HL Deb 15 February 1956 vol 195 cc967-75

2.57 p.m.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS (THE EARL OF HOME)

My Lords, your Lordships will have learned with deep regret of the death of Lord Trenchard last Friday after a full and a long life in which he served the Crown with unvarying distinction, stamping every office which he held and every duty he assumed with the dynamic force of a most vivid personality.

During the whole of this turbulent century his career matured. It began in the 'nineties in the Army, when he saw service with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in India. It continued in Africa, where he served and was severely wounded in the South African war. In 1903 he was seconded to the West African Frontier Force, and there he was decorated for valour and revealed those qualities of organisation which later were to serve him and his country so well. Happily he lived to see the moving reception which has been given to Her Majesty the Queen in Nigeria, and he could reflect with just pride that it was there, fifty years ago, that he took the lead in promoting law and order and justice, which are the foundations of self-government, of free institutions and of free peoples. During the many years over which he could look back he might find some mistakes in the handling of our Imperial responsibilities, but he was emphatic in his belief in the Commonwealth as a potent leaven in world society. I remember how his face would light up with the fire of enthusiam as he spoke with envy of the opportunities which challenge the young.

It was typical of his adventurous spirit that, while it was yet in its earliest infancy, he joined the Royal Flying Corps. Our country owes much—perhaps all—to that decision. While others did not see so clearly, he read the signs in the sky that air power would win supremacy in military strategy and that the nation best equipped for air attack would be the victor if another war should come. The air was then the uncharted element of the pioneer. Few were at home in it, and fewer still shared his conviction about the future. It needed a single-minded tenacity of purpose to drive through the apathy, ignorance and prejudice and to convince.

Sometimes the clear-cut distinction in his own mind between right and wrong led him to clashes of opinion with authority and with his colleagues; but his sincerity, his enthusiasm, his knowledge and, above all, his selflessness won the day—and won it in time. He was able to lay down the principles which should guide the development of air power. He was able to build a Royal Air Force, trained and efficient and permeated with the spirit of the offensive, and to see the Royal Air Force accepted by the sister Services, the Navy and the Army, with their roots so deep in British history, as an equal comrade in arms. And he was able to see the overwhelming contribution which that Force made to victory in Hitler's war. Modestly, he disclaimed that he was alone responsible for this; and that is true; but he inspired devotion in a host of young commanders and infected all ranks with his enthusiasm. Today the nation claims and acclaims him; but for the Royal Air Force, their first Air Marshal is their own hero.

The noble Viscount, Lord Samuel, will be able to speak with more intimate knowledge than I of the scope of Lord Trenchard's activities when he was Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis; of the reform which led to the Hendon Police College; of the short-service recruiting scheme, for the introduction of which he was responsible; and of the development of scientific methods in the Police Force. For all those things, and much more, the public is in his debt. One of the most familiar sights of London which I recall, is Lord Trenchard sitting his horse with the elegant: case of the practised polo player and obviously wishing that Whitehall left him greater scope for the dash of earlier days.

So we come to the end of a life of great distinction, and Westminster Abbey is to be his last resting place. There he will take his place beside our famous dead, those great figures of history—men of deeds—in the chapel dedicated to the Royal Air Force. There his name will be for ever linked with the Arm which he did so much to create and with those dashing young adventurers who won their wings. That is fitting, for here, in Lord Tienchard's person, was one who acted on his own conviction that man is born to be a creator, and one who left for all who follow after him the message that life is Opportunity.

3.4 p.m.

VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLS-BOROUGH

My Lords, we on these, Benches desire to he wholeheartedly associated with the comprehensive and touching tribute which has been paid to the memory of the late Lord Trenchard by the Acting Leader of your Lordships' House. No greater tribute, perhaps, could be paid to him from your Lordships than the very fact that although it is not within the strict practice of this House to pay tribute on such an occasion, we are all desirous of doing it in respect of this outstanding piece of service by our departed colleague. The record put before your Lordships by the Acting Leader of the House is unique in the history of our country and our Commonwealth.

It was my privilege to meet the late Lord Trenchard for the first time in 1929. I liked what the noble Earl, Lord Home, said: that Lord Trenchard was sometimes inclined to state his opinions freely. At that time—that is, in 1929—the controversy over the relative positions of the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force was sometimes quite warm. Lord Trenchard had a distinguished brother-in-law, the late Admiral Sir Roger (later Lord) Keyes, and I remember hearing two conversations between them which were highly instructive and of great value to me afterwards in my work. Thereafter I followed his career with the greatest interest. Perhaps the finest thing for which we can remember him is his work for the officers and other ranks of the Royal Air Force, reflected in the affectionate memory in which he will always be held by that great Service. He has sometimes been referred to as the "Father of the Royal Air Force." In the last years of his membership of this House, on every occasion when our Lordships were considering the great strategic and tactical problems with which the Air Force was likely to be connected, he was foremost in his advocacy of forward, scientific, and efficient policies.

