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The Mystery of Lord Haldane and Early British Military Aviation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2014

Alfred Gollin
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Extract

In December 1905 R.B. Haldane, later Viscount Haldane of Cloan, became Secretary of State for War. Among his fellow politicians Haldane, at this time, was looked on as an intriguer who combined habitual meddling in high places with a curious and remarkable interest in German philosophy. The Prime Minister of the day, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who had good reason to dislike Haldane, nicknamed him “Schopenhauer.” Both men knew that the War Office had ruined the reputations of several of Haldane's predecessors. “We shall now see,” remarked Campbell-Bannerman, in a phrase that later became famous, “how Schopenhauer gets on in the Kailyard.” Despite this unpromising start Haldane's military reforms were so successful that they established his reputation in history as one of the great servants of the state in the pre-1914 era. His work and accomplishments in the field of military aviation, however, have been criticized very severely. In fact, the matter is so complicated that one aviation authority has written of the record in this area that “Haldane's actions behind the scenes may never be known with certainty.”

Even some of his closest subordinates in the field of military aeronautics were very critical of Haldane's attitude and outlook. In February 1911 a major step was taken when, by an Army Order, a unit known as the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers was created. This Battalion was entrusted with the duty of training a “body of expert airmen.” The Battalion's first commander was Major Sir Alexander Bannerman, an officer who knew little about airplanes, but was instead a balloon expert with experience in the South African and Russo-Japanese wars.

Type
Research Article
Information
Albion , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , Spring 1979 , pp. 46 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © North American Conference on British Studies 1979

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References

1 Walker, Percy B., Early Aviation at Farnborough, 2 vols. (London, 1971), 1:254Google Scholar. For a good account of the criticism levelled at Haldane's record in military aviation, see Koss, Stephen E., Lord Haldane, Scapegoat for Liberalism (New York, 1969), pp. 144–5.Google Scholar

2 “STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL” “Record of an interview with Sir Alexander Bannerman, Bt., on November 23th, 1919, respecting the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers,” Public Records Office (hereafter P.R.O.), Air 1/735/100/1.

3 Walker, , Early Aviation, 2:163.Google Scholar

4 For the arrangement between Capper and Dunne, see ibid., pp. 163 ff.

5 Walker, , Early Aviation, 1:186 and 2:91.Google Scholar

6 Vivian, E. Charles, A History of Aeronautics (New York, 1921), p. 176.Google Scholar

7 Capper's report, dated “15.12.04,” is preserved in P.R.O., Air 1/1608.

8 Colonel Gleichen to the Wrights, 3 December 1906, Wright Brothers' Papers, Library of Congress (hereafter W.B.P.).

9 Walker, , Early Aviation, 2:61.Google Scholar

10 Taylor, to Hint, , “Translation of Cablegram,” 7 March 1907Google Scholar, W.B.P.

11 Taylor to Haldane (Copy) 10 April 1907, ibid.

12 Capper to Taylor (Copy), 11 April 1907, ibid.

13 For Haldane's suggestion see Taylor to Flint (Copy), 15 February 1907, ibid.

14 Wrights to Flint, 15 February 1907, ibid.

12 Capper to Taylor (Copy), 11 April 1907, W.B.P.

13 For Haldane's suggestion see Taylor to Flint (Copy), 15 February 1907, W.B.P.

14 Wrights to Flint, 15 February 1907, W.B.P.

15 Haldane's letter, dated 12th April, is included as a post script in Taylor to Flint (Copy), 17 April 1907, ibid.

16 See Haldane, Richard Burdon, Am Autobiography (London, 1929), pp. 232–3Google Scholar. During the First World War when England was being bombed by Zeppelins, Haldane made a similar defence of his actions in a debate in the House of Lords. See Parliamentary Debates, House of Lords, 3th ser. vol. 22 (24 May 1916), cols. 145 ff.Google Scholar In this debate Haldane was asked, particularly, if he had teen the Wright brothers in the pre-war early days of aviation.

17 For McFarland's various remarks see his “When the Airplane Was A Military Secret,” The Air Power Historian, vol. 2, no. 4 (October 1955), pp. 78–9.Google Scholar

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20 See his statement in Gamble, C.F. Snowden, The Air Weapon … (London, 1931), p. 96.Google Scholar

21 Ibid. Some military men in this period also believed that pilots of the Wright machines would exhaust themselves in controlling their aircraft and would thus be unable to fly long enough to complete their reconnaissance missions. It was also believed the reconnaissance itself would suffer if the pilot had to pay too much attention to his flying, instead of observing what was taking place below.

22 See Capper to the Director of Fortifications and Works, 6 September 1906, P.R.O., Air 1/728/176/3/33. See also Walker, , Early Aviation, 2:59.Google Scholar

23 Ibid., p. 204.

24 See “Report and Proceedings of a Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence on Aerial Navigation,” p. 47, P.R.O., Cab. 16/7. Marked “Secret,” dated January 28, 1909.

25 See “Minutes of Proceedings and Precis Prepared for The Army Council For The Year 1907,24-25 October, 1907, 96th Meeting,” p. 24, P.R.O., W.O. 163/12.

