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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0166.PDF
MARCH 16, 1922 September last. There is another place called Bani Said, where an exactly similar thing happened in the last year. There again a warning was conveyed by aeroplane ; there again the political officer himself went to the place, or as near as he could, to explain to them that they really must keep the peace; there again it was necessary to take hostile action in the form of dropping bombs upon such bodies as could be seen ; and there again within a week the whole body came in and surrendered. Now I will come to this year. All this I have heard from people who have been on the spot. Not far from Basra, as distances go in that country, a tribe went into open rebellion ; that is to say, they refused either to pay taxes or to allow the District Com missioner to approach the place, or any political officers to go there. Again, we sent a warning by aeroplane, and again, the warning not having been attended to, aeroplanes were sent for hostile action, and yet again within a week the whole party came in and surrendered. It may be said that all these are places in the plains—and that is so—but what about Kurdistan, of which we heard a good deal from Mr. Asquith ? There are steep mountains there, where, it is said, aeroplanes are valueless, but, really, it is quite the other way ; according to my information, the argument is all the other way. It is just in those moun tainous regions that the advance of troops is so dangerous, as in the defiles on the Indian frontier. But if you adopt the entirely new methods of strategy involved in attacking from the air, you do not attack the enemy by means of a prolonged expedition. The last time I spoke on this question and urged that this policy should be adopted, little knowing how soon it would be adopted, we had not got such good concrete cases as we now have. The Sulaimaniyah, in Kurdistan, rebelled three years ago. We had to send an expedition at once. There were very heavy casualties, and it took six weeks to restore order by flying columns operating at extraordinary speed. Exactly the same type of thing happened in the same region with the same people last January. Air power was, however, employed, and the warning was issued within a day. The result not being satisfactory, an attack was delivered within 48 hours, and as these gentlemen did not surrender a further attack was delivered two days later, on this occasion the attack being delivered from Baghdad, 160 miles aw.ay, without the machines ever coming down, and within a few days the whole party again surrendered, and are now loyal and, let us hope, con tented subjects. I cordially congratulate the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Secretary of State for Air on the success which has so far attended their efforts, beg of them not to relax them, especially not to be afraid of the formidable attacks which will come from old-fashioned people, and assure them that there is a great body of opinion in this House which will back them up with all its power in adopting and developing this efficient and merciful means of maintaining our Empire. I congratulate the Secretary of State on his imagination in utilising the Air Force as policemen in this country. This is a red-letter day in the military history of the world, because for the first time we see this new young Air Force taking charge of a big country with the older service ancillary to it. The Air Force during the War worked practically entirely for the Army. In this particular scheme the Army has to co-operate with the Air Force, and the success of the venture now being tried can be made or marred by the Army. I hope it will do its best to help the venture in every way. H H m E THE GEDDES NATIONAL EXPENDITURE CUTS AND AIR ESTIMATES IN dealing with the Geddes report in Parliament last week, Sir R. Home, when referring to the case of the Air Ministry, said : "I will turn now to the question of the Air Force. There the cuts recommended are £5,500,000, but, as before, £1,000,000 of that is unspecified. The Air Ministry proposes a reduction of £3,000,000, so that the comparison is as between £3,000,000 on the one hand and £4,500,000 on the other. The Air Force have made great efforts to econo mise. They are reducing the £18,500,000 Estimate of this year to £10,500,000 in the next year, giving a reduction of 43 per cent. It may be questioned, as I gather from some hon. members behind me, whether we are not running great risks in going so far in these reductions. We have looked at the problem, weighing, on the one hand, the necessities of our country, and, on the other hand, the position of financial stringency in which we find ourselves, and we give these recommendations to the House as those which, we believe, can be most justified in the condition in which we now are. It was suggested by the Geddes Committee that there should be set up a Ministry of Defence. That would not imme diately have the result of bringing about great economies in the public service, and it is obviously a matter which requires very careful investigation and great consideration before any plan can be adopted. The whole question is to come up for consideration at the Committee on Imperial Defence." Capt. Wedgwood Benn during the debate said :—" I wish to refer to another matter which forms one of the subjects dealt with in the Geddes Report—I mean the continued existence of a separate Air Service. If the Under-Secretary of State for War is able to say in reply to my question that it is the Government's intention to maintain the integrity and independence of the Air Service, I shall not trouble the House with any further remarks." The Under-Secretary of State for War (Lieut.-Col. Sir R. Sanders) : " That is so." Capt. Benn : "If that is the case, then I have nothing further to say." Sir R. Sanders : " I do not want to give a definite assurance of that kind in answer to a question without careful con sideration, but I understand it is so, and that the Air Service will continue as an independent service." Capt. Benn : " If that be so, then I should not dream of troubling the House with any further remarks. That is an extremely satisfactory statement in view of the doubts that have been thrown upon the future existence of the Air Service. If the hon. gentleman states that there is no intention of interfering in the matter, that assurance is extremely satis factory." Sir R. Sanders : " That is my belief at the present moment." EI 13 H EI IN PARLIAMENT Airships MR. GILBERT, on March 8, asked the Secretary of State for Air how many airships are in the possession of his Department at the present time ; whether all or any of them are of German make; if it is proposed to retain all of them for air-service work or if any of them are to be disposed of ; and, if so, how many ? Captain Guest : The answer to thefirst question isfi ve ; to the second, one ; to the third, that it is not proposed to retain any of them for Air Force work, and that in view of the present need for economy and of the inability of India and those Dominions from whom replies have been received to contribute towards their operation on Imperial air routes, it has with great regret been decided to pass them all for disposal. This process must necessarily take a few weeks, and during that time it is, of course, still possible-for offers to be made with the object of running an airship service. Sir J. Norton - Griffiths : Does mv right hon. friend's undertaking given at the Guildhall that this material would not be disposed of before June hold good ? Captain Guest: No. There is some slight misunderstanding about it. We hoped that the further delay would«be of value to the other Dominions, as no reply had been received then. Since then I have received a reply, and there is no object in keeping this material any longer. Major-General Seely : Even if we dispose of the airships, will we retain at least a proportion of the skilled personnel, and the research staff to enable us to resume activities in case of necessity ? Captain Guest : In spite of the small monetary grant for this purpose, an effort will be made to retain some of the skilled members of the staff in maintenance and other pariies. Captain Viscount Curzon : Have the Admiralty concurred in this decision ? Captain Guest: The Admiralty views were represented a great many months ago, when their statenjents were considered very carefully. Depots or Air Stations MR. GILBERT asked the Secretary of State for Air how many depots are now maintained for the Air Force in Great Britaini; how many air stations are also provided, and can be state approximately in what parts of England and Scotland they are situated ; and if it is proposed to give up any of these depflts or stations, and, if so, how many ? Captain Guest: The answer to the first question is 7 ; to the second, 32, of which two are situated in Fifeshire, one in Flintshire, and the remainder in the counties east of a line drawn from Lincoln to Plymouth ; to the third, that one air station will be relinquished in May next, and four others will be reduced to a care and maintenance basis early in April next. H.A.F. Recruiting LIEUT.-COLONEL CAMPION, on March a, asked the Secretary of State for Air the amount of money expended in recruiting advertisements during the current financial year, and the number of recruits obtained ? Captain Guest: It is estimated that expenditure on recruiting advertisements for the Air Force, including posters, films, etc., will be £15,000 on Air Votes 166
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