Comments on: To-day and to-morrow http://airminded.org/2010/01/10/to-day-and-to-morrow/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=to-day-and-to-morrow Airpower and British society, 1908-1941 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:09:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2010/01/10/to-day-and-to-morrow/comment-page-1/#comment-134667 Brett Holman Sat, 27 Mar 2010 05:05:39 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=3226#comment-134667 That's interesting. Trenchard apparently did read it, because (according to Higham in <em>The Military Intellectuals</em>) he gave a copy to General Sir George Milne when the latter became CIGS in 1926, which led to Milne and Liddell Hart meeting and then to the formation of the Experimental Mechanized Force in 1927. But presumably Trenchard had hoped Milne would take notice of the parts of <em>Paris</em> about bombers more than the parts about tanks! That's interesting. Trenchard apparently did read it, because (according to Higham in The Military Intellectuals) he gave a copy to General Sir George Milne when the latter became CIGS in 1926, which led to Milne and Liddell Hart meeting and then to the formation of the Experimental Mechanized Force in 1927. But presumably Trenchard had hoped Milne would take notice of the parts of Paris about bombers more than the parts about tanks!

]]> By: Ross http://airminded.org/2010/01/10/to-day-and-to-morrow/comment-page-1/#comment-134618 Ross Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:19:08 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=3226#comment-134618 Brett there is a letter in the Trenchard papers from Brooke-Popham, who at the time of writing was Commandant at the RAF Staff College, who commented that while there was 'nothing novel' in Liddell-Hart's arguement it was 'interesting to see other people thinking along the same lines.' It was suggested Trenchard should read a copy. Brett there is a letter in the Trenchard papers from Brooke-Popham, who at the time of writing was Commandant at the RAF Staff College, who commented that while there was 'nothing novel' in Liddell-Hart's arguement it was 'interesting to see other people thinking along the same lines.' It was suggested Trenchard should read a copy.

]]> By: Erik Lund http://airminded.org/2010/01/10/to-day-and-to-morrow/comment-page-1/#comment-126945 Erik Lund Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:54:14 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=3226#comment-126945 D'oh. _Army Quarterly_, not _Army Journal_. I also finally remembered the other member of the stable that has been boosted in these parts: Walter Lindsell. As for specifics, I haven't looked at UBC's lonely copy of Dening's _Modern War_ lately. It's actually still in open stacks, so it won't be that hard next time I get out to campus, but the Olympics are almost on us, and the day job is already getting gruelling, so please pardon me if I start getting a little rambly and disjointed.... D'oh. _Army Quarterly_, not _Army Journal_. I also finally remembered the other member of the stable that has been boosted in these parts: Walter Lindsell.
As for specifics, I haven't looked at UBC's lonely copy of Dening's _Modern War_ lately. It's actually still in open stacks, so it won't be that hard next time I get out to campus, but the Olympics are almost on us, and the day job is already getting gruelling, so please pardon me if I start getting a little rambly and disjointed....

]]> By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2010/01/10/to-day-and-to-morrow/comment-page-1/#comment-126903 Brett Holman Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:35:36 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=3226#comment-126903 All the best British strategists have an Australian connection! Well, there was Monty. Okay, I take it back. Thanks for that. Doesn't seem like either of Dening's books can be found in the country of his birth. Was he reacting to any of Liddell Hart's books in particular? I actually credit him as one the first to pull back from the knock-out blow theory, and in 1937 too, in <em>Europe in Arms</em>. All the best British strategists have an Australian connection! Well, there was Monty. Okay, I take it back.

Thanks for that. Doesn't seem like either of Dening's books can be found in the country of his birth. Was he reacting to any of Liddell Hart's books in particular? I actually credit him as one the first to pull back from the knock-out blow theory, and in 1937 too, in Europe in Arms.

