Pioneers of Aerial Combat by Michael Foley

Author:Michael Foley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / Aviation
ISBN: 9781473828520
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books
Published: 2013-07-16T00:00:00+00:00

An SE5, an aircraft that was an important part of the defence against German attacks.

French’s letter was answered on 10 July by the War Office. It stated that the allotment of the RFC for home defence had been discussed by the War Cabinet and that one fighting squadron from France had been placed at his disposal. The squadron would not be withdrawn before this had been discussed by the War Cabinet again.

As French had asked for sixty-six machines, the letter stated that with the new squadron he would still be thirty-three aircraft short. It was hoped that twenty-four of these would be available to him by the end of the month.

The Cabinet went on to state that four separate agencies contributed to the defence of London against air raids. These were the RNAS, the Observation Corps, various units of the RFC allocated to the Home Defence and anti-aircraft guns. It seems that the principal function of the RNAS was to deal with enemy aircraft on their return across the Channel rather than stopping them from getting to their objective.

The Observation Corps were obviously not that highly regarded at the time. A comment from the Cabinet stated that ‘they consisted of a number of observers round London, mostly infantry soldiers, often elderly and not especially qualified for the duties they have to perform.’ It sounded as though they were allocated to this duty as they were not much use for any other task.

There was an interesting comment after this was stated. The last three agencies mentioned were operating separately under the orders of the Home Defence Headquarters, which was the only connection between them. This system involved too great a dispersal of command when dealing with air raids on London. They then called for greater control over these three agencies by the officer in command of the Home Defence.

The Cabinet comments on the RNAS were very different and once again showed the division between the air services that, it seems, were accepted by the government. The RNAS were not under the command of the Home Defence but worked under the direction of the senior naval officer in the naval districts, in co-operation, as far as possible with the Home Defence. There seemed to have been a general agreement with those consulted by the Cabinet that this division of command should not be disturbed. Once again, it appears that there was no desire to upset anyone at the Admiralty, despite saying that lack of overall command in the agencies involved in home defence was hindering efforts. According to a later statement in the Cabinet papers: ‘The unity of command is essential to any warlike operation, whether of an offensive or defensive character.’ It seems that the government could say one thing while closing its eyes to the fact that the opposite was occurring.

There was to be no removal of the anti-aircraft guns in place against Zeppelins. Rather it was hoped to find more guns capable of putting up a barrage against formations of enemy planes.

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