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12. It is stated in the draft memorandum forwarded by the Governor-General of Australia that in addition to providing for the needs of home defence, it is incumbent “that plans of operations should contemplate the employment, overseas, of such portion of the Australian forces as may from time to time be deemed necessary, and is voluntarily agreeable so to serve.”
13. The Oversea Defence Committee concur in the desirability of attention being called to this fact for, as has been pointed out on several occasions in the past, although the primary duty of the local forces of each of the self-governing Dominions must be local defence and the maintenance of public confidence in each Dominion, yet the great importance of co-operation in Imperial defence and of being in a position to render mutual assistance in time of emergency must not be lost sight of.
14. This is so because, although the Governments of the self-governing Dominions reserve to themselves the right of deciding, when an emergency arises, whether or not they will furnish any military forces for service outside their home territory, yet it has always been recognised_that there would very probably be a general desire amongst the peoples of these Dominions to contribute to the common defence of the Empire in any great war in which its very existence might be threatened.
15. It has accordingly been urged from time to time that, although the military forces in each part of the Empire should be primarily constituted for local defence, these forces should nevertheless be so organized and equipped as to permit of such parts of them as voluntarily agree so to serve being used outside of their home territories, provided that their respective Governments desire that they should be employed in this manner.
16. In describing the principles on which the Defence Scheme of the Common- wealth is being based, it has very rightly been borne in mind that this should be done, and at the same time it has been fully recognised that a purely passive defence is the most ineffectual method of employing an army. Australian military forces are "being uniformly enrolled, organized and equipped, in It is consequently stated that the order that any sub-division thereof may be able to assume the offensive," or in other words that the Australian forces are being so organized that it will be possible, if the Commonwealth Government so desire and provided that the naval situation permits, to despatch oversea without delay after the outbreak of war such parts of the forces as may volunteer to serve outside their home territories.
17. It is conceivable that in certain circumstances it might be desirable to assume the offensive against hostile naval bases in Australian waters; and for this reason it would appear that the occupation of probable hostile bases in the Western Pacific is to be taken into account in preparing the scheme for the employment of the Common- wealth forces in time of war.
18. It might appear at first sight to be of advantage to Australia to gain possession of such bases, but it must be borne in mind that she could only hope to retain them if in the end British arms were victorious. Under the existing strategic conditions such offensive operations would have little or no effect on the main issue of a war, or on the ultimate safety of Australia herself, and consequently the employment of Australian troops for such a purpose would be contrary to the accepted principles of strategy.
19. In a great war in which the British Empire is involved the ultimate fate of the component parts of that Empire will not, as a rule, depend on local operations, but on the final issues of the main struggle at the decisive point. It is recognised, however, that, owing to the distances that separate the four great self-governing Dominions and the United Kingdom, it will rarely be possible for them to render assistance the one to the other at the earliest stage of a war; but, on the other hand, in the case of a prolonged struggle it is reasonably probable that even forces so widely separated will be able to reach the theatre of operations in time for effective action.
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