Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-04-05
DEC[ARESLONDON
AT PLANES MERCY
British Officer Says England
is at Mercy of Foe With
Ships Helpless.

While the British navy is command
ing the seas, London can be destroyed
from the air without the navy being
able TO- Gre a single shot in defense
Of the city, Mai. Sir Archibald Sin
clair, member of the House of Com
mons, declared in an address several
days 1SU before that body, and a
copy. 6fIS~f4ch has just been received
here by the Army Air Service.
Speaking on the estimates for the
air f6rce, Str Archibald said: 1T is
quite true that in 1914 to 1918 the
navy uassnxf{ll our sure shield. Aero
planes could come over London and
drop bombs and cause a great deal or
alarm, Inconvenience and damage.
How much alarm and damage. 1t Is
dangerously easy to minimize at this
distance of time, but, still, so long
as the navy held the mastery OF the
seas our vitals were protected.
To-day" continued the speaker.
1.-The navy holds supreme command of
the seas, and yet London can be de-
stroyed without the navy being able
10 fire a shot. 1t is quite possible
within a few hours of the declaration
of war for fleet of aeroplanes TO ap-
pear over London, to drop hlgh ex-
plosives and incendiary bombs ten
times
dropped by the Germans in the worst
month of the war, and the navy. al
though it held command of the seas,
could do nothing to prevent that.
And every one of our great cities
would be liable to similar vista
tions."
Air Service Grows.
Assuming it is agreed that 1T is
quite possible for our industries TO
eminent paralyzed and all this while
the navy still holds command of the
seas and vet incapable of firing shot
in our defense" Sir Archibald de-
clared 1.-The only possible defense
against such formidable contingen-
cies as l have ventured briehy to
describe, is that which can be pro-
vided by the air force and by no
other fighting service. In the second
place, there are few members VINO
will not agree that the relative value
of the three factors. the air force,
the army and the navy, in the stra-
tegic equation is constantly changing
and that the air service is gaining
rapidly at the expense of the other
two services.
The time is inevitably coming when
airpIanes will be able to dominate
operations by sea, lat any rate in the
mario" seas,
It impossible for surface ships to exist
within their radius of action, RADIUS
which is constantly increasing.
Would Hit Supplies.
IT do not contend that that is what
would happen, If by any misfortune
we were to be engaged in war In the
near future. I do not suppose If
we were fighting a great air power
in Europe that sinking battleshlps
would be the principal task OF aero
planes. Aeroplanes would strike the
first blow. They would come over the
docks and bases. the stores and COM
munications and the main fleets at
sea would find themselves paralyzed
and incapable of effective action, on
account of aeroplane bombardments
of their bases, docks and stores, WITH
out their being able to fire shot or
without their having seen q hostlle
aeroplane.
which I base my belief not only that
the air force is gaining rapidly and
enormously at the expense OF the
other two services but that 1t Is
one of the duties of the government
to make it clear that 1t is even now
our first line Of defense. 1t follows
from that that 1t is Of paramount
Importance that the development or
the air force should not be cramped
or hindered or in any degree OBJ
structed by the conservative tend
encies and prejudices of the chiefs
of the other two fighting services,
and that control over the expendi-
ture of any money We may vote
should not be intrusted to officers of
the other services, whose view of the
air force is merely that 1t should be
ancillary to these older services, and
that the officers responsible for the
training, promotion and discipline of
air force units and of the officers
and men composing them should not
be men who are soldiers and sailors
who do little flying in their spare
time, but they should be keen air.
men-airmen first, last and all the
time-who look to the air service
for their careers and are determined
to make it play a preponderating role
In any war"
No