BRITISH DEFENCE

Evening Star, Issue 22463, 7 October 1936, Page 13

BRITISH DEFENCE

SPEEDING UP THE PLANS ORDERS NOW BEING RUSHED ROLE OF THE LEADERS Everywhere —in Downing Street, at the Admiralty, the Air Ministry, the War Office—there is concentration of effort (says a writer in the Sydney * Telegraph 5 ). What makes this spectacle more dramatic is the speed with which this great national effort is being made. What is the reason for this extreme urgency and speed ? The answer is the fear of the British Government and of its advisers that Britain may not be ready when the hour strikes. The co-ordination of the varied activities of the Government may be summarised under four heads. 1. The foreign policy, as determined by the Cabinet in Downing Street. 2. The grand strategy to meet that policy devised by the Committee of Imperial Defence. 3. The execution of that strategy by the three Service Ministers. 4. The co-ordination of industrial output from factories, dockyards, and workshops. This latter has proved to be the most difficult. There are two important factors—the necessity for speeding up the supply of the necessary tools, instruments, and materials, and the problem of Labour. The former is being overcome by speeding up production in every direction; the latter has been solved to some extent by the action of the Government in taking the trade union leaders into its confidence.

The truth is that, despite the official and parliamentary obstruction of the Socialists to the policy of rearmament, the industrial leaders are now fully apprised of the fears and dangers which have determined the Government's policy. Sir Thomas Inskip has talked to the leaders —and he has spoken pretty plainly. The result is that they have been sobered by the realisation of the dangers' of delay, and this perhaps explains why in a period of unparalleled prosperity and activity there are no strikes or labour disputes. The British working man is earning good money. Further, he has a shrewd idea now that he is preparing the defences of his country. “ TELL US WHAT YOU WANT.” “ Tell us what you want and we will provide it,” is the message that has gone forth from Sir Thomas Inskip to the three services. The result has been a situation reminiscent of the war-time spectacle, when the Department of Munitions was pouring out guns, aeroplanes, and munitions of all kinds at an unprecedented rate. Mr Churchill and others affirm that the output is not big enough. The answer of Sir Thomas Inskip has been to redouble his efforts. A visitor to the Admiralty these days notes a distinct war-time atmosphere. The staff has been greatly increased, and now numbers over 8,000. Every precaution is taken to keep out unauthorised visitors, for the fear of spies is real.

So, too, at the Air Ministry, which is as difficult to enter as for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. In the past blue prints and drawings have mysteriously disappeared from office tables, and to-day they take no risks. A short time ago a period of 12 months or more elapsed between the submission of a new design to the Air Ministry and the subsequent order or contract being placed. To-day the Air Ministry is ordering machines, bombs, and other items “ off the drawing board” without any tests at all. Office hours are from 9 a.m. sharp until 2 in the morning, and theatre parties, bowling down the street after mid-

night, see the windows of Adastral House a blaze of lights. Within the last few weeks the staff at the Air Ministry has been increased by 722. and now totals 2,636, and numbers are joining up daily to cope with the increased work. Not long ago six group captains were informed that there was no further employment for them, and they looked dolefully forward to half-pay. Now they have been given full-time jobs, and their experience is representative of the whole service. The Royal Air Force cannot get enough trained officers and men. NO HALF-PAY OFFICERS, So, too, at the Admiralty. There are no half-pay officers now. All are fully employed, and still greater numbers are required to man the new ships, with which the fleets and squadrons are to be organised and strengthened. A group of nine destroyers, which normally takes three years from laying down to commissioning, is now being turned out in half that time—lß months. The present 2nd Cruiser Squadron consists of three _ 7,000-ton ships. The new squadron will consist of five 9,000-ton cruisers. They are to be delivered six months in advance of the original contract time. Anti-aircraft artillery is being turned out, complete with ammunition, at a great rate, and the intensive recruiting campaign, designed to draw young fellows into the Territorial ranks, has met with considerable success. Ail over England, but particularly in the south and cast, air and anti-air exercises are in progress night and day. The drone of R.AF. aeroplanes never ceases, and the whole of these exercises and air manoeuvres are based on a simple proposition, the defence of don from enemy air invasion. That is the crux of the whole matter. Stated in simple terms, the policy of the British Government is based on the advice of the Committee of Imperial Defence, that silent, secret body which has its headquarters in an old-fashioned Georgian nouse facing Whitehall. Here sit two men, together with their staffs, Sir Maurice Hankey and Sir Thomas Inskip. They are the most interesting and important men in Britain to-day, and they are engaged in preparing to meet an air invasion of London. DIFFERENT TASKS, The problem of Sir Maurice Hankey is to define with the greatest possible exactitude the time when that “ risk will mature”; the task of Sir Thomas Inskip is so to arrange matters that Britain’s defences will reach their maximum output at the appointed time. The question that remains unanswered is: Can Inskip be ready in time—a time which will be settled not by us but by the enemy. This, in bald terms, is what is going on in London to-day. On the surface, the man in the street is aware of the fact that something is afoot. It is only necessary to peep a little below the surface to ’ realise that the British Government is engaged in a tremendous race against the day 'when it may be called upon to meet the greatest danger which has ever assailed this country.