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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0722.PDF
(/jJGHT Has been caused among the poorer people through the destruction of their furniture, and it is this class of case in which the property compensation part of the scheme will come into operation. In such cases assistance may be given, limited to the replacement of furniture er utensils essential to the daily life of the home, but it is to be limited to a maximum payment of £20. Except for this very useful provision, the scheme is strictly limited to relief in cases of loss of life or personal injury. We welcome the scheme, which, if it is not drafted on a particularly generous scale and is somewhat limited in its scope, at least establishes the cardinal principle of national liability for air-raid damage. • * <* ~: •--••''•* •*' The Director-General of Voluntary Winter Organisations, Sir Edward Ward, has Comforts issued an appeal for winter comforts Troops. for tne troops. As he points but, whatever may happen in the way of peace movements in the meantime, it will obviously be necessary that a very large number of troops shall be kept in the field all through the coming winter. Therefore, even supposing there should be a cessation of active hostilities to-morrow—of Which there is not the remotest possibility—the necessity would still exist for a huge mass of voluntary effort for the supply of our men in the field with " comforts." We therefore commend to the good offices of our readers the object of Sir Edward Ward's organisation. In his appeal he writes : "I feel sure that all workers who have the welfare of the soldiers at heart will appreciate the great importance of ' pooling' all gifts. The machinery for distribution through the medium of the ' comforts pool' at the various battle fronts has been gradually perfected, with the result that officers have only to make their wants known to the special officer in charge of the 19, 1917. ' comforts pool' in any theatre of war where they are quartered to ensure the immediate delivery of the comforts required for their men." Where our readers are more directly interested in the Flying Services, we would remind them that the very excellent organisation, abfy administered by Lady Henderson and MHS. Murray Sueter for the provision of comforts for men of the R.N.A.S. and R.F.C., is still in existence and as deserving of help as ever. . . . ._ , - . .... - •'•••"• On Saturday evening last London had London's its first experience of being warned of First a threatened air raid. As a matter of Warning. *act > n0 ra'^ eventuated, and the "warning therefore resolved itself into a species of dress rehearsal of the real thing. On the whole, the arrangements seem to have worked rather well. Policemen on foot and on bicycles were sent through the streets bearing placards warning people to get under cover, and although it appears that only a very small percentage of people actually saw the warning notices, the news that a raid was expected spread with the speed of electricity. It is satis- factory to know that there was no semblance of panic, even in the districts that have suffered most severely in previous raids. So far as it is possible to learn, practically the population of London affected pro- ceeded quietly and in a perfectly orderly manner to get under the best available cover. The present method of giving warning is, perhaps, crude and somewhat uncertain, but it is only a temporary arrangement, and will, no doubt, be very much improved upon ere long. The principal satisfaction to be derived from Saturday's experience is that it is possible to give effective "short warning " at all, and that the people are able to take the threat of invasion by air with tolerable equanimity. GOVERNMENT AIR RAID GRANTS. A SPECIAL circular is being issued to the local authoritiesamplifying an unpublished circular of June 16th last, and reaffirming the sympathetic attitude of the Local GovernmentBoard towards sufferers from air raids. This has been done owing to the amount of misapprehension which prevailsas to the extent of the means available to alleviate distress in the Metropolis from these raids. Local relief committeeshave been appointed who are charged with the work of making immediate advances from the National Relief andMansion House Funds. The local committees have been authorised to grant immediate relief up to an amount equi-valent to the rates of Army separation allowances. The new scale applicable to air-raid cases is as follows :— First adultSecond adult EachFirst additional adultchild .. s. 16 16 10 7 d. 0 0 0 0 Second child ..Third child .. Each additional child s.5 3 3 d- 0 6 0 Supplementary Maintenance Allowance.—It is recognisedthat there may be exceptional cases where the bread-winner has been killed or rendered physically unfit for work and thefamily income from all sources, including the maintenance allowance available under the preceding heading, is insufficientto maintain the household "in a reasonable degree of comfort. In such cases the Local Representative Committee areauthorised to supplement the temporary maintenance allowance by a sum not exceeding 4s. a week in respect of the first member of the family, 2s. in respect of the secondmember, and is. in respect of each additional member. Should there be any case in which the temporary maintenanceallowance and the supplementary allowance are together insufficient, application may be made to the GovernmentCommittee by the local committee for authority to grant a special excess allowance.Replacement of Essential Articles of Furniture.—In view of the Government scheme of insurance, assistance shouldnot ordinarily be required in the case of damage to property. Cases may, however, arise where distress has been causedamong the poorer people through the destruction of their furniture. In such cases assistance may be given by tb,elocal representative committee, but it should be limited to the replacement of furniture or utensils essential to thedaily life of the home and the assistance granted for this purpose in any individual case should not exceed £20.Funeral Expenses.—The local representation committee are authorised to defray the funeral expenses of any victimsof the raid up to a maximum of £g in each case. Special Grants.—Application may be made to the Govern-ment Committee for authority to make special grants in cases not covered by any of the above headings, as, forexample, where special medical or surgical treatment and appliances are needed.In addition, as already stated in " FLIGHT," applicationsfrom, the temporarily homeless and other special cases will be sympathetically considered by the Government Committee. Prince of Wales's Fund Helps Raid Victims. IN a report up to March 31st upon this fund the Executive of civil distress during the six months was ^57,519, andthis sum included ^1,085 f°r the relief of air-raid victims, substantial grants were also made for the relief of sufferersCommittee state that the total amount issued in respect f rom the explosion in the East of London. ; ;"y •' ' 722
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