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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0680.PDF
I/HGHT and of its technical committee, and in that way we established a dose working relation between the manufacturing side and the Departments' which emulate programmes and designs. I am glad to say that the output of aero- planes is rapidly increasing. Jn May it was more than twice as great as it was in December. W$ shall make very rapid progress, and are making very rapid progress, in this matter. The supply by Christmas will be vastly greater than it is now. 1 am sure that the House will appreciate the fact that this department of work makes a particular demand on skilled workerr., for our increased production of aeroplanes depends largely upon an adequate supply of skilled workmen. Government Grants to Air Raid Victims on June 28th. MR. HOGGE, on June 28th, asked the Prime Minister whether the Govern- ment have considered any scheme for dealing with those who have been disabled as a result of injuries arising out of air raids and the dependants who have been left helpless as a result of the death of the breadwinner ; and when abatement of policy may be expected ? Sir. Bonar Law : I have made careful inquiry into this question, and find that in connection with air raids temporary assistance of a generous kind is forthcoming from the National Relief Fund and certain local funds, including the Mansion House Fund in the case of the recent raid on London. By this means it is possible to grant temporary maintenance allowances, to replace essential articles of furniture, to defray funeral expenses, and to secure the provision of,medical or surgical treatment or appliances. The Government has also decided to make ex gratia awards from public funds of a more permanent character in cases where personal injury has resulted in death or permanent disablement, and where the injured person or his depen- dants, as the case may be, are otherwise unprovided for. Claims for such assist- ance will be investigated by the local representative committees set up at the beginning of the war under the Government Committee for the Prevention and Relief of Distress. The reports of the committees will be forwarded to the Treasury, who will make the awards according to the circumstances of the various cases, and follow generally the principles of the Workmen's Compensa- tion Acts. Mr. Herbert Samuel: Is that decision retrospective ? Does it apply to injuries suffered since the beginning of the war. Mr. Bonar Law : I have considered that, and I think it is only right that the terms of my answer should apply to such cases. JULY 5, 1917. Mr. Joynson-Hicks : Will that also relate to injuries to property ? Thesouth-east has suffered heavily. . Mr, livu.ii Law ; No. I cannot say anything in regard to property. Mr. Rea ; Po?5 this apply only to air raWs or will it apply ateo to bombard-ments ? Mr. Bonar Law : This answer applies only to air raids. I believe something special was done in regard to bombardments, apart from what has been done in regard to air raids. Acquisition of Land for Landing Ground. -•• \ MR. JOYNSON-HICKS, on July 2nd, asked whether, in August, 1916, the Northern Command gave notice to the owners of certain land at Lullington, in Leicestershire, that they proposed to take it as a night landing-ground ; whether orders were given to cut down trees, grub up hedges, fill up drinking ponds, and level the land at a cost altogether of some £2,000 ; whether, six months afterwards, the scheme was abandoned ; whether, about the same time, similar proceedings took place in regard to some land at Popplewick, near Nottingham, except that here hangars jnd other buildings were put up, and that these were subsequently also abandoned ; what was the sum wasted by the nation over these proceedings ; and whether anybody has been punished in connection with them ? Mr. Macpherson : The ground in both these places was taken for purposes of defence. Owing to developments and alterations in the general scheme of aerial defence the immediate purpose for which the grouud was taken ceased to operate. The ground, however, amply fulfilled its object as long as the situation demanded it, and in neither case therefore was the expenditure wasted. The preparation of ground to admit of safe landing by night is in- evitably an expensive matter. The ground at Popplewick will almost certainly be required again, and the sheds erected will be utilised either there or else- where. Mr. Joynson-Hicks : What were the objects which the ground was intended to fulfil ? Was it ever used at all ? Mr. Macpherson : I must a,sk my hon. friend to give notice of that. Mr. L. Jones : Is it not the case that the land at Popplewick was found, after the expenditure had been incurred, to be wholly unsuitable ? Mr. Macpherson : I do not think that that is the case. Mr. Joynson-Hicks : Will the hon. gentleman make inquiries ? Mr. Macpherson : I must have notice of that, but I will make inquiry. R.N.A.S. Work. THE Secretary to the Admiralty issued the. following on June 26th :— " In the course of a patrol on the 25th inst. three machines of the R.N.A.S. encountered and engaged ten enemy machines in the vicinity of