§ 5. Mr. N. Macphersonasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether he will now make a further statement in regard to the future of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve aircrew reserve.
Mr. WardWe are now training aircrew reservists on the basis which I announced in reply to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud and Thornbury (Sir R. Perkins) on 20th January and during the Air Estimates debate on 4th March.
§ Mr. MacphersonIs my hon. Friend aware of the feeling among R.A.F.V.R. aircrew reservists that their services could well be used for aircraft of a character other than jet aircraft? Has this been considered, and is my hon. Friend quite satisfied that there is no use to which these highly skilled and experienced pilots can be put?
Mr. WardI ask my hon. Friend to be good enough to look at my previous statements on this matter. We have discussed it in this House on many occasions. To put the point briefly, we must concentrate our available resources on training men who will be of use to us in the very early days of a war.