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MacKenzie King and No. 6 AOS
MacKenzie King and No. 6 AOS continued from page 2
The allegation of inefficient management is the only remaining reason for the closing of the school. I would therefore, suggest that the offer of the present management to withdraw effectively disposes of any reason for removing the school from Prince Albert, especially when the representations of the next succeeding paragraphs are taken into consideration.
"You will, I am sure, understand that I am seeking no partisan advantage or consideration in this matter but as mem- ber for Prince Albert, I feel I owe it to the community to satisfy myself that technical considerations ... and technical considerations alone are responsible for the decisions of the department. It is something of a coincidence that the Air Observer School at Prince Albert should be closed at the very time a large school is opened in the constituency of a member who, during the present session, has shown particular zeal in his criticism of the organization of air observer schools. "
Airfield
and buildings at Prince Albert. This photo, taken at an air show in 1949, shows the installations
as they appeared at the war's end. (R.H. Crone)
Power was placed in an unenviable position. The Air Council, of which he was chairman, had already approved the decision to close No. 6 AOS and double the size of the elementary school. More- over, following guidelines laid down by he had from time to time empha- sized that neither "political stripes" nor "string pulling" would win any favours from his department, yet here was the Prime Minister making a request bordering on patronage. He replied in general terms pointing to the valuable contribution of the BCATP. He explained to King that in order to increase the production of navigators it had become necessary to separate elementary and observer schools, and at Prince Albert "I felt the proper procedure was to elminate the least efficient.
King's reply showed a growing sense of frustration and disappointment: "May I draw your attention to the fact that all of the points raised [in my letter] have been completely ignored....
"As for the considerations set forth in your letter, they do not appear ... to offer the slightest explanation or justifica- tion of the decision to move the air obser- ver school to Davidson. Granting that it was desirable to separate elementary schools from air observer schools, I am quite at a loss to understand why the Elementary School could not have been moved to Davidson and the Air Observer School left at Prince Albert. "Surely the creation of a large establishment in a small village and its removal from a considerable centre remains open to very substantial objections both immediately and in the long run. ".. . I am sure you will agree that I owe it to my constituents and to myself . . . to insist upon full consideration, without evasion of all the points I have raised.
Power was asked to review the whole matter "with the officers of your department". Consequently, on 7 July, he sent the Prime Minister a more detailed account listing what he thought were the main issues and offering what he felt were satisfactory reasons for actions taken or to be taken. There was no suggestion that any of the decisions might be reversed. It is interesting to note that this exchange of correspondence was taking place while the famous formula "conscription if necessary but not necessarily conscription" was being debated in the House of Commons. Not that this had any direct bearing on the fate of the air observer school, but it is worth observing that both King and Power were very pre-occupied with the outcome of the debate and of one mind on the importance of "conscription if necessary". There was thus no time for less important matters, but on 23 July, the day on which the conscription bill was passed into legislation, King returned to the question of No. 6 AOS:
My dear Colleague: I have only now had the opportunity of giving consideration to your letter of July 7th with further reference to the Air Observer School. . .
After this friendly opening the Prime Minister went on to express keen dissatisfaction with Power's answers to his many questions. He complained that no satisfactory explanation had been given as to why hard-surfaced runways had not been constructed at Prince Albert or why "a small village the size of Davidson" should have permanent runways that were denied "to a community the size of Prince Albert. " He was highly annoyed that a meeting that he himself had arranged between Power and Air Marshal L. S. Breadner, the Chief of the Air Staff, on the one hand, and Mayson and Sanderson on the other, and which he hoped would be approached with "an open mind", had resulted in nothing more than a statement that the decision to close the observers school was irrevocable. "I have been disappointed at the failure of your officers to provide you with direct and unevasive replies," King concluded. "On the basis of the answers received ... I do not see how I ... could justify this change in the eyes of the people of Prince Albert, who are quite properly concerned in this whole subject."