§ As to the general question of organisation, recruitment, and training, commissioned officers are divided into three classes—first, those with permanent commissions, to whom service is life progression; secondly, short service commissions, who, after five years' first line service, return to civil life, with a four 2184 or five years' liability in the Reserve; thirdly, those officers seconded or lent by the Army or Navy for Air service for a period, and who return to their parent services after its completion.
§ The first of these classes passes through the cadet college at Cranwell. Though the college is not full, the number of candidates is steadily increasing. The quality of these men is wonderful. Entering at 17½ to 19 years of age, they pass exceedingly stiff qualifying examinations. Equally stiff medical tests ensure their complete physical fitness. They are then trained in educational subjects, aeronautical science and engineering, general science, aviation, and practical science. The sieves through which they pass ensure that we have combed the nation's young manhood and found for our Service almost a special class apart. They are our most daring, most resourceful, most physically perfect, cleanest living, and ultimately highly skilled stock. Just as war removes them, are we hit the hardest in the preservation of our national life. The parents of such boys, in this House and outside, are doubly blessed in the possession of their sons, and any Government taking advantage of them to pursue policies of aggression abroad would be guilty of odious treachery to them.
§ Short service officers, to whom these remarks also apply, came into being in 1919. It was a far reaching innovation, greatly criticised at the time, but the doubts have been refuted by experience. The number and quality of candidates have shown continuous advance, and to-day we have large numbers of excellent candidates for this form of service. The national advantages gained are worth pointing out. A boy leaving school at 18 or 19 becomes at once self-supporting, and he can also put by money. He is taught to fly, he receives instruction in the mechanism and the running of aero engines, he serves overseas, and becomes acquainted with other lands, he learns habits of discipline, and he re-enters civil life at 24 or 25 with a gratuity of £75 for each year of service. A skilled, competent young man, he is then an asset to his country. On our side, as an Air Ministry, it means a smaller number of officers for whom permanent careers have to be found, and it also means a smaller number passed 2185 early to the retired list, because they are unable to be promoted. The Air Service is brought into closer contact with the general population by this means, and our Reserve tends to grow.
§ The third class, seconded from the Army and Navy, is represented this year by 19 officers from the Army. The Naval Attachments will, we hope, be secured in the hear future.
§ We are training a body of reserve pilots from the ranks of short service officers whose period of active service has expired. They are also taken from numbers of ex-officers with war experience who have re-entered the Reserve. To cope with the work of training, four civilian flying schools have been opened in the past year, and two more are projected. These four are Hendon, Bristol, Coventry, and Glasgow.
§ The non-commissioned officer pilot's case is also interesting. In 1921 it was decided to reintroduce the airman pilot into the Royal Air Force. He had been nearly abolished after the Armistice. The posting of trained airmen pilots to squadrons has now commenced, and everything points to its being a success. There are now 80 fully trained with squadrons at home and abroad, 40 more are being trained, and a further 40 will commence training during the summer. The young airman mechanic thus is given a chance to distinguish himself. Some 3,000 lads are now under training as airmen, and the esprit de corps and morale are very high.
§ Last year the Ministry invited Members of this House to visit those training establishments, particularly at Halton or Cranwell. May I have the pleasure of renewing that invitation on the present occasion? Probably parties of 10 Members are large enough to be taken at a time, and I think it might be desirable, in the interests of the young boys, that the visits should not take place on Saturday afternoons to deprive them of their holiday time. Any Members who avail themselves of this invitation will, I am sure, be impressed by the thoroughness of the training, and the tone and bearing of the boys. Not only do we give them a thorough technical training, but we continue their general education. This includes mathematics, drawing, elementary engineering, mechanics, electricity, English, and history. We tell them how 2186 the country is governed, and we give them lessons in geography and tutorial work. We train them to speak and to read, and in the general technique of study, and besides making them good airmen, we make them good citizens.
§ Our training establishments have been visited during the year by representatives of several foreign Powers, and we have received a reciprocal invitation from the French Air authorities. This invitation has been accepted with great pleasure, and a small party of officers will visit France accordingly in the next few weeks. At their head will be Air Vice-Marshal Brooke Popham, Commandant of the Royal Air Force Staff College. This distinguished officer acted as Chief Technical Officer at the Air Force headquarters in France during the War, and he has many friends in the French Air Service.