ABSTRACT
By the middle of 1935 the question of defence preparations had an added urgency. The deficiencies of the armed forces that had accumulated during the ten-year rule could not be made good at leisure, for the international scene was becoming increasingly tense. The debate in professional military circles over Britain’s proposed military policy continued most noticeably in the Journal of the Royal Service Institution , which rarely published an issue without a contribution to the controversy. The need to show potential allies and enemies that Britain ‘meant business’ was a theme that recurred more and more frequently in the years to come. The deputation to Baldwin and Inskip had revealed the incon-clusiveness of the Government’s position. There were two alternatives: either Territorials could be posted to fill gaps in Regular units, or conscription could be introduced in peacetime in order to have a pool of trained manpower available on the outbreak of war.
