AIR DEFENCE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 519, 1 May 1933, Page 4

AIR DEFENCE

KINGSFORD SMITH CONSI ADEQUATE FORCE NEEDED. NEW ZEALAND'S POSIIK On several occasions durinji lic speeches in New Zealand,! modore Sir Charles Kingsford emphasised the importance offs sideration being given to ttei ment of an adequateNewM force as the one means ui purse of the Dominioh -whicb, event of emergency in the ! could meet the position ari through the task set. "For ti of one battleship 500 modem; aeroplanes can he piir chased, 2£ vice aircraft are essentialforl tection of my country and off was the text of his remarh Before leavingl New Zealasi Charles was asked to expandS "Should the day come when bn landfis f-orced in to the defe® said, "it will be upon the ain defence, equally as upon fe arm, that the first responsH fall, and New Zealand, prohaSj greater extent than any other. Dominion, is a country the P which can 'most effectively fe taken by means of aircraft ; "This is so because In war&t a,s has been made possible vances since 1914-18, an at^ land a force in a country krK from the invader's hase, orftm. established in friendly areas, face of ian effective air for® •ance, can succeed only by 1® f-ort. j "In any future attemptw of forces, if there is defence i that landing, aircraft will p} portant part. Although actual precedent with which the point, -a study of the y such' an operation and co® sures leads defmitely to the.c^ that all the advantages "P the defending air arm, if is operating so far W -- that he*can employ W V aircraft. This condition Cf solutely to New Zealand, w and to many Pacific islands, s froin th'e nearest land by 0*003,11 ^ 11 Not for a moment didh/| the'value of the Navy, s® j les, for the Navy had dc® tions to perform and it perform them, but saf eiguard the shores of & a country as New 2eshn possible emergency waS M yond the purse of th'e coiir • over, although the welf®1 Dominion was of vital n®P y the Empire, it might be j would be greater fish f°r j Navy to fry. p "Insurance is ^rea! ? » premium is not too . J ed. "Air force insurance^ high for my countryjj^