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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 1359.PDF
LORD FISHER IT was always recognised that Lord Fisher was a strong disciple of aviation, and the " disclosures " which he makes on Wednesday last in his " Memories," now appearing in The Times, are corroborative of this air-belief and of a dis tinctly interesting character. The reference of Lord Fisher to the importance ot aircraft in the War is as follows :— "Somewhere about January 15, 1915, I submitted my resignation as First Sea Lord to Mr. Churchill because of the supineness manifested by the High Authorities as regards aircraft; and I then prophesied then raids over London in particular, and all over England, that by and by caused several millions sterling of damage and an infinite fright. " I refer to my resignation on the aircraft question with some fear and trembling of denials ; however, I have a copy of my letter, so it's all right. I withdrew my resignation at the request of Authority, because Authority said that the War Office and not the Admiralty were responsible and would be held responsible. The aircraft belonged to the War Office; why on earth couldn't I mind my. own business ? I didn't want the Admiralty building and our wireless on the roof of it to be bombed ; so it was my business (the War Office was as safe as a church, the Germans would never bomb that establishment !). " Recently I fortuned to meet Mr. Holt Thomas, and he brought to my recollection what was quite a famous meeting at the Admiralty. Soon after I became First Sea Loid on October 31, 1914, I had called together at the Admiralty a great company of all interested in the air ; for at that moment I had fully satisfied myself that small airships with a speed of 50 miles an hour would be of inestimable value against submarines and also for scouting purposes near the coast. So they proved. " Mr. Holt Thomas was a valued witness before the Royal Commission on oil and oil engines, of which I was chairman (a sad business for me financially ; I only possessed a few hundred pounds and I put it into oil—I had to sell them out, of course, on becoming Chairman of the Oil Commission— and what I put these few hundreds into caused a disappearance of most of these hundreds, and when I emerged from the Royal Commission the oil shares had more than quintupled in value and gone up twenty times what they were when I first put in). " Through Mr. Holt Thomas we obtained the very im portant evidence of the French inventor of the Gnome engine —that wonderful engine that really made aeroplanes what they now are. His evidence was of peculiar value ; and so also was that of Mr. Holt Thomas's experience ; and the result of the Admiralty meeting on aircraft was that we obtained from Mr. Holt Thomas an airship in a few weeks, when the experience hitherto had been that it took years ; and a great number of this type of aircraft were used with immense advantage in the War. I remember so well that the very least time that could be promised with every effort and unstinted money was three months (but Mr. Holt Thomas gave a shorter time). In three weeks an airship was flying over the Admiralty at 50 miles an hour (' there's nothing you can't have if you want it enough'), and now we've reached the epoch—prodigious in its advent—when posi tively the air commands and dominates both land and sea; and we shall witness quite shortly a combination in one structure of the aeroplane, the airship, the parachute, the common balloon, and an aerial torpedo, which will both astound people by its simplicity and by its extraordinary possi bilities, both in war and commerce (the torpedo will become cargo in commerce). The aeroplane has now to keep moving to live—but why should it ? The aerial gyroscopic locomotive torpedo suspended by a parachute has a tremendous sig nificance. The Essence of War " And let no one think like the ostrich that burying one's head in the sand will make invention desist. At the first Hague Peace Conference in 1899, when I was one of the British delegates, huge nonsense was talked about the amenities of war. War has no amenities, although Mr. <•> <s> The Raid on Kroc stadt FROM a statement issued by the Admiralty on October 10 dealing with the operations against Kronstadt during the night, August 17-18, 1919, it appears that eight aircraft took part in the operation. The intention was that aircraft should attract all attention in Kronstadt, so that the C.M.B.'s should be neither heard nor seen to approach the harbour. Although it is invidious to select any pilot or observer as particularly deserving of special mention for his work in an operation in which each fulfilled the duties allotted to him in a most efficient manner, the name of Capt. A. C. Randall, 13 AND AIRCRAFT Norman Angell attacked me in print for saying so. It's like two innocents playing single-stick; they agi*e, when they begin, not to hit hard ; but it don't last long 1 Like fighting using only one fist against the other man with two ; the other fist damn soon comes out 1 The ancient who formulated that ' All's fair in love and war ' enunciated a great natural principle. Warts the essence of violence.' Moderation in war is imbecility.' "'HIT FIRST. HIT HARD. KEEP ON HITTING.' " The following reports and letter will illustrate this history of my efforts in this direction :— " ' Lord Fisher returned to the Admiralty on October 30, 1914. " ' 38 S.S. airships were at once ordered—single-engine type. Six improved type. " ' Before Lord Fisher left the Admiralty a design of a double-engine type was got out, and subsequently another 32 airships were ordered.' " CIRCULAR LETTER issued by Lord Fisher in 1914 when First Sea Lord :— " ' Lord Fisher desires to express to all concerned his high appreciation of the service rendered by those who carried out the recent daring raid on Lake Constance. " ' He considers that the flight mentioned, made over 250 miles of enemy country of the worst description, is a fine feat of endurance, courage, and skill, and reflects great credit on all who took part in the raid, and through them on the Air Service to which they belong.' " The following precis of correspondence is inserted because contributory to Lord Fisher's resignation. He had pre viously written to Mr. Churchill resigning on the ground of the disregard of his warnings respecting ^e aircraft menace :— "' An official Secret German dispatch, obtained from a German source, dated December 26, 1914 :— " ' The General Staff of the German Army are sending aircraft to attack French fortified places. Full use to be made of favourable weather conditions for attack of naval Zeppelins against the East Coast of England with the excep tion of London. The attack on London will follow later combined with the German Army airships. " ' Prdcis of History of Rigid Airships of Zeppelin Type :— " ' Lord Fisher, when First Sea Lord, in December, 1908, instructed Admiral Bacon to press for the construction of rigid airships for naval purposes at the meetings of a Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence, which held its first meeting in December, 1908, after many meetings at which Admiral Bacon presented the naval point of view with much lucidity. The Committee recommended on January 28, 1909, the following :— " ' (a) The Committee are of opinion that the dangers to which we might be exposed by developments in aerial navigation cannot be definitely ascertained until we ourselves possess airships. " ' (b) There are good grounds for assuming that airships will prove of great value to the Navy for scouting and possibly for destructive purposes. From a military point of view they are also important. " ' (c) A sum of £35,000 should be included in the Naval Estimates for the purpose of building an airship of a rigid type. The sum alluded to should include the cost of all preliminary and incidental expenses. " ' (d) A sum of £10,000 should be included in Army Estimates for continuing experiments with navigable balloons of a non-rigid type, and for the purchase of complete non- rigid airships and their component parts. " • January 28, I9°9- " ' Approved by Committee of Imperial Defence, " ' February 25, 1909.' " And nothing more was done till I came back to the Admiralty on October 30, 1914 ! " <s> • D.F.C., may perhaps be mentioned as showing devotion to duty. This officer experienced what was apparently complete engine failure when half-way to Kronstadt. Just as he was about to land his engine restarted, and although he knew it was liable to fail again at any moment, he proceeded to Kronstadt, and took a very active part in the operation. His engine failed completely on the return journey. The success of this operation reflects great credit on the part of the non-commissioned officers and airmen of the seaplane base and aerodrome. Their zealous and untiring work on machines no longer modern is most commendable. il
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