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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 0219.PDF
-on the North-West frontier of India in stopping raids. Both the French and the German armies had airships and were using them to an extent which would place our Army, if it were not also equipped with airships, at a great disadvantage. The number of airships possessed by Germany was 14, and by France seven. What were the negotiations between the Army and Navy before this change of policy was adopted, and had the right hon. gentleman any trouble with the Army Council in connection with the matter ? There had been another remarkable change of front on the part of the Secretary for War. During the last 18 months the right hon. gentleman had given assurances that it was not his intention to manufacture aeroplanes at the Royal Aircraft Factory, and the statement had gone forth to the private manufacturers that they would not have to compete with the Government in this direction. It was of enormous importance to have here, as they had in France and Germany, a sufficient number of manufacturers who were prepared to supply aeroplanes for the use of the country. It was to be remembered that practically the only market for such machines was the Army and Navy. Yet within a year the number of men employed at the Royal Aircraft Factory had been increased from four or five hundred to about a thousand, and the right hon. gentleman admitted recently that he had, without giving notice of change of policy, issued an order for the manufacture of 24 aeroplanes at the Royal Aircraft Factory. He was not saying that it was not desirable to have a State aircraft factory, but it was only fair to other aeroplane manufacturers in the country that they should have full and definite knowledge of that fact. He suggested that the Secretary of State should give particular attention to the production of an English engine. In time of war we would not be able to get foreign engines, and it was essential to the well being of the aeroplane force that we should get an English engine. He did not wish to revive the controversy of last year as to the number of efficient aeroplanes possessed by the War Office. All he would say was that the figures which the right hon. gentleman had given to-day proved conclusively that he had not 100 efficient aeroplanes in the month of July last. Included in the list which the right hon. gentleman took credit for were 28 monoplanes. Between the rising of the House in August last and the following Christmas the whole of these were knocked off the War Office list. The right hon. gentleman ought not to have kept telling the House all last summer that he had a certain number of efficient aeroplanes, including these monoplanes, when he knew that as soon as the House rose he would knock these 28 machines oft the list. The right hon. gentleman has now made the significant ad mission that for every working aeroplane there should be a spare one in dock. He had said we had 161 aeroplanes. That meant that we could not pat more than 80 machines in full working order in the air at any moment, and he (Mr. Joynson-Hicks) doubted if any of the air squadrons could take the field up to full strength and fully equipped with transport, spare parts, &c. The House should take note of the strides made by Germany in the last twelve months with regard to her military aeroplane service. To-day she held " records for flight distance for the whole world. During the last few months one German military aeroplane had been up for 16 hours 20 minute s in a non-stop flight ; another had been up for 16 hours and 1 minute; and a third for 14 hours and 7 minutes. The right hon. gentleman knew that we had no aeroplane which could do the same. While the aeroplane service had considerably advanced during the last six months, the Government did not sufficiently realise the vital importance of that service being equal to any other in the world. Although he would like to see an increase of at least ^250,000 in the amount spent on the aeroplane service, the only method of protesting against the insufficient Esti mates was the ridiculous one of moving a reduction in them. He, therefore, moved to reduce the Vote by ;£ioo. Mr. Dundas White urged ihe importance in the present transition stage of endeavouring to make progress by developing the type of aeroplane rather than spending wildly on multiplying the number of machines. He thought before long, instead of the air service being entrusted to the Army and the Navy, a distinct branch dealing with aviation would be required, and that the work of the department might ultimately be the most important part of the Services. Mr. Lee said the statement which the Secretary for War had made that afternoon had been vastly more satisfactory than his state ments to the House last year. At the same time, he did not wish the right hon. gentleman to infer that the Opposition regarded the present position as entirely satisfactory. He joined in the well- deserved tribute which the right hon. gentleman had paid to the officers engaged in this particular service. The right hon. gentleman had not given a satisfactory reason for the departure in his policy. He hoped the Army would not finally and definitely abandon the use of small airships for purely military purposes until the matter had received a great deal more consideration, and until the opinions of those who had to take part in .small frontier wars had been obtained. Would the Secretary for War tell the Committee what would be the