CAB9-1_PT2 — Page 46

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2. NEWCASTLE DEFENCES.

Officer Commanding.

Fire Commander.

B.C. Fort Scratchley

G.G.C. acting B.C. Shepherd's Hill

3. WOLLONGONG DEFENCES.

Officer Commanding.

1

Fire Commander.

G.G.C. acting B.C. Signal Hill

G.G.C. acting B.C. Smith's Hill

It will, of course, be for the General Officer Commanding to tell off the available artillery officers to the above chain of command, but it is suggested. that the command of the Sydney Fortress, being the most important from an artillery point of view, should be in the hands of the Officer Commanding the Artillery Forces of the Colony, who, according to the Scheme as it stood in the revision to March, 1896, was to command the Port Jackson District. The posts of Section Commander and Fire Commander should not be duplicated in one officer. The latter is the highest purely Artillery Commander, and the former may or may not be an artillery officer according to the exigencies of the particular case. All the guns of the defence permanently mounted should come under the regular artillery chain of command, whether manned by the artillery or naval forces of the Colony.

8. It is suggested that the details of District Staffs and Troops might be omitted under the heading of "Divisions of Command," as they are given under "Allotment of Troops." The details and distribution of armament might be given in a separate Table under the latter heading. It is con- venient to enter in the Defence Scheme under their peace denominations the officers who will hold the various Command and Staff appointments in This was done in the former revision of the Defence Scheme, but has been omitted in that last received.

war.

9. Pages 10 to 14.-Allotment of Troops.-If the organization above recommended is adopted, the Tables on these pages should be altered to correspond. One will be required for Sydney, one for Newcastle, one for Wollongong, and one for the Movable Column. For Sydney the Table should show each section separately, with Section Commanders and their Staffs, and the artillery allotted to the several fire commands. It is observed that the present revision of the Scheme shows in the Table on p. 14 total peace and war establishments of 6,216 and 9,484 respectively, against 5,813 and 9,211, which were the corresponding figures in the last revision. This increase is due to the enrolment of four additional companies of the 5th (Volunteer) Regiment. The Return of Resources of the Colony, corrected to December, 1896, shows slightly different peace and war establishments

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