BRITAIN’S DEFENCES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26707, 28 February 1948, Page 7

BRITAIN’S DEFENCES

Concentration on Air Power REDUCTION IN NAVAL AND ARMY EXPENDITURE From A. W. Mitchell, N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent. Rec. 8 p.m. LONDON, Feb. 27. The estimates for the three services published during the past week have revealed that Britain as a military Power is relatively weak, and that in view of the indecision regarding the nature of another war, she is preoccupied with problems of research and of equipping and training her forces. While research is being given high priority—though how m'hch Britain proposes to spend in this direction is not made clear, apart from the fact that production and research in the new Budget Account is for £ 168,000,000 —very little is to be done in the coming year in providing forces with new equipment. The Royal Air Force is now with the status of Britain’s first line of defence, and the naval air arm is to receive further instalments of jet-propelled aircraft “at a somewhat reduced rate.” The Royal Navy will lay down no new ships and very little will be done to those already under construction. The army’s production programme is to be limited to the latest type of armoured fighting vehicle “at a very reduced rate.” There are plans for “ some new weapons.”

Though research will receive highest priority, there is a qualifying statement to the effect that there is a “ general shortage of qualified scientific and technical staff.”

Emphasis is placed on the importance of defence against an increased possibility of a surprise attack and one of the main objects of the development of controlled missiles of various kinds is to provide the most effective defence against an attack by aircraft.

As far as the services themselves are concerned, the estimates revealed that the R.A.F. is, on the whole, untrained. At the end of this year most of the trained men who were in the service at the end of the war will have left. The regular element will be only 40 per cent., which means that the R.A.F. will have to concentrate on training and attempting to increase the number of its regulars. Its objective is to become a highlytrained and mobile, though small force.

An explanatory memorandum on naval estimates has not yet been issued and so far the Admiralty has refused to resume publication of its pre-war document, “ The Return of the Fleets,” showing the naval strength of all countries, including, Britain. The magazine “ Navy," however, declared that it had little difficulty in discovering the information. It states that the Royal Navy’s whole operational strength is now two aircraft carriers, 11 cruisers, about 50 destroyers, sloops and frigates, two flotillas of submarines and no battleships. The Financial and Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Admiralty, Mr J. Dugdale, in the House of Commons, said that these figures were a “ guess,” but did not deny them. The magazine “Navy,” commented that at sea to-day, Britain was “ powerless to maintain her national prestige, or protect in any way the national home.” A striking feature of the Army estimates is the scale on which civilian labour is used by the War Office. It is equal to something like 20 divisions. The Army still needs a large number of national servicemen or conscripts to meet its commitments overseas, and it is the hardest hit of the three services by the restriction of conscripts this year to 150,000. Regular recruitment is lagging and the difficulty is anticipated in raising the regular army to some 220,000. The Government White Paper on defence states that greater Commonwealth co-operation is essential. It is claimed that during the past year improvements have taken place in the Commonwealth defence organisation. British service liaison staffs have been established in Canada, South Africa, and Australia, and another will shortly be set up in New Zealand.

There is no indication of the relative burdens which British aind Commonwealth taxpayers are bearing for defence costs.