The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1917. THE AIR SERVICE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVII, Issue 9042, 12 July 1917, Page 4

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1917. THE AIR SERVICE.

The recent German air raid on the City of London will have been ot distinct benefit to''tiie British cause if it impresses upon the authorities the r great necessity lor considerably- strengthening" this branch of,war activity. Mr Lloyd George asserted, in his speech at the seci'et session of the House of Commons, that if the people realised it to be necessary to establish air supremacy in order to win victory at the front, they would be prepared to take risks. And Mr Bonar Law declared that " the people who" were demanding the instant construction .* of a large number of aeroplanes w rere apt to forget the inherent limits to the extent and rate of such increase, owing to the imperative demands from other services." ,It is evident from these statements that there is a shortage of both.men and machines, to a large extent probably due to the heavy losses that have been sustained and to the necessity for maintaining a> very''large fleet of aeroplanes..to guard the extensive coast-line fringing the North Sea and the Channel. It was stated by the ■ \ Morning Post," last March, that 'for British. machine lost, five "'German machines 'had: been destroyed; but as Germany has the initiative, so far as raids on Britain are concerned, she is at liberty to make, attacks at times convenient to herself, her airmen, in the meantime, having plenty of opportunities for rest and relaxation. The British airmen, on the other hand, must be incessantly on and this necessitates a.sm|l armyipfmen and many hundreds of machines. The " imperative demands from other services" appear to be hampering the Government's endeavours to maintain the air services at adequate strength, and it might relieve the position if the overseas Governments offered to train and despatch a few hundred airmen to Britain. The dev;eiopinent of aviation "in Sew Zealand has been left to private enterprise, and for this reason comparatively few men are likely to be trained on account of the expense involved. The Government refuses- to help pupils in any way, and only those who can afford to pay the fees can receive tuition at the two aviation schools: We are informed■ that a youth 1 in,Ashburton recently communicated with the Minister of Defence and asked for information with regard 1 to joining .the■'■;Flying ,\ Cpvps, but was informed that ■ •,''the : Government regretted it could not assist him, as the aviation schools were privately owned.!' The directors of these schools would probably be willing to train a limited number of pupils on behalf of the Governr nient, for there is no question that the qiiality of the training given in New Zealand is sufficient preparation for the Royal Flying Corps's requirements. In view of the British Prime Minister's statements, an offer from the New Zealand Government to train, say, 50 aviators, would probably be appreciated and accepted. We have no doubt that the men would be available, and that they would prove as capable in the air as their fellow-countrymen have been on land.