Empire Lost - Andrew Stewart [23]
There was no shortage of things to do for the new Dominions secretary. The war was the most obvious and pressing question and the practical challenge of how to turn this new alliance into an effective fighting force. Germany's attack on Poland quickly demonstrated the effectiveness of a new kind of warfare as the Blitzkrieg shattered the Poles' resistance in a matter of only weeks. During the autumn months much of Eden's time, and that of his departmental colleagues, was therefore spent talking with the British chiefs of staff about military matters. The situation was undeniably pretty dire: the Dominions had little to offer. The best contribution they could make was on the naval side with some destroyers, cruisers and a few other smaller vessels but there were no more than 20 of these in total. There were also a number of squadrons of fighters and bombers but these were largely obsolete in design and, once again, were relatively limited in number. Finally there were troops, although these were mostly in the form of local militias designed for rudimentary self-defence rather than the professional forces needed to deter the Wehrmacht juggernaut.5
Nonetheless the Dominion governments were not short on enthusiasm and London was quickly approached for guidance; Canberra had asked the DO as early as the third day of the war what it could do to help.6 South Africa's involvement was still considered too uncertain to gauge at this stage, so the chiefs of staff in Whitehall ordered the readying of three separate papers outlining the assistance that would be welcomed from each of the other fighting Dominions. There were separate sections for Maritime, Air and Land, and each paper was broadly the same. It was asked that, if possible, major vessels should be turned over to the Admiralty, naval bases readied as Fleet harbours and steps taken to commence ship building, especially of smaller escorts and minesweepers. The chiefs of staff anticipated there would be difficulties in finding sufficient pilots and aircrews if intensive air operations developed in Western Europe.7 It was therefore suggested that instead of forming and training complete units for despatch overseas, the Dominions should concentrate solely on training to provide a pool of aircrew which could be incorporated into British units and then formed into national bodies when sufficient officers and personnel were ready. Finally, each Dominion was encouraged to provide an Expeditionary Force, although it was acknowledged that this might not be possible politically at the outset. This last point was critical as would become even more apparent just weeks later when the War Cabinet agreed to the Land Forces Committee's proposals that the British Army be built up to 55 divisions within two years. With the Dominions earmarked to provide a total of 14 divisions, this represented an enormous burden on their manpower and resources.8 Speaking in the House of Representatives in Canberra, Menzies had announced that Australia would raise a force of 100,000 men but there was no date on when they would be sent.9 New Zealand also was training troops, albeit a much smaller force and, once again, it was not clear when they might embark.10
Both announcements were, in fact, entirely in line with the advice issued by the chiefs of staff in London. While the Japanese position remained unclear Anzac troops were not to be despatched abroad, but should instead proceed with training within their own shores. This was not, however, what certain politicians in Westminster wanted to hear. The problem Eden faced was that a number of his colleagues seemed either ignorant or unwilling to face facts about just how little the Dominions could offer. Even when the information was put before them in considerable detail—a memorandum was presented to the War Cabinet in mid-October outlining the progress each was