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Letter from Colonel Sir [Edouard] Percy Girouard, (Brooks's Club, St James's Street [London]) to WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] on naval aviation.

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Minute from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to the Prime Minister [Herbert Asquith, later 1st Lord Oxford and Asquith] on his concern over delays in reaching a decision on the new Air Programme. WSC stresses Britain's lack of progress compared to other countries, and recommends beginning the construction of at least two Zeppelin airships "so that the art of making them is not wholly unknown to us". [Carbon copy].

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Letter from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to an unidentified correspondent on Air Expenditure. [Carbon copy].

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Minute from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to the 2nd Sea Lord [Vice-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe], the Secretary of the Admiralty [Sir (William) Graham Greene] and the Private Office, on a paper by [Jellicoe] on the need for urgent action on naval aviation. [Carbon copy].

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Minute from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to the Naval Secretary, Admiralty [Rear-Admiral Dudley de Chair] on his intention to mark the development of the Naval Air Service by further promotion of flying officers. WSC suggests that all Lieutenants commanding squadrons be given the seniority to wear the half-stripe of an 8-year Lieutenant, and that two of the more senior flying officers should be promoted to Commander. [Carbon copy].

Scope and Contents Letter from Field Marshal Sir John French [Commander-in- Chief, British Expeditionary Force, later 1st Lord Ypres] to WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] on naval aircraft, recommending that they be sent back to Britain for refitting, as attempting to refit in France or Belgium would cause congestion. French states that the Royal Flying Corps would attack Zeppelin sheds as soon as the Zeppelins arrived, and that the help of the Royal Naval Air Service would be very desirable. He adds that the...

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Letter from WSC, First Lord of the Admiralty, to Field Marshal Sir John French [Commander-in-Chief, British Expeditionary Force, later 1st Lord Ypres] expressing disappointment at the treatment of the Naval Air Service in France and Belgium. [Hand-written copy, unsigned, annotated "Not sent"].

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Telegram from WSC, First Lord of the Admiralty, to Field Marshal Sir John French [Commander-in-Chief, British Expeditionary Force, later 1st Lord Ypres] on air attacks on German Zeppelin bases. WSC states that all naval aircraft and armoured cars would be withdrawn to Dunkirk [France], "so as to keep quite clear of the British Army and its communications", but would remain there for the present. [Hand-written copy, unsigned].

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Minute by WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] on provision in the new building programme to construct four airships. [Carbon copy].

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Minute by [? James Masterton Smith, Private Secretary to WSC] on inaccurate statements by Captain Gerald Vivian, commander of the Naval Flying Base ship Hermes, during discussions to decide types of aeroplanes to be bought by the Admiralty.

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Admiralty memorandum on military and naval aviation, including a summary of the situation in France, Italy, Russia and Germany, uses of airships and aeroplanes in naval warfare, airship design and construction and costs of new aircraft. [Printed, and circulated to the cabinet].

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Report by Lieutenant-Colonel Alick Russell, Military Attache at the British Embassy, Berlin [Germany] on the development of the German Airship Fleet; includes covering note by WSC. [Printed, and circulated to the Cabinet].

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First Lord of the Admiralty's Minutes: Fourth Series (Air, August 1913 to June 1914). [Printed].

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Letter from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to General [Sir Ian Hamilton, General Officer Commanding-in Chief, Mediterranean] on the favourable prospects open to aeroplanes and airships in the Mediterranean, and his intention to start Air Stations at Malta and Gibraltar. [Carbon copy].

Scope and Contents Letter from General Sir Ian Hamilton, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Mediterranean, to WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] on naval aviation in the Mediterranean, supporting WSC's proposal to establish air stations at Malta and Gibraltar. Hamilton comments on the possibility of the Navy assuming full responsibility for the defence of places like Malta and Gibraltar, and also mentions his current visit to Australia, reporting a discussion with Senator Millen, the Defence Minister, on...

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Minute by WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to the Secretary of the Admiralty [Sir (William) Graham Greene], 4th Sea Lord [Captain Cecil Lambert] and others, on the Naval Air Service, stating that the social precedence of flying officers should be regulated by their substantive naval rank. WSC also states that flying officers should wear executive naval uniforms, but that they would be excluded from executive command outside the Air Service. [Carbon copy].

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Minute from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty], to the Secretary of the Admiralty [Sir (William) Graham Greene], and the 1st Sea Lord [Prince Louis of Battenberg, later 1st Lord Milford Haven] and 4th Sea Lord [Captain Cecil Lambert], on the Naval Air Service, particularly the rank and status of Squadron Commanders, the question of uniform and the call-up of reservists. [Typescript copy].

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Letter from General Sir Charles Douglas [Chief of the Imperial General Staff] to WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] on the problem of recognition of friendly aircraft. Douglas states that he had issued orders to Commands not to fire on aircraft pending further orders, and gives a list of prohibited areas, where airships would be fired at if they did not make the prescribed signal. Douglas also comments on sending infantry to guard strategic sites against attack.

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Note by James Masterton Smith [Private Secretary to WSC] to the Director of Air Department [Captain Murray Sueter] on aircraft recognition by anti-aircraft batteries.

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Minute from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to the 1st Sea Lord [Prince Louis of Battenberg, later 1st Lord Milford Haven] on ship dispositions, also on the protection of magazines and oil tanks from "evilly disposed persons" and attacks by aircraft. [Typescript, initialled by WSC, and annotated by Battenberg].

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Minute by the Air Department, Admiralty, on prohibited areas for British airships. Includes note from Captain Murray Sueter [Director, Air Department] to the 1st Sea Lord [Prince Louis of Battenberg, later 1st Lord Milford Haven].

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Minute from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to the Director of the Air Division, Admiralty [Captain Murray Sueter] on the results of the Aeroplane Conference on aircraft production. [Typescript copy on Colonial Office notepaper].

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Admiralty minute to Field Marshal Sir John French [Commander-in-Chief, British Expeditionary Force, later 1st Lord Ypres), on the use of naval aircraft in France and Belgium. The minute acknowledges that the aircraft were under the direction of the Commander-in- Chief of the Army, but asks that they be reserved for their primary purpose, the destruction of Zeppelins in their sheds. [Typescript copy of Colonial Office notepaper].

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Statement made by WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] in the House of Commons, on an attack on the Zeppelin Airship Factory at Friedrichshaven [Germany] by pilots of the Royal Naval Air Service, led by Squadron Commander E F Briggs. [Carbon].

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Admiralty statement on expenditure on aeronautics by Britain, France and Germany, 1911-13.