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Aviation History
1916
1916 - 0447.PDF
MAY 25, 1916. place when the machines were rushing at the rate of 80 or 100 miles an hour at perhaps a thousand feel above the ground. There was nothing in fiction so inspiring to the imagination as these thrilling riran as of courage and dexterity fought in the air without spectators* Therefore it was impossible to speak too highly or with too much respec: of ihe gallantry of the Royal Flying Corps. But it was un generous to those who provided the machines to assume that all the credit was due to the gallantry of the aviators and nothing to the efficiency of the machines. The machines were marvels of finish and ingenuity, and of the resources of mechanical ability. He was persuaded, therefore, that not only did we do more than the Germans in this matter, but that there was nothing that the Germans could do that we could not do also. He did not say that there was no occasion for improvement or opportunity for criticism, but, taking all considerations into account, our Royal Flying Corps was the most efficient in the world. Mr. Bonar Law, after remarking that Lord Hugh Cecil's speech had added that element of common sense which had not always been conspicuous in the air debates, said : The Prime Minister has asked me, as a member of the War Council which is responsible for the decision the Government have taken in this matter, to take part in this debate this afternoon, and my chief purpose is, of course, to give the House as clearly as I can the reasons—and we thought they were weighty reasons—that brought us to the conclusion ttat on the whole the plan on which we had decided was the best. But before dealing with that, I should like to say a few words about the kind of criticism of our air service generally, of which we have not heard so much so far this afternoon, but of which I have listened to a great deal in the past. On the last debate, in the few remarks wnich I made then, I said that after the examination I had given to the subject the conclusion to which I came was that the service was infinitely better than I expected. That impres sion reTains on my mind now more strongly than ever, and I think it is confirmed by the incident referred to by my right hon. friend opposite, and also by my right hon. friend near me—the decision of the hon. member for East Herts in regard to the Commission of Inquiry which was set up to meet in the main his charges. As regards the inquiry, the right hon. gentleman said something wiih which I do not agree. It is quite obvious the Government did not wish an inquiry ; its object was to avoid it, in view of the fact that it would occupy time which could better be devoted to other work. What was the justification for granting it ? It was that a member of this Houss, with all the responsibility of being a member of this House, made charges which implied that the men in charge of this service, and at the head of it, were, through criminal indifference and negligence and incapacity, killing men. Just think what the fathers of these boys would think when they heard of their deaths, and found it stated on that kind of authority, and no strong attempt made to disprove it, that some lives had been thrown away ! I think it is something which the Government, in justice to the men who are responsible for this seivice, were right in doing. That kind of charge can be made in this House, as everybody knows, without the possibility of answering it. Vou cannot go into the details. The hon. member was offered the opportunity of going before a judicial tribunal, which would be trusted, I venture to say, by every business man in the conntry or in this House with sifting carefully and impartially any evidence, technical or other, brought l>efore it. But the hon. gentleman declines to proceed further. Perhaps he is right. That depends entirely on the badness of his case. But it must be a very bad case indeed if it would not be in a better position after going before that Court of Inquiry than it is now. In judging as to the quality of our air service, it all depends really on the standard which is laid down. If what anyone has in his mind is the best possible service which under the lrest conditions we could have, then obviously our service leaves a great deal to be desired. But if the sandard is a comparison either with our enemy or with any of our Allies, then I am prepared to say, as my noble friend said just now, that our service is unquestionably far better than that of the enemy, and as I believe equal—I believe it is more than equal—to that of any of the combatants engaged in the war. From the beginning of the war we bad a great superiority in the air. That has con inued down to the present moment, but at the end of last year, or the beginning of this year, for the first time our airmen, who had hitherto made reconnaissances with comparative impunity, hardly ever being attacked, suddenly found that these Fokker machines were waiting for them, and we bad heavy casualties. It is perfectly true that the men who were doing reconnaissance work were on inferior machines to the best German machines. Though it is not the intention of those who direct the air service that men on that kfnd of machine should fight, yet you could not prevent them from fighting. They tucked up their wireless and went for the enemy wherever they found him. The result was that we had a considerable number