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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0528.PDF
AUGUST 4, 1921 IN PARLIAMENT Aerodrome, Catterick Bridge MR. MURROUGH WILSON on July 26 asked the Secretary of State for Airwhether he is aware that the buildings, land, etc., at Catterick Bridge aerodrome are rapidly depreciating in value ; and if he will state what is to be the futureof this encampment ? Sir L. Worthington-Evans . I have been asked to reply. The future of thisaerodrome is not yet. finally settled, but in all probability it will be required for a mechanical transport training school, and for storage of a certain number ofvehicles. Mr. M. Wilson; May I ask the right hon. gentleman whether anything isbeing done in order to keep this large aerodrome from depreciating in value, and whether he has any idea at all of the waste of money that has been goingon for two or three years owing to that depreciation ? Mr. Lane-Fox : Is it not a fact that all round the east coast of this countrythere are these aerodromes rapidly depreciating, and cannot something be done to put them to some useful purpose ? Sir. L. Worthington-Evans : I cannot answer for aerodromes generally,because that does not come within my province, but this particular one has been set aside for a mechanical transport training school and for storing, and it willprobably be used very shortly. ' f Mesopotamia and R.AJF. Married Quarters SIR \V. JOYNSON-HICKS, on July 25, asked the Secretary of State for Airwhether he is aware of the discontent amongst married officers of the Air Force in Mesopotamia arising from the failure of the Air Ministry to make definitestatement regarding their length of service in that country ; whether any married quarters have yet been built for officers ; whether any wives areallowed to go out; and, if not, how long it is proposed that married officers should be kept there ? The Secretary of State for Air (Captain Guest): The length of serviceabroad for officers of the Royal Air Force has been provisionally fixed at a period of not less than four, "nor more than five, years. No officer has beenin Mesopotamia for more than 18 months. There cannot, therefore, be any justifiable cause of complaint on this score. No married quarters have yetbeen built for officers, hut the urgency of this question is fully appreciated, and it is hoped that we shall be able to make provision, in this direction,when the policy as regards Mesopotamia is further advanced. Vi ives of officers are not allowed to go to Mesopotamia at present, for the reason justgiven. The answer to the last part of the question is, that married officers are liable to serve abroad for the same period as any other officers, and thatno preferential treatment can be given in this respect. Sir W. Joynson-Hicks : Is the right hon. and gallant gentleman aware thathis last predecessor but one, I think it was, gave very much the same answer six or eight months ago > Will the right hon. and gallant gentleman considerwhat can be done with regard to this question of married officers J Promotion SIR W. JOVNSON-HICKS asked the Secretary of State for Air how manyofficers there are with upwards of six years* service who, from various causes, such as wounds or.captivity, still only hold the rank of flying officer ; whetherthese officers are at a great disadvantage compared to officers of the Navy or Army with similar length of service and who are given honorary rank offlight-lieutenant when seconded to the Royal Air Force ; and whether he can take any steps to allay the discontent in the service arising from this cause r Captain Guest : I am unable to state, without exhaustive research, thenumber of officers of the Royal Air Force, with upwards of six years service, who hava not received promotion owing to wounds or captivity. Such caseswere, however, given special consideration by the Air Ministry Promotions Selection Board. Honorary rank of flight-lieutenant is only given to anofficer of the Navy or Army seconded to the Royal Air Force, whose sub- stantive rank in his parent Service was that of lieutenant or captain, and this,therefore, does not place officers of the Royal Air Force at a disadvantage. Promotions are now made half-yearly, by selections, after the recommenda-tions of the Air Officers Commanding have been carefully considered. Airships (Imperial Conference Committee) MR. RAPER asked the Secretary of State for Air what are the terms of refer- ence and proposals submitted to the Imperial Conference Committee appointed to deal with the Question of airships ; and whether any definite time has been agreed upon for this Committee to make their Report and for the Imperial Conference to come to a decision r Captain Guest: The terms of reference of this Committee are :— " To Report on— " (1) The cost of erecting masts providing bases and fuel supplies, forthe upkeep, commissioning and operating of the existing fleet of airships for purposes of Imperial air