EARLY AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE CRISIS

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 270, 10 August 1943, Page 5

EARLY AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE CRISIS

Statement By Mr. Curtin

(Received August 9. 8.30 p.m. ) MELBOURNE, August 9. The A.I.F. had returned from abroad just in time to prevent the Japanese from establishing themselves in Bort Moresby, with disastrous results to Australia. said the Prime Minister, Mr. Curtin, in replying' to Opposition criticism of Labour’s defence policy. He added that if Hie Opposition bad had its way a considerable portion of the A.I.F. would not have returned to Australia when it did. Mr. Curtin disclosed that when Japan came into the war the Allied forces in the islands adjacent to Australia were:— Ambon: One A.I.F. battalion and one R.A.A.F. squadron. Timor: One A.I.F. battalion, one in ; dependent company and one R.A.A.F. squadron. Port Moresby: One citizen force battalion, coast and anti-aircraft units, and two R.A.A.F. squadrons (1000 men). Rabaul: One A.I.F. battalion, coast and anti-aircraft units, and , two R.A.A.F. squadrons. Solomon Islands: One independent company. New Caledonia: One independent company. Forces in Australia.

Nauru Ocean Islands: Small detachments. , r Air. Curtin added that the only forces Australia possessed to meet a Japanese attack were overseas. These comprised 101,000 men in three A.I.F. divisions in the Middle East, 18,000 men in the A.I.F. division in Malaya, three forestry companies in England, and three Air Force squadrons in the Middle East, one in Malaya, and one in England. In Australia rhere were only 300,000 partly-trained and ill-equipped militiamen to defend the country.

The Service chiefs considered this force inadequate, and they believed that the return of the A.I.F. would double Australia’s security. In July last year the Japanese began their overland drive against Port Moresby. By September the A.I.F. Seventh Division was in New Guinea, followed a month later by an American division, and these forces blocked the Japanese advance and threw them back. But. for the action of the Labour Government in recalling the A.I.F. Australia would have been in grave danger of going down to the depths of misery and suffering.