OFFENSIVE SPIRIT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 March 1942, Page 4

OFFENSIVE SPIRIT

DEMANDED OF AUSTRALIA FORCES SECURITY OF COMMONWEALTH AT STAKE. CALL FOR RUTHLESS EFFORT. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) (Received This Day, 12.45 p.m.) CANBERRA, This Day. The need for the development of an intense offensive spirit in Australia, and for the country’s defenders to fit themselves physically and mentally to attack invaders wherever they are encountered, are emphasised in instructions recently issued bv the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant-General Sturdee. A summary of these instructions has been released'by the Minister for the Army (Mr Forde). The instructions insist on the rooting out of defeatist tendencies and talk of withdrawals, and call on Australia’s fighting forces to train in such a way that, when the time for combat comes, they will be more than a match for their enemies in physical stamina, determination and ruthlessness. General Sturdee states that Australia’s enemies are not bound by sporting methods or a spirit of fair play. They adopt the gangster code and Australians must do the same if they are to succeed. “Up to date in this war the opportunities of the Allies to seize the initiative and take the offensive have been very few,” General Sturdee observes. “To a large extent we have been forced on the defensive and all too often, through lack of forces or equipment, or the defeat of an ally, we have been forced to withdraw and finally to evacuate or surrender one territory after another. All this has tended to produce a defensive attitude of mind. If we are to reap the full benefit of our training methods and to secure decisive results, there must be a return to the doctrine of the offensive. This is not to be construed as meaning blind adherence to the offensive in all circumslancesh. We are now in a position where, if we are attacked, we cannot withdraw. The continued security of Australia rests with us and the price we are prepared to pay for that security cannot be too high.”