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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0404.PDF
MARCH 27, 1919 THE SOCIETY OF BRITISH AIRCRAFT CONSTRUCTORS DINNER AT THE SAVOY HOTEL ON MARCH 20 A BANQUET was held at the Savoy Hotel under the auspices of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors, Ltd., Mr. H. White Smith, C.B.E. (Chairman of the Society), in the Chair. Among those who accepted invitations were the Right Hon. Winston Churchill, M.P., Brig.-Gen. J. E. B. Seely, the Lord Weir, Maj.-Gen. Sir F. H. Svkes, K.C.B., Maj.-Gen. Sir Godfrey Paine, K.C.B., Maj.-Gen. Sir W. S. Brancker, K.C.B., Rear-Admiral C. F. Lambert, Brig.-Gen. R. M. Groves, C.B., Brig.-Gen. W. Alexander, Brig.-Gen. R. Brooke Pophara, Brig.-Gen. R. K. Bagnall-Wild, Brig.-Gen. J. G. Hearson, Brig.-Gen. E. M. Maitland, Sir Arthur Duckham, K.C.B., Sir Henry Fowler, Sir R. Glazebrook, Sir G. Stanley White, Sir Wm. Beardmore, Sir John Hunter, K.C.B., Sir W. A. Robinson, Rt. Hon. W. P. Schreiner, C.M.G., Sir Edward R. Bowring, Col. Sir C. C. Wakefield, Col. J. T. C. Moore-Brabazon, M.P., Col. C. L. Malone, Messrs. R. O. Cary, G. Holt Thomas, F. Handley Page, J. D. Siddeley, N. G. Gwynne, H. T. Vane, Claude Johnson, L. Coatalen, Capt. J. F. Fairbairn-Crawford, A. E. Berriman, G. E. Bradshaw, A. E. L. Charlton, A. J. Cattle, G. N. Handasyde. The toast of " The King " having been honoured, The Chairman, in proposing " The' Royal Air Force," said in placing it first on our Toast list, it is not that we do not appreciate the great and glorious deeds of the Navy and the Army, but it is that in a gathering of the Aircraft industry our thoughts naturally turn to the Royal Air Force. Our Flying men in this country have come from the Colonies, from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India ; and when you consider how these men, literally many of them only boys, have gone up day after day to fight alone in the clouds, with no-one to support them, entirely on their own, or they have gone up in twos, fighting in close com radeship, or they have gone off in the darkness of the night, in bombing expeditions against the enemy's country, we are filled with amazement and admiration. When we remember that their work has been carried out in every clime, in the torrid heat of Mesopotamia, of Palestine, of East Africa and the snow-clad hills of Bulgaria, to say nothing of the stormy Western front with the weather so uncertain and so difficult, day after day, they have gone up unhesitatingly to do their duty, and in this connection we cannot forget what our Naval Flying men have also done in patrolling our Coasts through fogs and mists over the lone North Sea. When we think of the way these men have gallantly laid down their lives we feel that no words of ours can adequately express our gratitude and that of our country for those splendid fellows. We constructors of aircraft are especially grateful to them, for it is to the Flying men we feel that much of the advance in design of aircraft has been due. We feel that it is due to them, in a great measure, that progress has been made, and we desire to-night to acknowledge it most whole-heartedly to them. We appreciate the privilege which has been ours to supply them with their Flying machines. In proposing this toast one's thoughts naturally go back to the early days of the R.F.C. and the R.N.A.S., and we think of the good work done by Sir David Henderson, and the far-sighted views he took on many of the difficult ques tions in those early days, and we also remember the good work done by Commodore Sueter. You remember the difficulties that these men had, difficulties from a stingy Treasury, difficulties of obtaining the numbers of machines that were so urgently required, and we appreciate the great work that they have done. We think of the many other Officers who were associated with them, and who have given their services to build up what is now one united force. And we also remember the great work which has been done in the Field, in Flanders, by General Trenchard. The R.A.F. has, in these few short years, built up a glorious history and an imperishable memory ; it has established its traditions as a Force of the highest courage, and we look forward to this great Service taking its part and we believe an increasingly great part in the defence of our Empire in the future. Mr. Churchill's view—who has become the head of this great Force at a time of transition, we are glad to know— is that this Force should be a separate Service. We desire to express to him our appreciation of the great work which he did when head of the Admiralty and the great encourage ment which he gave, in those early days, to the support and development of aviation. We remember and value