§ LORD BERESFORDMy Lords, I rise to ask His Majesty's Government whether any officers of the Royal Naval Air Service have lost their lives through flying in experimental or faulty machines.
§ THE CIVIL LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE)My Lords, as far as is known there is no authentic record of a fatal accident to any officer of the Royal Naval Air Service due to a faulty machine. Commander Usborne and Lieutenant-Commander Ireland most gallantly gave their lives in carrying out an important aerial experiment last month. This experiment was not the mere trial of a new type of aeroplane but of an aerial weapon of an entirely novel type, further details of which it is not desirable to give in the public interest. It was realised at the time that an experiment of this nature involved grave risks, and every precaution which careful forethought and elaborate preparation could provide was taken to minimise these risks. It is hardly necessary to add that there is never any difficulty in obtaining volunteers for this description of work, and I feel confident that my noble and gallant friend would be the first person to deprecate the neglect of important and promising inventions on the ground that in the earlier stages of their development they involved risk to the personnel conducting the experiments. Aviation would never have advanced to the present stage had such a line been taken.
§ LORD BERESFORDMy Lords, I thank my noble friend for his answer. The reason I asked the Question was that the other day in your Lordships' House I made 458 certain statements relative to naval officers having lost their lives in machines which were not perfect. I made those statements in a quite bona fide manner on authority which I thought was unquestionable. Since then I have discovered that the statement was not correct; and I have to express to your Lordships and also to the authorities at the Admiralty my regrets that I made the statement. I am glad now to see that the Naval Air Service is really working very hard. There has been a raid made on the Germans of a most satisfactory character, and there is no doubt from the statement made by Mr. Balfour that the Naval Air Service, which was in a condition of utter confusion, has now been brought to such a state that we may hope for good action on its part in the future.