7
 
      
 
 
104,000, including 6,800 trained pilots and 1,650 under training 
      as pilots; and by the Spring of 1940 it is estimated that the 
      strength will be 130,000, of whom 8,300 will be trained pilots 
      and 1,650 under training as pilots. Service flying training is 
      already being undertaken at over 40 civil and service schools. 
      Great assistance has been afforded by the Dominions in the matter 
      of candidates for flying posts in the Royal Air Force. Substantial 
      progress has also been made in the vital matter of building up 
      an adequate reserve of pilots. The total of reserve pilots (including 
      pilots under training) has been raised from 1,400 in April 1934 
      to a present level of roughly 5,000, while strength of 8,300 
      will be achieved by April, 1940. In addition some 4,000 pupils 
      are at present undergoing training in the Civil Air Guard, and 
      the total by April 1940, should be at least 5,000.
 
      
 
 
Apart from pilots, all classes of the reserves are being strengthened 
      and new categories created where necessary. The total personnel 
      reserves of all classes (including Auxiliary personnel), which 
      numbered some 10,600 in 1934, will have been raised to nearly 
      96,000 by 1940.
 
      
 
 
(f) The post-1940 program
 
      
 
 
Further stages of the program, in the financial years 1940 
      and 1941, although making only a relatively small change in first 
      line strength will profoundly increase the war strength of the 
      force. During these two years there will be a concentration on 
      re-armament with new and more powerful types of aircraft and 
      the provision of yet greater depth of reserves. At the end of 
      the period the Metropolitan Air Force will possess a hitting 
      power and endurance out of all proportion to the Force which 
      will exist in 1940.