NEW R.A.F. COMMAND

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 18 November 1940, Page 6

NEW R.A.F. COMMAND

CO-OPERATION WITH ARMY LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE OF PRESENT WAR IMPORTANCE IN MODERN TACTICS [British Official Wireless] (Received 18th November, 11.35 a.m.) RUGBY, 17th November. The importance of co-operation be- j ; tween air and land forces is one of the lessons learned in the present war and' the Air Ministry and War Office an- ! nouncement which states that these j service departments have “considered how best to secure the most effective) basis of co-operation between the 1 Army and the R.A.F.” is an important contribution to present day tactics. The announcement continued: “The principal feature of the new arrangements is a decision to set up a command of the R.A.F. to be called the Army Co-operation Command, which will comprise all squadrons allotted to army formations in the United Kingdom together with associated training units.

“The primary function of this command will be to organise—experimental in all forms —co-operation between the two services. The operational employment of the squadrons will rest, as hitherto, with the Command’s army formations to which they are allotted. The Army Co-operation Command will be under an Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief and a senior Army officer appointed as head of air staffs. Air staffs of the command and subordinate formations will consist of Army and R.A.F. officers in roughly equal proportions.

“The formation of this Command is the outcome of a system of co-opera-tion which has been steadily built up between the two services over a long period and the new organisation is designed to accord with the lessons of recent operational experience. The Army Co-operation Command with joint staff will work in constant association with the Army and Air Force Commands concerned. It will ensure the rigid development of Army cooperation.”