BRITISH AVIATION

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 24, 29 January 1935, Page 9

BRITISH AVIATION

WEAKNESS IN THEVEAST

NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT.

The moro one studies the political situation in the Fast East, as far as British interests aro concerned, the more one is impressed with the vital necessity for the speediest possible development of every branch of our aviation (writes Lawrence Impoy in the "Daily Mail"). Dozens of .well-informed officials and residents in the Far East havo reiterated again and again, to the writer the probability and the danger of an attack, first on Hong Kong and then on Singapore. Somo, authorities state that Hong Kong could hold out for six weeks in case of Such attack from sea and air, but if seems doubtful whether they have fully considered-the'position from . all points of view. .' ' In the first place, the British naval units and aircraft carrier 'would havo ! to leavo port immediately to avoid being hemmed in and destroyed-from I the air. Secondly, any attacking force would undoubtedly land on the mainland between; Hong Kong and Canton and establish an air base there, from whence Hong Kong, its haTbour, bar- ■ racks, and forts could be subjected to an intensive daily bombardment. To oppose this, wo havo a fine.aerodrome with only a couple of Moth aeroplanes operating f voin it. - Flying-boats , would seem to bo the obvious solution i of the problem, as bases could be estab-j lished in almost any of the numerous , bays on the island. , : EXTENDED SEE VICE. Until this can be done officially there seems no reason why Imperial | Airways should not be encouraged to : extend their' service from Singapore' to Hong Kong, and thus take the first step in tho right direction,- establish-: ing seaplane bases which would serve., for other purposes in case of trouble, j Turning to Singapore, this vital cen-1 tre has a fine military aerodrome already, and a largo civil flying ground is nearing completion. | But it was most lamentably evident i to me in my recent flight from Lon- j don to Malaya that sufficient attention : had not been given to the smaller landing grounds on route. Between Bangkok and Singapore only one aerodrome at Alor Star was usable, and on that the , aeroplane was well over the tires in mud and water, while one of the German flyers in the recent London to i Melbourne contest managed to leave the ground there only on tho third at-, tempt, by jctjtisoning all his personal j baggage. I Kuala Lumpar, Penang, and other grounds should ■be taken in hand _at once, in the interests of civil aviation if for no other reason, and it would . seem that at a place like Alor Star, with aeroplanes coming in several times a week from Bangkok or Singapore, the installation of a tolcphone and telegraph service is an urgent necessity. When I was there they were just dismantling a telephone which had been put in temporarily for tho London-Mel-bourne race. ' The cost of improvements as outlined nbovo would probably not exceed tho initial cost of a couple of cruisers,-and no ono on the spot could be in any doubt as to which would bo of the greater ultimate value.