Sir Archibald Sinclair's Statement.

Part of Orders of the Day — Supply. – in the House of Commons at on 4 March 1942.

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Photo of Sir Archibald Sinclair Sir Archibald Sinclair , Caithness and Sutherland

I am most anxious, as I am sure the House will see in the course of my speech, to give the utmost possible information to the House about operations, but I really think that it would be a mistake for me to discuss the destination of our reinforcements. I would only add that our fighter, bomber, and general reconnaissance squadrons there have fought with splendid courage and resource against great odds and that they have co-operated closely and successfully with the Army. Hon. Members will already have read in the newspapers the accounts of the brilliant air victories gained by our pilots with American pilots in Burma; but they may be interested to know that those Squadrons are not only fighting their own vitally important battle in the air. They are also giving direct support to the Army; for only a few days ago a signal arrived from the General Officer Commanding the troops in Burma in which he said, "Fighter cover has been afforded continuously during the withdrawal and targets have been engaged successfully by close support bombing." In the Middle East heavy and persistent air attacks upon the ports of Libya and Tripoli, Sicily and Italy, upon the aerodromes, and upon the convoys crossing the Mediterranean, formed for many months the essential prelude to the battle and deprived General Rommel of many men and much material that he sorely needed. During the six months preceding General Auchinleck's advance the Royal Air Force and aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm sank some 175,000 tons of enemy merchant shipping in the Mediterranean. To send a ship to the bottom with 50 tanks on board is a big contribution to success in the land battle. When the battle was joined, our air superiority, which by hard bombing and fighting had been gradually acquired during the preceding weeks, was quickly asserted. It enabled our air forces to throw their whole weight into the land battle. In the words of an Army Officer, "It was like France, only the other way round." The same air superiority and the same slashing attacks by our fighters and bombers upon enemy troops and vehicles supported General Auchinleck both in his advance and in his withdrawal. Remarkable evidence of the protection given by the R.A.F. to our advancing troops is that during the first three weeks of the campaign, captured German Army Intelligence summaries record only two attacks by the German and Italian Air Forces against our formations on the ground.

To hon. Members who will show me how the co-operation between the Royal Air Force and the Army can be still further improved I shall listen with respectful attention. I am sure it can be improved. The word "satisfaction" is unknown in the Royal Air Force. We live in an atmosphere of swift development and revolutionary change; we welcome new ideas. But I do most strongly deprecate that mischievous agitation which misrepresents the willingness of the Royal Air Force to work with its sister Services. Night after night, at the proper behest of the Admiralty, crews flew into the world's heaviest antiaircraft barrage at Brest. Night after night Bomber and Coastal Command crews have sallied out on dangerous expeditions—bombing, mining, reconnoitring, and photographing—and glad to help the Royal Navy to win the Battle of the Atlantic. It has been a poor reward for them to read that their work is being continuously disparaged, and to be told that they are stubbornly refusing to help the Navy, and that the Royal Air Force ought to be dismembered.

So with the Army. The pilots and crews in the Middle East know that their job is to do all they can to help the Army to win its battles in the Western Desert. They are not sparing themselves. General Auchinleck has given them full praise. The success of the advancing Eighth Army, he stated—I quote from one of the many messages received from him, in the same strain— would never have been achieved without the wholehearted co-operation of the Air Force, whose work has been magnificent throughout. But we have received other unsolicited testimonials to the effectiveness of the co-operation between the Army and the R.A.F. The following is an extract from the diary of a German officer: The night was terrible, the English bombers came in force and dropped their eggs. We had no cover, not a hole nor a building, and when they had dropped their bombs they made low flying attacks and shot us up. So it goes on night after night. In broad daylight the English fighters attack our motorised columns with success Here, too, is an official tribute taken from a captured German Army Intelligence Summary: On all parts of the front the enemy continues to have marked air superiority. Our own air reconnaissance has been considerably hindered. Another German Intelligence Summary says: The enemy continues to have air superiority and his air forces are co-operating with his land forces with great effect.