0,000 rounds
had been fired from the air at ground targets. At Home two organizations
had expanded independently from the same seed until, impeding one
another's growth, their trunks had joined and a single and improved tree
was the result.

This is the only country where a unified air service has been adopted.
In war the arrangement was successful. Against its continuance in peace
the Army and Navy urge that, with the best of wills, there is a great
difference between having an integral branch of a service to work with
other services and having to deal with an independent organization, and
argue increased cost, duplication, competition and disjointed action.
There is no doubt that the liaison of the General, Naval and Air Staffs
must be closened, and if co-operation with the senior services was
really becoming less satisfactory, a return to the old system should be
considered amongst other alternatives, but I do not think that it should
be so. It must also be remembered that, although air co-operation is
vital to naval and military operations, it is fortunately unlikely that
there will be another war for a long time and, meanwhile, the growing
essential, independent strategic action would be irretrievably impaired
by the reabsorption of the Air into the Army and Navy.

On the other hand, even apart from supply, such a reversion would also
cause much duplication, e.g. training. The solution and the correct and
logical outcome of the unification of the Air service is the close
grouping of the three arms in a Ministry of Defence, and this, even in
face of the obvious practical difficulties, should be adopted and
co-ordination thus increased step by step. Apart from Supply, some of
the services in which this could be effected are the medical, education,
chaplains, mobilization stores, transport, works and buildings,
accounting, communications, ordnance and national factories. A modified
scheme might also be studied in which, under a Ministry of Defence, the
Army and Navy each had tactical air units of seconded personnel for
artillery co-operation, spotting and reconnaissance, and the Air
Ministry dealt with supply, research, initial training and reserves,
civil aviation and an independent air force.

One of many good examples of the necessity of co-ordination is afforded
by the position of the aircraft supply services at the beginning of the
war and their development. We have already seen that there were some
eight priv