In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 23, 28 January 1933, Page 22

In the Public Eye

FELLGWES,

The'leadership of the Mount Everest iUigtit^vehture has been entrusted to P. P. M. Fellowes, ■whonx'i.New Zealanders should1 know well, for Air-Commodore Fellowes was.one ■of • three• air experts comprising ;thc British Air Mission that visited N*ew .Zealand several years ago* to investigate and-report on suitable-landing places.and'air bases for the projected Empire airship service, the .scheme Which-perished with; the" great disaster to K101... Air-.Commodore Fellowes was then Group-Captain Fellowes, and held, the p.bßt of Director of .Airship Development.-with, the British, Air Ministry.; The British Government was at ■that, time anxious to bring New Zealand :'-mthin nine, or ten days of liori-dqn,,-and had matured this plan for luxurious transoceanic travel by air. Aix-Commodore Fellowes waa "born 5ni.1883, and was educated at Winton House, Winchester, and on H.M.S. Bri-. tajinia.: He' served •in the European from 1914 to 1918, and won the DiS.O.-arid a bar.' In. 1918 he was a prisoner; of war. From 1924 to 1929 he. was Director ; of Airship Development, and from 1929 to 1930 was Director :of' Personal Services at the Air Ministry.' Prom 1930 he has been in command of the Twenty-third Air Group-at.'Grantham. Though he was previously a Navy, officer, Air-Commo-dore, Eellowes has long been interested ah;aviation, and his war services were rendered?despite a serious automobile accident iwhieh. threatened him with permanent injury on the outbreak of hostilities. -After the war he became interested in the question of airship ■development, and was given the post he held at tha time of his New Zealand -visit. ,Mrs. Fellowes accompanied her hus-band-to; this Dominion ana their com-panions.-the two other members of the Air Mission', were Plight-Lieutenant Nixon and Mr. M. A. Giblett. Sir HaL Colebatch, ■Sir. Hal.; Colebatch, who has just been appointed Agent-General for West Aus-tralia'-in.:.London is no longer young. His ■ birthplace was Wolferlow, Kingsland,; in-'Herefordshire,/on 29th March, 1875.'iHe went to South Australia Tfith-his.parents in 1879. He embarked in-newspaper life at Norwood (Adelaide),; and went to Broken Hill in 1889 to .join -the newspaper "The Silver Age," which became the property of Mr.-.W.-J. p. Giddings. Sir Hal. went to" We?t; Australia, where he was engaged on various newspapers until he became part purchaser.of the "Northam Advertiser" in 1912. He was Mayor of. Northam for three successive years, and'in May, 1912, was elected as representative'of the eastern province- in the Legislative Council. In July,- 1916, hebecame Colonial Secretary and Minister of Education in the Wilson Government.- In the Lefroy Government in-the•,following year he retained his ' two portfolios, and was advanced to be 'the senior Minister after the Premier. He was ieader of the Legislative Council from-.1916 to 1919 and Premier for a brief period in 1919. In May, 1919, in; the1 Mitchell Government he was Minister of-Education and Health, and in' 1923 /was appointed Agent-General for-West Australia, a post whiehhe has occupied' with, distinction. Sir Hal. Colebatch. returned to West Australia when' the office of Agent-General was ' taken up by the new Minister of Lands in West Australia (Mr. W. C. Angwin). Sir Hal. Colebateh was at one timej the. champion chess player of West Australia. He is a prominent bowler and enthusiastic patron -of all sports. ' Sir John Cadman. When the Anglo-Persian Oil Company's dispute with tlio Persian Government; comes before the Official ComDiitteesof the League of Nations a vitally interested person will be Sir John Cadmanj- Sir John, one of the great industrialists of Britain, is chairman of ,the Anglo-Persian Company. ; Heis'an oil expert of international standing,,and for many years has been technical adviser to the British Goyennnention petroleum and coal, subsequently holding a like position on the staff of ;the company of which he is now chairman. He has visited most of the important oilfields of the world, andj incidentally, can claim credit for the discovery;, and early development of oil in Trinidad. A few years ago Sir Charles Greenway, who was then chairman and managing director of the company, intimated .'that the time was coming when he would'have to relinquish the arduous duties-which he had carried out for a number.of years, and Sir John Cadman was elected deputy-chairman in order that'heinight gain further insight into the inner workings of the company, and 6o''be'ready to .take over the management .when Sir, Chartes laid down the reins,'as he did in November, 1926. Sir John-.Cadman, while only a comparatlvely; young man of some fifty years, was the head of the largest oil concern in: the world, and anything he may haveito.say on the subject of oil or coal must:be ; acknowledged as the considered opinion of an expert. He has been attached -to several Eoyal Commissions which have set out to gather information in^'regard to oil'and coal, the first in; 1907;' when he was engaged in special research work' at the command of the Eoyal Commission on Mines, and again for the Eoyal Commission on the Persian oilfields. For his labours on bchaTf.of the Empire during the days of the Great War he received the honour of K.C.M.G., to which has since been added the French Legion of Honour and ,jB Knight Commandershjp of the Crown I t)fltalj> • -