actual status of the officers of the Army Flying Corps who would be transferred to the Navy ? Would they continue to 21 be Army officers or would they be naval officers, and what would be their prospects with regard to promotion and pensions ? In his remarks concerning aeroplanes the right hon. gentleman had shown them that the position had been greatly improved by his policy of accelerating the completion of the eight squadrons for the Expeditionary Force, and it was a relief to know that within a measurable time the squadrons would be complete. He wished to know, however, whether they would be really on a war footing ? But even if the Secretary for War had these eight squadrons on a war footing, what provision had been made for the equipment of the Home Defence Army with aircraft in case the Expeditionary Force were sent abroad ? If the Home Defence Army were not pro vided with aircraft then no matter how well it was led and how strong the position they might hold against the invading enemy it would be doomed. It was more necessary that the Home Defence Arm y should be properly equipped in this respect than the Regular Army. Had the right hon. gentleman directed attention to this point ? Col. Seely : I have done so. Mr. Lee, while not denying that statement, said that the right hon. gentleman had not vouchsafed any conclusion at which he might have arrived to the Committee, which was entitled to informa tion on that point. Again, did the present Vote make any special provision for a larger and more adequate staff of mechanics ? With out competent mechanics the best flying men in the world were exposed to unnecessary risks. He wished to express the strongest objection to this country raising a voluntary national flying fund or a fund for presenting Dreadnoughts to the British Fleet, or anything of that description. It was the business of the Government and the taxpayer to provide what was necessary, and it ought not to be left to private enterprise. In conclusion he desired to join in the appeals which had been made to Colonel Seely and Mr. Churchill by the Press on their own side that having demonstrated, what it was unnecessary to demon strate, that they were men of courage, they should not make it a constant practice to expose their valuable lives unnecessarily to the risks of what was no doubt an exceedingly delightful occupation. If it was a case of restoring confidence in the service owing to a serious accident he would applaud the action of the right hon. gentlemen, but, as Colonel Seely had shown, recruits were pouring in in as large numbers as could be desired for the Air Service, and he thought that the business of flying might now be very well left to those whose proper business it was to engage in it. Major A. C. Morrison Bell asked whether any, and if so, what progress had been made in the arming of aeroplanes. Sir F. Banbury inquired how much of the original vote ,£2,027,000 was for aeroplanes. If the amount was not large, in view of the present Supplementary Estimate, it would indicate bad budgetting. Mr. H. Baker (Financial Secretary to the War Office) said it was impossible to .give the figure asked for by Sir F. Banbury. With regard to the 52 surplus aeroplanes which had disappeared since July there had been not only a question of their efficiency but one of their safety, which, in view of the present standard, was sufficient to condemn them. The best possible use had been made of these machines. Owing to the element of danger connected with them it would have been wrong to sell them in the open market. They had therefore been dismantled, and such parts as were serviceable had been set aside as reserve and spare parts. Mr. Lee had charac terised the transfer of the Army airships to the Navy as a startling change of policy. Obviously it must be an essential part of such an arrangement that so long as the Army required airships, and at present it was believed it did require them, they must be pro vided by the Navy. The development of the aeroplane service would be all the more rapid if it was conducted under a single control. With regard to the position of the transferred officers which had been referred to by Mr. Lee, that question had not yet been finally settled, but he couW give an assurance that the position of these officers would not be worse, but would probably be better, than heretofore. They had a perfectly free choice whether they would be transferred or not. As to British engines for Army aeroplanes, the number of British engines offered to the War Office was so small as to be almost negligible, but it was hoped that that would be remedied by the competition that was to take place in two months' time. Of the 100 new machines that had been added since last July 11 were made abroad and 89 at home, and of these 89 only 18 were made in the Army factory, 71 being ordered from private firms. It had been the unfortunate experience of the War Office that aeroplanes were not delivered as quickly as they would wish, this being partly due to firms over-estimating their power to deliver machines in time. There was no sort of intention on the part of the War Office to entirely cut off orders and manu facture themselves on a large scale. Mr. Joynson-Hicks, by leave of the House, withdrew his motion for a reduction of the Vote. Col. Seely said he would make a fuller statement with regard to the position of transferred officers when the Army Estimates for the coming year were presented. The Vote was then agreed to.
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