AIRCRAFT

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 29 July 1922, Page 7

AIRCRAFT

BRITAIN'S DANGER.

ANXIETY OP NATION.

. BY CABLE-PRESS ASSOCIATION-COPYRIGHT

i *i, r, ■ 00^ J^ 27. in the House v-f Lords, Loid Londonderry asked whether the Government was aware of the nation's anxiety regarding the alleged deficiencies in ' the aii- service and serious menace threatening the country from the air. Lord Long said he believed Britain was spending more proportionately than other countries on air services, but was iiot achieving anything like adequate protection, notably in the direction, of providing fighting machines. Lord Gorell, replying, welcomed the increasing public attention to the qu-es-' tion of air power. As far as could he estimated now a separate Air Ministry was Jess costly than a separate Naval Ministry of Air Services. Undoubtedly there was a great potential * air menace to Britain. Probably, if war came, there would be continuous air raids on ' docks, factories, food depots and mobilisation places, which would demand a wsyision of the older ideas and methods. Lord Gorell said nothing that land '&r sea forces could, do could prevent the menace from the air. The Committee on Imperial Defence was investigating the whole subject, and 'would shortly report whether the situation demanded the provision of more machines ( and expenditure. There were now 32J "air squadrons, 20 of which were serving overseas. The Navy had 358 machines and the Army 111, in ad- j dition to 60 held as the first reserve' and six for field training. LONDOW, July 28. A spirited controversy is being continued relative to the value set on warcraft aeroplanes, being accentuated by Colonel JL. 'C. Amery's statement *wlien replying to a- question in the House of Commons that so far as the Admiralty was aware no navy possesses i an aeroplane capable of sinking a capital ship by a bomb or a torpedo. The Daily News says the position taken up by State air service advocates i is: "Give us a battleship, and we shall! Tie delighted to sink her in a few mm- j ntes, but there is no battleship at our j disposal for the purpose of experimental I destruction." The N*ws instances the1 case of the German 28,000-tonner Ost-j friesland, which wa. sunk by two j "bombs, each of 200ftJb weight, which! were dropped alongside and. exploded seyeral feet below the surface of the j water.