We desire to place upon record our great admiration, and indeed affection, for the late Lord Trenchard, and to express the hope that his devoted widow will have great consolation in the thoughts that we and so many thousands of people in this country express at the passing of her husband.

3.8 p.m.

LORD REA

My Lords in a Chamber comprising some 850 members, there is inevitably, as in all associations of many men, a caucus of a few who may not be subjectively linked by any common interest, or even by similarity in character, but who, objectively, are linked by the great esteem, and often the affection, in which their colleagues hold them. In this category was quite outstandingly and unmistakably the noble and gallant Viscount, the loss of whom we mourn so sincerely to-day. Others more qualified than I have extolled—and rightly extolled—his high character, his great achievements, to which this country is indeed indebted, and his lovable personality. In an age of fierce competition he battled unceasingly, never for personal advancement or recognition, both of which came unsought, but always for the principles which he held on two foundations alone: integrity and patriotism. I speak from these Benches on behalf of all my colleagues who join wholeheartedly in the expressions of grief and of the sense of severe loss which we feel as a Chamber of Government of the Slate, as a community of colleagues in that Chamber, and as individuals from whom a deeply valued, wise, high-minded and friendly elder statesman has been removed.

3.10 p.m.

VISCOUNT TEMPLEWOOD

My Lords, it is now thirty-four years since, as a young Minister, I had the good fortune to cross the path of this great man. I remember my first interview with him very well. It was a time when the future of the Air Force was in great doubt; when there were many who criticised the existence of a third Service, and there were many more who doubted whether it could play a useful part in our National defence. When I saw Lord Trenchard, then Chief of Staff, my doubts were blown away in a few moments. I felt myself in the presence of a great man, conscious of his mission, determined with a singleness of purpose to carry it through. And it was my fortune for most of the next seven years to see him almost every day, and to work with him upon the great mission upon which he was engaged. I do not suppose that a Service Minister has often had the chance of working so long with his Chief of Staff.

From the very first day, I felt, as I say, that I was in the presence of a great man. He had just come back from the war, where as a pioneer he had created the first great unified Air Force in the world. When I first saw him he was engaged upon a task that was probably even more difficult: the task of re-creating an Air Force for peace time, when, it is to be remembered, the war-time Air Force had come to an end. It is very seldom that a great war leader is an equally great peace leader, but in this case Lord Trenchard can claim a record of great achievements both in war and peace. As a pioneer he created the war-time Air Force; as a prophet he created the peace-time Air Force, and forced upon the doubting world the conception of the importance of air power.

He was a very great man, but he was also a very good man, and throughout the whole of his career he was convinced that in a Service it was the spiritual things that counted much more than material forces. Morale, quality—those were the two objectives he always had in mind. He was determined that, whatever might be the size of our Air Force, it should at least, from the point of view of morale, hold pride of place in the whole of the world. If any memorial or monument is needed for this great man, it is found in the morale that he created; and that having been created by him showed itself in the finest Air Force in the world. Thanks to it we were saved from the possibility of a very great calamity in the summer of 1940.

3.16 p.m.

VISCOUNT SAMUEL

My Lords, the noble Earl the Acting Leader of the House has made reference to what was, relatively, only a minor episode in Lord Trenchard's career but yet was not unimportant—his connection with the Metropolitan Police. It was in 1931, when what was called the National Government was formed, that I found myself, unexpectedly, back again at the Home Office, in a position which I had held previously during the war. I found there, pending in the Department, that by far the most urgent and serious matter then to be dealt with was the condition of the Metropolitan Police. Owing to causes which one need not go into today, it was a discontened force. Its efficiency had fallen; even its great reputation with the public was declining. The then Commissioner, after a long period of ill-health, was anxious to resign, but no successor could be found who was equal to the task.

Lord Trenchard had been approached by my predecessor but he had decided to leave the public service, and had definitely accepted an important post outside that service. None of the other names suggested seemed to carry sufficient weight to deal with what was undoubtedly a grave, and almost a dangerous, situation. In these circumstances, I thought that we must try to persuade Lord Trenchard to take on the task. King George V had always taken a great interest in the welfare of the Force and he knew Lord Trenchard, of course, intimately, and his value. I submitted to the King that if he could express the opinion that it was desirable in the public interest that Lord Trenchard should change his view and accept that post it might carry weight with him. His Majesty agreed wholeheartedly, and authorised me to speak to Lord Trenchard in that sense.

