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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0316.PDF
MAY 6, 1926 ROYAL AIR FORCE REORGANISATION Formation of Air Defences of Great Britain THE Royal Air Force gradually assumes coherent shape. Some months ago we commented on the fact that there was at least one Wing Commander in Great Britain who had a wing to command. Before many days have passed our Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Air Defences of Great Britain, whom we have had with us now for quite a long time, will actuallv have an Air Defence Force to command-in-chief. The occasion has been seized to carry out a somewhat exten- sive reorganisation of the R.A.F. units in this country upon a novel basis, the results of which should be considerable simplification in many directions and more unified methods of training. For the benefit of readers who have not studied the matter, it may be as well to give a brief sketch of the state of affairs which" is now passing awa\T. The R.A.F. units in this country were divided between two areas, the Coastal Area and the Inland Area. This applied to all units except Cranwell and Halton and the Special Reserve and Auxiliary Air Force, all of which were commands directly under the Air Ministry. The Coastal Area dealt, and deals, with marine aircraft, aircraft carriers, and naval co-operation in general. It is not affected by the new organisation. The Inland Area contained all the rest, and the units were various. They comprised all squadrons (fighter, bombing, communication, and army co-operation), all stores depots, flying training schools, other schools of instruction, the R.A.F. Central Band, the R.A.F. Officers' Hospital, etc. Some of the units were administered direct by Area Headquarters, among these being two squadrons of fighters, namely, Nos. 23 and 43, both stationed at Henlow. The others were administered by four Groups, numbered 1, 3, 6 and 7. These Groups had a geographical basis. No. 1 Group and No. 6 Group divided between them the stations round London, No. 1 extending through north Kent to include Manston and Eastchurch and westward to Ruislip and Ascot, while No. 6 had Kenley, Biggin Hill, Northolt, Hawkinge, and also threw out an arm northwards to include Duxford. No. 3 Group was mainly concerned with Lincolnshire and East Anglia, though Sealand and Altrincham in Cheshire also came under it. No. 7 Group was mainly Wessex, stretching from Farnborough to Salisbury Plain. One result of this arrangement was that squadrons and other units whose work was of one particular class were distributed between different groups, and their training could not therefore be as uniform as is desirable. For instance, of the four army co-operation squadrons, three were rightly located within the jurisdiction of No. 7 Group and lived in close touch with the army at Farnborough and Old Sarum, while the other, No. 2, was at Manston and came under No. 1 Group. The defects of this system are obvious, although the geographical system may have simplified inspection by the Group Commanders. The Royal Air Force, at least as regards the regular units thereof, is not organised, as the army is, in a number of territorial units, such as the Essex Regiment, the Devon Regiment, etc. The R.A.F. rather resembles the Royal Navy in that any officer or airman may be transferred from one unit to another. The regular squadrons are not given territorial designations, and no attempt is made to appeal to territorial esprit de corps. That being so, there is no valid reason why the groups should be organised on a territorial basis. One of the main features of the new scheme is that this basis ceases to exist, and a func- tional basis is substituted. We may now proceed to examine the new state of affairs. Home Defence The Air Order, No. 1621 of 19/3/26, which deals with the reorganisation, gives the heading " Home Defence " to the force which now comes under the command of Sir John Salmond. It would be preferable to stick to the term " Air Defence," which explains to the taxpayer the purpose of the new force and lends it dignity. The fleet air arm and the four army co-operation squadrons are also being trained for home •defence, but in their cases it will be naval defence and military defence, respectively. Sir John Salmond's force is for air •defence, as apart from other forms of home defence. The Air Defences of Great Britain absorbs all the fighter and bombing squadrons in the country except Nos. 15 and 22, both bombing squadrons, which are stationed at Martlesham Heath and are required there for special purposes. The Communication Squadron, No. 24, and the Communica- tion Flight