DEFENCE WEAKNESS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 28 January 1939, Page 8

DEFENCE WEAKNESS

i NO NAVAL AIR FORCE | ESSENTIAL TO NEW ZEALAND (Unitarl I*reft* Asaociaiinnl DUNEDIN, 26th January. The weakest point of New Zealand’# I defence, as seen by a former Admiralty executive, Rear-Admiral W. H. Mac* Kenzie, is the lack of a trained naval air foice for use on sea scouting operations during wartime. Rear-Admiral MacKenzie at one time commanded the aircraft carrier Hermes, while his last j post was director of torpedoes and min- ; ing at the Admiralty. I “New Zealand’s navy is her first line | of defence, but for real efficiency you j must have an air force trained to coj operate with it,” he said. “You should j therefore concentrate on an air force | and naval co-operation with the air ! force, for that branch of the Dominj ion’s defence will be very largely eniI ployed during wartime on maritime ; operations in the way of scouting and cruiser work." i Rear-Admiral MacKenzie said that j land practice was all right, but situated ;as New Zealand was, surrounded by ' water, attention had to be paid to sea j defence, and a pilot or observer should Ibe able to tell the difference between a cruiser and a destroyer and also read the meaning of certain naval formations. “The necessity for that training cannot be over-emphasised,” he added. “Pacific defence, in which New' Zealand and Australia co-operate, is really the commencemenf of the solution of the problem. New Zealand has alw’ays had its own efficient naval force, small though it is. but fuller use of manouevres would be helpful.”