RAF Centenary

Debate between Leo Docherty and Steve Baker

Monday 26th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Leo Docherty]

It came late, but it was wholehearted and sincere. I think the hon. Gentleman will agree that Fighter Command was our salvation, but Bomber Command alone was the means for our victory. That, I think, is a fitting testament.

[Mr Steve Baker (Wycombe) (Con)]

As I listen to my hon. Friend, I am struck by the fact that the Royal Air Force did what was necessary and right, using the weapons that were available at the time. I hope he agrees that we are blessed indeed that at this time the RAF is equipped with precision weapons that will ensure that we do not face such tactics again.

[Leo Docherty]

Absolutely. Those who fly in the world-leading Typhoon and F-35 platforms are the same in spirit, but they have remarkably more precise weapons. It is to the credit of the early innovators of the RAF that our own military establishment can develop such means of precision.

The war experience of many of those pilots was very poignant, especially because of their youth. Many of them were extremely young, and because of their inexperience they had no real conception of the strategic importance of their role. Many were simply interested in flying. They were not really interested in the politics or the strategy of the war as a whole; they were simply drawn to the near-magical experience of flying.

I am sure that many Members will be aware of the way in which W.B. Yeats gave voice to that sense in his famous poem “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death”, in which he wrote:

“Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,

Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,

A lonely impulse of delight

Drove to this tumult in the clouds”.

I think that that is an eloquent description of the motivation that many of those young pilots experienced.

Another poetic voice was that of Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, who described his experience as a Spitfire pilot with the following famous words:

“with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

—Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.”

This is all the more poignant because it was written very shortly before his death, aged just 19, in 1941.

We are conscious that it is that same impulse today that drives pilots in our modern Royal Air Force, twinned with a remarkable tradition of courage, sacrifice and service, and we must note that, currently serving in all platforms, such as Typhoon, F-35, even the Chinook regiment in Odiham, Hampshire, we have a very large number of RAF pilots engaged on operations across 22 countries doing their utmost to keep us safe. Since 2014, there have been 1,750 airstrikes across Syria and Iraq as part of Op Shader, and this is the work of the RAF being conducted to the highest standards of tradition and courage, which we have come to expect. I will give one example: Flight Lieutenant Thomas Hansford, a Typhoon pilot, was last week happily awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for conducting a nine-hour mission to destroy an ISIS convoy out of his base in Cyprus.

So the tradition that we have been describing, and which had its genesis in the first and second world wars, is alive and well, and I think the whole House is conscious that people like Flight Lieutenant Hansford inherit this tradition. He is an extremely brave young man, but we should also note that the 32,000 personnel in the RAF serving alongside him are also loyal and brave, just as he is.

These are people who serve as individuals, but who together in their teams, regiments and formations, and as our Royal Air Force, have a strategic impact and a remarkable reach around the globe. As we celebrate 100 years of the RAF, this House owes them all our gratitude, our respect and our thanks.