Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/1524155
R C A F H I S T O RY almost coincident with the declaration of war, some form of national aerial defence will undoubtedly be necessary. It must be remembered that while in the past aircraft have been almost exclusively employed as adjuncts to the Army and Navy, in the wars in the future there will definite and unsupported aerial conflict by large formations of machines. This will introduce a completely new art of aerial strategy, as different in its application from either Naval or Military as these two are different from each other. While therefore, it will still be necessary in the future to provide aircraft to operate as auxiliaries to the Naval and Military Forces, the great bulk will carry on an individual campaign involving lines of action quite unconnected with either the land or seas campaign. The country therefore must provide an organization to deal with and control the forces employed on this new method of warfare, and she may do this either by maintaining three services, i.e. Col. Mulock Organization Scheme Proposed by Col. Mulock In regards to those operations, he stated: " …it is unlikely that Canada will need to provide a large force in the time of peace but none the less as the wars of the future will be largely wars of the air, and, as in consequence the first blow struck will be (a) The direct or Independent Air Service; (b) The Naval Air Service; (c) The Military Air Service; or by combining all three as one Air Force. From the point of view of efficiency there is no doubt that this latter method is the best, since it secures unified control and [a] unified system, and moreover, allows for the immediate transfer of Units to the point of pressure… …Although the adoption of one force under one control and the placing of this control in the hands of the same bureau which is responsible for the legislative side involves a new Department and service of the State, the direct benefits to the Dominion itself, and to the whole Empire, are very great. By adopting an arrangement already in force in Great Britain, Imperial Standardization will be made for and by constant exchange of personnel and the closest liaison of all technical matters, the carrying on of war of defence on either side of the Atlantic would be enormously simplified." www.vanguardcanada.com JUNE/JULY 2024 23 The organizational construct he proposed in an appendix to his paper looked like the diagram below.