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Aviation History
1916
1916 - 0489.PDF
JUNK 8, 1916. dreamt of referring to it, but he thought, in justice to the memory of the man who was killed, somebody should call attention to it, so that a correction might be made in the Press. Major Baird said he could assure the hon. gentleman that if a correction was found necessary that correction would be made, and the last thing that was conceivable was that injustice should bedone to anyone. The machine was a dual control machine, and the 1/XlGHTI officer to whom he referred, »nd who was unfortunately killed, was not the pilot. He could assure Mr. Hilling that Lord Curcon was fully ativr to the importance of careful inquiry into the types of machine* before ordering, and he was ready to welcome any suggestion which the hon. Member, or any other competent adviser, was prepared to place before him. QUESTIONS IN PARLIAMENT. R.F.C. Transfers to R.N.A.S. MR. BUSS asked in the House of Commons; on June 1st, whether an officer relinquishing his commission in the Army, with the consent of the War Office, in order to join the Royal Naval Flying Corps in response to the call for qualified men, is entitled to receive the gratuity provided in Article 497 in the Army Regulations for the period thev have served in the Army ? Mr. Forster : Yes, sir ; if the officer wou'd be entitled to the gratuity under ordinary circumstances, and the transfer is made in the interests of the public service. Aircraft Messages and " Summer Time." MR. PETO asked whether, under Order dated May 21st, officers are instructed, when sending aircraft messages to a certain naval centre, to use Greenwich mean time, indicating this by the letters " G.M.T." after the figures, and to change all messages received from military sources which have to be transmitted to this naval centre into Greenwich mean time ; and whether, in vie w of the complexity of this arrangement, he cannot arrange for the Naval Service, as well as the Military, to comply with the Summer Time Act? Dr. Macnamara replied that the answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. With regard to second part of the question, it is not expedient, for naval purposes, to make this change. Canadian Officers in the R.F.C. MR. JOYNSON-HICKS asked the Financial Secretary to ;he War Office if he is aware that officers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, who have been transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, receive no additional pay either while under instruction or after having qualified ; and if he can see his way to remedy without delay this inequality of treatment to these young officers ? Mr. Forster : Canad an officers serving with the Royal Flying Corps remain in the pay of the Canadian Government, and receive the rates of pay authorised by that Government. ® ® THE R.F.C. AT the resumed sitting of the Committee of Inquiry into the Com mand, Administration, &c, of the Royal Flying Corps, on June tst, Mr. Justice Bailhache again presided. The first witness was Sir Alfred Mond, who, explaining various points in the spjech he made in the House of Commons on March 28th, said that he thought the air service had not been considered sufficiemlyas an independent arm. He expressed regret that the airship section of the Royal Flying Corps was abandoned, and the whole section handed over to the Admiralty. He had no know ledge why this step was taken, but it appeared to him that the airship a? a factor in long-distance bombardment on land was in many respects more suitable than aeroplanes, and also, of course, for purposes of defence against other aircraft. Members of Parliament had difficulty in getting what might be called legal evidence. They received information from apparently reliable people, but such evidence was not always of a satisfactory or reliable character. Personally, he had not made any allegations against the eminent men who were conducting difficult departments in difficult circumstances. On February 15th last Mr. Bonar Law spoke of the great scarcity of material and the need of engines. He (Sir A. Mond) asked-How long ago was it that this engine short age occurred, and what steps were taken to communicate with manufacturers who could supply these engines? No_doubt there was a difficulty in obtaining labour, but great as the difficulty might be, it was noi an impossibility. He was told that one f™~™ name was given privately to the Chairman-of mo 01 car makers who co ild build engines rapidly were engaged ,n making Staff cars for the War Office The greater part of this firm's f«W"£ about two months ago, turned over for building engines, tl^ ">e other portion was still employed in building cars Another^impor tant works, he was informed, whose plant was evidently suitably for the manufacture of aeroplane engines, was employed^ m making shells of a small type for the Ministry of Munitions Another company offered to build engines for the R.F.C., but for some reason the offer was not accepted. Instead the R. N. A. S. accepted Antl-Aircraft Corp*' Kit Allowance. MR. JOYKSONHH KS asked whether men enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Anti-Aircraft Corps are given a grant of £3 kit allowance and a similar amount on promotion to chief petty officers; whether, if they are discharged, even after eighteen months' service, in order to take commissions in the Navy or Army, they are compiled to refund two-thirds of such allowance ; and, if so, whether he a ill take steps to stop this hardship? Dr. Macnamara: The kit allowances payable to ratings of the Ami Aircraft Corps are £6 to chief petty officers and 43 to A.B.'s. Under the Regulations of the corps men who resign voluntarily are required to refund the allowance, and each man enrolled in the corps agrees to refund the amount paid to him if called upon to do so. No man who enlists in either the Army or Navy is called upon to refund, but men of the Anti-Aircraft Corps obtaining commissions are ralkd upon to repay two-thirds of the gratuity. Tbe P.F.C. Inquiry. MR. IIOGGK asked in the House of Commons 00 Mav ;ist whether Lord NorthclifTc, »ho has been arraigning the Air Sms, 1 for many months, has l>een asked to give evidence before thr Air Inquiry ; whether he has refused j and, if so, what were his reasons? Mr. Tennant: It is, of course, for the President and members of the Air Committee to settle their own procedure and what witnesses they will call. I am not aware whether they have thought fit to call Lord NorthclifTe or not, nor whether, if he has Iwen called, he has accepted or refused, not in the event of his having refused what were his rea-ons. 1 think the House must wait the presentation of the Report before expecting information on such points as those contained in this que ti^n. Mr. Hogge asked the Under-Secretary for War whether the members of the Air Inquiry are receiving any payment for their work? Mr. Tennant : The members of the Air Committee are not receiving payment. ® ® INQUIRY. the offer, and were extremely pleased with the result. Thrre had been a tendency, he continued, to discourage outside experiments. Mr. Butcher: Does that complaint come chitfly from manu facturers ? Sir A. Mond said it csme from ou'sidc aeronautical circles. Willi regard to inventions, in one case a young engineer has designed a novel type of quick-climbing machin-, which was favourably received by the authorities and the War Office, and they a ked him why he did not have it built. This man explained that he had no money, and he was then told he ought to get someone 10 finance hun. The Chairman observed that it was not fair for people who had grievancts against Government Departments to go aliout publishing their grievance without giving the Committee an opportunity of investigating them. It was not quite fair for them to decline to give their names. Witness quoted Mr. Tennant's statement in the House of Com mons that sometimes we were superior in the air, and sometimes the Germans were. General Sir H. Smith-Dorrien : Do I understand you to say thai we have not got superiority in the air at the present moment ?—I did not say that. That was Mr. Tennant's answer. Don't you think the report that comes in from the long line we are holding must vary, and that at some parts we have the superiority and that at others we have not?—It i> extremely likely. Therefore it is very difficult really to jay one way or the other that we have superiority ?—I should think that equality was a better description of it. I should think from what 1 have heard that we had a greater superiority when the war began than we have to-day. Mr. Butcher suggested that our airmen flew fifty miles over the German lines to every mile the Germans flew over ours. Sir Alfred Mond replied that when on a visit to the front in February the German airmen were flying cheerfully ten miles behind our line, and that the place he was at was tombed. Sir H. Smith-Dorrien said that a brigadier-gentral just home 489
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