Dr. Eduard Benes, who has been charged -with consideration of the dispute between the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and the Persian Government, is president of the International Committeef ; or Arbitration and .Security and Prime:Minister ■' of Czechoslovakia.'• Dr. Benes has not always been the favouritel in Czechoslovakia that he is at present. When Austria commenced hostilities against Serbia'in July, 1914,' he was entirely opposed to the alliance with:6ermany, and^expressed his opinions freely. Open protest or o]%anised revolty however, was impossible, owing tothe proximity and indeed the presence of overwhelming ■ .numbers of ; German and Hungarian- troops, who were expressly garrisoned among the Czech population in order to1 stifle any possible of national and pro-Ally sentiment. Whenever opinions'did happen to be expressed the offenders were speedily punished, and it was not long before and' Slovaks found themselves in. confinement, some of them even under sentence of death, while only a few managed to escape over the frontier. Among these was Dr. Benes, who immediately set butj with Professor Masaryk (now President of the Eepublie), to organise a. campaign abroad for the destruction of the Austrian Monarchy and the attainment of Czechoslovak independence. Tha activities of . Dr. Benes in England and America, enthusiastically supported by his campatriots living abroad, moved the Allies to acknowledge the Czechoslovak Council, with its headquarters at the time in Paris, as the de facto Provisional Government of the Czechoslovak ~State. On 13th July, 1918, a National Council, representing: all parties, was formed at Prague as a complement to that already, existing in '■• Paris,' and the movement wa3 completed. On 18th October, 1918, Dr. Benes,, Professor Masaryk, and General Stefanik issued a declaration of independence, and ten days later the Austro-Hungarian Government decided to recognise the rights of the Czechoslovaks. The following month a Government was formed with Dr. Kramar as Premier and Dr. TJenes as Foreign Minister, and ever since the latter has occupied a prominent place in Balkan polities. Eecently he stated that Czechoslovakia - would not deviate from her policy of being ready to make sacrifices, together with the other Powers of the Little Entente, in order to save the Locarno Pact. > Not long ago, when passing through Vienna on his way to Geneva, Dr. Benes was the subject of a hostile demonstration by Austrians, who maintained that he was responsible for the mutilation of Hungary. The Government, however, adopted a stern attitude and the demonstration finally fizzled out. Admiral Sir Frederick Field. Many important posts have been held by Admiral Sir Frederick Field, whose relinquishment of. the post o.i First Sea Lord of the Admiralty was announced this week. Admiral Sir Frederick Field, who will in future be Admiral of the Fleet, was previously Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean and when at the Admiralty was Chief of the Naval Staff. He was Deputy- Chief of the Naval Staff from May, 1925, when he followed Admiral Keyes in that post. At the outbreak of the Great War he was captain of H.M.S. Vernon, and was appointed to H.M.S. Monarch in Sep-. tember, 1915. In December of the latter year he was selected to serve as Flag Captain to the Vice-Admiral Commanding the Second Battle Squadron in the King George V, and' was Chief of Staff in that vessel from June to November, •1916, when he transferred to the Marlborough, as Chief of Staff to the Admiral Commanding the First Battle Squadron, with the rank of Commodore, 2nd Class. He was in command of the King George V at the Battle of Jutland, receiving mention in dispatches, the C.8., and C.M.G. From February, 1917, to April, 1918, he served in the Bevenge as Chief of Staff to the Admiral Commanding thS First Battle Squadron, with the rank of Commodore, 2nd Class. On relinquishing that appointment he was chosen for special services outside the Admiralty, and in June, 1918, was given the post of Director of Torpedoes and Mining. In February, 1919, he was: promoted to flag rank. His next administrative post at the Admiralty was that of Third SeaLord and Controller, from April, 1920, to May, 1923, when he became EearAdmiral Commanding the Battle Cruiser Squadron. In November of that year ho wag selected to direct the Special Service Squadron on its world tour, with the rank of Acting Vice-Admiral. On the occasion of the return home of the squadron in September, 1924, he was confirmed in the rank of Vice-Admiral and' created K.C.M.G. He will be remembered for his geniality and courtesy during" the stay of the squadron in Wellington. His appointment at the Admiralty as 'First Sea Lord was made when Sir Charles Madden, relinquished that post. Sir Frederick has many remarkable experiences to'his credit, but perhaps the most remarkable of them, was that referred to by the King when inspecting the Atlantic Fleet in Tor Bay during July, 1922. "It is especially gratifying to • me," said' His Majesty in a signal to the Admiral, "to inspoct the Fleet before you haul down your flag after a long and remarkable career. You have achieved what is a unique record in modern times of having served continuously afloat as a Flag Oflieer for no less .than ten years and a half, including the whole of the war."