There was something in the nature of a sensation when well-informed circles in London revealed last week that Great Britain now possessed 6,000 fighting, and 12,000 bombing planes, not only because of the totals given, but the rapidity with which they have apparently been reached. Those figures are to be taken rather as the expression of the condition of the British air force than as an exact total of the number of machines which Great Britain has at her disposal, for it has been just as much a portion of British policy, as it has of German, not to divulge exact information as to the growth of the air arm, and it will be noticed that official statements have always been careful to give no complete revelation as to its real strength. That was just as true when the British air force was admittedly lamentably weak, and the probabilities are that if the real truth were known, when first anxieties were expressed over Britain's air strength the situation was not quite so serious as it was then depicted. Added to British genius for understatement was the imperative necessity of awakening the nation from its complacency, and, as with regard to the navy, experts sounded a most disturbing note a few years ago, so did experts follow the same tactics when revealing their concern over the strength of the air force as compared with the large fleets of aeroplanes which other countries were alleged to be building up. It was good politics to do so, and, with developments in Europe such as they were at the time, it was the necessary fillip which not only spurred the Government on to better things but-railed public opinion behind it in solid support. So with the statement that Great Britain already possesses 18,000 "planes ready for service. The total is to be taken as figurative only, but of this there may be certainty, applying the. same allowance for understatement to which reference has already been made, the chances are that that figure represents the least of what Great Britain has at her disposal. That may not be entirely true of quantity, but is undoubtedly true when the factor of quality comes also to be considered, for if war comes it will not only be numbers but efficiency of the machines which will ultimately tell.
That view is largely supported by the utterances of Mr. Neville Chamberlain when speaking at the opening of the new airport at Birmingham. He stated "I believed that our air force is in many ways the finest in the world, and I warn you that Sir Kingsley Wood does not tell you all his secrets. You may be quite sure that whatever he tells you has a great deal more behind it" When the state of British defences was revealed some five or six years ago, more particularly with regard to the condition of the Navy, the news came as a very great shock. The example of disarmament, which Great Britain had sought to set, had not been followed, and nations, which might become potential enemies, were busy piling up their armaments unto such an extent that without doubt Great Britain's voice in international matters had lost much of its authoritativeness. Within the next few months. practically in a whole new fleet wil have been put into the water. Next week three cruisers will be launched, in the next few months the Duke of York, and the Beatty, 35,000 ton battleships, will be launched, four more cruisers are due for launching in the near future and with destroyers and submarines a formidable addition is being made to the British fleet which has already been enlarged since the first warnings were given. On land similar accretions in strength are being provided. Instead of the small expeditionary force it would have been possible to send to the Continent in the event of war, three-quarters to a million men will in a very short while be available. In the course of a long war the total it would be possible to raise would equal at least the figures of the Great War. Britain practically overnight, by the acceptance of the principle of compulsion, no matter how modified it may be in times of peace, has become a military as well as a naval power, and is now in a position to offer the completest ce-operation with other Powers, with which she has an understanding, in resistance to any aggression which may be offered, or even contemplated. That is not all, the production of war materials, whether it be aeroplanes or rifle ammunitions has not yet reached its peak; it most likely will not do so except under the threat of actual war when many civilian undertakings would immediately be placed on war production, so that all things considered the confidence which is now being felt over the ability of Great Britain to defend herself may be now taken for granted.
When it was announced that Great Britain was preparing to spend something in the neighbourhood of £ 1,500,000,000 in all round rearmament over a period of five years, it was anticipated that the work would be completed somewhere around 1942. The programme has been enlarged and accelerated, with the result that the original scheme is much nearer completion than was originally expected. The first estimate has been exceeded, and while it is difficult to arrive at the exact figure, it is probably not very far out to suggest that some £500,000,000 extra will have been spent in speeding up the work of providing for adequate self-defence. It is possible that other countries might have been able to do what has been done much cheaper. Indeed some of them have done so, but it is generally believed that quality has been sacrificed in many important considerations, due to economic factors to the pressure of which Great Britain has, fortunately, not been subjected. It has always been British policy that Britain's sons shall not be asked to perform their duty to their couniry save with the finest equipment that money can buy or the wit of man conceive. This new armament, as up-to-date as it is possible to make it, is evidence of that fact, and if Great Britain is forced into war she will enter it as well, if not better provided ior than probably any other nation in the world. And behind that equipment will be found a quality of manhood which has been surprisingly demonstrated in the course of registration of entrants for the militia, The health and constitution of British youth of today is better than that of the generations which fought twenty-odd years ago, and it will enter any new struggle with a high hand and a lofty courage. All this, however, should not be inducive of any more complacency; it is necessary that the closest watch and ward shall be maintained over the Empire and the means of defending it. It is unlikely that that imperative duty will be neglected, for it would indeed be a genius who could again lull the British into a sense of false security.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.