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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TTTT C.O. 885

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سلسل

8

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO.

Number of troops available for and consti- tution of

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3. The figures given in Column IV., exclusive of the totals, are only approximate, as the exact allotment of each unit to the States has not yet been fixed.

4. It will be seen that the following Summary shows, upon a War Footing, 44,218 of all arms, with 120 Field Guns and Guns of Position, viz. :-

Mounted Troops

Artillery

Infantry Others

Total

Arm.

SUMMARY OF SCHEDULE III.

Garrison Troops. |

Field Force.

Totul.

1,108

3,145

10,458 2,756

11,566 6,201

9,385

12,120

1,532

3,414

21,505 4,946

15,170

28,748

14,218

In the first instance, without adding to the existing numbers of the Military Forces, there will be available as a Field Force upon a peace footing 4,674 Mounted Troops, 612 Field Artillery, with 36 guns, and 8,815 Infantry, &c., making a total of 14,101, This Force will be increased upon war footing as proposed to 10,458 Mounted Troops, Field Force 2,756 Artillery, and 15,534 Infantry and others, with 90 field guns and guns of in Peace and position.

in War,

Necessity for organi. ration in times of peace.

Recon-

struction necessary.

Instruction of Officers

I recommend that the Field Force shall be organised into six brigades of Light Horse, and into three brigades of Infantry, each complete, with all the necessary Departmental Troops, and with the latest modern proportion of Field Artillery. The large proportion of Mounted Troops to Infantry will necessitate a partial reconstruc- tion of Infantry into Mounted Troops. This change is not only consistent with the characteristics of the Australian peoplo, but provides exactly that description of fighting man which has provel so valuable in South Africa, and which, without doubt, would constitute a most powerful, if not a controlling, factor in any campaign in which Australian troops might be engaged.

Success in modern war, either for defensive or for offensive operations, can only be assured by deliberate, slow organisation in times of peace. History and modern

events alike testify that armed men only, no matter how brave, and no matter how deeply endowed with military qualifications, are powerless to successfully, and for any length of time, oppose an army which has in times of peace been perfected by measured organisation, matured by scientific preparation for war, and supplied with the latest military equipment.

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It will bo dangerous in the extreme to rely upon organising when the emergency arises, such troops as may be required for the defensivo-offensive operations referred to, and it will be more especially unwise for a country which for some time at least must depend to a great extent for its warlike stores upon a distant land to postpone the provision of tho requisite matériel of war until the moment of action arrives.

III.-ORGANISATION, INSTRUCTION, TRAINING, AND EQUIPMENT.

A. Organisation.-The organisation of the troops proposed for allotment to the Garrison Force requires little change. In order, however, to make the Field Force effective, very considerable organisation and partial reconstruction of some portion of the existing forces available will be necessary.

It is, moreover, obvious that all regiments of Light Horse, batteries of Field Artillery, and Infantry must be made similar in strength, and that the peace and war establishments for all branches of the force must be fixed. The creation or develop.

ment of the departments which deal with transport and supply, with equipment, and with the care of sick and wounded, will have to be undertaken. These changes will entail comparatively small expense, and can be effected gradually. Every care should be taken to make the organisation capable of expansion, and to base it upon a territorial system.

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B. Instruction of Officers and Staff.-The first essential of a Citizen or Militia Army and of Staff, must be the training of the officers and staff. The better and more intelligent the

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troops, the botter trained and more experienced must be those who lead: A satisfactory standard, of knowledge and proficiency can only in peace be effected by instituting Schools of Instruction for Militia and Voluntoor Officers of all branches of the service, and by despatching selected officers to England and to India to attend special courses. Sufficient pay must be allowed as compensation to officers who thus devote their time to their own instruction for the benclit of the State, and a bonus upon passing periodical test examinations should be granted. A system of special instruction for Staff Officers should be instituted, of which a prominent factor will be "Staff Rides The expense of the foregoing need be small in upon Field Service Conditions. comparison with its importance.

Sydney and Melbourne should form the centres respectively of the system of Schools School of of Instruction; the former for the States of New South Wales and Queensland, and the Instruction. latter for Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia. Every facility exists at Sydney for the Schools of Instruction, which already exist in a limited form; together with the instructional troops required. A similar system should be created at Melbourne. Schools should also be formed as a part of this system in other centres, and at suitable times, so as to meet the local conditions.

I trust that the establishment of a Military College may at no distant date receive Military the favourable consideration of the Government. An adaptation of the system of College. organisation and of instruction carried out at West Point, in the United States of America, at the Royal Military College of Canala (Kingston, Ontario), and at the great public schools of England, would meet the requirements of such a college in Australia. A college thus created would be likely to give the most valuable results, not only in furnishing a high standard of education in the technical professions of civil life, but in inculcating those principles of military science which were found to produce men possessing such emiment military qualities in the great War of Secession in America, and more recently in the case of the Military College of Canada during the campaign in South Africa. I would recommend that, as part of such a college, there should be a special branch which would, undertake the training of Australian officers in Staff duties. The personnel of the college, and the instructional arrangements of the same, would be available for this further and more advanced course of military instruction, which is so essential for placing the professional knowledge of the officers, of the General Staff in Australia on the requisite high level of military efficiency.

C. Training.-Secondary only to the instruction of officers is the training of the men. Training of This to be effective must rather be constant each year than long in duration. Sixteen the troops. days per annum for Light Horse, Infantry, and Departments, and twenty days for Artillery and Engineers, should be sufficient if properly and efficiently administered. This training should be carried out in two categories--one for the troops raised in the country districts, which should mainly be for a given period in camps of instruc- tion, at whatever time of year may be most convenient to the industries followed by the men, and one for the troops raised in the cities and towns, whose employments do not admit of long absenco, which should be, as at present, spread over the year by afternoon and evening training, with a short camp of instruction for three or four days at Easter, or during public holidays.

D. Equipment.The existing equipment of the troops to be allotted to the Garrison Equipment Force may be deemed sufficient for the purposes of such troops. The equipment, required. however, which is available for the Field Force leaves much to be desired. There is in all the States a complete absence of any modern Infantry equipment, and only a small percentage of magazine rifles are available. The equipment of the Mounted Troops is equally incomplete, and only a small and quite inadequate supply of military saddles is available. The harness, equipment, and guns for Field Artillery are quite unequal to modern demands. A very small and quite inadequate quantity of Field Engineer or Field Hospital Equipment is available. Camp equipment and blankets are also inadequate. The supply of ammunition is in a very seriously defective

condition.

It will be obvious, therefore, that a very considerable outlay in equipment is imperative. Troops without efficient and sufficient arms, ammunition, and equipment are useless for the purpose for which they exist, and are therefore a mischievous delusion. The condition of the forces of the six States is very diverse. In some instances arms and equipment are oither obsolete or worn out, while in others deficiencies are comparatively small.

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