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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0099.PDF
25 January of F-100 supersonic day fighters and other types. It is claimedthat the demand on R.A.F. resources would not be as high as might at first glance appear. Personnel of disbanded R.Aux.A.F. squadrons have at themoment four choices of action and comparable opportunities exist for R.N.V.R. Air Branch personnel.They can transfer to one of the remaining Fighter Control Units, subject to suitability and vacancy, or they can transfer tothe R.A.F.V.R. and serve with the Reserve Flights supporting R.A.F. Stations near their homes. Officers may find vacancies inthe R.Aux.A.F. General List for specific war appointments, or they may transfer to the inactive R.Aux.A.F. Reserve. Anyonemay completely sever his connection with the Service. None of these alternatives offers the opportunity of continuing flying; andthe pilots, at least, are not very likely to take advantage of them. The history of the R.Aux.A.F. goes back to 1919, when LordTrenchard's White Paper insisted that non-Regular squadrons were a necessary part of the R.A.F. It was not until 1924 thatlegislation was finally passed; and the first five squadrons were formed in 1925. They were Nos. 600 (City of London), 601(County of London), 602 (City of Glasgow), 603 (City of Edin- burgh) and 502 (Ulster) Squadrons. All 20 squadrons were inpeing by 1938, all of them in the day or night fighter role by the ^beginning of World War 2. By their war record these units fully justified Lord Trenchard's hopes for them. Out of every threeenemy aircraft destroyed in the Battle of Britain, one fell to the Auxiliaries. No. 616 was the first R.A.F. unit to fly jets. After the war, the Auxiliary Air Force (it was accorded theprefix "Royal" on December 16, 1947) was re-formed and, in 1949, re-equipped with jet fighters. The years since have seen asteady expansion in the ground squadrons and a successful con- tribution to the country's air defence within Fighter Command. The peace-time R.N.V.R. Air Squadrons were first formed in1947, beginning with a number of fighter units. From Seafires, equipment steadily advanced to Sea Furies and then Attackers,until finally many squadrons received Sea Hawks, the Fleet Air Arm's most modern day fighter. At the same time a number ofanti-submarine squadrons were formed with Fireflies, and these machines, too, were steadily brought up to date in later marksand finally replaced in some units with Gannets, again the latest equipment available. Many squadrons went to the deck duringtheir annual 15-day training period; and in 1949 No. 1830 Sqn. won the Boyd Trophy, the highest annual award in the wholeFleet Air Arm, while embarked in H.M.S. Theseus. In the middle of 1952 the squadrons were re-organized in four Air Divisions tofacilitate expansion. A fifth Air Division was formed just over a year later. One squadron was only in existence for two years,leaving eleven to be disbanded now. "NO OTHER INDIVIDUAL..." MANY and warm were the tributes paid toLord Hives, C.H., M.B.E., on the occasionof a dinner in Derby on January 11, to mark his retirement from the position of executive chairman of Rolls-Royce, Ltd. Lord Kindersley, the new chairman, describedhim as "the man who has done more for Rolls-Royce during his working life than any other individual inthe history of the company." He left the company when its name stood higher in the world than ithad ever done. Mr. J. D. Pearson, the new chief executive anddeputy chairman (known, in conformity with Rolls- Royce tradition, as "Psn"), recalled that "Hs" hadsupervised the first run of the Eagle and that for his contribution to aero-engine development during theFirst World War he was appointed an M.B.E. in 1920. Mr. Pearson was certain that Lord Hives hadhad a lot to do with the recommencement of aero- engine development at Rolls-Royce in 1925. Historyrecords, he said, that in June 1927 the Kestrel completed an official 100-hour type-test at the firstattempt. He went on to refer to the "great days of the R engine" with Hs right in the thick of it, and tothe decision by the Board in 1932 to go ahead as a private venture with a 1,000 h.p. engine—later to become theMerlin. In 1936 Lord Hives was appointed general works manager, and a few months later he joined the Board. In thewar years no single individual made a greater contribution to the development of the Merlin than Hs himself, and Mr. Pearsonrecalled the famous Beaverbrook telegram: "Hives, Rolls-Royce, Derby: The British Government has given you an open creditfor £1,000,000. This is a certificate of character and reputation without precedent.—Beaverbrook." In 1946 Lord Hives became managing director and in 1950was unanimously elected as chairman of the Board in addition to being its chief executive, thus breaking with the tradition thatthe chairman should not be an executive of the company. Mr. Pearson went on, "In further recognition of his continuallyincreasing status in the country as a whole he was awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society's Gold Medal for work on aero-enginedevelopment, an honorary degree of Doctor of Science at Notting- ham University and an honorary degree of Doctor of Law atCambridge University. Latterly he has been called upon by the Government to be chairman of the National Council for Awardsfor Technology, and I am certain that there are many bodies which are only waiting for Hs's retirement to find him a lot ofjobs to do." Mr. Pearson concluded, "Finally, Hs ... a personal tribute which I know will be echoed by every single person inthis room: Our lives are richer and we are better men for having known you. God bless you." Mr. C. P. Jones, general works manager, said of Lord Hives,"His denigratory descriptions of himself as 'only a plumber' or 'an ordinary mechanic' cover his essential modesty, and hisexpression that '99 per cent of our troubles are due to something b—y silly' has on many occasions given the clue to an obscuretrouble by making one look for the obvious." Mr. Alf Brown, works convener, said that, provided one re-membered to lay aside those rose-tinted spectacles, looking back could be a very useful thing to do. He went on, "It is a thing Lord Hives replying to the tributes. From left to right are Mr. A. F. Kelley, Dr. F. Llewellyn Smith, Mrs. J. D. Pearson, Lord Kindersley, Lady Hives. I have to do quite often to enable me to keep a proper sense of balance in the face of the relentless attack of the few dismal jimmies—often a very noisy minority, who interpret any little irritation as a move for the worse, and set up a shout about 'the good old days' and what they used to do and what they didn't do. The good old days indeed! The phrase recalls for many of us such things as the symbolic significance to the workers of Derby a quarter of a century ago of the letters R.R. They certainly didn't mean Rolls-Royce in those days. No, they stood for 'Rush 'em and Rest 'em'—three months at work, and then three months on the dole. Yes, and three months of work under harsh conditions. It was something we seem rather reluctant to talk about these days—although heaven only knows why we should be, because it is only by looking at things as they were that we can get a measure of the progress we have made. And today those same letters to the same people mean security, good wages, good conditions and good relations. And this hasn't been brought about, as some people would have us believe, by the simple exercise of evolution. It has been brought about, to a great extent, due to the remarkable foresight of one man: Lord Hives." Lord Hives confessed himself "overwhelmed" by the kindness which had been shown to him and his wife. "When you have got rid of the old man," he said, "you will see that the average age of the directors is about 51." He went on: "I inherited Rolls- Royce as a going concern. I don't want ever to overlook the creators of this great enterprise. We can never forget Royce's name; it will last and live forever. Don't neglect Claud Johnson, C. S. Rolls and Wormald. They were the people that sowed the seeds. They cultivated the plant in order to establish good strong roots—because Rolls-Royce was in those days built on a policy of thrift and very strict economy. Anybody who had the privilege of meeting Royce knows what that means. And don't overlook the fact that this is no longer a successful industrial firm. It is a national institution."
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