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Aviation History
1916
1916 - 0806.PDF
Both these types did well, but, as has already been said, they were compromises designed more to fill a gap than to be of a permanent character. Therefore, much experimental work was inaugurated and carried on along the lines of the present " Tanks." This experimental work received the enthusiastic support of Mr. Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, and of Commodore Sueter, then Director of the Air Department, who may justly be described as the pioneer of the armoured car in the British service. As he pioneered the submarine and the aeroplane, so he threw himself heart and soul into the develop ment of the armoured car. Thus it came about that when, a little more than a year ago, it was decided from motives of policy that the Army should take over the armoured car, the new design was practically past the experimental stage- As to who was actually the first man to promulgate the idea of these " Tanks," together with drawings, &c. is another matter. It was fortunate that so able and progressive an officer as Col. Swinton should have been detailed to handle the new arm and give practical effect to the work that had been done under the aegis of the Admiralty, and that he should have been ably seconded by others like Major Stern and Capt. Symes, who had been closely associated with Commodore Sueter in the development of the fighting car since the early days of the war. Who Since Sir Douglas Haig reported on the Conceived extraordinary success achieved by the tne " Tanks," the whole Press of the "Tanks"? country ]ias |)ecn [)ugv awardihg the credit of their conception to endless people. Every one who has been even remotely connected with their development has been awarded praise. Mr. Winston Churchill, who was at the Admiralty when the " Tank " experiments were inaugurated ; Col. Swinton, who took over the direction of the practically completed experiments when the Armoured Car Division Was handed over to the Army ; and half-a- dozen others have been named, but no one appears to have remembered—if, indeed they knew—that the first suggestion of employing the type for fighting came from Lieut. Macfie, who in the early days of aviation was prominently identified with the move ment. The full story cannot be told now. It is one of those that must remain untold till the end of the war. As we have noted above, Mr. Churchill and Com modore Sueter gave every encouragement to the idea of adapting a particular form of traction to armoured car purposes, but credit where credit is due. It was Macfie who first urged the suitability of the type. The Daily Mail has been unmasked ! N&uT^ls ^e navc it on tne authority of the Hear the Vossische Zeitimg that our contemporary "Truth." always prints two editions. One con tains the truth, for home consumption ; the other, pretty articles to impress the neutrals. Apparently, it is the edition for neutrals that has been reaching the Editorial breakfast table, for we have remained in ignorance up to now of the destruc tion of the Houses of Parliament, among other fearful havoc, which the truthful edition of the Mail tells us all about. No wonder we live in a fool's paradise, when our leading journals suppress the truth in this double-handed way, so to speak. Seriously, though, the Germans must be feeling the pinch pretty badly when they are reduced to perpetrating forgeries of our daily journals to get their own people and those of neutral countries to believe their mendacities relating to their abortive air raids on England. We take it they are quite prepared for the post-war results of their methods ? One result of these must inevitably be that no one will ever take the word of a " Hunzollern," even though it were backed by all the affidavits ever sworn. They must go through history branded as a nation of liars, with whom no decent man may have dealings save at his peril. The Investors' Guardian of the 9th inst. p ™ze Money makes the interesting suggestion that Destroyers, the Naval system of awarding prize- money should be extended to the air services. The contention put forward in support of the idea is, it is only right and proper when the skill and daring required for the successful dealing in the air with the Zeppelin menance are taken into account, ^some tangible mark of the country's appreciation should be awarded. The Investors' Guardian assesses that appreciation at £1,000. There are arguments for and against. In the first place, it has to be noted that the suggested reward would take the shape of a purely personal gratuity, differing thereby from the Naval system, in which the prize-money is shared by all concerned in the deed for which it is awarded. If the system were to be logically carried out, the prize-money would have to be divided pro rata among everyone concerned, in which case the sum noted would not go very far. If, however, it is to be purely a personal gratuity to the aviator who actually is fortunate enough to deal the coup dc grace to an airship which has been previously disabled either by gunfire or by bombing by a less fortunate airman, then the incidence of the reward would scarcely be fair. All are in favour of recognising—and recognising handsomely—the superlative gallantry of our flying services, but we confess we are rather at a loss to see how in this matter justice can be done to one without the risk of injustice to others. Probably the best method of dealing with the question would be to authorise the allocation of so much prize- money for the destruction of enemy aircraft, to be granted or not in the discretion of the competent authorities, and, if granted, to be allocated as decided by them. But whatever shape the idea may or may not ultimately take, the question is at least one that will bear examination. • E H ES New Prizes for Zepp. Strafers. A PRIZE of /500 has been offered by Mr. J. W. Isherwood, the inventor of the system of ship construction bearing his name, to the next aviator to bring down a Zeppelin on British soil. A similar prize has also been put up by Commander Sir Edward Nicholl, R.N.V.R.', of Cardiff. 802
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