Lieutenant General Blarney under whose command the Australians fought in Greece and who is now Deputy Comnander-in-Chief of the Middle East made the following statement to me: * * * "Immediate air support is a matter of absolute necessity to a commander in the field. The German air system is right and the British independent air force is wrong. I will not go into combat again unless I am able to give direct orders to the squadrons allocated to my support." (Extract from paraphrase of code cablegram received at War Dept. from Cairo May 15, 1941. ) General Gort-- Fundamentally the separation of the Army and Air Force was a mistake and that proper coordination of air and ground troops, both in training and in operations, can only be had under unified command and a single department of government. Report # 41016 G.B.-9000 March 27, 1940. Chief of the Imperial General Staff--General Ironside-- expressed himself almost violently in opposition to the separation of the Air Force from the Army. He said that for certain specific missions, such as the aerial defense of Great Britain, an independent Air Force was not only fitting, but should have ground forces (A. A. etc.) under its orders for operations. For land operations independence was absurd, the most intimate mutual dependence based on close coordination of training is absolutely necessary. Report # 40733--G. B. 9100 Jan. 5, 1940. |