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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 2014.PDF
fits in with the Ministry of Home Security, with the Fighter Command of the R.A.F., and with local authori- ties. Nobody seems clear as to who can order a certain piece of open ground to be obstructed, or who ought to carry out the work. Not unnaturally, it seems most incongruous to the layman that General Ironside, though commanding all the troops who have to defend the country, has no authority over the battalions and brigades of the searchlights and anti-aircraft guns. Though raised by the War Office they work under the Fighter Command. The newspapers which have been writing on this sub- ject have probably only just woken up to the fact that there are anomalies. Flight has been giving earnest thought to the matter for years, and long ago came to definite conclusions. Even the present advocates of some alteration would probably admit, on more mature reflec- tion, that all the forces which go to make up air defence must be at least under the operational control of the A.O.C.-in-C, Fighter Command. Of course, we do not mean merely the present holder of that important office, namely, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding. Air defence is the concern of an elaborate organisation with a highly trained staff at the head of it. No other person or body can have such understanding of all the possibili- ties of air attack on this country and of the powers of air defence to deal with such attack. So long as the enemy is in the air the Fighter Command is the only con- JULY 18, 1940 ceivable body for dealing with the menace. To limit its powers in any way would be to make experiments with our safety at a moment when to experiment would be an unjustifiable gamble. Men in Khaki and Men in BlueI F and when any bodies of the enemy land in 1his country, then the time will have come for General Ironside and his Army to deal with them. If he needs more authority to order the obstruction of open spaces or to utilise the Local Defence Volunteers, by ail means let him have the necessary powers. But, as we value our lives and liberty, do not let any well-meaning but thoughtless laymen interfere with the Fighter Com- mand. The present confusion of thought would have been avoided if long ago we had taken the sensible step ot placing all the searchlight battalions and anti-aircratt brigades under the Air Ministry for all purposes. What- ever may happen, those troops are not intended to fight Germans on the soil of Great Britain, whether they may come by air or by water. That is for the men in khaki under General Ironside. Therefore, the men who fight only against the enemy in the air ought not to be wear- ing khaki; they ought to be in Air Force blue, as the men of the Balloon Barrage are. If that had been arranged long ago we should now be spared much muddled thinking. NAVAL TECHNIQUE The accuracy and weignt ot nre ot tneir turreted armament are the pride of British naval gunners. Equally hne results are being obtained with the Boulton Paul four-gun turret on the Blackburn Roc two-seater fleet fighter, a new view of which is given above. It will be seen that the turret operates in conjunction with retractable fairings.
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