FIGHTING SERVICES' CO-ORDINATION

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21701, 7 February 1936, Page 18

FIGHTING SERVICES' CO-ORDINATION

SINGLE HEAD THOUGHT NECESSARY

SIR ALEXANDER GODLEY'S .-VIEWS *&

(FEOM Ot'B OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, January 11. Sir Alexander Godley has written to "The Times" supporting the policy of co-ordination of the efforts of the three fighting services:. "It is long overdue," he says, "and now that there seems to be a reasonable prospect of something being done for these services to bring them up to date and provide them with the ships, aircraft, and military equipment of which they have now for so long been starved, it would be a thousand pities to miss the chance of ensuring that whatever money is spent and whatever is done for each of the services is directed and distributed according to a policy which weighs and considers the comparative needs of the three. "Of course the head must be a civilian, and the joint staff must be his staff and in no way responsible to or dependent on the trinity of the chiefs of staff. It should be possible to find a Haldane or an Esher or a Sydenham to fill the bill. "There was a time when I thought in terms of the army only; but my experience in New Zealand, at Gallipoli, in the Southern Command, and at Gibraltar has convinced me that we shall never get the best out of our three fighting services till their efforts both in peace and war are co-ordinated in a way hitherto unattempted and till their co-opera-tion is really close—and this will never really come about till in some way they all three owe an ultimate allegiance to a common director and co-ordinator. Nothing will more quickly dissipate the natural jealousies and conflicting claims than the knowledge that there is a head to direct all three services."