communications, with specialreference to routes between England, India, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. " (2) Services by means of aeroplanes." In addition, the Committee will report on the proposals which have been received for the formation of civil companies to operate the airships. The fourth and last meeting has already been held, and it is proposed to hand the Report to the Colonial Office today. Royal Air Force MR. K. HARMSWORTH, on July 27, asked the Secretary of State for Airif he will give the name of the Air Vice-Marshal who presides over the Central Editing Section ; what salary he receives per year for carrying out theseonerous duties ; the number of staff employed ; and the cost of the section to the country per annum ? The Secretary of State for Air (Captain Guest) : Air Vice-Marshal J. F. A.Higgins, C.B., D.S.O., A.F.C., is in charge of the Central Editing Section. His emoluments comprise the pay. and allowances of an Air Vice-Marshalof the Royal Air Force, i.e., £2,268 per annum. No extra pay or allowances are received by him in respect of these duties. He is assisted by one clerk,who receives £220 per annum. The cost of the section is, therefore, £120 per annum, and to this may be added the pay of the officer in charge duringthe period that he is performing these duties Mr. Harmsworth : May I ask whether the clerk at his salary might notcarry out the duties himself just as well ? Captain Guest : No, Sir. As the hon. member, with his knowledge of theservice, will appreciate, there is an immense amount of necessary literature which has to be prepared in the case of the Royal Air Force starting at novO. Mr. E. Harmsworth asked the Secretary of State for Air the functionsof the Directorate of Works and Buildings ; the size of the staff and the numher of highly-paid technical men in it; and the cost to the country perannum r Captain Guest: The function of the Directorate is to deal with the siting,design and construction of, and the supply of stores and materials for, works and buildings required by the Air Ministry and Royal Air Force at home andabroad; and electrical, water, gas and drainage services and property questions in connection with works and buildings. The cost and numberof the headquarters staff of the Directorate of Works and Buildings is shown i n Vote 5 of the Air Estimates for the current year 1921—22. Airships - -..-».- .-- ~~ LIEUT.-COMMANDER KENwORTiiy, on July 27, asked the Secretary of Statefor Air whether any change has taken place in the announced policy of closing down the lighter-than-air airship establishments on the 1st August next;whether services of the personnel, and in particular the ground and office staffs, will be dispensed with, or whether work will be found for them in otherdepartments ; and what annual saving will be effected by the closing down of the lighter-thau-air airship establishments ? Captain Guest : In reply to the f rst part of the question, there is no change,at present, in the Government's airship policy. August t remains the date. In reply to the second part, I would refer the hon. and gallant member tothe reply given by me to the question of the hon. member for Twickenham (Sir W. Joynson-Hicks) on Monday last (No. 97). If the airship serviceis shut down as from August 1, the saving on this year's Estimates, under this head, should amount to some £150,000. Lieut.-Commander Kenworrhy : Arising out of the second part of theanswer, may I ask whether the answer to that question did not apply to the regular officers ? What will happen to the clerical staffs and civilian staffsemployed V Will they be absorbed, or will their services be dispensed with, in order to effect a saving ? Captain Guest: Generally speaking, the civilian staff, who have alreadyreceived notice of this date, will have to find other civil employment. As regards the military staff, they will, in almost all cases, be absorbed. Sir W. Joynson-Hicks asked the Secretary of State for Air if he can nowmake a statement as to the future position of airships ? This is a similar question to the last one. I do not know whether the righthon. gentleman has anything to add in consequence of the recent Committee Captain Guest : No. Sir. I have prepared an answer to the question.Until the Dominion Premiers have given their decision as to whether they will participate in either or any of the schemes outlined ir. the Report of myCommittee, which was handed to my right hon. friend the Colonial Secretary yesterday, it is not possible for the British Government to lay new proposalsbefore Parliament. Major-General Seely : Are we to understand that, in the event of theDominion Premiers not agreeing, as we had reason to think they would, in some way to keep this vital service going, trie whole thing will be scrappedon August i, without this House having the opportunity to discuss it either on the right hon. gentleman's salary or in any other way r Captain Guest: Yes, Sir ; the suggestion