Northumbria Research Link Citation: Thompson, Rowan G. E. (2019) The peculiarities of British militarism: The air and navy leagues in interwar Britain. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University. This version was downloaded from Northumbria Research Link: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/42752/ Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to access the University’s research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. Single copies of full items can be reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given, as well as a hyperlink and/or URL to the original metadata page. The content must not be changed in any way. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holder. The full policy is available online: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/pol i cies.html The Peculiarities of British Militarism: The Air and Navy Leagues in Interwar Britain Rowan G. E. Thompson PhD 2019 The Peculiarities of British Militarism: The Air and Navy Leagues in Interwar Britain Rowan G. E. Thompson A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Northumbria at Newcastle for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Research undertaken in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Social Sciences December 2019 Abstract This thesis examines the role of the Air League of the British Empire and the Navy League – founded in 1909 and 1895 respectively – in the (re)militarisation of state and civil society in interwar Britain. More broadly, it considers the place of militarism, militarisation, and military culture at a time when internationalist counter-currents enjoyed significant resonance in British society. Both Leagues occupied a position between ‘high’ and ‘low’ politics, and their case offers new insights into the susceptibility of British popular and political culture to militarism. The two organisations played a prominent part in national debates on militarism, internationalism, youth, modernity, and rearmament. Their activities thus allow us to re-consider familiar themes in the history of interwar Britain in a fresh and conceptually challenging way – national defence, contested notions of Britain’s national status, the impact of war on British society and politics, political activism, and the relationship between state and civil society. This thesis draws on a wide range of sources, including minute books, private papers, memoirs, parliamentary proceedings, posters, pamphlets, government records, local and national newspapers, journals, oral testimony collections, newsreels, photographs, and satirical cartoons. The discussion is divided into two main parts. The chapters in Part A analyse the ways in which the Air League and Navy Leagues engaged with different political questions and contexts. The analysis developed shows how both Leagues promoted aerial and naval rearmament while having to negotiate the rise of issues such as disarmament, arms limitations, pacifism, collective security, and international diplomacy. The chapters in Part B detail how each League addressed civil society. Their focus on young people is traced through their educational ventures and youth organisations (the Air Defence Cadet Corps and the Sea Cadet Corps), while their targeting of mass audiences is explored through their staging of large-scale celebrations on Trafalgar Day and Empire Air Day. With the principal exception of David Edgerton’s work, most studies of British militarism terminate in 1914. However, the outbreak of the First World War did not constitute a terminus for organised militarism, nor did it mark the end of martial values or militaristic sentiment in mainstream British political culture. Overall, this thesis contends that militaristic leagues, the type of which featured prominently in the liberal political culture of Edwardian Britain, occupied a similar, if more contested and complex, place in the associational culture of interwar Britain. It argues that institutional, cultural, and popular forms of militarism were able to continue despite the growth of internationalism, fears that society had been brutalised by the experience of the First World War, the popularity of interwar peace movements, and the widespread support for issues such as disarmament and collective security. Finally, this thesis demonstrates the ways in which the Air and Navy Leagues contributed to the military preparedness of the nation upon the outbreak of the Second World War. i Contents Abstract i List of Abbreviations iii List of Illustrations v Acknowledgements vii Introduction 1 1 Scaremongers and Sensationalists? The Origins, Aims, and Activities of the Air and Navy Leagues, c.1895–1939 26 2 ‘Public Confidence Could Not Alone be Gained by Talking of Bombs and Battleships’: The Air League, the Navy League, and Disarmament 67 3 ‘The British Lion is Old, His Claws Are Cut, His Teeth Decayed, and His Spirit Gone’: The Air League, the