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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 1064.PDF
SEPTEMBER 19, 1918. LOOKS like somebody having unearthed a mare's-nest in the to-do about the Air Ministry turning the whole of the Adelphi Terrace into an Annexe to the Hotel Cecil. The facts from which the persistent rumouis arose are, so the explanation runs, that the Adelphi Hotel was taken over some time ago as quarters for the men of the Air Ministry, and that owing to the urgent need for additional office accommodation for the Air Ministry it has been found neces- sary to divert the Adelpbi Hotel to that use, and the men must be billeted elsewhere. The present intention, so the authorities claim, is certainly not to take any of the premises in Adelphi Terrace, as additional billet accommodation to meet the immediate and urgent requirements will be obtained by taking over certain premises in Adam Street. All the same, the last sentence covers a whole heap of future possibilities, and after all, if it really be necessary, why not Adelphi Terrace ? If even a club or two should be inconvenienced, they won't be the first. They can hardly get it in the neck worse than the Constitutional experiences ! STRIKES just now are anathema to most people, and it wants a lot of convincing to obtain the support of public opinion. But if a strike can claim sympathy—genuine and emphatic—and get it, we think it is the case of the party of Germans who went on strike on ascertaining that a number of conscientious objectors were to be employed on the same job. They gave as their reason for refusing to work, a " conscientious objection " to associating with men who were too cowardly to fight for their country. They persisted in their refusal to work in such company, and the matter was at once reported to the military authorities at headquarters. After all, the Hun is no saint, we know, but at least he has been fighting as a patriot and to order, however wrong his views may be from our point of vision. Punish the war prisoner for misbehaviour as a prisoner each and every time, but it surpasses the limit in putting him on a par with the 1914-1918 Coachie. That is a special cuvee all to itself and should remain so for at least the present generation of Britons. " DESTRUCTION for destruction's sake seems to have been their (the Huns') motto." Thus Sir Martin Conway, Director of the Imperial War Museum, in concluding a statement after a recent visit to the front. " I came back," says Sir Martin, " wanting vengeance on the Germans. I do not think England at all appreciates the enormous damage the Germans have done. In town after town and in hundreds of villages there is absolute red ruin." But we hardly agree with Sir Martin's conclusion as to the destruction being just for the sake of it. Rather in our opinion are the barbaric and systematic actions of the Hun carried through after most deliberate cold- blooded premeditation, and retribution should await their country at the peace table in the form of an eye for an eye, applied to their amazing non-military orgy of destruction. It is the only way to be even with them. Their deliberate work is for the purpose of leaving such complete devastation throughout Belgium and the Eastern borders of France and any other country which their presence has been able to defile, that for at least the next generation these blackened countries shall be under the necessity of giving their work out to Germany to re-construct what the enemy has himself destroyed. And, moreover, supply the inhabitants with German goods the meantime, until such time as the industrial sides of the devastated nations are built up again. This is the Hun's scheme for overcoming the world's ostracism which inevitably awaits his industries after the war. But if the representatives of the Allies do their duty to their respective peoples when the terms of peace are dictated at Berlin presently, the Hun will again find he has reckoned without his host and be ever and ever more sorry for himself. No, the destruction is about as premeditated a barbarity as ever disgraced this sphere of ours. AT the recent gathering of the R.A.F. cadets, in addi- tion to the living flag depicted by the cadets against the side of the hill beyond the review ground, the cadet members also in graphic and like manner, depicted " R.A.F. Honours." V.C. D.S.O. M.C. D.S.C. r 15 235 905 287 x. V i The effect was extraordinarily striking. : THE HOT AIR SHOPS. By F. A. de V. R. I - AT the aerodromes, the officers believe that Wing H.Q. is an abode of idle luxury. The Wing Commander and his staff do not trouble to undeceive them, but they have some varied work to do all the same. Half an hour in the office of the Wing Equipment Officer would give some idea of what that work is like. The telephone rings. The E.O. takes the receiver. " Hullo I Who is that ? Transport Officer at Z , Capt. Smith has had a forced landing 20 miles away, eh ? No one hurt ? Good. Yes, you may send out a Ford with mechanics. Confirm your request in writing as usual. Good morning." The E.O. rings up Y -. " Quartermaster please. Oh, morning Brown. Have you found out if you can save any petrol by hiring farm carts to fetch goods from the station ? Oh 1 you can hire carts ! And it will be some saving ? Good. Carry on, please." The E.O. turns to his Sergeant. " What's this file ? A claim for damages to a hay crop when an aeroplane was forced to land in it from engine trouble on the 15th. Very moderate claim. A patriotic fellow that farmer. Pass the claim on to the Brigade." He turns to the telephone.' " Give me Aeroplane Repair Section at R . Hullo, Robinson. That machine C.231 has been in your shed a long time. When will it be ready ? Got no under-carriage lugs, haven't yqa ? Switch me on to Technical Stores please. Is that you, Jones ? Have you indented for those under-carriage lugs for Robinson ? A week ago, did you ? Have you asked Y if they have AT WHITEHEAD'S SPORTS.—Silver Badge men, all employed at the works, who formed a guard of honour for Lady Haig. IO64
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