which has been laid before thePremiers by the Committee over which I presided, includes, of course, the scrutiny of the private offer, all of which involves participation and contribu-tion from the Dominions concerned. Sir W. Joynson-Hicks : I have sent a private notice to the Secretary ofState for the Colonies, and, if convenient to the House, I will ask it now. Mr. Churchill: I may simply say that I have received the report of myright hon. friend's Committee, and that a special meeting of the Committee of the Imperial Conference is summoned for tomorrow morning. Sir W. Joynson-Hicks : Will the right hon. gentleman be able to make astatement here tomorrow afternoon ? Mr. Churchill: No, Sir; because the decision of the Committee will haveto be reported to the full Conference. Sir W. Joynson-Hicks, on July 28, asked the Primt Minister whetherhe is aware that the whole of the airships are being sold for scrap on Monday next; whether negotiations regarding them are still pending with theDominion Premiers ; and whether he will give directions to suspend their sale or destruction until the House has had an opportunity of consideringthe final results of the negotiations ? Mr. Raper also asked the Secretary of State for Air, when the ExpertCommittee's Report on Airships will be published, and, whether, in the event of the Imperial Conference not arriving at a favourable decisionregarding an Imperial Airship Service before 1st August, the Air Ministry will postpone closing down the airship establishments until at least twoweeks after the Expert Committee's Report has been published, so that the business men of this country may be given a proper opportunity of studyingthe Report before such a serious step as that contemplated by the Air Ministry is taken ? The Secretary of State for Air : The consideration of the Report by thePrime Minister and the Dominion Premiers has been unavoidably postponed until tomorrow (Friday) morning. Until the Report has been thus con-sidered, it will be obvious that 1 am not in a position to say anything further. With regard to the latter part of the question if the decision of the ImperialConference is unfavourable, I cannot hold out any hope of postponing further the policy already announced. It should be remembered that no suitableoffer has yet been made by private individuals which does not require a large measure of direct financial assistance from the Government. Captain W. Benn : Is it the fact that since the Armistice no less than£7,000,000 has been spent on these services which arc now to be scrapped ? Captain Gurst : I think the hon. and gallant Member has asked a questionon that and has received an answer. Sir W. Joynson-Hicks : In view of the enormous amount of money sp?nton these airships, which will be wasted if they are scrapped, can the right hon. Gentleman, without spending more money on their, than is necessary,not keep the machines for a few months, in order to see what can be done f Major-General Seely : Cannot the right hon. Gentleman at least keep thedesigning staff and the trained personnel so that we may not sacrifice the whole value already obtained from an expenditure of £40,000,000 of- publicmoney '1 Lieut.-Commandei Kenworthy : Would that not be throwing away goodmoney after bad ? Major-General Seely : It is not bad.Captain Guest : Although the policy already announced cannot be departed from, the House will, I think, realise that nothing will be done in the nextfew days which will prejudice the decision of the Premiers. Mr. Raper : May I be told when the Expert Committee's Report will bepublished ? Further, will the right hon. Gentleman not consider the possi- bility of not taking this serious step until the commercial houses, to whomhe has referred, have had an opportunity of studying this Report, of which they know nothing ? Captain Guest : Permission will have to be obtained from the IiupernlCongress before the Report is published. With regard to the other question of the hon. Member, that is practically answered in the reply that the privateproposals which have come to us have involved a large measure of financial assistance from the Government. Mr. Raper : But how can private firms be in a position to make final proposalsuntil they have the valuable information which the expert committee was appointed to report upon ? Captain Guest : The proposals which have reached us irom private sourcesare not lacking in expert knowledge. The Report passes no comment on their proposals in detail. Captain W. Benn asked the Secretary of State for Air the total cost for theconstruction, maintenance, housing, personnel, staff, and overhead charges ot airships since the date when the control of airships passed to the Air Ministry ' Captain Guest: The total estimated cost for the period from 22nd October,1919, on which date the airships were taken over from the Admiralty, to the present date, is, approximately, £2,266,000. 538
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