Roulers. After 15 minutes' fight one enemy machine was seen to go down in flames. It is thought that two more were driven down out of control, but owing to clouds this could not be verified. Our three machines finished their patrol and returned safely." Air Work on Indian Frontier. IN a communique issued by the Secretary of State for India on July 1st regarding operations in Waziristan, it is stated :— " Our aeroplanes raided Makin and Marobi with consider- able effect." Mr. Orville Wright's Views. IN an interview with the New York Times Mr. Orville Wright is credited with the statement that 10,000 aeroplanes would end the War within ten Weeks. Literally to sweep from the heavens every German aeroplane would be to put out the eyes of the German gunners. " The United States should begin the construction of a vast fleet of little fighting machines carrying one man and a quick-firing gun, and send them to the front within the year." Lord Northcliffe on America's Aid. SPEAKING at a luncheon given in his honour in New York on June 28th, Lord Northcliffe said that it was only by the absolute mobilisation of man power and machine power that the war could be won. In Europe, for example, one of the largest corset factories was now turning out very delicate pieces of machinery needed in the construction of aeroplanes. The automobile factories will inevitably be commandeered for the manufacture of aerolpane parts and aeroplane con- struction generally. In the aeroplane lies the one great hope of an Allied victory. The war has taught that the aeroplane engine of the spring may be almost useless for actual fighting next autumn, so rapidly are developments produced by the fierce competition of war. •..-_•_ U.S. Aviators Arrive. A CONTINGENT, numbering ioo, of mechanics of the U.S. Flying Corps, in charge of Major Boiling, arrived on this side on June 25th. They were in plain clothes, but wore a blue silk armlet inscribed " U.S. Flying Corps." According to the Daily News correspondent in Washington, it is planned to send, starting on August 25th, 200 aviators a week fcr the Army and to fit 25,000 youths for the flying services in a year. iti^ ' • .. \. Brave Firemen in Air Raid. £" THE following members of the Lcndcn Fire Brigade are commended fcr rescuirg 14 persens frcm a pesitien of peril, cllcwirg en 1re dreppirg cf a bemb frcm enemy aircraft on June 13th : Fireman F. Braxton, G. B. Gardiner, J. R. Davies, A. J. Trimmer and P. A. Greenaway. The following four men are commended for saving four lives from a building damaged by explosion and fire caused by bombs on the same date : Firemen J. \V. Spurgeon, W. Gowler, D. W. Tebbey and W. T. Cooper. _ - Is Remorse Getting Home? A SEMI-OFFICIAL telegram sent out from Berlin on June 28th said : " The grief in Germany is not less than the grief in Great Britain that in the last air attack for military objects on London, civilians, especially children, fell victims. It has occurred to nobody in Germany to regard the death of these children as a justifiable reprisal for the hundreds of children who fell victims in the air raids on Karlsruhe, Frei- burg and Trier (Treves)." Air Work Over Lens and Avion. WRITING to the Daily Telegraph With regard to the attack by the Canadians on Avion, Mr. Philip Gibbs said :— " In the still air there Was the drone of many engines. The darkening sky was full of black specks, which were British aeroplanes flying out on reconnaissance over Lens and Avion. ' Brave birds,' said a friend by my side, waving up to them. German shrapnel puffed about their wings, burst- ing with little glints of flame, but they flew on. A German sausage balloon staring over our battlefield took fright and waddled down to earth. A German aeroplane snapped out a few shots from a machine gun and fled to a safer corner of the sky, which grew darker as the quarters passed, with a greenish colour on the edges of low clouds. " At half-past six or so our air squadrons came back, and then went home. ' No battle after all,' said a man on earth. 'Those fellows have finished for the day.' But one fellow stayed. We had been watching him for some time, and he had shown signs of friendliness to us, skimming several times over our shell-hole within shooting distance. He was a most astonishing young gentleman, up to all manner of tricks, as it seemed out of sheer good humour, and time and time again he went darting over Avion, and then came back and dropped behind our lines like a tumbler pigeon, rolling over and over down the spiral staircase of the sky, or falling in a frightful nose dive, which looked like certain death, until he flattened out and flew, just to shave his wings over the shell-craters. He Went down the Vimy Ridge like a boy on a toboggan, and came up again like a strong swimmer on a rolling wave. The last time he swooped right down over our shell-hole with a wave of the hand, which said as clear as possible, ' Cherry oh.' " Another Italian Mail Service. IT was announced on June 28th that another Italian overseas mail service was inaugurated on that day. An aeroplane with mails left Naples at 6.24 and arrived at Palermo at 9.25. It was to make the return journey in the evening. 680
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