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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0044.PDF
FLIGHT, JULY 6, 1933 flook. Review " Recollections of an Airman," by Lt. Col. L. S. Strange, D.S.O., M.C., D.F.C. (John Hamilton, Ltd.). Obtainable from FLIGHT Office, lis., post free. " Dedicated to a luckless but not fameless generation." This excellent book combines the three main values of literature—entertainment, information and ease of style. Col. Strange is known to almost everybody in aviation as particularly " good company." It is not surprising, there fore, to find his book is also good company. In the first place, it is sufficiently seasoned with humour and humanity to be entertaining ; in the second, the experience of the author, his eagerness for fair, unadorned and complete fact makes his book a real contribution toward history. His knack of seeing from the other man's point of view is stereoscopic in its effect of putting incidents, customs and tactics in their proper relationship. His style of writing is accomplished, peculiarly lucid, has freedom from undue accent and often a very pretty turn of phrase. The book is illustrated with many excellent photographs, mostly of wartime operation. Col. Strange had many opportunities of seeing war at its seat on the Western Front and also at home. It is easy to believe that, in his case, skilled and experienced pilot as he was even then, his home service was almost less of a sinecure than were his tours abroad. I do not recollect any biography which deals in such an entertaining manner with continuous flying from pre-war to post-war periods, nor do I recall an autobiography in which the author gives no hint of how his many decora tions are won. That they were won over and over again in this case is perfectly obvious to any reader who looks between the lines. I recommend this book with absolute confidence to any pilot who flew during the war and likes to re-live his experiences and to any seeker after historical truth about the war in the air. J. " Wind in the Wires," by Duncan Grinnell-Milne. (Hurst and Blackett). Obtainable from FLIGHT Office. Price, 8s. pest free. Nowadays books dealing with the aerial side of the late war appear to be blowing into publishers' offices on the four winds of heaven. Mercifully publishers are ruthless in their discrimination, and do not pass books unless they have a very definite appeal. Books about war flying are bound to possess a certain interest by very reason of their subject, but when Messrs. Hurst & Blackett blossom forth with such a book there must be more in it than mere excitement. " Wind in the Wires," by Duncan Grinnell- Milne, is a war book in a class by itself, and, moreover, with a clever title. The author first saw service with the R.F.C. in 1915. He was taken prisoner, escaped, and only returned to the war towards the end of hostilities. He must have loved flying—no doubt still does ; it was the exhilarating excitement that appealed to him more than the joy of the chase. From beginning to end the book is a lure to read, a quaint sense of humour rippling through every page. It is well written and there are passages which are outstanding and stamp the author as no mean student of the English language. The whimsical behaviour of some of the earlier types of machines is described in delightful detail, and many of the characters referred to by nickname will be easily recognised by any conversant with those early days. It seems a pity that Mr. Grinnell-Milne has deferred, for so many years, describing his flying experiences, and it is to be hoped he will again put pen to paper in the near future. s m Control of Private Flying THE MOST HON. THE MARQUESS OF LONDONDERRY, K.G., Secretary of State for Air, has appointed an inde pendent Committee to consider the regulations at present governing private flying, the present control exercised by the Air Ministry and the practicability and desirability of its relaxation. The terms of reference will be as follows: — " To examine the requirements of the present Air Navigation Regulations, with particular reference to those governing private flying, in such matters as certi ficates of airworthiness ; to consider whether, and in what respects, the present system of control by the Air Ministry should be modified by way of devolution or otherwise ; and to make recommendations in regard to these and any cognate questions which may be remitted to them by the Secretary of State." The Right Hon. Lord Gorell, C.B.E., M.C., has con sented to act as Chairman and the following have agreed to serve as members:—Capt. Harold Balfour, M.C., M.P. ; E. C. Gordon England, Esq. ; W. Lindsay Everard, Esq., M.P. ; Lt. Col. J. T. C. Moore-Brabazon, M.C., M.P. ; F. Handley Page, Esq., C.B.E. (representing the Society of British Aircraft Constructors). It is intended to add a member with special knowledge of insurance. The Secretary will be W. W. Burkett, Esq., M.C., of the Air Ministry. The Committee has been asked to commence its investigations forthwith. Changes in the Higher Commands, Royal Air Force THE Air Ministry announces the following appoint ments : — Air Commodore Richard Edmund Charles Peirse, D.S.O., A.F.C., now Deputy Director of Operations and Intelli gence, Air Ministry, to be Air Officer Commanding, Pales tine and Transjordan, as from October, 1933, vice Air Vice-Marshal Wilfrid Rhodes Freeman, C.B., D.S.O., M.C. Group Capt. Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, D.S.O., M.C., now serving in the Directorate of Operations and Intelligence, Air Ministry, to be Officer Commanding, Aden, as from January, 1934, vice Group Capt. Owen Tudor Boyd, O.B.E., M.C., A.F.C. Air Commodore R. E. C. Peirse was appointed to the Royal Flying Corps (Naval Wing) in October, 1913, having been granted the Royal Aero Club Certificate (No. 460) in the previous April. He served with the Royal Naval Air Service during the greater part of the War and was awarded the D.S.O. for making repeated attacks on the German submarine stations at Ostend and Zeebrugge in January, 1915. In January, 1919, he was awarded the A.F.C. in recognition of distinguished war service and in the same year received the Italian Croix de Guerre for service in the Mediterranean Area. He was given a per manent commission in the Royal Air Force in 1919, com manded at Gosport in 1923 and later was appointed, for Air Staff duties, successively to the Directorate of Organi sation and Staff Duties, Air Ministry, the Middle East Command and Coastal Area Headquarters. While in the Middle East Command he commanded at Heliopolis and for a short period served in Palestine and Transjordan. He was promoted Group Captain in July, 1929, and was appointed Deputy Director of Operations and Intelligence in December, 1930. On July 1, 1933, he was promoted Air Commodore. Group Capt. C. F. A. Portal was appointed to the Royal Flying Corps in November, 1915 (having previously served in the Royal Engineers), and gained his Royal Aero Club Certificate (No. 2543) on March 9, 1916. For his services in France during the War he was awarded the M.C. early in 1917, the D.S.O. in July, 1917, and the bar to the D.S.O. a year later—in each case for conspicuous gallantry —besides being mentioned three times in despatches. He was given a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force in 1919 while serving at Cranwell, was appointed to the Directorate of Operations and Intelligence, Air Ministry, for Air Staff duties in 1923, commanded No. 7 (Bomber) Squadron in 1927, and returned to the Directorate of Operations and Intelligence in 1930. JTe became Group Captain in July, 1931. He graduated at the R.A.F. Staff College in 1923 and has since attended the Senior Officers' War Course and the Imperial Defence College. Sir Richard Glazebrook AN old pioneer of aviation, Sir Richard Glazebrook, celebrated his golden wedding in June. ** Loch Everest" IT is reported that a lake in the region of Mount Everest is to be called " Loch Everest." It will be the only loch outside Scotland. 680
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