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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0622.PDF
JUNE 21, 1917. IN PARLIAMENT. Grass on W.O. Aerodromes. MAJOR WHELER in the House of Commons on June 13th asked whether it is proposed to mow and make hay of the large acreage oj grass land purchased or hired by the War Department for the landing stations round the aerodromes in Great Britain ? Mr. Maopherson: It is not possible to allow the grass to grow for hay at training squadron stations, as machines cannot land in lang grass and the whole aerodrome is continually being used. At nearly all home defence stations arrangements have been made to let the grass grow on certain portions of the aerodromes, as much as it can be done. Grazing is also resorted to wherever possible to keep the grass down. Major Wheler : In many districts can the War Office not consider the whole question more favourably than before ? I can quite understand that grazing cannot be carried out on account of aeroplanes landing and going up, but there is a large acreage of grass lands up and down the country which might be mown. Mr. Macpherson : \ will consider the matter. A Norfolk Aerodrome. MR. T. WILSON, on June 14th, asked the Minister of Munitions if he is aware that the firm of Higgs and Hill, of London, who are executing work for the Government at an aerodrome in Norfolk, on Saturday last discharged twenty men over military age, at the same time retaining in their service a number of aliens of military age; and what steps, if any, he proposes to take in the matter ? The Financial Secretary to the' War Office (Mr. Foster): I have been asked to reply to this question. I am inquiring into this case, and will let my hon. friend know the result in due course. Trick-Flying over Crowded Areas. MR. PEMBERTON BILLING asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the recent accident, he will request the Director-General of Aeronautics to discourage officers of the Royal Flying School from trick-flying over crowded areas or in the vicinity of their own homes ? Mr. Macpherson: Flying over crowded areas, unless necessitated by a definite duty, has always been discouraged. Air Raid in London. MR. ASQUIIB : May I ask the right hon. gentleman if he can give the House any further information as regards the extent of the damage done by the raid yesterday, in addition to that which has been published ? Mr. Bonar Law : I have made inquiry, and there is no further information about the raid beyond what was communicated- to the Press this morning. I am glad to be able to say that Zeppelin " L 43" was destroyed by our naval forces this morning in the North Sea. Soon after being attacked she burst into flames fore and aft, broke in two and fell into the sea. Mr. Hogge : Would the right hon. gentleman answer the point as to whether the victims of the aeroplanes, and their dependants, are to receive any sort of compensation from the Government r Mr. Joynson-Hicks : Will the right hon. gentleman be in a position, either now or early next week, to make a statement in regard to the defences of London against hostile aircraft, and will he be able to make any statement on behalf of the Government in regard to possible reprisals ? Sir F. Banbury: Would it be possible by ringing the bell at St. Paul's, or in some other manner, to let people in the City know that an air raid is expected, as this is really very important; and is the right hon. gentleman aware that large sums of money were in the different offices of the banks yesterday which, if notice had been given, could have been put down into the •afes ? (Hon. Members : What about life ?) Mr. Bonar Law : In regard to the question of the right hon. baronet, I think that we are mi5re interested in the lives of the people than in the money in the banks, though obviously there is no reason why that should be lost; but I may say that the question of warning has already many times before been considered carefully, and I am told that there is a great deal to be said on the other side. Experience has shown us that the result of warning is simply to drive people into the street, and I am informed that yesterday people in the West End actually took taxis to go down to see the raid when they heard that it was taking place. As regards the question oi my hon. friend as to the means to be taken beyond those already taken for protection against air raids, the matter is occupying the closest attention of the Departments concerned, but I am sure that neither my hon. friend n?r the House will expect us to say what we are endeavouring to do. Sir H. Dalziel: Has the Government any information as to a further raid taking place to-day ? Mr. Bonar Law: I have no information beyond the rumour which has reached my hon. friend. Air Raids. MR. JOYNSON-HICKS, speaking on the motion for adjournment, said; I should like to ask a question or two with regard to the air raid of yesterday. Perhaps the Home Secretary may be able to make a statement as to a portion of the matter in which a great many people are interested in regard to this air raid. I am not going into the whole question at the present moment, but, as the House knows, yesterday's raid—the third, I think in a fortnight, was the most considerable of all, the casualties, I believe, being something over 500—njy right