Orders of the Day — Air Estimates, 1926–27.

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at on 8 March 1926.

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Colonel CROOKSHANK:

I should like to refer to the speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Barnstaple (Mr. B. Peto) who, I regret, is not in his place. I take it that, other things being equal, any of us who have a certain amount of air sense ought to be allowed to include that in the argument. He quoted an extract which dealt, curiously enough, with the overlapping of certain Departments, this sounded a strange argument in connection with a plea for splitting up the Air Force. One of the strongest arguments in support of a unified Air Force is that it prevents that duplication which occurred when the Army and Navy had separate establishments. His reference to air sense in nature was rather strange because so far as I can make out the only two animals to which that reference might apply, the flying fox and the flying fish are rather poor performers in the air. I hail and welcome the information that the Prime Minister has decided that there shall be no question of splitting up the Air Force between the other two Services because any such reversion would be an irreparable setback. I think there is a certain amount of justification for the criticism of the organisation at present. But if pressed unduly must re-act on the morale of the Force. Particular cases of duplication have been referred to, and I am glad to hear the Secretary of State say that he is using every endeavour to avoid it.

I would like to refer to two small details, one of which is referred to in the American Air Report. One, often given as a reason for having a separate Naval Air Service, is the sea-plane carrier. The necessity for these vessels is supposed to make it quite impossible to have an Air Force organisation, but I should have thought that the genius of the Navy and the Air Force could settle that difficulty. Another matter was brought to my notice, when I was in Felixstowe the other day and saw the new spotting seaplane for the Navy, and there I should give credit to the Army for the plane they have accepted. I do not say this in any spirit of criticism, but it does appear to me that it is very desirable for that reason to have a separate Air organisation, to deal with matters of design, in the best interests of the Forces concerned.

I hail with pleasure the announcement that there is to be the closest co-operation between the three Chiefs of the Staffs. I think nothing would be more likely to produce what, perhaps, may eventualise, and that is a Defence Ministry. At all events, the co-ordination of these three Chiefs of Staffs must produce an atmosphere favourable to that. The magnitude of the operation involved in changing from our existing system to a Ministry of Defence would be stupendous, but the difficulties which are there might be got over, and undoubtedly its existence would prevent overlapping, unnecessary competition, and lack of harmony, and it would probably enable the Estimates to be overhauled in a manner which would produce economies. When I was in Canada recently I had an opportunity of seeing how the system works there. Of course, it is on a very much smaller scale than it would be here, but the defence organisation there has produced a great deal of harmony in the fighting services. Such a co-ordination here would enable some sort of transfer of personnel to be made between the Air Force and the other two fighting services. That matter was referred to by the hon. and gallant Member for Clitheroe (Captain W. Brass) in dealing with the question of short service. If I might make a suggestion to the Secretary of State for Air, it seems to me that officers of the Army and Navy might well be seconded for service in the Air Force to form a kind of active Reserve in addition to the Reserve which exists at present, and which consists of men who, after a period of service, pass out into civil life and remain on the Reserve for a number of years. Officers of the Army and Navy might well be attached to the Air Force as pilots and come back after a certain period of service.

Another matter to which I wish to refer is the development of seaplanes and flying boats. Through the courtesy of the Secretary of State, I was enabled to inspect the establishment at Felixstowe. I was very much impressed by what I saw there, and I am very glad to see from the Estimates in Sub-section 3, Vote 3, that no reduction is likely. It may interest hon. Members to know that when I was in Canada the Deputy-Chief of the General Staff asked me to urge on every occasion the provision of more seaplanes. This may sound anomalous, but, as has been pointed out by a previous speaker, the lakes which abound in that country make that form of aircraft most essential. I do not think hon. Members realise, at all events I did not until I went to Felixstowe, what an extraordinarily useful craft the seaplane is becoming, and the extent to which it is being developed. Personally I was rather doubtful of their seaworthiness, but I am told that the addition of the planes makes them steadier at sea than a motor boat of corresponding size would be, and they are practically independent of all assistance, except, naturally, a store ship for supplies. I believe the only thing that prevents them from being thoroughly seaworthy is the difficulty of carrying an anchor heavy enough to moor them, and I think that is understandable, because it would be difficult to lift that amount of dead weight. I trust this branch of the Air Service will continue to get the active support of the Secretary of State for Air.

Lastly, I would like to refer to the development of the Air Service in the Empire, and to deal more particularly with the question of the Air Survey. I happen to have done a good deal of ballooning in the early days, having been responsible for the navigation, and as I was also in the Ordnance Survey, the work of the air survey appeals to me considerably. I was much gratified to find when I was in Newfoundland and Canada recently that development there has been on very big lines. In Newfoundland, it is true, they have not had much opportunity of making progress lately, but in Canada the Air Survey is now run principally by the Air Force, and one cannot over-estimate the extra-ordinary value of it over that enormous area of country. The Deputy-Chief of the Staff, who kindly gave me every facility for acquiring information, hoped the Secretary of State for Air at home would allow our pilots to co-operate with them, at all events to go over there and work with them, and it seems to me that that is a point that is worthy of consideration. It was further impressed upon me on my recent visit to Felixstowe, where I met a young flying officer lately returned from the East who had been working with the Royal Engineers on the air survey of Singapore and the Malay Archipelago. They had found that an extraordinary amount of experience was necessary if one was not to waste a lot of time on the job, and that is another reason, therefore, for our concentrating attention on that branch of air work.

Hon. Members must realise that this work is highly specialised and requires special experience. In it the opportunities for airmanship are unrivalled and perhaps this will reconcile hon. Members opposite who hope that civil aviation will receive more attention. I must say that their line of argument is not unreasonable and my own experience in that direction leads me to think that one is inclined to look upon aviation as a purely military operation. Before the War I was connected with aviation, and then most development was done by private individuals, while the Army establishment at Farnborough only received £500 a year for research work. When the War started heavier than air aviation had only just begun to develop in this country and naturally an impetus was given to it by the necessities of the War, and thus the problem became to be regarded more as a purely military science, and I think hon. Members opposite will agree that at all events it is necessary that we should take the lead in that direction. It is quite apparent that if we do this we shall be in a much better position to protect ourselves. I hope, therefore, that the Secretary of State for Air will now be able to work in the direction of civil progress in connection with the aerial surveys of the British Empire.

I will refer briefly to a few notes I have made from books and documents and other information about the Empire generally and its possibilities in regard to surveys. You may take it for granted that in the British Isles an aerial survey is no use whatever. In India, however, the Royal Air Force is poorly equipped for survey work, but good material exists there for carrying it out. In the Sudan at the present moment there is no organisation whatever, and I think that territory could very well be developed under the Royal Air Force. I have already referred to Canada, and the case of Australia has already been fully dealt with. In Iraq there exists a cadastral survey from a land point of view, but a great deal more might be accomplished by an air survey, and I trust an opportunity will be taken of doing something in that direction. East Africa and South Africa, might appear to be good fields for air survey work, but here you have principally open country, and the ground system would defeat your air survey, not only in speed, but in cost which, for a one-inch scale map, would be £1 per square mile as against £4 a square mile.

I must apologise for detaining the House at this length, but I wish to emphasise the importance of the following subjects. It is essential that the Air Force should work out its own salvation while the co-ordination of the three Chiefs of Staff should create an atmosphere which will be likely to produce successful results. Secondly, I would urge the development of seaplanes and flying boats; and, thirdly, that an Empire organisation for aerial surveys should be developed as soon as possible.