the support he so freely gave to this work, as also afterwards as nead of the Ministry of Munitions, and we feel sure that as head of the Air Council he will still more keenly have the interest of the great Service at heart, and that under his direction the Royal Air Force will retain its unique position in the defence of our great Empire. The RT. HON. W. S. CHURCHILL, in reply, said : This formidable gathering marks the enormous progress made by the Aircraft industry during the War. When we look back to those early days to which our Chairman has referred, when we aimed at having too machines with which to fight against the potential enemy, it is a surprising experience to see how large our legions have grown in the process of beating Germany out of the air, as she has been beaten on the land and on the sea, and under the sea. On the whole, looking back on the struggle, there is no doubt whatever that we produced a higher class of fighting air man, fighting being, or rather fighting angel in the air than any of the combatants whom we were compelled to en counter, and we also were capable of producing that being in larger numbers, drawn from more widely different classes of our race than any other country. Judged by the merit of the individual performance we have no cause to yield first place to any, but judged also by the area of the nation, by the numbers involved, we have an even greater cause for pride and satisfaction because the achievements of the Royal Air Force under these extraordinary circumstances show that the British nation is good all through and that from every class and under all the circumstances of the diversified accidents of our human fortune we have produced a race of fighting beings who exhibited the highest qualities of personal prowess and daring which, in all the history of the world, have ever been displayed among men. The War is over. It has terminated in a victory so over whelming that it far exceeds our fondest dreams, and yet that hardly satisfies some of our more moderate expectations. ' Lest we forget " is an expression which forces itself upon the mind, but do not let us be disheartened by the temporary difficulties through which we are passing. We have made a tremendous effort, we have gained a tremendous result, and naturally there must be a period of reaction, mental and physical ; there must be a trough between the waves. But the tide is going forward, the tide of British fortunes is going forward, and so far as the air is concerned, no doubt we have before us difficult years. We have years when the great War effort still leaves us exhausted and weakened, and when the new Peace development, the permanent de velopment of the Royal Air Force has not yet risen to its full and steady maturity. We must all help each other in this difficult time to the best of our ability. On behalf of the R.A.F. and of the Air Ministry I can assure you that General Seely and I will do our utmost to help the Aircraft construction in this country. We have obtained the services of General Sykes on the side of civil aviation. He will devote all his knowledge and all his influence to furthering the development of this great new condition of our daily life, which is bound to come into its own, be it this year or next year, or the year after. It is bound to come into its full and accepted fruition. And we have in General Trenchard, as Chief of the Air Staff, an Officer who will do everything in his power to facilitate from the military side the furtherance of the task on which General Sykes is occupied in his nights and days. There are limits which we cannot transgress. There are limits to the amount of funds which Parliament can rightly be asked to vote ; there are limits to the form and character of the help and assistance which we could give to the Air craft industry, but within those limits we will do"our very utmost in every way to liberate and stimulate the develop ment of civil aviation in order to secure for the civilian and commercial aircraft of this country that same primacy which in the field of war we have, through the exertions of many here, succeeded indisputably in obtaining. I will express a most sincere wish that the British Aircraft industry will consolidate itself, will gather together all its strength to press forward, and to march forward on every reasonable and hopeful line of advance until it is quite clear that the conquest of the air in time of peace is sure and is as sure and as certain as the conquest of the Huns in the air was bound to be in time of War. The CHAIRMAN : I should like to explain why we have asked Colonel Moore-Brabazon to take the important toast of " The Future of the Air." Colonel Moore-Brabazon 404
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