282

FLIGHT.

MARCH 23,

1939

A Danger Averted
N the last issue of Flight anxiety was expressed about the provision of an air element for the Army expeditionary force of 19 divisions, and we expressed the hope that some Member of Parliament would question the Government on the matter. Even before the issue had been circulated, that hope had been fulfilled. Evidently our previous remarks on the subject (in our issue of Feb. 9) had not escaped the notice of Parliament, where, as a matter of fact, the opinions of Flight on Air Force matters do carry considerable weight. In the debate on the Army Estimates, on March 14, the Right Hon. Mr. Lees-Smith raised the matter from the front Opposition Bench. " T h e Army," he said, '' cannot go abroad unless there are fighter squadrons with it to protect the Army co-operation squadrons. This is a very terrible dilemma, because those very fighter squadrons are the squadrons that will be required for home defence. I can imagine the feelings of a city which is being bombed if the fighter squadrons are taken away. On the other hand, I can imagine the dismay of the country as a whole if, because there are not fighter squadrons to go abroad, a vital point is lost while the Army remains unoccupied at home." He went on to refer to the paper read before the Royal United Service Institution in February by Group Capt. A. J. Capel on air support for the Army, and advocated, as Flight has advocated, that the Army should have a proportion ot fighter squadrons, and that they should only be diverted away from the Army by the express consent of the Army Council.

THE All Parties Unanimous

OUTLOo

N defence questions there is now no real difference between the Government and the Opposition in Parliament; they only disagree as to the methods by which the goal of a strong Britain should be attained. Mr. Winston Churchill and Lord Apsley took up the argument and insisted on the need for fighter squadrons to protect the Army co-operation squadrons. Once the point had been raised, its vital importance was at once apparent to all sides of the House. Mr. Hore-Belisha hastened to array himself on the side of the angels. His words were: " T h e air component of the field force includes a definite allotment of fighter squadrons which has been agreed between the War Office and the Air Ministry," and he went on to assure the House that the tnatter would have "our continuing attention It does not seem probable that this agreement is of very long standing. In the March issue of the Air Force List no fighter squadrons are included in No. 22 (Army Co-operation) Group, and no Group of Army Fighters has been instituted. All the fighter squadrons are still in No. 11 and No. 12 (Fighter) Groups, which seem designed for the protection of London and the more northern parts of the country respectively. Perhaps the fighters allotted to the Army are to remain camouflaged so as not to give information to foreign countries. If that is so, then the citizens of London and of the

" m<rht" photograph

GLADIATOR GOES TO SEA : A pleasant cloudscape impression of the Gloster Sea Gladiator (Bristol Mercury IX840 h.p. at 14,000ft.). These machines are now going into service with the Fleet Air Arm. Two of the more obvious differences from the standard Gladiator are illustrated in another view on page 29^.