HC Deb 22 January 1948 vol 446 cc372-4
45. Mr. Keeling

asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that the recently published despatch from the Commanderin-Chief, A.A. Command, shows that during several periods of the war, including that of the flying bombs, A.A. guns shot down more enemy aircraft than the R.A.F., who were helped by A.A. searchlights, and that during the last period all but two R.A.F. fighter squadrons had gone overseas and the defence of this country rested on A.A. Command; and whether, in view of these facts, and of the destruction by A.A. guns of 822 enemy aircraft and 1,972 flying bombs, he will reconsider the decision to withhold a campaign star from A.A. Command.

The Lord President of the Council (Mr. Herbert Morrison)

I have been asked to reply. The grant of a Campaign Star to the Anti-Aircraft Command would necessarily involve many other categories, for instance, the National Fire Service, in which the proportion of casualties was much higher than in the A.A. Command, the Dover coastal batteries, the ground staffs of the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom, the police and the Civil Defence organisation. The Defence Medal is granted for these types of service in the United Kingdom and it is not proposed to recommend that the decision should be varied. The Armed Forces are eligible, in addition, for the War Medal. I should explain that, referring to the withdrawal for service overseas of all but two Royal Air Force fighter squadrons, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, A.A. Command, was writing only of reductions made in the special patrols against flying bombs when the launching sites in France and Belgium had been overrun by the Allied Forces. The number of fighter squadrons left in this country was actually 34.

Mr. Keeling

Have not Campaign Stars always been reserved for members of the Fighting Services? As the new Territorial Army is to be used very largely for A.A. work, will not the knowledge that A.A. operations, however successful or sanguinary, are not really considered operations at all certainly discourage recruiting?

Mr. Morrison

I do not think we could very well do that. The case was put very well by the present Leader of the Opposition when he was Prime Minister. He indicated that his difficulty—though sympathetic, as we are—was that, once he conceded the A.A. Command, he must concede the ground staff of the Royal Air Force. And when one comes to the question of risk and the importance of the defence of the nation internally, one could not exclude the Fire Service and the Civil Defence.

Colonel Dower

If, as was the fact, honours for bravery in the face of the enemy, such as the Military Cross, were awarded to personnel of Anti-Aircraft Command, how can they be denied a Star or a Bar to the Defence Medal, as, otherwise, it is bound adversely to affect recruiting?

Mr. Morrison

The hon. and gallant Gentleman must face the fact that in the case of home defence against enemy air attack, we cannot make a moral distinction between the various elements, both active and civil, and we should be committed to provide well over a million awards if we once started that.

Major Haughton

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Campaign Star was awarded to the members of the Royal Air Force for their service in this country, and would it not be only fair for the Ack-Ack Command to have a similar decoration?

Mr. Morrison

I could not say offhand whether the hon. and gallant Gentleman is right or not, but, even if he is, I have no doubt that there was some reasonable ground for this distinction, because Fighter Command in the air is a somewhat different proposition.

Mr. Keeling

I beg to give notice that I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment.