FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1935
1935 - 1465.PDF
AIRCRAFT ENGINEER AND AIRSHIPS bounded in 1909 FIRST AERONAUTICAL^WEEKLY IN THEGWORLD OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ROYAL AERO CLUB No. 1382. Vol. XXVII. JUNE 20, 1935 Thursdays, Price 6d. By Post, 7! d. Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices: DORSET HOUSE, STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I Telegrams : Truditur, Sedigi, London. HERTFORD ST., GUILDHALL BUILDINGS, COVENTRY. NAVIGATION ST., BIRMINGHAM, % Telegrams: Autocar, Coventry. Telegrams: Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone : Coventry 5210. Telephone: Midland 2971. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Home and Canada : Other Countries : Year, £1 13 0. Year, £1 15 0. Telephone : Hop 3333 (50 lines). 260, DEANSOATE, MANCHESTER, 3. Telegrams: Iliffe, Manchester. Telephone: Blaekfriars 4112. 26B, RENFIELD ST., GLASGOW, C..1. Telegrams: Iliffe, Glasgow. Telephone: Central 4857. 6 months, 16s. 6d. 6 months, 17s. 6.1 3 months, 8s. 3d. 3 months, 8s. 9-L Why Not the A.A.R? EIGHT infantry battalions of the Territorial Army are to be converted into anti-aircraft units, three of them to brigades of Royal Artillery and five to searchlight battalions of the Royal Engineers. This move by the Government arouses many reflections. Everybody must approve the determination to pro vide more anti-aircraft ground defences, for without them the scheme for expanding the R.A.F. would be largely futile. The principle of the step is above cavil, but the method of carrying it out is open to question. One must ask if our Army is so large that it can afford to lose eight infantry battalions at one fell swoop. Such a loss is almost the equivalent of a defeat in a fairly considerable land battle. These Territorials will con tinue to be raised and administered and paid under the auspices of the War Office, but for operations they will be placed under the Air Ministry and will receive their orders from the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Air Defence of Great Britain. For all fighting purposes they will be lost to the Army. Conversion, as a sub stitute for raising new units, will saye the money of the taxpayer. The Government, instead of paying its way, is borrowing from, or rather robbing, the Arm)' Peter to pa / the Air Force Paul, and the principle is not sound. It is, in fact, strange that such a highly important and highly technical work as anti-aircraft defence should be entrusted to a volunteer body of men who, except on annual training and in war, work for love and not for pay. Defence of the homeland is the undertaking of the Territorial Army, and its men cannot be sent over seas without a further act of volunteering. Dealing with air raiders is most certainly defence of the home land, but it is unlike any other form of defence. The men responsible for it cannot justly be called second- line troops, for in the event of war they ore likely to be firing on the enemy before any other troops are engaged at all. They must always be keyed up to the highest pitch of training, for no respite is likely to be given them after the outbreak of war in which they can com plete training. If they ever have to go into action it will probably be at a moment's notice, and they will be required to display immediately all the accuracy and mastery of their weapons and instruments which is ordi narily to be expected only of highly trained full-time specialists. Esprit de Corps That very great proficiency is not impossible for part- time volunteer organisations has been demonstrated by the Auxiliary Air Force in general, as well as by the crack battalions of the Territorial Army. The know ledge of the great responsibility which will rest upon them is likely to act as a stimulus to the men, and to bring about regular attendance at parades- as well as intensive study of the delicate range-finders and sound- locators which are the foundations of successful anti aircraft work. We may take it that the recent awaken ing of the Government to the realities of the situation, and the great popular interest which the air question has aroused, mean that the War Office will provide all the anti-aircraft units with the latest and most efficient equipment of guns and instruments. For the time being, at any rate, we hope that the charge that the Air Ministry is only interested in having these units efficient, while the War Office is only interested in having them cheap, will have lost its force. At the same time no good is likely to come from the system of divided responsibility. The Territorial officers and men wear the khaki uniform of the Army, but they will take orders from a Commander-in-Chief wearing the blue uniform of the Air Force. Such things militate against esprit de corps. The sensible thing would have been to have handed the whole ground organisation of anti-aircraft defence over to the Air Ministry. That would have avoided all
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