I therefore reopened the matter with him, and at once he sacrificed all the plans he had made. He released himself from his other engagement, and accepted office in a new sphere which was of no particular personal interest to him. He did so solely on the ground that he felt it his duty to the State to do so. There at Scotland Yard he brought in fresh men and fresh methods. He brought about many changes which have been referred to by the noble Earl, Lord Home, this afternoon. He had to face a great deal of opposition, from vested interests and others, but he felt that he was right. He was strongly supported by the Government, and he carried those measures through. He gave four years of his life to the service of that office, and when he left he left a contented and highly efficient Force, equipped with all modern facilities; a Force with all its needs met, and once more restored to the high position it had always previously held in the public esteem. I feel that your Lordships, in reviewing to-day the great services of Lord Trenchard, will not wish to omit from record this service of his, so characteristic of his own character and providing so striking an example of his own capacities.

3.20 p.m.

THE EARL OF SWINTON

My Lords, as an old friend and another former Secretary of State who owed much to Lord Trenchard, I should like to add a word or two to the tributes that have been so well paid. I think that one of the happiest memories I have of Lord Trenchard was seeing him, as an old man, in a group of young pilots, himself as keen and as enthusiastic as any of them. Of him it may be truly said, "Whom the Gods love die young." It has been said to-day, truly, that Lord Trenchard was in a very peculiar sense the creator of the Royal Air Force, but I feel that what is most remarkable is not only that he created that Force but that in nearly everything—indeed, I think everything—he did, often at high pressure and nearly all of it innovation, he was right. And what he did has stood the test of time: he built on the surest of foundations. Cranwell and Halton are his creations. It was always his wish and hope, and I think his certainty, that some day a Cranwell cadet would become Chief of Air Staff; and it was only a few weeks before he died that he said to me, with great delight, "Well, the new C.A.S. is a Cranwell cadet." My Lords, he lived to see that dream come true. The tributes that have been paid to Lord Trenchard to-day will find an echo all through the Commonwealth. So long as there is an Air Force in any country in the Empire, Lord Trenchard's memory will he for ever green.

3.22 p.m.

VISCOUNT DE L'ISLE

My Lords, other noble Lords with long and intimate experience of Lore Trenchard's achievements have paid eloquent tributes. I knew Lord Trenchard only since I came into your Lordships' House, some ten years ago, but owing to exceptional circumstances I was able to know and to appreciate, and indeed to love, the qualities which made hilt great. Force of character, courage, tenacity of purpose, a kind of concentrated common sense amounting to genius—all these, taken separately,s are great attributes; but combined, as they were in Lord Trenchard, they are tremendous. He was an awe-inspiring man in some ways but he was, equally, most approachable: patient to listen as well as eager to impart. His great qualities made him the ideal Father of the Royal Air Force. He seemed to combine and synthesise in his own person a grasp of new ideas and a contempt for precedent with a deep and true sense of tradition. To-Jay the thoughts of noble Lords will go out to Lady Trenehard, who was so true a partner in his life and from whom I am sure he derived a tremendous strength. I am sure, too, that she will be comforted in knowing that his qualities gave him an influence far wider than in one Service, although that was truly great. Speaking as a younger Member of your Lordships' House, I am proud to be able to-day to say that I owe him a great deal and shall ever hold his memory in deep and affectionate admiration.

3.24 p.m.

LORD GORELL

My Lords, as one of the very few now left who were associated with Lord Trenchard in the Air Ministry in the early days of the Royal Air Force, when Lord Trenchard was Chief of Air Staff and I was serving in the much humbler rôle of Under-Secretary of State for Air, I should like, very briefly but very sincerely, to add my word to the tributes that have been paid. After the eloquent and authoritative speeches which have been made, it is superfluous to refer further to the unique services which he rendered to the defence, and indeed salvation, of this country. I should like only to say that, great as he was as a pioneer of air power, and great as he was as a Commissioner of Police, he was even greater as a man. He differed—he had to differ—from many, but he quarrelled with none. He fought his battles, often prolonged and sometimes intense, without rancour and without one trace of self-interest. He hated snobbery and pretentiousness more than any man I have ever known. He had many opponents, but he had no enemies. He was proved right over and over again, and he never boasted; he just went on with complete singleness of aim. Public speaking he found difficult, but he never hesitated to do it whenever he felt that his voice, either here in your Lordships' House or elsewhere, could add in any way to the cause he had so deeply at heart. He was as chivalrous as he was enduring, and as far-seeing as he was insistent. Once his friend, always his friend. I had the very great honour of his friendship for a whole generation's span, and I did not feel that I could let this memorable occasion pass without saying one word. His name is secure in our history; his memory remains in our hearts.