KEY POSITION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 71, 25 March 1940, Page 7

KEY POSITION.

Importance Of R.A.F. In Empire Communications. MIDDLE EAST COMMAND. LONDON, March 24. In view of the key position occupied by the Royal Air Force in the communication system in the British Empire and the added importance it would acquire in the event of an extension of hostilities, the Middle East command attracts special attention in the Press. It has always been the senior command Air Force overseas and was the first to have the status of its commander raised to Commander-in-Chief, thus ranking with the big commands at home. It has been recognised that power in the air, in an area where the distances between strategic points are great, and where roads and railways are inadequate or non-existent, might well prove decisive. The Middle East command extends from the Mediterranean in the north to the Sudan and East Africa in the south, and from the borders of Italian Libya eastward as far as the frontiers of Syria and Saudi Arabia. The terrain varies from sandy desert to mountain and tropical forest, but it is mostly good flying country in which there arc secure, well-equipped bases from which to operate. One of the earliest flying training schools of the Royal Air Force has been located there for many years. The Commander-in-Chief, Air Chief Marshal Sir William Mitchell, knows the Middle East well and being an Australian by birth has a special bond with the Anzacs now serving there.