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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 0239.PDF
FEBRUARY 28, 1918. THE AIR FORCE DEBATE, IN presenting the Estimates for the Air Force in the House of Commons onFebruary 21st, Major Baird, the Under-Secretary of State to the Air Ministry, said :—•The House will probably expect that I should report the progress that has been made in the creation of the Air Force and of the Air Ministry since it wasset up by the Act passed last Session. Before doing so, I hope that the House will allow me to draw attention to a point which, I think, is of importance.Parliament has endorsed, and emphatically endorsed, the view ot the Govern- ment that the Air Force should be considered and treated as a fighting forceseparate from the Navy and the Army, and, since we are engaged in war, it has to be remembered that the danger of drawing undue attention to any par-ticular branch of our fighting services must be guarded against. There is no Air Force Estimate produced in Germany or in Austria, and I would venture tosuggest to hon. members the necessity, while criticising to the full extent that they may desire the operations of the Air Ministry, for remembering that wemust not, either by question or by answer, give any information to the enemy which may render the task of our airmen more difficult and dangerous than itis already. I do not in the least wish to stifle criticism, but I do think it is necessary, in presenting for the first time a Vote which draws special attentionto a most important branch of our fighting services, both on land and on sea, to emphasise the necessity for restraint in the matter of questions at this time.Since the passing of the Air Force Act the ground has been explored by a strong Inter-Departmental Committee under the chairmanship of General Smuts, andmatters were advanced sufficiently to enable the Air Council provided by the Act to be set up by an Order in Council of December 21st last. Since that datethe organisation of the Ministry has proceeded satisfactorily. A Central Branch, or Secretariat, has been organised, a Finance Branch has been organised, and aGeneral Branch of Statistics is in progress of formation. Establishments tor the service directorates and their staffs have been prepared, and practically all out-standing questions as regards pay and conditions of service under the new Air Force have been decided. A Works and Buildings Department has beenorganised, and arrangements have been made whereby the Director-General of Lands for the War Office and the Ministry of Munitions is to perform, and is nowperforming, similar functions in respect of lands for the Air Ministry. By February rst the organisation was sufficiently advanced to enable the AirMinistry to enter into conferences with the War Office and the Admiralty on the subject of the detailed arrangement for the actual transfer of the Royal NavalAir Service and the Royal Flying Corps. It was agreed that the transfer should take place gradually. Hon. members will realise that, important as it is to setup a proper working arrangement here at home, the really vital matter is to secure that there shall be no dislocation of any sort or kind on the front. Thatis what we have secured. It has entailed an immense amount of work on the officers of the headquarters staff of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal NavalAir Service, who have had to discharge double duties, but I can say with absolute confidence that on none of the fronts has there been the slightest vestige ofdislocation due to this transference. The operations of the Royal Flying Corps and' of the Royal Naval Air Service, as indeed the communiques have shown,have progressed with the same zeal and activity as hitherto. Under the arrange- ment which has been entered into with the Admiralty and the War Office—andmay I say at once that we have received the most cordial and friendly co-opera- tion from both those two great administrations—the full responsibility for newworks and buildings has been already taken over, and the full responsibility for the technical air material administration and for movements and posting ofindividuals in the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps has also been taken over. I hesitate to prophesy, but, if things go on as they are atpresent, I hope that early in the next financial year it may be possible to con- stitute the Air Force at home and to start the machinery going. The composition of the Air Council has been published. Hon. membersperhaps will desire to know the distribution of the duties among the members of the Council. The Council, as will have been noticed, is based upon theexperience of the Army Council. It does not follow that will prove in the long run to be the wisest model, but it has this advantage, that the working of theCouncil and of the arrangements under the Army Council are thoroughly well understood by the vast majority of the officers concerned. The Chief ot the AirStaff is charged with advising His Majesty's Government as to the conduct of air operations in all questions of air policy affecting the security of the Empire,including home defence. He is further charged with liaison with the Allies, with the Admiralty, and with the Army Council as regards policy, operations,and intelligence. Under his Department falls the subject of policy as to air organisations and establishments. The principles of training are laid down byhim. Schemes of development of the Air Force are ako settled by him. Guid- ance as to the specifications of aircraft, engines, armament, ammunition, andother equipment, strategic