HC Deb 03 March 1953 vol 512 cc163-5
6. Mr. Bellenger

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he has given consideration to the much lower capital cost of troop transport by air as compared with sea travel; and, in view of the undoubted advantage of saving in time and manpower, what steps he is taking to put the Army on a more mobile basis.

Mr. Head

Individual trooping is now being carried out by air everywhere except for North-West Europe and the Far East. For various reasons it is uneconomic for North-West Europe, but we aim at an extension of air trooping to the Far East.

Mr. Bellenger

While thanking the right hon. Gentleman for his reply as far as it goes, would he bear this matter in mind for his Army Estimates, because obviously it is vital so far as the mobility of the Army is concerned?

Mr. Head

I agree with the right hon. Gentleman.

Mr. Shinwell

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, so far as his experience enables him to say, the use of air instead of sea transport has enabled him to use manpower to greater advantage?

Mr. Head

That is true where reinforcements are concerned, but it will be a long time before unit moves can take place by air since they have to move with their unit transport. Where reinforcements are concerned, there is no doubt that air transport conserves manpower considerably.

Mr. Bellenger

Arising out of that last reply, is the right hon. Gentleman making any experiments whatever on a unit basis, bearing in mind the way that parachute troops move with their transport through the air?

Mr. Head

Yes, Sir. Of course parachute troops are organised with the minimum of transport, and their ability to maintain themselves over a long period is strictly limited, whereas an infantry battalion has sufficient transport to maintain itself for an indefinite period.

Mr. Fienburgh

In considering this, will the Minister look a little further than the manpower and capital expenditure involved, and look, too, at the strategic implications of moving troops by air, in view particularly of the results of the Monte Bello experiment, which showed fairly clearly the extreme vulnerability of sea lines of communication and harbour installations?

Mr. Head

Yes. I believe the establishment of a strategic reserve held in this country, which could be rapidly transported by air, is the objective at which we must always aim.

8. Mr. Beswick

asked the Secretary of State for War the number of services in each direction across the North Atlantic made by the York trooping aircraft since 2nd July, 1952, when the Skyways contract began; and what is the total number of passengers carried in each direction.

Mr. Head

Nineteen outward flights carrying 616 passengers, and 19 flights to this country carrying 607 passengers.

Mr. Beswick

As the total number is apparently 38, can the right hon. Gentleman say why, when last week we were questioning him about this route and this aircraft, he said that more than 112 flights had been made across the Atlantic?

Mr. Head

If the hon. Gentleman will read his Question, he will see that he asked me about Skyways trooping of York aircraft. The Question last week was concerned with Atlantic crossings by York aircraft, which remain at the figure of 112. I can add this information, which I was unable to give last week, that 73 of those 112 flights were made in winter.

Mr. Beswick

But is the Minister now saying that any firm other than Skyways has made a single crossing of the North Atlantic?

Mr. Head

Yes, Sir.

Mr. Beswick

With York aircraft?

Mr. Head

Yes.