BRITAIN’S FORCES

Grey River Argus, 29 March 1928, Page 5

BRITAIN’S FORCES

UNIFIED CONTROL Urged in Commons LLOYD GEORGE SHOWS UP DARDANELLES. LONDON, Marcli 27. 1 11 the House of Commons, Sir J. Hutchinson, on the third reading of the Consolidated Fund Bill, raised the question of greater co-ordination in the fighting services. lie suggested that the Imperial Defence Committee should become the Executive: Ministry of Defence, and apportion funds to the Navy, Army and Air Force. Mr Baldwin said that everyone wanted economy, efficiency, and avoid ance of duplication, but over-< entrali-

.‘ation was as bad as ovw-dceentralisa-t ion. It would require a super Minister 1o supervise three Departments. If war came, which God forbid, unified control would inevitably break down. In the Great War, despite Lord Kitchens,r’s titanic energy, additional Departments had .to be formed rapidly. (Received March 28 at 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, March 27. Speaking in the House of Commons on the question of the control of Uh 1 defence forces, Mr Baldwin said that the war problem was not one of centralisation. The Cabinet must be responsible for defence, as well as for foreign and Imperial policy. The Imperial Defence Committee, in a case of emergency, could be made a deciding, instead of a consultative, body. Since Lord Curzon’s death, he (Mr Baldwin) had retained Chairmanship of the Committei' of Imperial Defence, because he recognised that it was most important. The Prime Minister must be familiar with the defence problems and with the higher personnel of the services. The Committee of Imperial Defence had been deputed to make detailed inquiries, and a. sub-eonimittec. the membership of which was over fifty, werp at present sitting. An Imperial Defence College, for the training of officers in the combined strategy of the Naw, the Army and the Air Force, was, he said, remote. He hoped that, it would be believed that the Government was not allowing the country to be unprepared. It was keeping in constant view the necessary coordinated

steps to he taken in a case of emergency, of which the Dominions would be kept informed.

Mr Lloyd George said that he feared that we were not learning the lessons of the last war from the viewpoint of defence. The most decisive disaster of the war was the Dardanelles. It would not have occurred if there had b *en one control, and the coast of Flanders would not. have been lost if there had been a more complete coordination of th > services. The most important elements of the Great War were foreign affairs, finance, shipping, man power, raw material, and organisation of the whole country and Empire, like a huge tank, for crushing all opposition. What had delayed victory was not the absence of a. most perfect and most gallant little arm.Vj and a magnificent navy, hut the lack of equipment. Newlyraised armies needed somebody in supreme control, or the same thing would happen again. The present need was a vital minimum force, capable of rapid expansion and equipment when the need for it arose. The Navy, Army, and Air Force were only branches of their defence, but the competition in the three Departments resulted in a huge expenditure. If a single Cabinet Minister was given one hundred millions yearly, and was told to organise the whole defence, it would be more effective than the present system. He hoped that Mr Baldwin would not be content with the mere suggestions of Committee reports, but would get some one really able to handle the thing as a whole. In a further reference to the Dardanelles, Mr Lloyd George said: “There was no co-operation between the Army and the Navy at the Dardanelles. There was one Minister in control of one part of the attack, and another Minister in control of the other. It was only a question of a few hours at the end! Those hours could have been saved, and a great deal more, if there had been-co-operation —not in the sense of Committees to explore facts, but co-operation in the command and the direction., and this worst disaster of the war would have been saved.” Lieut Colonel J. T. Moore Brabazon (Conservative) said that Mr Baldwin’s own speech was the most damning indictment of the present system that he had ever heard, and he hoped that the Government would undertake that thenceforth the Chancellor of the Exchequer would present the Service votes as a whole.

Major General Sir J. Davidson (Conservative) said that the Government had taken an important step in establishing an Imperial College, but they were not going fast enough. Sir L. Worthington Evans (War Minister), replying, denied that the De-

partments were careless of overlapping or were competing with each other. Where there was a suspicion of duplication, tin.* Committee of Imperial Defence made an investigation. There was considerable Ministerial Party int i ruption during Sir L. Worthington Evans’s speech, but the Consolidated Bill was read the third time without a division.