Dominion in Arms

Fortnight ago in the flaming Battle of Bardia the bewildered Italians learned something of the attacking power and spirit of Australian infantry. As the Australians did their dirty work on that screaming morning they reminded observers that although Anzacs numbered less than 10% of the British troops in the last 1918 push of World War I, they captured one-quarter of the Germans and one-quarter of the territory taken by the Empire's armies.

World War II is a vastly different business for Australia than its predecessor. It not only means sending troops halfway round the world to defend the Empire. It also means standing solid guard at home. There are now no reassuringly big Royal Navy battleships in Southern Pacific waters, and Japan, once an ally, is now a member of the Axis. Thus last week Australia was engaged in her greatest war effort, involving what many of her citizens called an "industrial revolution."

Land. The Dominion has already-formed eight Army divisions--three more than in World War I. From a land of only 7,000,000 people some 100,000 Australians are now in the Middle East or in England. New troops are enlisted at the rate of 5,000 a month. A home-defense force of 250,000 is being conscripted. In the last year 80,000 new troops have been trained. Last week plans were announced for a costly program of mechanizing the whole Australian Army, both home-defense and expeditionary, with tanks and armored carriers to be built in the Dominion. (Each Australian division now has 2,000 motor vehicles, but few are armored.) A new mobile school of mechanization already moves from camp to camp-- three trucks loaded with diagrams, models, textbooks, sound films. The Army says that although cabled technical advice from England is limited, many improvements have already been made on English mechanization. Among them: A Bren-type gun carrier whose crew is protected against dive bombers' bullets; infantry carriers that can move "right up to the battle"; a "garage trailer" carrying 90% of a modern service station's equipment.

Sea. After World War I the Dominion saved money by reducing armaments, relying on British sea power. It ignored Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson's plea for an independent Australian Fleet of 52 first-line ships by 1933. Today the chagrined Government finds itself with only two 10,000-ton cruisers, five lighter cruisers, eleven destroyers. New ship ways have been laid down, but not for several years is Australia's naval strength likely to give, say, a Japanese admiral cause for more than a slantwise smile.

Air. With thousands of miles of coast to defend, Australia banks on her fast-multiplying Air Force more than on her Army & Navy combined. In the three years ending July 1942, she will have spent -L-50,000,000* for air training, -L-30,000,000 for expansion. In 1932 the R. A. A. F. had only 32 first-line planes. Last June it had 212, is today getting many more.

Local plants make planes, Vickers guns, tires, tubes, parachutes, safety harness, spark plugs, radio and photographic equipment. More than 135,000 Australians have volunteered for an air-training program calling for 16,000 in air crews, 26,000 in ground crews. Some 600-700 start training monthly. Of 24,600 ground applicants accepted, 19,000 are already in training. Twenty schools for air crews are running, a total of 40 is anticipated.

Work. The "industrial revolution" spurred by Australia's war effort is reflected in her growing wartime and secondary industries, such as woolen textiles, manufacturing and food packing. Since the war, steel-ingot capacity has been stepped from 1,200,000 to 1,600,000 tons a year, reaching not only self-sufficiency but an export surplus. All kinds of steel, including nonmagnetic (for battleship plate), are now homemade or shortly will be. By the end of 1940 the production rate of small-arms ammunition was eight times that of 1939. New 25-pounder field guns and 3.7-inch anti-aircraft guns are in mass production. Between April 1939 and last May machine-gun output multiplied six times and rifle output 15 times. Local industrialists say that Australia has accomplished a normal quarter-century of industrial progress in the past two years.

Payment. The cost of the Dominion's war effort is a great strain on her economy. War expenditure is directly reflected in a 1940 budget of -L-260,000,000 (previous budget: -L-100,000,000)--about $837,200,000--no mean budget for a nation with a population smaller than New York City's. Determined to pay out of revenue, the Government taxes all classes of citizens severely. Imports of everything except essentials have been restricted, most imports cut off entirely.

Before the war, Australia had many rapidly expanding export markets. Today she has become an arsenal for embattled Great Britain and Australian surpluses have largely been commandeered by Britain at low prices. Britain, for instance, takes all surplus foodstuffs, will take all of Australia's huge wool clip (normally one-third of her exports) for the duration of the war. Moreover, while Britain credits Australia for half the profits from the resale of wool to neutrals, Britain will not give the Dominion the dollar exchange she badly needs to buy essentials from the U. S.

Australia's enormous wheat belt has recently suffered sharply from poor prices in overseas markets, high living and farming costs. There is an acute shortage of shipping for overseas trade; most Dominion ships have been taken over by Britain, now deprived of the neutral shipping available to the Allies in World War I. A further worry is the possibility of inflation.

* Australian pounds, currently worth $3.22.

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