THE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF 
THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 
ADDRESS TO SECTION E (GEOGRAPHY) BY 
VAUGHAN CORNISH, D.Sc., 
PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. 
Part I.—The Position which has been occupied. 
Tur British Empire, although situated in every continent, with shores 
on all the oceans, is seen to have a definite geographical position when 
we consider the ports of call which unite its lands and the naval stations 
which guard the communications. During the growth of the Empire 
eastward and westward from Great Britain, numerous harbours were 
held at different times, those retained being a selection unrivalled by 
the ports of any other State in commercial and strategic position. Our 
many oceanic islands give us, moreover, an important advantage in the 
selection of maritime stations for aircraft. 
The naval station of Bermuda, well withdrawn from aerial attack, 
has a central position in the great western embayment of North 
America intermediate between the ocean routes which connect 
Great Britain with Canada and the West Indies. No foreign ports 
flank the route between Canada and the west coast of Great Britain. 
At the western gateway of the South Atlantic we have excellent harbour- 
age in the Falkland Isles. Malta, the capital of our Fleet in the 
Mediterranean, has a commanding position at the Straits which connect 
the eastern and western basins, and the naval station at Gibraltar helps 
to ensure the junction of the Home and Mediterranean Fleet and to 
protect the Cape route. Our status in the Sudan, the vulnerable fron- 
tier of Egypt, is still maintained, and the British army which is kept 
in Egypt as garrison of the Suez Canal ensures our use of this gateway 
as long as we can navigate the Mediterranean. If that navigation be 
interrupted we can still oppose the seizure of the Isthmus, for we are 
able to send reinforcements by way of the Red Sea. East of Egypt 
the British island of Perim stands in the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, 
and the garrisoned fuelling station of Aden provides the necessary 
port of call on the routes to Bombay and Colombo. Colombo, in the 
Crown Colony of Ceylon, is at the parting of the ways for Australia 
and the furthest parts of our Asiatic possessions, and Singapore stands at 
the narrow gateway of the shortest route between India and the Far East. 