from Northolt, as well as the Night Flying Flight •from Biggin Hill, are also taken over. Air Defences deals with no units except the Staff College, squadrons and flights. It has no stores depots. It is not what is called a self- contained force, and there is no reason why it should be so. Air defences are divided into two areas—the Fighting Area and the Wessex Bombing Area. It may be noted that the second of these two has been given a territorial as well as a functional denomination. No doubt there will be other bombing areas in the not distant future. It must, however, not be thought that the word " territorial " is to be inter- preted in too strict a sense, for the stations of Spittlegate and Bircham Newton are both allotted to this area, and even the greatest ignoramus at English history could not imagine that those places ever had anything to do with Wessex. Perhaps the pundits of the Air Ministry remember that at the army manoeuvres last autumn Winchester was located in " Mercia," and want to go one better than the War Office in reducing these honoured names of the past to ridicule. The complete list of stations allotted to the Wessex Bombing Area is : Andover, Worthy Down, Nether- avon, Spittlegate and Bircham Newton. As stated in FLIGHT recently the headquarters will be at Andover, and the Air Officer Commanding will be Air Vice-Marshal J. M. Steel. At present the units posted to this area are the Staff College and nine bombing squadrons. Two bombing squadrons, Nos. 15 and 22, which are stationed at Martlesham Heath, and are on a special footing, remain under the Inland Area, but will join Air Defences on mobilisation. The Fighting Area will have its headquarters at Uxbridge, and will be commanded by Air Vice-Marshal H. R. M. Brooke-Popham. It comprises for the present 11 squadrons of single-seater fighters, No. 24 Communication Squadron (on Bristol Fighters), and the two flights mentioned above. The stations allotted to it are : Duxford, Northolt, Kenley, Biggin Hill, Hawkinge and Upavon. In course of time the stations of the two areas of the Air Defences and of the three groups into which the Inland Area is being reorganised, will be kept entirely separate, and no unit will be located at a station which has not been allotted to the area or group to which it belongs. This means, among other things, that the Central Flying School will be moved from Upavon to one of the stations allotted to No. 23 Group of the Inland Area. For the present, however, for reasons of economy, this part of the programme is being deferred. The two areas of the Air Defences are not on quite the same footing as the Inland and Coastal Areas, as the two latter are directly under the Air Ministry, whereas the Fighting and Wessex Bombing Areas are under the A.O.C.-in-C, A.D.G.B. Air Defences also includes the Special Reserve and Auxiliary Command, under Air Commodore J. G. Hearson, with head- quarters at Uxbridge. Renfrew, Turnhouse and AldergTove are its stations, but this list will be increased as new squadrons of the Special Reserve and Auxiliary Air Forces come into being. Hendon will undoubtedly be the first addition to the list. The Inland Area The Inland Area remains under the command of Air Vice-Marshal T. I. Webb-Bowen, and before the end of May the headquarters will be moved from Uxbridge to the newly- acquired estate of Bentley Priory, Stanmore, than which few more pleasant residences can be imagined. The area will be organised in three groups on a functional basis, and to mark the commencement of the new order of things all the old numbers of groups are abolished. The three new groups will be known as No. 21, No. 22 and No. 23. No. 21 Group will be the Stores Group, No. 22 the Army Co-operation Group, and No. 23 the Training Group. To some extent No. 21 represents the old No. 1 Group, which has recently moved its headquarters from Kidbrooke to West Drayton, which station will be the headquarters of No. 21. The stations allotted to this group are Kidbrooke, West Drayton, Altrin- cham, Milton, Ickenham, Ascot, Uxbridge, Shrewsbury, Henlow, Martlesham and Orfordness. Henlow will cease to be an aerodrome, housing only the Home Aircraft Depot, and in course of time Nos. 23 and 43 Fighter Squadrons will be moved elsewhere. Martlesham, however, remains an experimental establishment and aerodrome, although grouped with Stores Depots and cognate units. No. 21 Group will be commanded by Group Captain P. L. Wr. Herbert. No. 22 Group, under Air Commodore D. Le G. Pitcher, will have its headquarters at Farnborough, while its other stations will be Old Sarum and Larkhill, both on Salisbury 272
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