Overview

British Imperial Air Power examines the air defense of Australia and New Zealand during the interwar period. It also demonstrates the difficulty of applying new military aviation technology to the defense of the global Empire and provides insight into the nature of the political relationship between the Pacific 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 that 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 of these handicaps. 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, intending to replace the Royal Navy and British Army as the traditional pillars of imperial defense.

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9781557539403

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"""One of the keys to understanding British air power in the Second World War is discovering what happened in the interwar period. Alex Spencer, in an intriguing and compelling work, examines imperial relations between Britain and its Pacific Dominions of Australia and New Zealand. Utilising extensive archival material, Spencer traverses the immediate First World War, the doldrums of the 1920s and the tumultuous years leading up to the war with Germany and Japan. For the first time, we now have an illuminating history and analysis of the direction and demands of air power policy and initiatives linking London to Canberra to Wellington. Eminently readable and informative."""

One of the keys to understanding British air power in the Second World War is discovering what happened in the interwar period. Alex Spencer, in an intriguing and compelling work, examines imperial relations between Britain and its Pacific Dominions of Australia and New Zealand. Utilising extensive archival material, Spencer traverses the immediate First World War, the doldrums of the 1920s and the tumultuous years leading up to the war with Germany and Japan. For the first time, we now have an illuminating history and analysis of the direction and demands of air power policy and initiatives linking London to Canberra to Wellington. Eminently readable and informative. --Adam Claasen, author of Fearless: the Extraordinary Untold Story of New Zealand's Great War Airmen

Author Information

Alex M. Spencer earned his PhD in modern European history from Auburn University. His research focuses on British and Commonwealth military aviation during the twentieth century. He curates two collections at the National Air and Space Museum: British and European military aircraft and flight materiel. Together they include the Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, de Havilland Mosquito, Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Me 262, Heinkel He 219, Arado Ar 234, and over sixteen thousand artifacts of personal items, including uniforms, flight clothing, memorabilia, ribbons, and medals. Spencer was the coeditor of Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: An Autobiography.

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