A THIRD OPTION: IMPERIAL AIR DEFENSE AND THE Except where reference is ...

[Pages:394]A THIRD OPTION: IMPERIAL AIR DEFENSE AND THE PACIFIC DOMINIONS, 1918-1939

Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work described in this dissertation is my own or was done in collaboration with my advisory committee. This thesis

does not include proprietary or classified information.

________________________________________ Alex M Spencer

Certificate of Approval:

_____________________________ _____________________________

James R. Hansen Professor History

Hines H. Hall, Chair Associate Professor, Emeritus History

_____________________________ _____________________________

William F. Trimble Professor History

George T. Flowers Dean Graduate School

A THIRD OPTION: IMPERIAL AIR DEFENSE AND THE PACIFIC DOMINIONS, 1918-1939 Alex M Spencer

A Dissertation Submitted to

the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Auburn, Alabama August 9, 2008

? 2008 ALEX M SPENCER All Rights Reserved

A THIRD OPTION: IMPERIAL AIR DEFENSE AND THE PACIFIC DOMINIONS, 1918-1939 Alex M Spencer

Permission is granted to Auburn University to make copies of this dissertation at its discretion, upon request of individuals or institutions and at their expense. The author reserves all publication rights. _____________________________ Signature of Author

_____________________________ Date of Graduation

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VITA Alex M Spencer, son of Stephen B. and Hildegard M. Spencer, was born January 23, 1965 in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. He graduated from State College Area High School in State College, Pennsylvania, in 1983. He attended the Pennsylvania State University at University Park, Pennsylvania, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History in May 1987 and a Master of Arts in History in May 1990. He entered Graduate School, Auburn University, in September 1995. He joined the Aeronautics Division of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, in April 1990 and serves as the Museum's Curator of British Aircraft and Military Flight Materi?l.

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DISSERTATION ABSTRACT A THIRD OPTION: IMPERIAL AIR DEFENSE AND THE

PACIFIC DOMINIONS, 1918-1939 Alex M Spencer

Doctor of Philosophy, August 9, 2008 (M.A., Pennsylvania State University, 1990) (B.A., Pennsylvania State University, 1987)

394 Typed Pages Directed by Hines Hall

The air defense of Australia and New Zealand during the interwar period demonstrates the difficulty of applying changing military technology to the defense of the global empire and provides insight into the nature of the political relationship between the Dominions and Britain. Following World War I, both Dominions sought greater independence in defense and foreign policy. Public aversion to military matters and the economic dislocation resulting from the war and later the Depression left little money could be provided for their respective air forces. As a result, the Empire's air services spent the entire interwar period attempting to create a strategy in the face

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of these handicaps. By the middle of the World War II, the air forces of the British Empire experienced an expansion well beyond the levels contemplated during the interwar period, but this successful expansion owed much to the policies adopted and implemented by the Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) in the 1920s and 1930s.

In the face of these challenges and in order to survive, the British Empire's military air forces offered themselves as a practical and economical third option in the defense of Britain's global Empire replacing the Royal Navy and British army as the traditional pillars of imperial defense.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author thanks those most responsible for this work. Dr. Hines Hall served as major professor, dissertation chair, mentor, and unselfish and patient guide throughout the author's academic program. The chairs of the Aeronautics Division at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, Tom Crouch, Dominick Pisano, Peter L. Jakab, and F. Robert van der Linden, provided the time, financial assistance, and opportunity to conduct research at various archives throughout the world. Without their support, this work would not have been possible. The author also thanks the professional staffs of the National Air and Space Museum, the National Archives, Kew, the National Archives of Australia at Canberra and Melbourne, and the Archives of New Zealand, Wellington, for their assistance in this work. My sister Cynthia's and my brother Todd's support and encouragement kept me grounded during the course of my studies. My ultimate thanks go to my father Stephen and mother Hildegard whose love, support, and guidance sustain my every endeavor.

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