MARCH I O ,

1938.

FLIGHT.

221

CONTROLLED POWER : The world's most formidable fighter squadronNo. i n from Northoltdemonstrating their mastery of the Hawker Hurricane multi-gun single-seater fighter monoplanes with which they have lately been equipped. The Hurricane is the fastest military aircraft in service anywhere in the world.

Civilian Rights in War

VERY curious lecture was delivered before the Royal United Service Institution last week by Capt. P. A. Landon, M.C., on the international law of bombardment. The lecturer made it clear that he was not discussing what ought to be, but only stating the law as it is. He stuck closely to this text. He laid it down very definitely that civilian life was sacrosanct and that military operations should not be undertaken if they endangered civilian life. From this he drew the conclusion that the functions of aircraft in land war ought strictly to be confined to reconnaissance, as bombing endangers civilians. If the statement made by the lectureran acknowledged authorityis actually the international law, it certainly ought to be altered. We say this, not because we have any thirst for baby-killing, but because it is a fact that a law which attempts to forbid too much is sure to be Jsregarded by universal practice, and this tends to bring all law into contempt. If we remember right, Mr. Spaight, another acknowledged authority on the subject, and one quoted several tunes by the lecturer with respect, has written that belligerents have certain natural and inherent rights and that an international law which does not recognise them is sure to be of no effect. He holds, for example, that workers n ! a munition factory can claim no immunity from bombln g while they are in the factory, though they can make ich a claim when in their homes. Too many Air Forces m the world are apt to claim that they are above all laws, Perhaps because international law forbids too much. It would be an advantage to the world if that law were mended on practical lines which respected civilian rights ut a!so recognised the necessities of the armed forces.

Rating Pilots

HE Admiralty has lost little time in announcing its preliminary scheme for making use of ratings as pilots in the Fleet Air Arm. The regulations just published deal only with the means of selecting candidates, and barely outline the career which lies before those who will be selected. On the subject of the training of these rating pilots the Admiralty order is not explicit. It merely says that preliminary training for a year will be carried out on shore, and will be followed by eight weeks on a training cruiser. H.M.S. Furious has now become a training carrier. It may be presumed that the rating pilots will be taught to fly, as the naval officers will be, and as airmen pilots are, at the ordinary civilian and Service flying schools.

Handing Over Stations

HE Admiralty and Air Ministry are still discussing what stations are to be handed over to the former by the latter, and no announcement has yet been made. The School of Naval Co-operation, where naval officers are trained as air observers, has been moved from Lee-onthe-Solent to Ford. The move of the school to Ford suggested that the Air Ministry was loath to part with Lee, a well-developed station, but was ready to hand over one on which it had not yet spent so much money. On the other hand, it has been announced that the final specialised training of naval pilots in Fleet Air Arm work is to be carried out between Gosport, Lee and Ford. That would suggest that all these three stations are to go to the Admiralty, but neither Ministry will admit that such a decision has been made.