]]> By: Erik Lund http://airminded.org/2010/01/10/to-day-and-to-morrow/comment-page-1/#comment-126822 Erik Lund Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:20:44 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=3226#comment-126822 Colonel Dening was born in 1894 in Australia to a Foreign Service family. The Australia part is a weird synchronicity. I only found out yesterday when I tracked down the obituary linked to above. He went to Woolwich, like a real man, (yeah, I'm talking trash about Sandhurst, here), became a Sapper, had a good War, wrote books while in between Staff turns, and was killed in action at Dunkirk. He first came to my attention as the winner of the inaugural _Army Journal_ Bertram Stewart essay prize in 1922, the contest that Liddell Hart actuallly mentions being a runner-up in. I found it memorable mainly for describing APCs in some detail. I would imagine this and two subsequent prize essays found their way into his 1925 book. I have never seen that book, but I have read his 1937 reply to Liddell Hart's talking up of air power. _Modern War. Armies, Not Air Forces, Decide Wars_. (For a military intellectual, he had a weak grasp of the proper use of the colon.) There's nothing in this book to attract the likes of Azar Gat, but he is, I regret to say, a bit of a corrective to Higham. This is a lucid, correct, well-informed account of what a modern war would look like, the kind of thing that J. F. C. Fuller, Liddell Hart and Guderian could only wish were in their bibliographies. In general, tracking down the interwar writers of the _Army Journal_ was an education in the depth and richness of thinking in the interwar British army. And amongst these lucid thinkers, Dening stands out. Colonel Dening was born in 1894 in Australia to a Foreign Service family. The Australia part is a weird synchronicity. I only found out yesterday when I tracked down the obituary linked to above. He went to Woolwich, like a real man, (yeah, I'm talking trash about Sandhurst, here), became a Sapper, had a good War, wrote books while in between Staff turns, and was killed in action at Dunkirk.
He first came to my attention as the winner of the inaugural _Army Journal_ Bertram Stewart essay prize in 1922, the contest that Liddell Hart actuallly mentions being a runner-up in. I found it memorable mainly for describing APCs in some detail. I would imagine this and two subsequent prize essays found their way into his 1925 book. I have never seen that book, but I have read his 1937 reply to Liddell Hart's talking up of air power. _Modern War. Armies, Not Air Forces, Decide Wars_. (For a military intellectual, he had a weak grasp of the proper use of the colon.)
There's nothing in this book to attract the likes of Azar Gat, but he is, I regret to say, a bit of a corrective to Higham. This is a lucid, correct, well-informed account of what a modern war would look like, the kind of thing that J. F. C. Fuller, Liddell Hart and Guderian could only wish were in their bibliographies. In general, tracking down the interwar writers of the _Army Journal_ was an education in the depth and richness of thinking in the interwar British army. And amongst these lucid thinkers, Dening stands out.

]]> By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2010/01/10/to-day-and-to-morrow/comment-page-1/#comment-126752 Brett Holman Sun, 10 Jan 2010 09:19:16 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=3226#comment-126752 <em>Paris</em> struck me as being a stronger argument for the primacy of airpower than tanks, but since I thought much the same of Fuller's <em>The Reformation of War</em> that may be down to me and my own biases. I don't think I've come across Dening before; can you expand? Higham doesn't mention him in <em>The Military Intellectuals</em>. Paris struck me as being a stronger argument for the primacy of airpower than tanks, but since I thought much the same of Fuller's The Reformation of War that may be down to me and my own biases.

I don't think I've come across Dening before; can you expand? Higham doesn't mention him in The Military Intellectuals.

]]> By: Erik Lund http://airminded.org/2010/01/10/to-day-and-to-morrow/comment-page-1/#comment-126691 Erik Lund Sat, 09 Jan 2010 20:50:00 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=3226#comment-126691 I remember how disappointed I was when I discovered that _Paris_, the book that Liddell Hart based his claim to being the prophet of armoured warfare, was a commissioned work. Now, I appreciate just how intriguing the whole project was. Also, and because I never tire of pimping this guy on the Internet, the guy who actually did what Hart claimed to have done in _Paris_: http://rcdening.co.uk/life/basil.htm I remember how disappointed I was when I discovered that _Paris_, the book that Liddell Hart based his claim to being the prophet of armoured warfare, was a commissioned work. Now, I appreciate just how intriguing the whole project was.
Also, and because I never tire of pimping this guy on the Internet, the guy who actually did what Hart claimed to have done in _Paris_: http://rcdening.co.uk/life/basil.htm

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