The Inspector-General William Bridges was given the task of creating an expeditionary force of 20,000 men . Bridges and General White admired the fact that George Pearce , the Minister for Defence in 1914 , had been already converted by the 1911 Imperial Defence Conference to a British world view . There was to be one Corps , this led to a second Australian Corps , and even the possibility of a full army recruited solely from Australia . In 1914 , Bridges was replaced by the British Indian Army General William Birdwood
Imperial Defence Conference
1911 Imperial Conference
Ronald Munro Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar