DEFENCE PLANS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21190, 10 November 1938, Page 12

DEFENCE PLANS

South African Union Expenditure of £6,000,000 CAPETOWN. September 20. The Minister of Defence, Mr O. Pirow, has given Parliament a comprehensive survey of the Government’s plans for defending South Africa against attack. These involve the expenditure of £6,000,000 over the next three years. The Minister said that in regard to wars in which Britain might be involved, South Africa’s position had been laid down by repeated Cabinet statements: Parliament will decide on the merits of each case as it arises. The Union will neither be automatically involved in Britain’s wars nor invariably neutral. Owing to her geographical position, the Union had to contemplate two possible methods of attack; a coastal raid or an invasion through the bushveld in the north. No Sea Attack Without Warning No large-scale coastal attack, the Minister continued, could be made by surprise, owing to the Union’s distance from possible aggressors. It was the General Staff’s view that a big attack from the sea could come only after at least six months’ warning. South Africa’s man-power was limited. It was necessary, therefore, that its forces should be as efficient as possible and equipped with the greatest possible supply of automatic weapons. With these considerations in mind, the Department of Defence had drawn up its scheme. In coastal defence, it had been decided to include Port Elizabeth and East London for the first time in defence works. Capetown’s defences would be greatly strengthened, the calibre of the main guns being increased from 9.2 to 15 inches. The port, in fact, would be made battleship-proof instead of merely cruiser-proof. Similar dispositions were being undertaken at Durban. The extra cost involved in strengthening the coastal defences would be £1,000,000. Three Citizen Force Divisions The military plans aimed at three Active Citizen Force divisions numbering 67,000, three special Defence Rifle Association brigades numbering 10,000 men, and three Defence Rifle Association divisions numbering 60,000. This total of 137,000 was the maximum available for normal defence, although in time of war conscription of every male between 17 and 60 might produce an extra 150,000. Non-Europeans and natives would not be trained in arms, but at need they might prove themselves extremely useful for transport and labour services. Much of the training of these units., said Mr Pirow, would be in the bushveld or the Northern Transvaal—the only way of land invasion—where the terrain is unfavourable for mechanised troops, and determined, well-trained defenders were capable of putting up a strong opposition to invaders. Remedying Equipment Shortage The most serious problem at present was the shortage of equipment, but that would be remedied with the utmost speed. Most of the equipment would be bought through the British War Office, but as much as possible would be manufactured locally. For Air Force training, which was proceeding satisfactorily, the Union would continue to buy obsolescent aeroplanes from Britain on condition that it would be entitled to acquire the necessary first-line machines from Britain’s accumulated reserves. Mr Pirow concluded by saying that the Union was training land forces which were likely to be superior to any enemy they might meet. The Air Force, within the limits of its equipment, was superior to any inside or outside the Commonwealth. At least two South African harbours would be more strongly defended than any others in the Dominions.