Defending bases that support imperial trade

Fortifications and garrisons should be funded with the ports and fuel stores they protect. Britain built extensive fuel storage around the Empire, yet repeatedly reduced the guns and landward defences recommended for Singapore. The criticism concerns governments commissioning detailed military and engineering plans and then removing the measures judged necessary. Malta, Alexandria, Ceylon, Singapore, Cape Town, the Falklands, and Caribbean positions illustrate the defended bases needed along imperial trade routes.