hon. friend will be able to give us in a moment the .exact numbers—and there is a somewhat strong feeling amongst the people of London that they would like at least to be reassured that everything that possibly can be done for their protection is being done. I desire to say at once that I do not want a single machine brought back from the front. I do not want the Army or Navy crippled in the slightest degree in order that we here may be kept in safety. The Army comes first, and we want it as fully supplied as possible with the best machines and the best guns. But something might be done for Londpn, for instance, by a system of warning, such as has been done for some provincial towns. I had occasion yesterday to go to^psgjjch, and I found they had received warning from their police of a raid, thai within a quarter of an hour the German aeroplanes had passed away from Ipswich and were en route for London ; the warning was taken off, and the people of Ipswich were able to go about their business in the usual way. I quite realise that London is infinitely larger than any of our provincial cities. At the same time, there was very great disinclination, we remember, in this House a year or so ago to give any kind of warning in provincial cities. It has now been found possible to give warning in all towns on the South and South-East Coasts in order that people may remain indoors. It is very much safer to keep indoors when a raid is taking place than to go gaping in the streets to see what is happening. People in London do not realise the danger, because there is no warning given. It was stated this afternoon that some people even took motor cars to go into the City to see the raid—a most futile and foolish proceeding. If my right hon, friend can give us any idea of whether it is possible to have some kind of warning, such as is given to provincial towns and cities, it might be a great advantage in keeping the people of London under cover, because there will be more raids. I do not think we can assume for a moment that we are out of the wood, and that now Germany has begun this policy of calculated brutality on the people of this country, as apart from the Army, she is likely to stop for one moment. I do not know whether the Undersecretary for War can give any information on the other side of the question, apart from police warning, with which the Home Secretary will deal, as to the arrangements made for the anti-aircraft defence of London, and whether he can assure us Hiat the best guns are now being used, or whether there is any hope'that in a month or two's time better anti-aircraft guas can be provided for our-defence. 1 If it is undesirable to make any statement on that question, I need hardly say that I will not press it. Further than that he may be able to tell us something of the arrangements for sending up aeroplanes for the defence of London. It was freely said at the time of the Folkestone raid that there was notice of it in Great Britain three- quarters of an hour before bombs were dropped on Folkestone. It is also said tttat 43 minutes at. least before bombs were dropped on London the advent ot hostile aeroplanes was known over the coast of Essex. If that is so, there was surely tune for our aircraft to ascend and meet the enemy in the air. We — country mil.. „. „„„ „_. „„, come over, as they are able now to do, at a height of 15,000 to 20,000 ft., and at a speed of So to 100 miles an hour, it may not be always possible to stop them 1 do not ask the hon. gentleman to give an assurance that it is at all possible completely to eliminate raids of that kind, but I do ask the Government —i ain not pressing for a reply—at the present time—to take into very serious consideration the policy of reprisals on German towns. Germany has now entered on warfare, not only against the Army of Great Britain, but has declared deliberate war on the nation, the men, women and children of our country. She is going definitely and persistently to pursue that warfare on the nation, ana I submit to the House and the Government that the time is very rapidly approaching when, whether we like it or not, we shall be forced to declare war in the same way on the German people. Not that I have any desire whatever for the exercise of cruelty, or to slay Germans because they have slain our people. I say this because I believe it'is the only possible way of bringing home to the German nation the enormity of what they have done—that is, the adoption . of the policy on their part of destroying the English civilian population in the way they have done. I ask the Government to state, not that there will be a small and insufficient raid on a town like Cologne or any similar German town, but that as soon as a raid of this sort, involving, as it has done, 500 casualties, takes place, stern and swift reprisals will take place on German towns. I ask for that, and that the Government should very seriously consider it. I cannot ask the hon. gentleman to make a statement on that to-night because it must be a matter for the very careful and serious consideration of the War Cabinet, but I do ask him to inform the War Cabinet that feeling is rising and that the only certain way of stopping these raids, in spite of the defence we may make by means of our aeroplanes and anti-aircraft guns, is that we shall