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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 1042.PDF
572 FLIGHT MAY 31ST, 1945 quate staffs of technicians and draughtsmen. It might have been thought that the Ministry of Aircraft Produc- tion would by now be in a position to release consider- able numbers of men for whose services it has been competing with the aircraft industry. Not only so, but the Air Registration Board, whose task it is to frame airworthiness certificate requirements for all British civil aircraft had men taken away early in the war and cannot now get them back, let alone getting additional staff. When war broke out there was some excuse for M.A.P. grabbing all the men it could get. An almost fantastic- ally large production job had to be tackled, and we do not forget the debt the nation owes to M.A.P. for the work it has done. But the picture is very different now, with the war in Europe ended, and it might have been thought that the Ministry was willing to cut down on its man-power requirements. So far from this being the case, M.A.P. is actually advertising for technicians (even in Flight/). It is a little difficult to see what excuse there can be for this. Millbank is already over- populated, and if one man out of every three were trans- ferred to the industry, it could make little difference to the war effort. The New BroomsM R. CHURCHILL, when forming his "caretaker " Government, appears to have followed the policy of leaving all Conservative Ministers who had been doing well in their offices. The only major changes are where Labour or Liberal Ministers gave up their portfolios. To the readers of Flight the most important change is that of the Air Minister. Sir Archibald Sinclair goes, and Mr. Harold Macmillan steps into his place. As leader of the Liberal Party, Sir Archibald had to have an important plaee in the Coalition Government. In CONTENTS The Outlook - - - - War in the Air - Here and There Handley Page Civil Programme - The I.C.A.N. Conference Coastal Command at Gibraltar - World Weather - Lessons of the Air War - Hal ton's Jubilee - Combat Cargo Task Force Correspondence - - - - Service Aviation - 57* 573 575 577 581 - 582, a - 582, b 584 - 587 588 591 592 his work at the Air Ministry it is impossible to say that he has done any harm, and ft is equally impossible to say that he has done any good. His successor, Mr. Macmillan, comes from the East and the Mediterranean. Sir Frederick Sykes once called Cairo the "Clapham Junction of the air,"/and there Mr. Macmillan must have seen and been impressed by much air activity. We are not aware that he has any personal knowledge of the subject; but it is always unusual to entrust a Fighting Service to an expert, even if one could be found. Each new Air Minister has-flaTt to learn after he has settled in the saddle. It is unusual to see as the new joint Under-Secretary Commander Lord Beatty, an ex-naval officer. f1 The Fleet Air Arm, as part of the Navy, becomes th£ \| care of Mr. Brendan Bracken, jf^ man of undoubted ability and wide information. /Mr. Ernest Brown Minister of Aircraft Production^also inspires co: Th£ Ministry of Civil Aviatioif remains/an be£ hands of Lord Swinton. THE CONVERT : Externally the n-passenger civil version of the Hahdley Page Halifax differs from the bomber mainly in the "pannier " for freight and luggage carried under the fuselage in place of the bomb bay. A description of this machine and of the new Hermes freight carrier will be found on pages 577-580.
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