W
inston Churchill was an air power enthusiast.
He saw early on that aircraft were transform-
ing the international balance of power and the
strategic environment. Command of the air would be-
come a requirement to provide for the security of Great
Britain and its empire, just as naval mastery had been in
earlier times. As First Lord of the Admiralty before and
at the outbreak of the Great War, he championed the
development of Britain’s air strength. During the war,
Churchill led the Ministry of Munitions, presiding over
the manufacture of aircraft and weapons for the Royal
Air Force (RAF). After the war, he served as Air Minister.
Churchill would write: “Thus it happens to have fallen to
my lot to have witnessed, and to some extent shaped in
its initial phases, the whole of this tremendous new arm,
undoubtedly destined to revolutionize war by land and
sea.”^1 In the intensely competitive international envi-
ronment of the period between the wars and during the
second great Armageddon, Churchill would bring this
extensive experience of leadership to bear in building up
Britain’s air strength. He wanted Britain to lead in the sci-
ence, technology, and practice of aerial warfare, to stand
as the world’s leading air power.
Churchill was so much the enthusiast for air power
that he sought to learn how to fly. Although his wife Clem-
entine disapproved of this endeavor, Churchill persisted
in pursuit of his wings. Much to his disappointment, he
did not possess the aptitude to be a pilot. Still, he seized
upon opportunities to go up in the air. He came much too
close to death in flying accidents on several occasions. On
one occasion during the First World War, while flying
over the English Channel, his aircraft lost power, and it
seemed as if he would crash into the water. The aircraft
engine restarted, and Churchill avoided death. Soon after
this episode, he described this near-death experience to
the British press magnate Sir George Riddell, who record-
ed their conversation in his diary:We talked much of flying. He [that is, Churchill]
flies often as an amusement now-a-days. On his last
flight across the Channel the engine gave signs of
failure. He described his feelings. “I saw that things
looked serious. I knew that if the engine just ceased
to cough we should fall into the sea. We were too low
down to have an opportunity to rectify matters. I won-
dered if I could unstrap myself and unstrap the pilot,
and how long the machine would float and how long
I could swim after that.” “Were you afraid of death?”
I said to him. “No” he replied, “I love life, but I don’t
fear death. Beyond the feelings I have described I felt
a curious calm come over me.”^2This conversation captures Churchill’s ability to remain
steady in the face of grave danger. He did not lose his
nerve despite harrowing circumstances.
Fortunately, Churchill did not meet his death in an
airplane crash. Although remaining an air enthusiast
throughout his life, he relented and gave up on the ambi-
tion to achieve his pilot’s wings; he would leave the flying
to others, better able to take the controls in the air.The Two AsA
s Minister of Munitions, Churchill showed him-
self a forceful advocate for the rise of Britain as
an air power. In 1918, under Churchill’s leader-
ship, British factories produced in excess of 32,000 air-
craft, more than double the previous year’s output.^3 He
pressed the strategic value of air power against an Ar-
my’s leadership who wanted to give priority to fighting
Germany on the ground rather than in the air. Churchill
lamented: “There is no doubt that if [Field Marshal Sir
Douglas] Haig had to choose between 50,000 men for
the infantry and 50,000 men for the Air Force, he would
choose 50,000 men for the infantry.” Churchill’s efforts
at the Ministry of Munitions proved a huge success: Brit-
ain possessed the world’s strongest air force by the war’sChurchill, Air Power, and
Arming for Armageddon
By John H. Maurer
W
inston Churchill was an air power enthusiast.
He saw early on that aircraft were transform-
ing the international balance of power and the
strategic environment. Command of the air would be-
come a requirement to provide for the security of Great
Britain and its empire, just as naval mastery had been in
earlier times. As First Lord of the Admiralty before and
at the outbreak of the Great War, he championed the
development of Britain’s air strength. During the war,
Churchill led the Ministry of Munitions, presiding over
the manufacture of aircraft and weapons for the Royal
Air Force (RAF). After the war, he served as Air Minister.
Churchill would write: “Thus it happens to have fallen to
my lot to have witnessed, and to some extent shaped in
its initial phases, the whole of this tremendous new arm,
undoubtedly destined to revolutionize war by land and
sea.”^1 In the intensely competitive international envi-
ronment of the period between the wars and during the
second great Armageddon, Churchill would bring this
extensive experience of leadership to bear in building up
Britain’s air strength. He wanted Britain to lead in the sci-
ence, technology, and practice of aerial warfare, to stand
as the world’s leading air power.
Churchill was so much the enthusiast for air power
that he sought to learn how to fly. Although his wife Clem-
entine disapproved of this endeavor, Churchill persisted
in pursuit of his wings. Much to his disappointment, he
did not possess the aptitude to be a pilot. Still, he seized
upon opportunities to go up in the air. He came much too
close to death in flying accidents on several occasions. On
one occasion during the First World War, while flying
over the English Channel, his aircraft lost power, and it
seemed as if he would crash into the water. The aircraft
engine restarted, and Churchill avoided death. Soon after
this episode, he described this near-death experience to
the British press magnate Sir George Riddell, who record-
ed their conversation in his diary:
We talked much of flying. He [that is, Churchill]
flies often as an amusement now-a-days. On his last
flight across the Channel the engine gave signs of
failure. He described his feelings. “I saw that things
looked serious. I knew that if the engine just ceased
to cough we should fall into the sea. We were too low
down to have an opportunity to rectify matters. I won-
dered if I could unstrap myself and unstrap the pilot,
and how long the machine would float and how long
I could swim after that.” “Were you afraid of death?”
I said to him. “No” he replied, “I love life, but I don’t
fear death. Beyond the feelings I have described I felt
a curious calm come over me.”^2This conversation captures Churchill’s ability to remain
steady in the face of grave danger. He did not lose his
nerve despite harrowing circumstances.
Fortunately, Churchill did not meet his death in an
airplane crash. Although remaining an air enthusiast
throughout his life, he relented and gave up on the ambi-
tion to achieve his pilot’s wings; he would leave the flying
to others, better able to take the controls in the air.The Two AsA
s Minister of Munitions, Churchill showed him-
self a forceful advocate for the rise of Britain as
an air power. In 1918, under Churchill’s leader-
ship, British factories produced in excess of 32,000 air-
craft, more than double the previous year’s output.^3 He
pressed the strategic value of air power against an Ar-
my’s leadership who wanted to give priority to fighting
Germany on the ground rather than in the air. Churchill
lamented: “There is no doubt that if [Field Marshal Sir
Douglas] Haig had to choose between 50,000 men for
the infantry and 50,000 men for the Air Force, he would
choose 50,000 men for the infantry.” Churchill’s efforts
at the Ministry of Munitions proved a huge success: Brit-
ain possessed the world’s strongest air force by the war’sChurchill, Air Power, and
Arming for Armageddon
By John H. Maurer