The subject which I have chosen for my lecture this evening must be one of profound interest to all engaged in the design of aircraft to meet military requirements.

This country, with its great Empire sprawling over some three-quarters of the habitable globe and in many parts sparsely inhabited, must form an object of envy to nations cooped up within narrow confines with teeming and everincreasing populations. We therefore cannot shut our eyes to the possibility of attacks being made upon us which we shall have no alternative but to defend ourselves against, if we are going to exist and hold the Empire which our forefathers have bequeathed to us.

The next consideration which we do not require professional training in military or naval tactics to appreciate, is that the predominant and indeed possibly almost solitary duty will fall upon the aviation arm of our military forces to resist attack and carry on a war.