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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0825.PDF
AUGUST g, 1917. AVIATION IN PARLIAMENT. Enemy Aliens and Aerodromes.MR. BILLING, in the House of Commons on July 31st, asked whether, having regard to recent occurrences at a certain aerodrome, all enemy alienswill be removed from the districts and all German prisoners from the aerodrome ? Mr. Macpherson: I am not aware to what occurrence reference is made,but if I may be given details I will have enquiries made and appropriate action taken as far as lies in my power.Mr. Billing; Is the ton. gentleman not aware that in the question I put down the specific aerodrome, which I was asked to omit ? Surely that questionwould give the hon. gentleman facilities for obtaining information. Mr. Macpherson : I confess to having the question submitted to me, andI thought it was against the public interest that any specific aerodrome should be mentioned. I therefore took the responsibility of abstracting that myself.I made enquiries to-day, and the authorities at the War Office have no informa- tion at all about a recent occurrence such as the hon. member suggests. Aeroplane Manufacture at Railway Companies' Works.MR. DUNCAN asked the Minister of Munitions whether an offer has been made by the Great Western Railway Co. to manufacture aeroplanes in thecarriage department at the Swindon railway works; whether he is aware that facilities exist for the testing and finish of machines; and whether such offerhas been refused ? Sir Worthington Evans (Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry ofMunitions) : Some time ago, before the taking over of the Aeronautical Supply Department by the Ministry of Munitions, the Great Western Railway, withother railway companies, were asked to what extent they could assist in the manufacture of aeroplanes and aeroplane parts. It appeared that the facilitiesthey could then offer were comparatively small, and the matter was not pro- ceeded with. Some aeroplane parts have, however, been constructed by therailway companies. Mr. Duncan: Might not a fresh communication be sent to the railway com-panies to see if they could now supply the goods that are required ? Sir W. Evans: I understand that the facilities have not increased withinthe last few months; but if there is any individual railway company which can do anything substantial, I am sure that it will be done.Mr. Duncan : 1 understand that that is so. R.N.A.S. Station at Felixstowe.SIK HENRY DALZIEL asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether on the morning of the raid last Sunday the Felixstowe air commander was athis post; if not, will he say why not; and whether it is in the best interests of the Flying Service that a commander should live nearly three miles fromthe air station ? The Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty (Dr. Macnamara): It ispresumed that my right hon. friend is referring to the Royal Naval Air Station, and therefore I have been asked to answer this question. The reference is, ofcourse, to the raid of last Sunday week. The commanding officer was not on the station at the time mentioned, but there was present, as there always is,an officer of sufficient experience and seniority to take charge. It has not been possible to provide accommodation for the commanding officer actually at thestation itself. Mr. Billing: Can the hon. gentleman say whether in these circumstanceshe will see that whoever is left in command of the station has authority to give an order for the squadron to engage the enemy, without having to wait to findthe commanding officer or to get through to headquarters ? Dr. Macnamara: There is no need to say that. The second in commandhas full authority to engage the enemy at once, without waiting for anybody. Injured Policemen- and Gold Stripes. MR. BILLINO asked the Home Secretary whether a policeman who may MISS STINSON HELPS THE U.S. REDCROSS. Miss KATHERINE STINSON, the nineteen-year-old Americanaviatrix, whom most people have now read about, after her return from a six months' exhibition flying trip in Japan andChina, recently went to the Curtiss factory at Buffalo and bought a machine. The Curtiss people were, of course,hardly able to make delivery immediately, but as she wanted to make a special flight under the auspices of the Red Crossfrom Buffalo to Albany, New York, Philadelphia, ending at Washington, for the purpose of stirring up interest in thisgreat cause, the company let her have a JN just " off the floor," although she has not been in the habit of flyingthis machine, having used a small exhibition type, with a Gnome motor, for her regular flights. Yet after less than15 minutes' instruction under Rohlfs, the head instructor, she started off on her 670-mile flight in a drizzling rain,leaving Buffalo at 11.50 a.m. Sunday. She