AIR SERVICES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 13, 15 July 1939, Page 10

AIR SERVICES

CIVIL AND DEFENCE

WIDESPREAD DEVELOPMENT

BRITAIN'S POSITION

By Air Mafi, from 'The Post's" London

Representative.)

LONDON, June 26.

Sir Kingsley Wood, the Secretary ox State for Air, addressing ths annual conference of the Empire Press Union this morning, stated that there were many today who said that Britain did not do enough to state its case to the world or to rebut the representations that on the one hand she was a feeble and exhausted Power, or, by a strange alternative, that she was a violent propagator of war. "We should exercise some care in combating such allegations and in making Britain's position more widely known," said Sir Kingsley. "I am not an admirer of the propaganda being served out today by certain countries. I would prefer to rely upon a free Press and a constant and full supply of facts and truth, which in the end win their own way and are accepted and respected. "We cannot ignore, and perhaps we have too long neglected to deal with, those methods of propaganda which are being used as another arm to assist a country. At the same time, we should certainly refuse to employ methods which would mean direction of opinion by Government. A free Parliament, a free platform, and a free Press are a priceless heritage. They carry, in the end, throughout the world conviction and power which will never be obtained by any State machine or the mass-production of the directed and censored Press." CHANGED FACE OF THINGS. Immediate plans in connection with Empire air defence included during, the next two years increases in the number of squadrons permanently stationed overseas, which would include general reconnaissance squadrons for tho protection of our vital trade interests. Action was also now being taken to establish volunteer reserve training facilities overseas in localities where Royal Air Force units were already stationed. The rapid development of the range and speed of modern aircraft might well in the end revolutionise the problem of Empire defence. When range was reckoned in hundreds of miles, the problem of defending the many parts of our scattered Empire was obviously a difficult one. With ranges reckoned in thousands of miles and the further developments in the speed of aircraft that we might still contemplate, the picture changed. The possibility of reinforcing any part of the Empire in the air within a matter of hours was rapidly becoming a definite possibility. With these developments, including the provision of sources of aircraft production in areas remote from possible. attack and an adequate ground organisation, the invention of the aeroplane, which for so long entailed disadvantages to Empire defence, might well in the end turn out to be j an asset. Opinions might differ as to j the possibility of devastating cities by air attack, but there could only be one answer to the possibility of devastating an entire Empire. The unification of Empire defence, aided by the development of modern aviation, offered a great hope of the future. NEW AND IMPROVED TYPES. Sir Kingsley Wood also referred to the progress of air defence at Home.! Aircraft production was increasing j every week and had already reached considerable proportions. New and improved types would soon be coming forward, and science and invention were assisting with other formidable forms of defence. Recruitment for the Royal Air F^rce and the auxiliary service had been magnificent, and hundreds of young men had come forward from all over the Empire. Large numbers of pilots were also being trained under arrangements with the Dominions. It was also a matter of satis- i faction that a very large proportion of the raw materials required for the production of aircraft were obtained from Empire sources. Referring to civil aviation, the Minister said that an air service would be started across the Tasman Sea this autumn, and that suitable base? had also been surveyed for a servicp from New Zealand to Canada, which would be the last link in the chain of Rritish '■air services round the world. Plans were also beine made for a South '■ Atlantic serviop and a service in the West Indies. For the North Atlantic service it wa? proposed to begin by nsine flying-boats, but tht se might well be succeeded by large and fast land planes. The proposed merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways into a new corporation would, he believed, enable a greater measure of attention to be paid to development work, and would thus secure further advances in our civil flying.