubtedly been. ono of the most potent factors in securing victory. The regiment, the brigade, the division, the county in the Old Country, and the province and the Stale in the Dominion have, each of th'em, their own esprit de corps strongly developed, and it is well it should be so; but an outstanding feature of tho war, both in tho field and at home, has been tho growth and tho extension of a higher unity 'best expressed in the word "comradeship." "Each for all and all for each" might well be taken as an Imperial motto from now onwards. Tho question arises whether, when our sailors and soldiers and airmen return to their homes, and the Dominion Armies disperse oversea, this great Imperial and national asset of comradeship is to bo neglected and allowed to disappear, or whether it shall bo'fostered and further strengthened. The action now being taken by the governing bodies of tho Navy, tho Army, and tho Air Force, in conjunction with the heads of tho Dominion Forces, is significant and will doubtless meet with general approval. What clearly is aimed at is to destroy nothing that is worth preserving, but to perpetuate and strengthen after tho war what has already been achieved by . voluntary effort, as well as by tho spirit of mutual help among the men themselves. Tho need of co-ordinating such effort is patent to every one who possesses even a superficial knowledge of what is going on at the present time. Voluntary associations and societies without number, both in tho Services themselves and outside of them, exist on behalf of the officers and men who are serving and who havo served and suffered in tho war. But information regarding such societies i 9 too often lacking among those who might be benefited by them. Further, in many cases, two or even moro bodies exist for exactly the same purpose, and without some means of co-ordination over-lapping and waste of effort aro inevitable. Tho, vital question of tho interests of our officers ans men, apart from what the State is doiii"; for them, cannot be left to chance. Tlio composition of tho conference and of tho national committee is noteworthy in that the subordinate ranks aro represented on both as fully as are the officers, and the addition of women members- proves that the interests of tho women who have joined tho Servico during the war will not be neglected. As regards the Imperial aspect of the problem submitted to tho conference, anything which tends to strengthen the ties of comradeship which have grown up during tho war between the Dominion troops and our own men will bo heartily welcomed. No better means to this end could bo found than tho foundation throughout the Empire of a real League of Comradeship, its name, its aim 9, and its principles being universally accepted and adopted. As a result of such a scheme, reciprocal treatment between all parts of the Empire would bo established for members anu ex-members of tho Services. The hand of fellowship would ho extended as readily to the sailor or the soldier or the airman of a Dominion arriving in this country as. to one of our own officers or men emigrating to or visiting anv one of tho Dominions. Such an ideal, "if realised, would prove a worthy memorial of the world war.