made Rochester, a distance of 68 miles, in 45 minutes. She left Rochesterat 2.15, arriving at Syracuse at 3.25. She left Syracuse at 5 p.m. and arrived at Albany at 6.45, landing at the sameplace where Mr. Curtiss started his Albany to New York flight. The next morning, due to the fact that the Red Crosspeople wished her to fly over New York at 12 noon, she left Albany at 10 a.m., and reached the metropolis at exactly12 o'clock noon, landing at Governors' Island at 12.17. After having lunch there she left at 2 p.m., and arrived in Phila-delphia at 3.10. Here she was met by a big party of Red Cross people and newspaper men, and did not succeed ingetting away until $.30. She arrived at the Potomac Park polo grounds at 7.30,-and after 315 minutes' demonstrationat an elevation of 4,000 feet, she made a graceful wide circuit of the Washington monument, taking a nose dive of 1,800 feet,and glided into the polo grounds, the OX engine-running all the time like a top. Altogether it was some " stunt " for a nineteen-year-oldsmall maiden of 5 feet 5 inches and weighing only 105 lbs. to accomplish. suffer injury directly or indirectly attributable to the action of the enemy isentitled to wear the gold stripe on the left arm denoting injury received in the service of the country ? The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sir George Cave) : Iunderstand that, under the Army Orders, the award of the gold, braid dis- tinction is confined to officers, soldiers, members of the Military Nursing Ser-vices, members of Voluntary Aid Detachments, and special probationers employed in military hospitals who are wounded by the enemy whilst servingin this country. Mr. Billing : In view of the fact that you call on the police to act in a militarycapacity, will they be included in this distinction ? Sir G. Cave : We do not ask the police to act in any military capacity.Mr. Billing: Are not the police asked to expose themselves to danger which otherwise they would not have to do ?Sir G. Cave: The police have always exposed themselves to danger. Anti-Aircraft Shell.MR. BILLING asked the Home Secretary whether an aerial torpedo or bomb fell and failed to explode in the City in the course of a recent air raid; whetherthis live explosive has been removed; if not, whether this explosive has been left in a live state and concreted over; and whether it is the duty of the militaryor civil authorities to remove it ? Mr. Macpherson : No aerial torpedo was dropped in the recent air raid.Several bombs fell in the City and failed to explode, but in no case were such bombs left in a live state for a longer time than could be avoided. Since thebombs penetrate a considerable distance into the ground, often in most inacces- sible places, their removal is sometimes a slow and laborious process. I under-stand that during the raid on July 7th an unexploded anti-aircraft shell, or a portion of one, made a hole in a cement pavement in the City and penetrated6 feet below ground between a hydraulic main and a telephone cable. Its removal at the time presented difficulties, and in order to relieve the police ofthe necessity of guarding it, the place was cemented over, pending the matter being attended to.Mr. Billing: In view of the fact that the hon. gentleman states that no bomb is left in a live state, are we to understand that the bomb is accessible to removethe fuse and is inaccessible to be removed from the ground and to remove the charge from it ?Mr. Macpherson : The hon. gentleman misrepresents what I did say. I said, " In no case were such bombs left in a live state for a longer time than couldbe avoided." Enemy Air Raids.MR. ROWLANDS, on August 1st, asked the Under-Secretary of Stite for War whether there was any person who lost his life in the defence of Londonin the air raid on June 13th ; and, if so, can he state his name and rank ? Mr. Macpherson : The usual custom is to mention the names of casualties, ifany occur, in the casualty lists, but not to.say anything of the service on which they occurred, and I am afraid that no exception can be made in this case. Aircraft Raid Insurance.LIEUT.-COMMANDER NORMAN CRAIG asked the Prime Minister whether, having regard to the fact that the persons in coastal towns insuring against enemyattack from air and sea are invariably persons who have suffered pecuniary loss through the war by the accident of their geographical situation, he will consideranew the propriety of providing for such insurances out of Imperial resources ? Mr. Bonar Law: Arrangements are being made for a Conference betweenrepresentatives of the Government and of the deputation "recently received by the Prime Minister on this subject, in order that a decision may be reachedwithout delay. Miss Katherine Stinson at the Curtiss Plant, Buffalo,New York, June 19th. 825
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