THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS MONDAY, JULY 8, 1935 THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22155, 8 July 1935, Page 8

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS MONDAY, JULY 8, 1935 THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

| The extraordinary public interest | shown in the review of the Boyal Air Force by the King on Saturday | is evidence, not only of air-minded-j ness, but of a reawakened eon- ! science on the part of the British ■ nation to the need of defence. This i renewed vigilance is due to what ; Mr. Bt.ldwin recently described as a marked deterioration in the past j year in the international situation, a deterioration coinciding with active rearmament in most countries. In the light of these facts, Britain has been forced to take stock of her own position. She has found, in Mr. Baldi win's words, a "serious condition of accumulated deficiencies," incurred in the hope of inspiring j general disarmament by good I example. The whole situation was laid before the country when, on I May 22, both Houses of Parliament j debatec the question of defence and overwhelmingly approved the resolution of the Government to place Britain in such a position that she could defend herself and also stand as a more effective guarantee for peace. The positive new policy was as strongly endorsed in the country as in Parliament. It therefore happens appositely that the renewed public interest in the defence forces should be given unique opportunities for expression in the three great jubilee reviews by the King fixed for this month, that of the Boyal Air Force being followed by reviews of the Army at Aldershot and of the Boyal Navy at Spithead within the next ten days. The urgency of strengthening the air defences has, however, taken firmest hold on the nation's; imagination, because of the new threat that has ended Britain's insular security and brought her people within range of enemy bombardment. Beflecting the general anxiety, Parliament almost wholly confined itself to a consideration of the air arm in debating the general question of national defence. Mr. Baldwin in the Commons and Lord Londonderry in the Lords announced that in no circumstances would Britain accept inferiority in the air. They also had to admit that fhe rapid rate of expansion of the German air force had virtually caught them napping, but Britain intended to maintain parity with Germany, however fast a pace she might set. The immediate programme decided upon required trebling the number of first-line fighting machines and practically doubling the whole force within two years—a tremendous undertaking. What this means may be gathered from the fact that 71 new squadrons are to be formed by March 31, 1937. The addition can be compared with the 17 squadrons which took part in the review at Duxford on Saturday. They flew past the King "in a seemingly endless procession extending below the horizon." More than four times their number is to be added to the Air Force within two years. At the same time an addition of 2500 pilots will have to be made to the existing strength of 2700 and the present strength of 23,700 aircraftsmen increased to over 43,700. Thirtyone new stations will be required and ten instead of five training schools. The result in 1037 should be approximate parity in the air with Germany and France. If meanwhile there should be acceleration on the part of Germany, Britain will expand her programme, as Lord Londonderry said, "cost what it may in money or effort." Such is the measure of British determination to guard against the new menace from the air. Although Mr. Baldwin published Britain's resolve with all firmness, he concluded on a note of hope that, even yet some agreement miprht be made among the nations to "banish from the world the most fearful terror and prostitution of men's knowledge that has ever been known in the world." At the same time, he argued, some parity in air strength was a necessary step to make easier the conclusion of the proposed pact and to facilitate limitation. Both were far easier to obtain if all started from the same point. Hence Britain has set out to make herself reasonably secure in the air and at the same time to reach a position where she can effectively influence proposals for air disarmament. Tlicre is just a danger, however, that the official and also the popular preoccupation with the new arm may obscure the fact that Britain and her maritime Empire are most vulnerable at sea. Lord Londonderry, although he was then Secretary of State for Air, wisely insisted in the House of Lords on the "enduring importance" of the Boyal Navy. Germany's return as a naval Power has since helped to remind

every Briton of that vital fact. The part of the Air Force may be more spectacular but it can play its part only if all those supplies, including oil fuel, on which it depends, are guaranteed by efficient naval protection. The British Empire has become dangerously weak on the sea for the same reasons as persuaded Britain to fall behind with air armaments. Now that the deficiency has been acknowledged and is to be made good in one direction, it is to be hoped that the naval arm, on which all else depends, will also be strengthened. "The sea is our life."