Cablegram unnumbered 11 May 1937,
SECRET
Cabinet has considered Pearce’s memorandum of 26th January [1]to you regarding question of capital ship based on Singapore contributed by Dominions. Cabinet fully appreciates importance of necessity for capital ships in East but feels that best contribution that Australia could make would be to substantially increase our Air Force in the North improving base at Darwin with frequent interchange of machines and personnel between Singapore and Darwin. Cabinet thinks that probably both [South] Africa and New Zealand would join in such a plan. In addition we think that we should concentrate on the manufacture of munitions and the improvement of our facilities for that purpose. [2]
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1 Document 1.
2 Cabinet papers not located.
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[AA : CP290/5, BUNDLE 1, PART vii]