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Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0163.PDF
MARCH 22, 1923 think we were not likely to see a Ministry of Defence in the near future and in the Circumstances of the time if was far better to retain unimpaired the homogeneity and independent organisation of the Air Force. No one could dispute tnSif^rZZTiT ^ F°rCe, W°XkhlS with the Navy for strateg c purposes the command must lie with the naval officer in NTwrhouldh Say,thai thC aifmen Who worked with *°Navy should be naval officers was insanity. It used to be said that the letters '• R.N.A.S." stood for "really not f fw L NaVy had itS own Air Force much the samefeeling would grow up again, and the Air Force would be composed part y of disgruntled enthusiasts and partly ofdisheartened failures. •??!i,main dominating function of those who co-operatedwith the Navy was aerial, and not naval. All these theories concerning a separate naval air force overlooked one of thegreat features of human nature, which was the professional outlook. The air was as truly a profession as any other Theairman was even more different from a soldier or sailor than a soldier and sailor were different from one another. He hopedthat the Committee which was examining the subject would resist any proposal by which the professional unity of the AirForce was broken. In the meantime the great task for the Air Ministry was research. In particular, he hoped that theproblem of whether there were no real means of defence against aeroplanes would be more thoroughly and systema-tically considered. ^UKUt;~C°L Moore-Brabazon (Chatham, U.) said that one ofthe first steps towards a Ministry of Defence, which so many members advocated, was to put the three Services on an equalfooting, and he noted that the Air Minister was not a member of the Cabinet. With regard to civil aviation, he held that itschief value was that it gave us the necessary manufacturers for the expansion of the flying force when it became necessary.The question of whether the Navy was going to have its own Air Force or not was becoming a hardy annual. We hadit year after year. There had been inquiries by experts, and the thing had been decided. Personally, he had such faithin the answer that he did not mind whether there was an inquiry once a week for the next ten years. The result wouldalways be the same. The grievance which the Navy brought forward was a little obscure. Our naval work was the best in the world, and we had better flyers than anybody else, and a better type of machine. The Washington Conference only allowed four aeroplane carriers, and the Air Ministry had given the Navy more machines than they could put into service. He could not understand what they were complaining about. Years ago the Navy did not realise the power and the future which the air had in store, and they now seemed to realise it too much. Even sailors themselves advanced the theory that in 30 or 40 years ships would be unnecessary, and they drew this curious conclusion, that because ships would not be necessary that was a reason for doing away with the Air Force, though the logical conclusion would be that that would be a reason for doing away with the Navy. We had this curious propaganda which seemed to be spreading through the country, as to lifting the Navy into the air. For instance, we had this in the Morning Post : "If the Fleet has to be gradually lifted out of the sea into the air those best suited to conduct this policy are those who have made a study of and have lived upon the sea. He would point out that there was a Navy of the Air. That was the Air Force, and that was what it ought to lemain. The Admiralty was after the whole hog. They were out to get the whole of the Air Force to themselves. What we were afraid of was that this agitation to get control of the Air Force was the thin end of the wedge, and we knew the immense power of the Admiralty, the biggest bureaucracy in the world. When they got their feet in, they would do the same as when they were in partnership with the Royal Air Force. They would duplicate the training stations, they would have separate contract departments, arid the two departments would be pitted against each other and have to pay enormous prices. Viscount Curzon (Battersea, S., U.) said the Navy required an air service for purely naval purposes, and nothing else. The Navy had no desire to get rid of the Air Ministry ; on the contrary, they recognised its necessity as an essential part of our national defence. He hoped that the new Committee would go into the whole matter with full knowledge of the Navy's case, and