Nelson Evening Mail. DEFENCE OF THE EMPIRE. THE IMPERIAL GENERAL STAFF SCHEME.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 6 March 1909, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. DEFENCE OF THE EMPIRE. THE IMPERIAL GENERAL STAFF SCHEME.

THE full text of the scheme of Mr Haldane, British Secretary of State for War, for the creation of an Imperial Staff has been received by the Commonwealth Minister of Defence, and a brief review of it hag been published in New Zealand by cable. Fuller details aro now available by mail, and they should prpve of interest to the general reader, as well as a record for future reference. In the covering letter forwarding the pro posals, Sir Edward Ward. Secretary to the Army Council, points out that they aro a development of resolutions jpassed at the Imperial CoufiTence in 1007, included in a pnper by General Nicholson, Chief of tho British Staff, based on the general principles embodied in Mr Haldane 's speech to the Colonial Premiers nt the Conference. ***** • The main points of General Nicholson's paper are summarised as follows: — 1. The necessity for the maintenance of sea supremacy, which alone can secure any military cooperation at a!'. 'J. 'Tlm desirableness of a certain broad p!nn nf miTitnry organisation for ili" Lni|.iro: '.j>i| not a rigid model maltui 1 '; no iillowance for local difflcnl- ;>. A I'fiiw.-cptioa of combination ir. v.hi'.-ii t'uc armed forces of the Empire will bo organised 'in two parts, the first having local defence us its

function, and the second signed for service of Empire as a whole. Sir Ed. Ward says that the Army Council is well aware that the :>elfgoverning Dominions can givo no guarantee that contingents of a given strength will be forthcoming for servieo in any part of the Empire in the event of a groat war. At the same time he thinks the feolings of loyalty antf iiffiection towards the Mother-country will operato powerfully in tho future, as they did in the case of the South African war. The scheme outlined in General Nicholson's papef elaborates the following three Essential points:^ — 1. All tho forces of tho Empire to be organised for war on the same general principles, especially as rogards tho system of eommailds and staff duties. t*or this purpose tho formation of the Imperial General Staff should be proceeded with as far d 3 tho present available means permit. 2. Uniformity to be ensured in a system of training officers of th;General Staff, by arranging of a uniformity of educating regimental officers from whom tho selections of staff officers are td be made. This is to bo secured by recognising the staff college at Camberley, as the central school of military education of the Empire and by filling at the outset to such an extent as may be approved by respective Governments of the oversea dominions Instructional ap 1 pointments by Camberley graduates so as to have uniformity in system of the selection courses; uniformity in the entrance examinations, curriculum, syllabus, and leaching at the several staff colleges. 3. Uniformity in the carrying out of ?laff duties to be attained by encouraging graduates of the staff colleges who aspire to holding the most important General Staff appointments, to undergo a further course of training in England or India, and by arranging for a systematic interchange of officers of the Imperial General Staff between tho various appointments throughout the Empire.

In hiy explanation of these three essential points, General Nicholson declares that oversea Dominions have begun to feel themelves sufficiently strong to undertake more responsibility for the defence of- their own homes, and to look on this not only as a duty but ac a right. lie. places tho general principle which should govern the harmonious plans for cooperation between the Imperial 'forces and those of tho self-governing Dominions in two divisions,* related to local and Imperial conditions. 1 ' He insists that in connection with the principles governing local defence the means should not only be sufficient to meet the most probable for of attack, but should be sufficient to hold the enemy until the navtfi and military forces of the Empire can be concentrated at a d-eeisive point or points. As to local branches of tho proposed general staff, General Nicholson says that, while concerned with local needs and local possibilities, and the application of a broacl general principle to local conditions', they must form parts of one whole, sprung from the central body. Thus, say? the General, both in peace and war the general staff must bo regarded as a large organisation, consisting of a central body, with branches strotching out to all the various units of the army. • • • • •

General Nicholson divides the organisation of the general staff thus: — (1) The central body having its headquarters in London and working directly under the chief of Imperial general staff. (2) Local sections in tho United Kingdom, in each of the regular garrisons abroad, in each self-governing Dominion, and in India. These local sections, except in the case of smaller foreign garrisons, might bo sub-divided into the local headquarters, and the staff with local troops. Each section should have a chief at its head', and it would deal with questions connected with, (1) local defence^ and (2) the training of troops on lines similar to those nu-v followed for tho United Kingdom by the training directorate at the War Office. The organisation contemplates that each chief of a local section of general ataff, as in Australia, shojM be adviser of his own Government ps well as the head of all general stal officers in his section,, whether at his '' headquarters or with the troops. It alo provides machinery for keeping tho central body of the general staff and local sections.! in touch with onn another by delegated selected officers, by the interchange of specialist officers, who are expected to return' to their own dominion when they nave completed 1 their term of scrvio in the United Kingdom or vice-versa.

The sections of the scheme relating to staff colleges provido for the ro turn to regimental duty of all officers graduating. The writer emphasises the fact that at present only in Canada doe:.' there exist a national educational establishment resembling Woolwich and Sandhurst, wherem youths who possess a suitablu general education may be grounded in the technical details of the military n't before they enter as officers iv the service of their country. The "chi'im continues to forecast tentatively what would happen in the ever.l of a great war affecting the whole Umpire, The general staff officen, with the troops, would be furnished chiefly ' from those serving in the local section from which the troops were drawn, while those attached to the supreme commander in the field would be mainly drawn from officers who had proved their efficiency on the ceitral body of the Imperial General Staff. Towards the close of the paper the urgency of the creation of the Imperial General Staff is brought into strong relief. The feeling of Mr Haldano'g advisers is that, as several of the oversea dominions are completing a considerable expansion of their forces at present, there should not be, if any, avoidable delay in the institution of. sunitable and efficient local sections pf the general staff.

Finally, Sir Edward Ward, in his covering despatch, touches on the question of urgency in coming to a decision with regard to colonial cooperation with the Imperial authorities. He remarks that the lack of definite and timely provision for an emergency deprives the military forces of much of their potential value. Ho ado's that "although the overseas dominions may be unable to undertake definite responsibility in anything beyond local defence, it would still be well in organising for such defence to consider tho necessities incidental to a situation in which the dominions beyond tho seas desired to give effective military scr- j vice in association with the troops of j the Mother-country." j

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