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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1079.PDF
* . •• and AIRCRAFT ENGINEER First Aeronautical Weekly in the World Founded 1909 No. 2163 Vol. LVII. THURSDAY. 8 JUNE 1950 EDfTOR/Al DIRECTOR G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. EDITOR MAURICE A. SMITH, D.F.C. ASSISTANT EDITOR ' H. F. KING, M.B.E. TECHNICAL EDITOR C. B. BAILEY-WATSON, B.A. ART EDITOR JOHN YOXALL Editorial, Advertising and Publishing Offices : DORSET HOUSE. STAMFORD STREET, LONDON, S.E.I. Telegrams : Flightptes, Sedist, London. Telephone : Waterloo 3333 (60 lines). Branch Offices : COVENTRY 8-10, Corporation Street. Telegrams : Autocar, Coventry. Telephone : Coventry 5210. BIRMINGHAM, 2. 1 King Edward HOUM, New Street. Telegrams : Autopress, Birmingham. Telephone : Midland 7191 (7 lines). MANCHESTER, 3. 260, Deansgate. Telegrams : Iliffe, Manchester. Telephone : Block/Wars 4412 (3 lines). Deansgate 3595 (2 lines). GLASGOW, C.2. 26b, Renfield Street. - Telegrams : Iliffe, Glasgow. Telephone: Central 4857. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home and Overseas : Twelve months £3 Is. Od. Six months, £1 10s. 6d. U.S.A. and Canada, SI0.00. BY AIR : To any country in Europe (except Poland). Twelve months, £5 Is. Od. Six months, £2 10s. 6d. Canada and U.S.A. Six months, $16. In this Canada's Growing Industry .... 680 Design for a Radial Hangar 686 Anti-bandit .... 688 Mountain Air War - - 690 Aviation and What it Costs 694 A Week-end's Entertain- ment 696 Developments in Malaya THOSE best qualified to give an opinion, for the good reason that they havepersonal experience of the conditions and circumstances, believe that even• now. there is a strong tendency to underrate the seriousness of the bandit warfare in Malaya. Both the size of the land forces and the amount of time required to destroy, capture, or drive out the Communist bands were at first greatly underestimated, although more recently much has been done to bring our prevision- ing into line with the demands of the situation. Australia and New Zealand are much concerned with the campaign, and news of their contributions has been received this week. The question of security in the area is also under review, for to date thgjre has been virtually no restriction upon infor- mation. The on-the-spot investigations by the Secretary of State for War. by the Colonial Secretary, and now, by the C.I.G.S., may indicate a growing desire to remedy any shortcomings in both our Far and Middle East defences. The contribution of the Royal Air Force is not large in the numerical sense, but it is daily becoming more effective, and there is now ample proof of the value of air attacks upon bands of terrorists lurking in dense jungle. As the co-operation improves between Air Force squadrons and the land forces in contact with or near the enemy, so also will the effectiveness of the attacks improve. If the bands of terrorists are driven from their paths into the jungle proper, the umbrella of vast trees and the dense undergrowth beneath their branches is as much a menace as a protection, for in the time it takes-—no more than an hour or two—to acquaint Lincoln or Brigand squadrons with the position, and for their aircraft to reach the area, dispersal on foot may frequently be no more than a few hundred yards. Prisoners have borne witness to the highly demoralizing effect of cannon-shells streaking through and tearing down the undergrowth around them, and cf sticks of heavy bombs straddling their hideouts. Such attacks, delivered without delay, have resulted in individuals and groups surrendering where they would otherwise have escaped, in addition to considerable damage to their meagre camps and supplies. Anti-bandit strikes are one of three major duties now entrusted to the R.A.F. Squadrons in the Far East, particularly in Singapore. The other two are the drop- ping of supplies by parachute to ground forces, and the photographing of vast areas of which the only available maps are frequently inaccurate. The former is con- sidered equal in importance to actual attacks, while the latter work is now virtually completed. Without supplies delivered by air, ground forces would be severely restricted in their mobility, for surface transport is usually out of the question, and thus a man must himself carry everything he requires, unless it can be dropped to him. A major task, having cleared an area, is to keep it clear. Local inhabitants— many of them Chinese squatters—cannot be counted upon for help and may be frightened into collaboration with the terrorists. Proving Ground It has been suggested that invaluable experience would be obtained if selected home-based squadrons were sent for periods of training in the Singapore area. This proposal certainly seems to have much to commend it. There, for examnle, they would gain experience of different kinds of weather and navigation, and they would exercise their aircraft and armament under operational conditions. Squadrons already stationed in the East have found out that a good peacetime military air- craft, through lack of actual operational experience, may at first fall short of require- ments when sent into action, even though there may be no opposition. Both the Americans and ourselves suffered some embarrassment early in the last war for the same reason. Undoubtedly there is much to be said from every point of view for giving R.A.F. Squadrons and supporting elements the widest possible experience abroad, in addition to home training and exercises. Good must come also from their continued co-operation with transport units of the Royal Australian and New Zea- land Air Forces already based, or soon to be located, in Singapore.
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