come to a decision on the merits of the question. - The King's Levee THE Levee held by H.M. the King at St. James's Palace, on March 6, was attended by Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard, Principal Air Aide-de-Camp, Sir Samuel Hoare, Secretary of State for Air, Sir Richard Glazebrook, etc. Amongst those presented to His Majesty were the following :— Lieut. Aviateur Chevalier Willy Coppens, Capitaine de Corvette SablS, Major Nobile C. Graziani, Flying-Officer G. D. Ashby, Flying-Officer V. G. Bennett, Flying-Officer W. A. Buscarlet, Flight-Lieut. L. H. Cockey. Flight-Lieut. G. R. Deacon, M.C., Squadron-Leader W. A. Duck, O.B.E., Lieut. J. C. Holland, D.F.C., Wing-Commander A. H. Jackson, Flight-Lieut. F. E. Johnson, Flying-Officer M. G. Trapagna- Leroy, A.F.C., Flying-Officer B.A. Lewin, Flying-Officer E. M. Ling, Flight-Lieut. F. J. Linnell, Flying-Officer R. D. Macrostie, M.B.E., Flight-Lieut. A. S. Maskell, Flying-Officer H. W. Nicholl. Flying-Officer A. H. Paull, Squadron-Leader J. H. Peek, Flying-Officer W. R. Rogers, Wing-Commander G. H. Thomson, O.B.E., etc. Amonst those who attended the Levee held by H.M. the King at St. James's Palace, on March 13, were Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard, Principal Air Aide-de-Camp, Sir Samuel Hoare, Secretary of State for Air, Air Vice-Marshal Sir Win. G. Salmond, Air Vice-Marshal O. Swann, and Wing Commander L. Greig. The following were amongst those presented to the King : Flying Officer Eric H. Alliott, Flight Lieut. Archibald J. Briddon, Flying Officer Edmund A. Britton, D.F.C., Flight Lieut. Harry G. Bushell, Flying Officer Basil R. Carter, Flight Lieut. Frank E. Coates, Flying Officer Reginald M. Davy, Flying Officer Noel H. Jay, Flight Lieut. Claude H. Keith, Flight Lieut. Athol W. Mylne, Wing Commander Hazelton R. Nicholl, O.B.E., Flying Officer Francis A. O'Brien, Wing Commander Richard E. Peirse, D.S.O., A.F.C., Flying Officer George E. Pyne, Capt. Alec Reid, D.F.C., M.P., Flying Officer Alick C. Stevens, Wing Commander Arthur T. Whitelock, Flight Lieut. Ryder Young, etc. Air Connection between the Little Entente Capitals THE Czecho-Slovak News Service announces from Belgrade that the Jugoslav Transport Ministry has concluded an agreement with the Franco-Rumanian Air Transport Co. for the purpose of establishing a regular service between Paris and Belgrade, as well as between the three Little Entente capitals, i.e., Prague, Bucharest, and Belgrade. For over two years the company has been maintaining a regular air service Paris-Prague-Bucharest, which will be extended to Belgrade, and later, when conditions permit, to Constan- tinople. In this connection it is interesting to note that Prague is developing into a big aerial centre. In addition to being one of the chief landing-places of the above service, it will soon be connected with London, Berlin, Vienna and Budapest. The journey London-Prague will take only about seven hours. Cheaper Cross-Channel Flying THE possibility of reducing the cost of flying from London to Paris to 2s. per mile for ten passengers instead of the present cost of from 4s. 6d. to 5s. for eight persons was referred to by Mr. H. James Yates, of the Civil Aviation Advisory Board, speaking at Birmingham on March 14. It was purely a matter of obtaining a dependable volume of traffic. If considerably more passengers were available— say, about fifty or sixty a day—the cost per mile would be 3s. Technical developments would permit of a further reduction of Is., and the various companies would be able to provide cheap aerial transport without the present Govern- ment subsidy. The necessity for the utmost attention being given to commercial aviation was obvious from the fact that were European complications to arise in the future—which was quite within the realm of possibility—this country would be in the most dire jeopardy from enemy aircraft unless her own defensive aviation arrangements were of the com- pletest kind. The simplest and cheapest way of attaining this was by developing air transport for commercial purposes. In the first place, it would keep designers, manufacturers, pilots and mechanics in employment, and promote progress along all lines of aeronautical development, creating a great Imperial reserve for time of emergency. In the second place, it would bind the British Empire together far more firmly than has ever been the case before, and mail and passenger services daily to our great overseas Dominions would encourage Imperial trade and enable the British Empire to become practically self-supporting. 163
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