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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0103.PDF
JANUARY C/TH, 1941. THE FOURTH DIMENSION (Continued aircraft which might bomb and machine-gun a passage for following terrestrial forces ; mastery to bomb and machine-gun those forces on the surface. I do not discount the need for ground defence, nor the need for surface forces to attack the surface forces of the enemy ; nor do I discount the part which sea forces can play when the war enters their area of aggres- sive operating power; but I do say that when the glorious or tragic (choose whichever adjective you wish) moment arrives for that new onrush of German mes- merised myrmidons it will be the aeroplane which again, as in the early autumn of 1940,.will play the decisive part, which will hit first and last, which will go on hitting till the last bombs fall, while generals decide the destinies of nations whose statesmen have lost their power. A Two-power Standard Has Britain, then, a two-power standard in the air to J"enable her to mass the aerial cohorts she requires to stem a threatened German onrush on either of two fronts? If Britain has not that standard yet, has the Royal Air Force, and those air-units which are now operating under the direction of the two other Defence Departments, the power of mobility which will enable the air forces at the disposal of Britain to be concentrated „.rapidly at the main point of assault ? In the meantime, ought we not to be delivering a greater weight of attack than we have yt-t made against those slowly concentrating masses of German troops who must even now- be training and moving gradually iorward into strategic positions in preparation for the grand sortie to grab the world outside Europe? While we continue the struggle against the Italians, surely we ought also to be employing air-power to attack the German army itself with all the weight of bombs at our disposal! To win this war we must seize every opportunity for aggressive action. Our Air-Arm is the one weapon we possess which need never cease'' to harry the German soldier. Remember that most men would rather be shock- troops than routine war soldiers. The whole of Hitler's armies have been shock troops, fighting for brief spells, then having long intervals of quiet. That kind of war makes for good fighting types when the moment comes for action. It is more wearying to the flesh to stick it out, week in week out, while the enemy hammers away all the time. If we had applied the bomber in sufficient force at the right time last winter there might ha^ve" been no inva- sion of Norway. If we take the opportunity to apply the bomber in sufficient force now it will materially reduce the weight of the offensive we shall have to resist in the months to come. NEW-YEAR HONOURS Aviation Well Represented MANY names familiar in British aviation figure in theOfficial List of New-Year Honours conferred by HisMajesty the King, published on Monday of last week.Recipients who are serving in the Royal Air Force are listed in our Service Aviation pages. The civil awards are given here. VISCOUNTCamrose, William Ewart, Baron. Editor-in-Chief. of the Daily Telegraph. KNIGHTS BACHELOR French, James Weir, D.Sc, Chairman of Barr and Stroud.Grant, Allan John, J.P., Managing Director, Thomas Firth and John Brown, Ltd., Sheffield. Lemon, Ernest John Hutchings, O.B.E., M.I.Mech.E. Forservices to the Air Ministry. A Vice-president of the London, ' .Midland and Scottish Railway Co.F'~ Spriggs, Frank Spencer, Managing Director of the Hawker '^J Siddeley Aircraft Co. President, Society of. British AircraftConstructors, Ltd. ORDER OF THE BATH K.C.B. (Civil Division) Rowlands, Archibald, M.B.E., Permanent Secretary, Minis- try of Aircraft Production.Street, Sir Arthur William, K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., C.I.E., M.C., Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Air Ministry. ORDER OF THE BATH C.B. (Civil Division) Holloway, Ernest, O.B.E., Director of Works, Air Ministry. Watt, Robert Alexander Watson, Scientific Adviser on Tele- communications, Ministry of Aircraft Production. ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE K.B.E. Gordon-Smith, Sir Alan Gordon, D.L., Managing Director, S. Smith and Sons (Motor Accessories), Ltd. C.B.E. Camm, Sydney, Chief Designer, Hawker Aircraft Co., Ltd. -. Elliott, Albert George, Chief Engineer (Aero Division), Rolls-Royce, Ltd. > Richards, Roger Charnock, Assistant Secretary, Air Ministry. \ Rowbotham, Norman, Works Manager, Aero Engine Depart- ' merit, Bristol Aeroplane Co., Ltd. Walker, Charles Edmund, Director of Materials Production, Ministry of Aircraft Production. O.B.E. Douglas, Charles Kenneth Mackinnon, Senior TechnicalOfficer, Air Ministry. Griffith, John Eaton, Principal Private Secretary to theMinister of Aircraft Production. Hallas, George Spencer, M.C., A.M.lnst.C.E., Chief En-gineer, Air Ministry. Hopcraft, Capt. John Gordon, M.C., Deputy Director,Ministry of Aircraft Production. Mills, John William, M.I.A.E., Deputy Director of Arma-ment Production, Ministry of Aircraft Production. Pierson, Reginald Kirshaw, M.B.E., Chief Designer, Vickersand Supermarine. Kelly-Rogers, Capt. John Cecil, Capt., British Overseas Air-ways, Corporation. M.B.E.Halliday, George, Section Engineer, British Overseas Air- ways Corporation.Humphreys, Herbert Stanley, Senior Executive Officer, Directorate of Contracts. Ministry of Aircraft Production. Lees, Thomas Mitchell, Controller, Observer Corps.Moon, Vernon Hyde, Civil Assistant and Accountant, Main- tenance Unit, Royal Air Force.Robertson, Col. Angus, Controller, Observer Corps. Weatherup, Samuel, Staff Officer, Air Ministry. INDIA OFFICE LIST ORDER OF BRITISH EMPIRE (Civil Division) M.B.E. Behari Lai, Bhagat, Chief Pilot Instructor, Delhi Flying Club, Delhi. DOMINION SERVICES LIST ORDER OF BRITISH EMPIRE (Civil Division) O.B.E. Fenton, Flying Officer Clyde Cornwall, M.B., R.A.A.F.,lately Medical Officer, Northern Territory, Medical Service, Commonwealth of, Australia.Hepburn, Wing Comdr. Allan, D.FC, A.M.Inst.E.Aust., R.A.A.F. (Reserve List), Director of Woiks, Department of.Defence Co-ordination,. Australia. KNIGHTS BACHELOR McMaster, Fergus, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qantas Empire Airways, Ltd. For public services in Australia.
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