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drawn from portions of the fortress other than those mentioned in the Table- The Table, however, as it stands, is the reverse of clear, and is made worse by the foot-note, according to which 307 officers and 8,937 men" are included in the Central and Fort Reserves, Royal Artillery, of sea front."
The Table requires rearranging, as clearness has been sacrificed to brevity.
10. Under the head of Communications, something more should be given than at present. The system of telegraphic and telephonic communication in Malta, which would be of great value to the defence, should be briefly described. As the Scheme stands, though details are stated to be given in the instructions to the Signalling Officer, it is nearly impossible to ascertain from those instructions what the system of these communications is. A sufficient description should be given to enable an officer strange to the locality to grasp rapidly the existing state of the communications.
Some statement is wanted showing what reinforcements can be passed from one section to another, and within what time. This will no doubt be carried out in the revision, under the appropriate heading provided by the model form.
11. The action to be taken by Staff and Departments requires revision and amplification upon the lines given in Colonial Defence Committee's Memorandum No. 46, but in addition to the general remarks in that paper the following points call for notice.
12. The preparations for the defence of Malta may be conveniently classed under two, or possibly three, phases, viz. :-
(1.) Declaration or outbreak of war.
(2.) Imminence of attack.
(3.) Attack.
This has been realized in the preparation of the Scheme, but sufficient stress has hardly been laid upon these different stages in the instructions and orders to the various officers. In the revision of the Scheme, it is desirable that the distinction between these stages, and the separate action to be taken in each of them, should be brought home clearly to all concerned.
13. It should be borne in mind that the object of laying down the action for Staff and Departments is that each officer should have ready to hand a brief statement, showing the steps to be taken by him on mobilization. Some of the orders, however, deal with well-known principles or matters of ordinary routine, e.g., p. 21, para. 2, and p. 74, para. 5; and in other cases (p. 22, paras. 5 to 8) the orders are framed rather with a view to drawing up the Defence Scheme than as a record detailing the actual steps decided upon in consequence of the Scheme having been drawn up.
14. There are certain points mentioned in these orders which do not appear to have been determined as they ought to have been. Thus, on p. 21, para. 5, certain quick-firing guns are to be manned, but there is nothing to show which these guns are; para. 6 speaks of alarm signals, but there is nothing in the Scheme showing what these signals are to be; so also as regards stores, in para. 8, p. 22. All these are matters which should be laid down in detail beforehand. The Scheme provides for the employment of a field battery (vide p. 59, para. 9, p. 94, para. 11), but there is no mention of this in the action to be taken by the Officer Commanding Royal Artillery at Malta; and as matters stand it is no easy to see who is responsible for the organization of this new unit, nor how this organization is to be carried out.
15. A number of new works are to be constructed on mobilization, such as redoubts and splinter proofs, besides which there are the clearing the ground, general preparation of positions, improvement of roads, &c. The arrange- ments for executing these form an important part of the duties of the Com- manding Royal Engineer, and the action to be taken by him should be recorded. The sites, plans, &c., should be determined on, and Tables should be drawn up, showing the labour and tools required, and how they are to be obtained. The time required for completion and the relative importance of the various works should also be laid down. Similarly, on p. 24 of the Scheme (paras. 4, 5, 6), certain work has to be carried out to complete the telegraphic and telephonic systems. An observing station has also to be erected at Nadur
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