of casualties. t/UGHT) There never was a time in this war when the Germans had a machine which was better than any of cmr machines, and had not a machine which was worse than the worst of ours. That is the position. The difficulty which faced us—that the Germans were waiting for our men on these slow machines—was not got over by suddenly inventing new machines. It was got over by our sending other machines, fighting machines, to escort them. Reconnaissance work is done by us with a frequency and regularity of success which is not eve 1 attempted by the Germans. The truth is our aeroplanes crossed the German lines oftener than thi-v crossed ours. I have had taken out a return of all those comltats which took place between July 27th and May 4th. Of course there were many casualties that were not the result of real combats. Of these Son tests there were 47S. Of these, 6| only took place on the British side of the line, and in these 13 German machines rare (nought down and not a single British machine at all. Of course we lost in fights on the other side of the line, and over the trenches a la-ge number of mach nes and men. But we do not know what the enemy lost. These figures show the truth of the statenn nt I made to the House that we do usi the Air Service for military puipotei t.> a far greater extent than the enemy. The next kind of charge is in connection with the machines. It is obvious that if you compare one type of machine with an entirety different type it is easy to make out a case that we are entirely out classed. This reconnaissance work is done with a slower machine, and the fact that they hive wireless and photographic apparatus makes it a necessity that they roust be slower tban the machines which are doing nothing hut fighting. These machines then arc- slower. But all that talk about Fokker machines l>eing superior tu any of ours was absolutely untrue at the time it was mule. Fokker machines have been captured, and one of them u being used regularly by our airmen. It is a fact, I am told, that we have machines of at least two types which are distinctly superior town every point of view to the Fokker, and there are other types which are at least equal. All this idea that we are b hind is wrong. It would be well for the House to realise to what extent this service has grown. I cannot oliviously give the figure, hut I will point out two things. In the first place to enable the service to grow, you ha*e to have simultaneously aeroplanes, parts of engines, and mechanics and pilots. They all have to be kept going simul taneously. To train pilots alone was difficult. There was a great temptation all through the war to send the largest numhei of ttWMd pilots to the fiont, but to have done that would have prevented you from developing the pilots here at home. The result of reversing the process and of making sure that you are training pilots here is that now we are turning out every month a larger numtrer of trained pilots than the total number that was available from every source when war broke out. If you defend a force in this way i< MHBI to imply that you are perfectly satisfied. That does not follow. All I wish the House to realise is that the impression which hats l»een sedulously created that the service has Irecn muddled throughout is entirely wrong. If you wish to find mistakes in onnection with the carrying on of the war I am certain that it is not in the Air Service that the greatest number of these mistakes will W found. I come to the proposal the Government has to put before the House. In considering what should Ire done we had three alterna tives only before us. One was. without changing the two services, to do our best to develop them on their present lines. The second was to appoint a fully-fledged Air Minister. The third was, seeing that there is a joint service, to try to get it used jointly by meant of a joint board which would get the best out of both. There was a good deal to be said in the middle of the war for adopting the first course, and trying to develop more rapidly on the present lines In this connection what has happened in r-rance should lie vciy instructive to us, and it is not encouraging. Before the war, in France the Air Service was entirely in the hands of the War Office —in the hands of Colonel, now General, KerrChaner, A year before the war a very ttrong agiation took place in the French Press, and a large part of it was due to the dissatisfaction felt with him try the makers of aeroplanes. Owing to that agitation he had to give up his work. When the war broke out 1» was called back a> d again tcok over his "Id duties. That went on until September of last year. Again an agitation was raised—just the kind we now have alwut the air muddle and all the rest of it—and the agitation always became the most effective when there were Zeppelin raids. He was driven out of his post once more. Now the French Press, at least part of it, has had its way. Tin y appointed a full-blown Air Minister, an able man, M. Bexnard He appointed a committee consisting entirely of experts. That lasted for exactly five months. Another Zeppelin raid came, and the attack lregan all over again. The Air Minister has been turned out, and they nave reverted to the same position in which they were at the beginning of the war. That it not an encouraging example. I do not suggest that the French service did not go on while all 447
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