and tactical dispositions of air stations, and general schemes for works and aerodromes—that covers, briefly, the sphere assigned tothe Chief of the Air Staff. The Master-General of Personnel corresponds gener- ally to the Adjutant-General on the Army Council. He is charged with the dutiesof raising the personnel of the Air Force, with its maintenance, both in officers and men, with the selection of candidates for commissions, and with the postingof officers and men to the units to which they belong. Discipline and all legal questions connected therewith fall within his sphere,as well as the arrangements for the Medical and Sanitary Services. The Con- troller-General of Equipment combines the functions of the Master-General ofOrdnance and the Quartermaster-General on the Army Council. He is charged with the supervision of the provision of aircraft, engines, armament, ammuni-tion, and other equipment in accordance with the schemes and guidance as to specifications of the Department of the Chief of the Air Staff, and the arrange-ments with the Director-General of Aircraft Production for the production of these stores, and for experiment and research to improve the designs and supplyof all such equipment. The Director of Lands is charged with taking over, whether by agreement or under the Defence of the Realm powers, all landrequired by the Ministry, and the management and maintenance from an estate point of view, and subject to the requirements of the Air Service, of all landstaken over, exclusive of any constructional work. All constructional work falls within the province of the Administrator of Works and Buildings. I maysay that we have taken over en bloc the works and lands held by the Army Council and the Admiralty respectively in connection with the Royal FlyingCorps and the Royal Naval Air Service. The duties of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State combine, mutatismutandis, the functions of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for War and the Financial Secretary to the War Office. The duties of the Secretary tothe Air Council comprise the general control and co-ordination of Air Ministry procedure and of the conduct of official business in the Air Ministry. Hon.members will probably wish to know what arrangements have been made for securing co-operation and co-ordination with the Admiralty and the War Office.The position is as follows : The Admiralty and the War Office respectively submit their requirements to the Air Ministry for aircraft. The Air Staffexamines these requirements and either agrees, disagrees, or modifies, as the case may be, and decides, subject to War Office or Admiralty agreement, I shouldlike to draw attention to this point, because it is quite new and extremely important in securing efficiency in the field. A conference is held weekly todiscuss these points between the Staffs of the Admiralty, the War Office, and the Air Ministry, and the question whether a particular air force should be underthe Army or the Navy for administration and operations is discussed, and recom- mendations are made at this meeting. The Air Council also has the power oflaying down and recommending to the War Cabinet certain aerial operations, such as bombing, and the best means of carrying out those operations arediscussed. Mr. Billing: May I ask, has the Army CouncilMajor Baird : Perhaps the hon. member will allow me. If he attempts to interrupt in his usual way, he is really delaying business. He will have everyopportunity of talking. I honestly think the House would prefer me to proceed. I do not mean any discourtesy to the hon. member. The Air Council is pre-pared to recommend to the War Cabinet certain aerial operations and the best means of carrying out those operations, and obviously recommending whereit is most suitable that the operations should be carried out, and whether the Army should carry them out or the Navy should carry them out. The machinesare specifically ear-marked for these operations, and organised for this work. That is briefly the essential distribution of work among members of the AirCouncil. Hon. members can ask any questions in amplification as I do not want to detain the House at any length is describing in detail all the arrangements .made. I naturally want to give them a general sketch of the arrangements, which will give them an opportunity of raising any point they desire. '• The Medical Service of the Air Force is a point to which I ventured to draw •special attention when the Bill for the constitution of the Air Force was pro- ceeding through this House. As is well known, a very strong and representativeCommittee, under Sir W. Cneyne, at the request of the Air Board, drew up a scheme for a Medical Service for the Air Force. Obviously, as with every otherarrangement in connnection with the amalgamation of a part of the Navy and the Army, it was necessary that the assent of the Army and Navy should be obtainedto the adoption of any scheme connected with the change, and though I do not think any objection was felt by the Army or the Navy to the vast majority of theproposals which were submitted by this Committee—it was a very strong Com- mittee indeed which sat under my hon. friend—yet not altogether unnaturally,I think, in view of the heavy drain on the inadequate supply of medical men which is made by the requirements of the countless campaigns we are engagedin carrying on, I fancy the Army felt that the setting up at this moment of a fresh and altogether separate Medical Service might lead to friction and trouble.We have avoided friction and trouble of any kind, whatever people may like