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Aviation History
1924
1924 - 0710.PDF
AIR DEFENCE Air Marshal Sir John Salmond Appointed Commander-in-Chief THE Air Ministry announces that Air Marshal Sir John Maitland Salmond, K.C.B., C.M.G., C.V.O., D.S.O., has been selected to fill the post about to be created, with effect from January 1 next, of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Air Defence of Great Britain. The command to which Sir John Salmond has been appointed is a new command instituted in consequence of the scheme for the defence of the United Kingdom against air attack which was approved by H.M. Government last year. It will be recollected that this scheme embraces the formation of 52 squadrons as a Home Defence force, together with the necessary ground defences to be provided by the army, consisting of anti-aircraft batteries, searchlights, etc. Before discussing further the re-organisation involved, it may be useful to recall briefly the career of Sir John himself. Born in 1881 at Kensington, he was educated at Wellington, where so many good soldiers have learnt Latin and algebra. He received his commission in the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment during the South African War, and was fortunate in spending his first two years of soldiering on active service. Ten years later he took his pilot's certificate from the Royal Aero Club. It is dated August 13, 1912, and the number is 272. In the following November he was appointed instructor at the Central Flying School at Upavon, for the Royal Flying Corps was then just beginning to train its own pilots. When the Great War broke out, Major Salmond, as he then was, was in command of No. 3 Squadron, which was equipped with Henri Farmans and Bleriots. Together with Squadrons 2, 4 and 5 they went to France and took part in the retreat. The flight commanders, who, fortunately, are all alive and serving in the Royal Air Force today, were P. L. W. Herbert (now Group Captain), L. E. O.Charlton (now Air Commodore), and P. B. Joubert de la Ferte (now Group Captain). It is believed to have been Charlton who first brought in news of the turning movement of Von Kluck which decided Sir John French to commence the retreat from Mons. Incidentally, Sir John's brother, Geoffrey, was then on the staff of General Henderson. On February 18, 1915, Major Salmond was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, not for any deed of personal daring do, but for his admirable services in command of his squadron. In April of that.year he was given command of the 2nd Wing, and in 1916 he was promoted to Brigadier and put in command of the 2nd Brigade. In the following year he became a Major-General, and towards the end of that year he became Director of Military Aeronautics at the War Office, with a seat on the Air Board. In January, 1918, he succeeded Sir Hugh Trenchard as G.O.C. the R.F.C. in France, and as such he was responsible for all air operations during the great German advance in that spring, and after wards during the final victorious advance of the British army. He remained on to command the Air Force of Occupation until, in August, 1919, he was recalled to England to command what was then the Southern Area. He was then an Air Vice- Marshal. In 1920 reorganisation took place, and the present arrangement of dividing the whole Royal Air Force in this country into an Inland and a Coastal Area was introduced. Sir John was given the command of the Inland Area, which he held until he was sent to India on a special mission in 1922 to inquire into the very unsatisfactory conditions of the Royal Air Force units there, which had been kept shockingly short of spares by the Indian Government, then suffering from one of those disastrous attacks of economy to which all British Governments were prone in the years after the War, and of which aircraft was always the most pitiable victim. From India, Sir John passed on to Iraq, where he assumed command, not only of the R.A.F. units, but of the whole responsibility for the defence of the country from foreign foes and from turbulent Shaikhs in its own deserts. Hitherto Iraq had been part of the Middle East Command, so far as the R.A.F. was concerned, so that Sir John succeeded his brother, Sir Geoffrey, in that country, but with greatly increased powers and dignity. Never before had the Royal Air Force undertaken the defence of a country. Never before had units of the army been placed under the command of an air officer. The position was unprecedented, and Sir John had to create precedents for everything. As proof that his work was well done, we need hardly go further than the glowing terms in which the work and condition of the R.A.F. in Iraq were described by the Air Minister, Lord Thomson, at the conclusion of his recent visit to that country. In April of the present year Sir John, now a full Air Marshal, took six months' leave, came home, and got married. Now, after a honeymoon somewhat longer than most men are able to enjoy, he once again takes up a position which no man has held before. According to the present sanctioned programme, the Air Defence force is to consist of 52 squadrons, of which 13 are to be Special Reserve and Auxiliary squadrons. Sir Jojm will find 18 regular squadrons more or less completed, and will take them over from the Inland Area, which will be left free to concentrate its attention on schools of instruction, and Army Co-operation. The 18 squadrons are :— Descrip- No. tion. Present constitution. Equip ment. Station. 3 Fighter H.Q. & 2 flights Snipe Upavon 7 Bombing ,, 2 ,, Virginia Bircham Newton 9 ,, ,, 1 ,, Vimy Manston 11 ,, ,, 2 Fawn Netheravon 12 ,, ,, 2 ,, „ Andover 15 ,, ,, 3 ,, D.H.9a Martleshain 17 Fighter ,. 2 ., Snipe Hawkinge 19 ,, ., 2 ,, ,, Duxford 22 Bombing ,, 3 ., (?) Martlesham 20 Fighter ,, 3 ,, Grebe Hawkinge 29 .. 2 ,, Snipe Duxford 32 ,, „ 3 „ „ Kenley 41 ,, ,, 2 ,. Siskin Northolt 56 ,, 3 ,. Snipe Biggin Hill 58 Bombing ,, 1 ,, Vimy Worthy Down 99 ,, ,, 1 ,, Aldershot Bircham Newton 111 Fighter ,, 2 ,, Siskin Duxford 207 Bombing ,, 3 ,, D.H.9a Eastchurch The above list is compiled from the November Air Force List, which gives the state of affairs up to the beginning of October, so that probably some of the squadrons are in a more advanced state by now, and some re-equipment with newer types of aircraft may have begun. The Snipe and the Vimy, for example, are obsolescent, and will be replaced in due course, we hope before long. It should be added that fighter squadrons will be provided only by the regular air force, the Special Reserve and Auxiliary Air Force providing bombing squadrons only. The regulations for the special reserve and the auxiliary air forces have not yet been issued. The difference between the two will be analogous to the difference between the old militia and the old volunteer forces. The S.R. squadrons will be maintained on a basis of about 33 per cent, regular personnel and the remainder skilled artisans who will be called up for short periods of training in the district where they live. The auxiliary squadrons will have a small nucleus of regular personnel for instruction and administration, but in the main they will be composed of citizen airmen. It is proposed to locate the squadrons in the large industrial centres where a plentiful supply of skilled mechanics is avail able and " drills " can be held frequently throughout the year. In the regular squadrons also it is proposed to carry out almost all the non-technical work, which is estimated at about 25 per cent, of the whole, by civilian labour. Compared with air force labour, this will be cheap, and an increase of less than 10,000 officers and men in the R.A.F, is all that is anticipated, namely an increase of about one-third. At the same time the striking power of the Home Defence air force will be doubled. It remains to be seen how this will work in practice. Until the regulations for the Special Reserve and the Auxiliary forces are issued, comment must be reserved. On the facts before us it would appear that the most difficult part to arrange will be the accurate rigging of the aircraft in the Auxiliary Air Force. For the larger policy of isolating the Home Defence air force rhcre can be nothing but praise. In the first place it makes Great Britain safer, and in the second place it makes the Royal Air Force safe. IT is notified in the London Gazette that the King in'Council on October 9 approved the drafts of two Orders in Council made in pursuance of the Air Force Constitution Act, 1917. entitled respectively " The Auxiliary Air Force Order, 1924." and " The Air Force Reserve Order, 1924." 710
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