The Daily News. SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 1919. THE EMPIRE'S MILITARY EFFORT.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 August 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 1919. THE EMPIRE'S MILITARY EFFORT.

We are indebted to that splendid review, the Round Table, "for some interesting particulars regarding the extent of the effort which was put forth by the British Empire in the recent colossal struggle. There are, a,s it points out, naturally certain moral and material factors in

connection with this effort that cannot well be analysed, and there are also a number of circumstances affecting the operations of the Dominions which in . some measure affect any comparisons that have to be taken into account, but it may confidently be assumed that history will proclaim the united effort as one of the most astonishing features of the war, botli from a moral and material point of view. When war was declared the existing military forces in Britain totalled 733,514 men, and it is not surprising that Germany ridiculed such an insignificant army, Besides this there was no adequate reserve of munitions, no organisation of man power, Britain being quite unprepared for a big military struggle, yet, in spite of all her handicaps, she shouldered the burden of making munitions for all the Allies, maintained the command of the sea, and kept up her overseas carrying trade against the terrible toll exacted by submarines. Prance was more prepared and it was well this was so, for she had to hold f< ,'ifths of the Western front until Kitchener's new armies were able to come to her aid, while the outstanding marvel was the way in which Bel-1 gium rose superior to the first an-! nihilating shock of the waves of the German advance. More imponderable than these is the force of instinct and of vision which sent the splendid Dominion troops across the seas to meet a menace which distant democracies might well have thought too remote for their active concern, but they were animated by the true British spirit that had built up an Empire on which the sun never sets, and i they proved themselves in every way worthy of the best traditions of the race. Taking as a basis of the Empire's forces the 733,514 men which constituted Britain's "contemptible" army, the Round. Table shows how that force grew to millions. The total enlistments of the Empire (excluding certain volunteer home forces in Britain such as the National Guard) were as follows: United Kingdom ~ 5,704,41 0 British Empire (less U.K.) ~ 1,425,804 Total white enlistments . ;. 7,130,280 Indian troops at outbreak of war 239,501 Indians Binee recruited . . 1;1C1,7R9 S. Africa (colored troops) ... 02,837 West Indies (colored troops) 10,000 Other Colonies (colored troops) 20,000 Total Indian and colored troops . . . 1,524,187 Total British Empire -■: -.. 8,054,407 If to these figures the ( re be added the personnel of the Navy and merchant marine, and the very considerable numbers withdrawn from their normal work for various forms of auxiliary military service in their home countries, it will be found that the total man power raised for service by the Empire was well over ten millions, while there were also 250,000 women who wore an officially recognised uniform, besides many million women recruited for munition work, transport, and civil duties. No analysis of this nature would he useful without showing the proportion of enlistments to the estimated white male population Which were as under: Total Male Per Country forces raised. Pop. cent. U.K 5,704,416 22,485,501 25.80 Canada 458,218 3,400,000 13,48 Australia .. 331,814 3,400,000 13.43 New Zealand 112,223 580,000 ,10.35 S.Africa.. 76,184 085,000' 11.12 The estimates of the Dominions' male population were as at July, 1911. The percentage of male enlistments to the total of white male population of the Empire was 24.07; the percentage of male enlistments to the total white population of the Empire was 11.57, and the percentage of male and female enlistments was 11.97. In appraising the above figures it should be noted that the age distribution of the Dominions differs considerably from that of Britain, the former containing a larger proportion of .males in the prime of life, as well as a higher percentage of rural to urban population. These factors account for the Dominion units, in the later stages of the war, showing a higher standard of energy and physique than the British. An authoritative opinion has been expressed that New Zealand stood

the test of heavy.recruiting better than the British Isles, and that the other Dominions did not test their population to quite the same extent. There is another important point; to be remembered, namely, that the British units were always under strength as compared with units from t]je Dominion, while in the last year of the war British infantry brigades were reduced to three battalions, but the Dominion brigades maintained their original four battalions. It has been proclaimed by British commanders that there have been no finer troops in history than those sent by the Dominions—men of inextinguishable and sleepless initiative. The tribute is gratifying, the more so as the high quality of the Dominions' troops had an appreciable effect in achieving final victory and in shedding gjory upon the country J they represented. The Empire's I

effort as a whole stands forth as incomparable in its magnitude, and inspiring in its determination. The world now realises, as never before, that the British Empire is a mighty force to reckon with in the maintenance of freedom, justice and peace, and has vindicated its right to hold the greatest empire the world has ever seen.