"INLARGING on what Australi: against Hitler and the Nazi Australian Trade Commissioner, d Station XCDN last Thursday, Mr. la is doing to assist the Empire i hordes, Mr. V. G. Bowden, oliver the following address over Bowden said:—during the first year of the war one used to read in the Australian papers a good deal of criticism of our Government on the score that their war effort was slow and inadequate.
Looking round now after twenty months to survey what has been done one is not surprised that this criticism is silenced, for it is difficult to find any sphere of War activity in which we are not effectively engaged, and, moreover, well up to or even well ahead of programme In manpower, under all headings. we have now. out of our total population of 7.000.000. about 550,000 men directly engaged in war activity. Of, these. 150.000 are occupied in the Jranufaoture. of munitions. fighting Vehicles, warplanes, military equip-Tent, of all kinds and ships. This more than ten times the number that Were engaged in such work a year ago. The remaining 400.000 men are in the various fighting services. This compares with a total available force of 65000 men in 1938.
In the first place, we have now home defence force totalling some 210000 men, the total finally aimed at being 250,000.
Full Australian Army Corps The Australian Imperial Force ¢riginally planned as one division Only, now represents a full Army Corps with four divisions and corps troops, in addition to which an armoured division is now in course Of being formed. All of these men ste voluntarily enlisted for service either in Australia or overseas. Enlistments. which already total 120,000. will be continued in order to keep these forces constantly up, to strength but it has been anna further A.LF. divisions will be rai as it is felt that our resources of manpower will be fully taken up in providing for the expansion of the Empire Air Training Scheme, the home defence forces and munitions production.
The armoured division will embody ell our existing armoured units and is estimated to cost £30000000. It will probably include skilled personnel numbering 10.000 officers and men between five and six hundred medium and light tanks, and more than 1,000 ether armoured vehicles.
The personnel of the Royal Australian Navy is now more than three times as great as it was in August. 1939, and recruiting of men is continuing to meet immediate needs at the rate of about 5000 men a year. Immediately on the outbreak of war the Fleet was expanded by the conversion of a number of fast pa vessels into armed merchant cruisers, and small coastal vessels were taken up for mine-sweeping duties. In ad dition to this, more than 200 ships have been stiffened for gun and
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.