26 See the critical comment in Dorman, Geoffrey, Fifty Years Fly Past: From Wright Brothers to Comet (London, 1951), p. 23.Google Scholar

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28 Capper's covering letter and his papers on “Dirigibles and Flying Machines,” dated 11 April 1908, are preserved in P.R.O., Air 1/729/176/4/3. Capper's remarks about dirigibles are mentioned in Higham, Robin, The British Rigid Airship, 1908-1931: A Study in Weapons Policy (Westport, Conn., 1975), p. 36, n. 2.Google Scholar

29 Sommer, Dudley, Haldane of Cloan (London, 1960), p. 167.Google Scholar

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32 Maurice, Fredrick Sir, Haldane … the Life of Viscount Haldane of Cloan, K. T., O.M., 2 vols. (London, 1937–1939), 2:21–2.Google Scholar

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34 Ibid., 2:71.

35 For this document, see Gamble, , The Air Weapon, pp. 109–110Google Scholar. Gamble offered the conclusion (p. 107) that “it is the opinion of those who knew him well that Haldane during his career never appreciated the military potentialities of aircraft.” Haldane's reputation suffered from the publication of War Office pronouncements of this kind. Moreover, this impression of his attitude was continually reinforced. A few years later, A. V. Roe and some other British aircraft manufacturers saw him and Colonel Seely, his Under-Secretary of State, in the House of Commons. Seely, speaking for Haldane, told the assembled constructors: “We do not consider that aeroplanes will be of any possible use for war purposes.” See Verdon-Roe, Alliot, The World of Wings and Things (London, 1939), p. 81.Google Scholar

36 Quoted in Gibbs-Smith, C.H., Aviation: An Historical Survey from its Origins to the End of World War II (London, 1970), p. 132.Google Scholar

37 Walker, , Early Aviation, 2:135 ff.Google Scholar, and 269 ff.

38 Ibid., p. 75.

39 Lowther to WUbur Wright, 25 November 1908, W.B.P.

40 Wright brothers to Lowther, 3 December 1908, ibid.

41 Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Secretary of the Army Council, 1 December 1908, transmitting Lowther's letter dated 25 November 1908, addressed to George Grahame of the British Embassy in Paris, P.R.O., W.O. 32/8596.

42 “Report and Proceedings of a Sub-Committee of The Committee of Imperial Defence on Aerial Navigation,” 28 January 1909, P.R.O., Cab. 16/7. The “Report of Proceedings,” together with an Index, totaled ninety-eight printed pages, and is marked “Secret.”

43 Ibid., p. 2.

44 Ibid., p. 62.

45 Ibid., p. 61.

46 Ibid., p. 62.

47 “Aerial Navigation. Report of a Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence appointed by the Prime Minister, “Secret,” 28 January 1909, P.R.O., Cab. 4/3. C.I.D. 106-B, p. 7. Unlike the Army, the Navy knew exactly what it wanted from the Esher Committee, and got it. For the attitude of the Admiralty at this time, see Roskill, S.W., ed., Documents Relating to the Naval Air Service (London, 1969), 1:5 ff.Google Scholar; Sir Raleigh, Walter, The War in the Air, 6 vols. (Oxford, 1923–1937), 1:171 ff.Google Scholar; and Higham, Robin, The British Rigid Airship, pp. 36 ff.Google Scholar

48 For their exchanges see Walker, , Early Aviation, 2:272–3.Google Scholar

49 For these various remarks and conclusions see “C.I.D. Minutes of 101st Meeting,” “Secret,” 25 February 1909, P.R.O., Cab. 2/2.

50 Griffith Brewer to Orville Wright, 24 March 1909, W.B.P.

51 See Koss, , Lord Haldane, p. 144Google Scholar. See also Reginald Pound and Harmsworth, Geoffrey, Northcliffe (London, 1959), pp. 353 ff. and 363 ff.Google Scholar

52 Raleigh, , War in the Air, p. 157.Google Scholar

53 Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, 5th ser. (2 August 1909), cols. 1574-5. It may be recalled that Bleriot flew across the English Channel a few days earlier.

54 Ibid., col. 1613.

55 Walker, , Early A viation, I:255.Google Scholar

56 Ibid., 2:332.

57 Sommer, , Haldane of Cloan, p. 231, n.1.Google Scholar

58 See Walker, , Early Aviaton, 1:258Google Scholar. Sirde Havilland, Geoffrey in big autobiography Sky Fever: The Autobiography of Sir Geoffrey de Havilland (London, 1961), p. 72Google Scholar, points out that O'Gonnan was “brilliant,” and a believer in airplanes. He also states that O'Gorman was “hounded” by critics representing the “trade,” the private manufacturers of airplanes in Britain. This hostile criticism also affected Haldane's reputation. For similar criticisms, see Higham, , British Rigid Airship, p. 25.Google Scholar

59 See for this point two letters sent to General Dunne by his son, reproduced as Appendix V of the Esher Committee Report, P.R.O., Cab 16/7, pp. 80-81.

60 See Norman, and Mackenzie, J., H. G. Wells (New York, 1973), p. 222.Google Scholar

61 Walker, , Early Aviation, 2:273Google Scholar and 2:xx.

62 Raleigh, , War in the Air, pp. 159–160.Google Scholar