Navy League, and Rearmament 118 4 ‘Tak[ing] the Place of Those Who Had Gone Before’: The Navy League Sea Cadet Corps, Navalism, and the Command of the Sea 163 5 ‘The Future Defenders of Our Country’s Heritage’: The Air League, the Air Defence Cadet Corps, and the Militarisation of British Youth 205 6 ‘England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty’: Trafalgar Day, Naval Commemoration, and National Identity, c.1895–c.1939 246 7 ‘Millions of Eyes Were Turned Skywards’: The Air League, Empire Air Day, and the Promotion of Airmindedness, c.1934–1939 278 Conclusion 314 Appendix I: Air League Executive Committee, 1919–1939 320 Appendix II: Navy League Executive Committee, 1919–1939 322 Appendix III: Air Defence Cadet Corps Committee, 1938 324 Appendix IV: Navy League Sea Cadet Corps Committee, 1935–1939 325 Bibliography 326 ii List of Abbreviations ADCC Air Defence Cadet Corps AL Air League ARP Air Raid Precautions ATC Air Training Corps BSUASC Ball State University, Archives and Special Collections BNB Boys’ Naval Brigade BL British Library BLPES British Library of Political and Economic Science BUF British Union of Fascists CHUR Churchill Archives, Cambridge CAG Civil Air Guard CPGB Communist Party of Great Britain ILP Independent Labour Party IML Imperial Maritime League IWM Imperial War Museum KCL King’s College London, Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives LEC Ladies Emergency Committee of the Navy League LNU League of Nations Union LCC London County Council LMA London Metropolitan Archives MSSC Marine Society & Sea Cadets Archive NAL National Aerospace Library (Royal Aeronautical Society) NFWI National Federation of Women’s Institutes NLA National League of Airmen NMM National Maritime Museum NSL National Service League NL Navy League NLAR Navy League Annual Report ORF Navy League Overseas Relief Fund NCS New Commonwealth Society PPU Peace Pledge Union RAC Royal Aero Club RAeS Royal Aeronautical Society RAF Royal Air Force iii RFC Royal Flying Corps RFCFRF Royal Flying Corps Families Relief Fund RNVR Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve SCC Sea Cadet Corps SNR Society for Nautical Research SBAC Society of British Aircraft Constructors TNA The National Archives T&W Tyne and Wear Archives UDC Union of Democratic Control WAL Women’s Aerial League YAL Young Aerial League iv List of Illustrations Figure 1: ‘Join the International Air Force and Bomb the World’, The Aeroplane, 22 August 1934, p. 214. 111 Figure 2: ‘And the Result Will Be the Same, Whichever Dropped It’, Air Review, July 1934, p. 20. 113 Figure 3: ‘Admiral Sir Edward Evans Addressing the Parade of Navy League Sea Cadets in Trafalgar Square’, The Navy, December 1938, p. 380. 186 Figure 4: ‘Kingston (T.S. “Steadfast”) S.C.C.’, The Navy, December 1928, p. 356. 195 Figure 5: ‘Air Commodore Chamier Inspecting the New Cadet Corps Uniform’, Air Review, August 1938, p. 20. 225 Figure 6: ‘Marshall of the Royal Air Force, Sir John Salmond, Inspecting a Squadron of the Air Defence Cadet Corps’, October 1939, Air Review, p. 8. 227 Figure 7: ‘Nelson’s Monument in Trafalgar Square’, The Navy League Journal, November 1902, p. 237. 257 Figure 8: ‘Nelson Day’, The Navy, November 1929, p. 313. 268 Figure 9: ‘Air-Minded Britain’, The Illustrated London News, 27 May 1939, p. 921. 293 Figure 10: ‘The Royal Air Force on View’, The Illustrated London News, 27 May 1939, p. 920. 296 v Dedications This thesis is dedicated to the memory of Ewan Brown (1991–2019) vi Acknowledgements Over the course of writing this thesis I have benefitted from the advice and guidance of a number of scholars. First of all, I must offer my gratitude to my primary supervisor, Dr Daniel Laqua – the most patient, kind, and enthusiastic of mentors. His comments and suggestions on numerous drafts of conference abstracts, chapters, articles, and blogs have been invaluable. I would like to thank my secondary supervisor, Dr James McConnel, whose guidance and support has helped to shape the thesis immeasurably. Professor David Edgerton and Professor Matthew Kelly – my two examiners – have provided invaluable feedback on the thesis and have given me much excellent advice. I would like to offer them my sincere gratitude. I would also like to thank the History staff at Northumbria University for their support throughout the thesis. I am similarly grateful to Dr N.C. Fleming, Mr Anthony Gorst, Professor Julie Gottlieb, Professor Susan Grayzel, Dr Brett Holman, and Dr Matthew Johnson for their advice and encouragement. In addition, I am grateful for the financial support offered by Northumbria University which enabled me to conduct my research and attend a number of conferences. I am similarly thankful for the bursary provided by the Royal Historical Society, which allowed me to conduct archival research at the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge. I am also indebted to the staff at numerous archives and libraries.