to say, either with the Navy or the Army, up to the present; indeed, we havereceived their co-operation in countless ways. I may safely say that we have come to an arrangement which meets the views of the Navy and the Army,under which it will be possible to carry into effect the system advocated by the Committee presided over by my hon. friend. After all, it is the system whichis really of importance. As I ventured to point out to the House when the Air Force Bill was under discussion, the peculiar conditions under which menwork in the Air Force, the strain imposed on heart, lungs, ears, nose, and other organs, entails the obligation of a peculiar branch of medical investigation andresearch. Indeed, it is absolutely indispensable that the medical officers respon- sible for the care of the officers and men serving in the air should specialise inthat particular branch of medical science, and that they should not be shifted and changed indiscriminately from one place to another. That, I think, we have secured, and we have secured it in this way. It hasbeen agreed by the War Office and the Admiralty, and assented to by the Treasury, that the medical affairs of the Air Force are to be controlled by aCommittee responsible to the Air Council. The Committee is to be composed as follows : The Director-General of the Naval Service, the Director-General ofthe Army Medical Service, the Vice-President of the Air Council, a Medical Administrator of the Air Force, an Assistant Medical Administrator, one neuro-logist, one physician, one surgeon, one physiologist, and the Secretary of the Medical Research Committee. The Assistant Medical Administrator will actas Secretary. The Administrative Medical Officer will be given the substantive rank of Surgeon-General, and the Assistant Administrative Officer will be giventhe substantive rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. The Medical Administrator will nominate an executive staff of medical officers and will arrange for the necessaryclerical assistance. It will be necessary for the Medical Administrator to have discretion—this is important-—to take action on any matter of urgency andon matters of detail which arise in the intervals between the meetings of the Committee. Such action will, of course, be reported to the Committee. Assoon as possible the medical arrangements of the Air Force will be centralised under the direction of the Committee. All medical appointments will be madeby the President of the Air Council on the nomination of the Committee. Officers who are appointed to the Air Force medical posts will be seconded to that Force.Temporary Air Force Commissions will be given to all gentlemen, whether officers or not, who are appointed to executive medical posts, with the exceptionof a limited number of officers to be nominated by the Committee for permanent commissions. All medical officers appointed to the Air Force will wear AirForce uniform. Those officers who are seconded from the Army and Navy will receive an assurance in writing that their prospects of promotion by selectionin their own services will not be prejudiced thereby. The Administrator of the Medical Service will have direct access to the Secretary of State for the Air Force,and the medical arrangements of the Air Force will be dealt with in the Depart- ment of the Master-General of Personnel. So much for the medicalarrangements. The House may desire to know some details as regards the lands branch andthe works and buildings branch. As an illustration of the necessity for caution in discussing matters in the House, I should like to mention that with a viewto standing well with my right hon. friend the President of the Board of Agri- culture, who sometimes makes observations with regard to land taken overfor aeroplane stations which he thinks might be devoted to growing corn, I invited my friend the Director-General of Lands, to give me a statement regard-ing lands which, I thought, might be of interest to the House. I took the pre- caution of showing that statement to one of the officers of the Air Council, andhe said to me : " If I could get a statement like that from Germany, I should be able to tell you exactly the number of squadrons they have in training, andhow many men they were likely to have on the front against us this year." Mr. Billing : Nonsense.Major Baird : I did not hear the hon. member's remark. Mr. Billing : I said, " Nonsense ! "Major Baird : I should have thought that was exactly what the hon. member would say. Perhaps he will permit me to attach more importance to the viewsof the officer who gave me this information than I should to his views. Mr. Billing: [Hon. members: "Order, order!"] On a point of Order.Having regard to the remark which has been made, surely I am in order in asking the hon. gentleman a question as to whether I misunderstood him in whathe wished this House to understand. I should, therefore, like to ask him whetherMr. Speaker: The hon. member committed a breach of order by saying " Nonsense ! " Major Baird.Major Baird : I do not want to inflict on the House any more information than it wishes to have. I am only trying to pick out one or two things whichmay be useful from the very wide range that has to be covered. There is the Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, a very important scientific body, whichhas rendered important services in the past, and in which the House has shown an interest. I want to show the House the continuity which we have endeavoured topreserve throughout the organisation which has been built up both by the Navy 235
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