punish, and punish severely, raids of this kind by inflicting similar raids with certainty —because they are useless without certainty—on German towns. If the right bon. gentleman can give me some information I shall be very glad. Sir G. Cave : It is only natural after so serious a raid as that which occurred yesterday that a statement should be asked for regarding it at the earliest moment in the House of Commons, and that Members should want the fullest information that can properly be given to them. I have the figures as last ascertained of the casualties which occurred yesterday, and they are very serious. The number of killed as far as yet known is 104, the number seriously Injured 154, and the number slightly injured 269. These figures make a tota of 527 casualties, including, I am sorry to say, 120 children, either, killed or injured. Our enemy has made the statement that his aeroplanes yesterday bombarded the fortress of London. I hope it will not be forgotten that among the victims of that bombardment are 120 young children, a number of them under five years of age. With regard to the questions that have been asked, he will not expect me to deal with those detailed points he has raised, or with the large question of policy referred to in the last part of his speech. I can only deal to-night with this question relating to the warnings which have been given of air raids. That is a question which, of course, has been considered in con- junction and consultation with the home forces. It is a matter which has never been an easy matter, and has been dealt with very carefully indeed. Of course, the moment hostile forces reach the coast, or approach the coast, warnings are sent to headquarters in London. The air raid warning is of course dis- tributed among the centres to which information ought to be given, namely, to the headquarters of the police, the police stations, explosive factories, and other places which I need not particularise. Apart from that the police both ordinary and special, have instructions to give all possible warning to people in the streets in the case of real danger, to go under cover, and the only question that has been raised, and which has caused any doubt in my hon. friend's mind, is whether some warning should not be given to the public, either by hooters or in some other way that an air raid is impending. That is a question upon which I do not wish to pronounce a final opinion. It has been considered time after time, and I have always found it remarkable that on every occasion the experts have been unanimously of opinion that any public warning to the public as a whole of an impending air raid should not be given. Of course, it will be given if given at all to the whole of this great metropolis of London. You cannot particularise for more than one district any more than you can in places like Ipswich or the small towns where it is given. If you give a public warning you give it to the whole of London. In the second place, it must not be forgotten that cases where there is a raid threatened or impending are many times more than cases where an actual raid occurs. In fact, in London I think in the last two raids no warning could be given, because certain precautions were not observed, whereas for the last five times before yesterday when the warning was given there was no raid. It follows that if you are to give a warning you must give it on all occasions. The result is immediate dislocation in the minds of the people. Many others go down and look up at the air, as we all know from yesterday's and to-day's experience. And to-day there was no raid at all. They leave their work, not for a short time, but in many cases for the whole day. And the day's work is lost. In nearly every case where a warning is given of an air raid the man quite naturally leaves his work and is entitled to go home and make sure that his home and people are safe. Therefore a warning of this kind only results in the loss of a day for many thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of workmen. There are two munition factories close to each other in one particular district just outside London. In one case they heard of the last raid and the 4,000 men who were warned left their work and lost a day's work. " In the other factory some thousands of men had their whole day's work hindered from the same cause. To-day there was no raid, and what I have said shows how much work may be lost by warnings given when raids do not ensue. If you give that warning to all munition factories and it is not needed you put a stop to the manufacture of munitions which will have its effect upon the fighting forces and the lives of our soldiers and sailors. That is an important consideration from the point of view of the Ministry of Munitions. If we made it a practice to give a public warning on every occasion when a raid is supposed to be possible that would result in such a dislocation of ordinary occupations and our preparations for war, that we should in that way afford the greatest possible satisfaction to our enemies. It would, in fact, be worth the enemy's while to have these raids every day of the week, and the result would be well worth their while if they knew what I have described would be the result of each attempt. 622
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