Empire Lost - Andrew Stewart [24]
Whitehall opinion did not universally agree with this argument. In certain circles, mostly within the Treasury, providing greater financial and material support to help the Dominions develop some kind of credible military contribution was not viewed enthusiastically. Australian requirements, for example, were described as being 'of a much lower order of priority as compared with our own' and the point was made that the Dominions 'ought to keep within our own priority scales'.12 Much the same was true in the case of New Zealand, while South Africa's requests, albeit admittedly wildly overstated in terms of what might reasonably be expected, were dismissed even by the War Office (WO) who suggested instead 'tokens' and 'gestures'.13 At the very least, the Treasury urged, the government in Canberra should be encouraged to buy goods through a purchasing commission, which it was anticipated would shortly be established to prevent internal competition developing. This would mean the Dominion's lists of military requirements would be presented to London for scrutiny and a decision about what they could and could not have. A desire to prevent a drain of dollar reserves influenced much of this thinking but grudging talk of gestures and demands for oversight surely boded ill for the future.
A keenly anticipated contribution was the proposed Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS). Vincent Massey and Stanley Bruce, the Canadian and Australian high commissioners in London, had heard of the anticipated future shortages of aircrew and put forward a proposal that they felt would allow the Dominions to visibly demonstrate their support for the military effort.14 This was warmly welcomed by ministers in London initially but soon revealed itself to be fraught with difficulties. A mission sent to Ottawa in early October to confirm the scheme's details, came perilously close to failure. Training organizations were to be established in Australia and New Zealand, but Canada was prepared to accept the lead role providing the greatest number of trainees and covering the costs this would create. There was a price in return, however, as it was made plain to the War Cabinet back in London that Mackenzie King wanted an agreement that this would be accepted as Canada's 'decisive effort'. During the First World War the scale of losses of manpower had created a huge political crisis over the need for conscription, and the Canadian prime minister was anxious to avoid there being any repeat.15 The Cabinet reacted angrily to this demand, leaving Eden to do his best to calm his colleagues. Despite Mackenzie King's very public statements to the contrary, the Dominions secretary assured them that there was in fact considerable Canadian support in favour of sending troops.16 In late October it was announced that the Canadian First Division would leave for England early in December and the rancour quickly passed.17 Mackenzie King, faced by increasingly hostile domestic opinion, had been forced to send an expeditionary force. Lester Pearson, a member of the Canadian High Commission in London, recognized that his countrymen 'would countenance no such half-way involvement; Canadians would not accept a role to guard their bridges and their borders, to produce munitions and war supplies while British soldiers did the fighting against the Nazis'.18 Canada's