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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0032.PDF
JANUARY 15, 1925- NON-REGULAR AIR SQUADRONS Tlie Special Reserve and Auxiliary Air Forces . under the various titles of F-rd Aliliia and Sp5 Reserve, has existed from before the timefo ^Sf aircraft) „ , ~ a night-bombing squadron (using i-engined aeroplanes) will have about 30 officers andr u his attemPt to solve that problem, the ar might not have lasted from ! 914 to 1918 tm™a>'ed bv the difficulties of the War Office in theStiL S ')" Mlnistr>' has set "self the task of raising a be n»r/°,rce °n «uch a cons.derable scale that to it is to be commuted about 25 per cent, of the air defence of Great , Before. hls tenure of the command-in-chief of air £ T?lred Air Marshal Sir John Salmond will, it is i have*f *"s beck and call 52 squadrons of fighters and ers. Of these, one-quarter—namelv, 13 squadrons— RPJr Pro"ded b>' "on-regular forces, seven bv the Special Keserve Air Force and six by the Auxiliary Air Force. These ™ wlU alIbc bombers, for, it is vervnghtlv held, fighter squadrons require such constant practice—drill", we may call Jw 711 prepared to move at such very short notice rpmi - re|ularscan undertake the work. 'The 13 non- regular squadrons, when raised, will be under the command oi Air Commodore John G. Hearson, C.B., CBE D S O who at present has his office with the H.O. Coastal Area in Tavistock Street. ^wS°m/ °f °Ur readers are getting confused by the various classes of outS1de help which the Air Ministry is "busily estab- lishing, it is excusable. There is (1) the Reserve of Air Force omcers, who upon mobilisation would be absorbed into the MWT S?uadrons : (2) the Special Reserve Air Force ; and ^Kn ,AuxlIlary Air Force. The two latter are, as stated ?h? fiC> *°Provlde complete units, and will not be used, as miits Wl11 be' tO make g0od war wastaee in regular It becomes important to distinguish with some care between sfcfht ?riaiJteSerVe and the Auxiliary Air Force. At first If*.V ™rences do not appear very marked, but it is easy to understand that when the two forces come into being /+ dlstinct»ons will be considerable, and thet will ^T' gre1aler aS time 8°es on" Speaking in general P^l*1 Reserve ™« be analogous to the Militia andr >' Ajr For« to the Territorial Army. The Air ry appears to have copied the War Office in estab- ?^, ^1° non-regular forces. The reason why it has adopted this policy is rather elusive and baffling. Probably LTlS ^ 7K vet/ WCre better than one- and the resu!'tf. bellef But in so far as the plan is mere \ '* certainly bears an appearance of being ;• 1S °Pen tO the criticism of setting up needles! prions and running the risk of confusing the popular ™V The+^ar Office has the excuse of history for relymgisCr M "I f I °rCCS- The Militia' as we mentioned zhoj ReetTlar T g £g f°rCC' °lder by man>' centuries than thenature it /^YH 7°r Vari°US reaSOT1S' largely of a social SStion Sfy,tO attraKCt tO ltS ranks manv classes of the3rtT *?°1 ^ been proved to P°ssess nne fighting Volunteer therefore. m the reign of Queen Victoria thl STSSZ8^ and out of the Volunteers th? V.F. al, the idea appears to be to locate Special Reserve in large towns^especially those containing engineer- anri to provide a headquarters aerodrome close to1 regular personnel will be sufficient to main- "•~- equipment, etc., and the non-regular „ ^^.^ to receive instruction and drill in all duties (flying, rigging, fitting, etc.) on the aerodrome. The S.R. squadrons will be designated by numbers starting from . The Auxiliary Air Force admin- T A u the Auxiliary Air Force will be raised and blT £ K^exi,stlng Territorial Associations, which have TLgi ri y farllament new Powers to deal with them, n establishment, the regular element will be cut down to a 2?™;, aPProximately two officers and 20 other ranks, of °thy SUfceTt0 carry out the day-to-day manv m,/rtPr. f "**• U aPPea« probable that the head- quarters aerodromes will usually be located out in the coun- try and where this is the case, a drill hall will be provided ni t^Lnea? tOWn' Ordinary ground instruction in theory w n^L i' n«Pn8- functioning, and care of engines etc will be carried out in the drill halls6 The scheme rather wears thP aPpearancelof tr>Ting to «tch the agriculturist rather than desiSaD1C' u ll m/y nOt work out so ln Practice. The,designating numbers of the A.A.F. units will start with « (Kt- Th fi" f t ' a Territor'al designation will be added. S WU1 «* k * «0 City of ^ Headquarter Aerodromes ° h,eadcluarter aerodromes for the 13 non-regular * 1S e'n,g comPiled- Three have been dennitelv been n ff/"^ HIUtS tO be Rationed at them havebeen published. They are •— tWn°rd°n,••• Hendon Aerodrome. One S.R. squadron andtwo Auxiliary squadrons. Sbh Turnnouse Aerodrome. One Auxiliary It has "^L^ln^tr>' f not'hamPe^d by rnstory and tradition,it has a perfectly clean slate. Moreover there is this ereat ST th A e and the'Armv-Athat in" the52?. While toto say that the Air ! two non-regular air forces (we armies. is chance of the desired object as two can offer. The Special Reserve Glasgow : Renfrew Aerodrome. One Auxiliary squadron. It is hoped that two or three of these five squadrons wilt be formed this spring, and others in the near future. War Stations The feature of the scheme which commands the most unstinted admiration is the allocation to each non-regular squadron of a war station. These stations will be on service aerodromes within the defence system. Provision will be made on the aerodrome for the accommodation of the non- regular squadron, and on the outbreak of war each of them will proceed at nnre to its war station. This is good, but it common sense. What is better, and imagination of the Air Ministry, is tjfcie pro- that during peace time the non-regular squadrons shall time to time proceed to their war stations and undergo liner) training with the R.A.F. units permanently there and with the ground defence batteries. Nothing helps the citizen soldier (and the same will apply to the citizen airman) so much as close association wjth the regulars. But in the old days of the Volunteers, the regular soldiers were too apt to treat the amateurs with scorn, to laugh at their shortcomings rather than to admire their spirit, and the last thing they would have thought of doing was to offer active help and encouragement. In the Air Force of the future we may hope to see arise an esprit dc I'aerodrome, which will make the regulars feel pride or shame according as their own particular non-regular squadron per- forms well or ill. An indifferent performance, especially if it is contrasted with a more creditable one by a non-regular squadron from another aerodrome, should prompt the regulars to give active assistance in putting things to rights. What one hopes to hear in the future is, say, a regular pilot officer from Bicpin Hill chaffing one from Hawkinge on the lines see our auxiliary squadron yesterday ? Tniiv- by" the Air Ministry"" Th" ^ uvT' *** or&anised directly trnrds non-regulars. The strength of a day-bombing squadron 32 .„ nv-^J •• r- i_ ~»"Y.U inr^xcil L ally LlUUtf UKe effiH ' • ?u a Sp'rit would eivc the best assurance ofefficiency in the non-regulars. And if the efficiency in both these forces is not on a high level, then 25 per cent, of ourair defence strength must be discounted
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