FORCES FROM DOMINIONS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25101, 17 December 1942, Page 4

FORCES FROM DOMINIONS

THE PRESENT STRENGTH NEW ZEALAND’S FINE EFFORT RUGBY, Dec. 15. The Secretary for the Dominions, Mr C. R. Attlee, addressing the Royal Empire Society on the closeness of war-time co-operation in the British Commonwealth, gave the following figures of the present strength of the dominions’ forces:— Canada.—Active army, 335,000;, navy, 45,000 men and 450 ships; air force, 150,000. * Australia.— Navy, 20,000 men; air force, 100,000; and its army has shown a tremendous increase

New Zealand. Overseas army, 66,000; air force, 20,000 (with a population of just over 1,500,000). South Africa.— Army, 130,000; airforce, 22,000. „ Perhaps what is equally striking, said Mr Attlee, “is how the people of the dominions realised from the start that war was a unity, and m war it is bad strategy to adopt passive defence' and sit down to wait for the enemy to attack the homeland. I shall never forget the comfort it was to us in the dark days of 1940 to have Canadian divisions in 'Britain when invasion seemed imminent.” He added that Australians and New Zealanders were diverted here at that critical time, and many young men from the dominions were in our air squadrons. He continued; “ When the actual attack by Japan necessitated withdrawal of some of these forces, Australian and New Zealand divisions stayed to take a share in driving Rommel from Libya.”