of the
community were pulling together for the good of the common cause.

Among other difficulties was the shortage of hydrogen tubes, plants,
and the silicol for making gas.

Sufficient sheds and aerodromes were also lacking, and the airships
themselves were completed more quickly than the sheds which were to
house them.

The lack of airship personnel to meet the expansion of the service
presented a further obstacle. To overcome this the system of direct
entry into the R.N.A.S. was instituted, which enabled pilots to be
enrolled from civil life in addition to the midshipmen who were drafted
from the Fleet. The majority of the ratings were recruited from civil
life and given instruction in rigging and aero-engines as quickly as
possible, while technical officers were nearly all civilians and
granted commissions in the R.N.V.R.

A tremendous drawback was the absence of rigid airships and the lack of
duralumin with which to construct them.

Few men were also experienced in airship work at this time, and there
was no central airship training establishment as was afterwards
instituted. Pilots were instructed as occasion permitted at the
various patrol stations, having passed a balloon course and undergone a
rudimentary training at various places.

To conclude, the greatest of all difficulties was the shortage of money
voted for airship development, and this was a disadvantage under which
airships laboured even until the conclusion of hostilities.

We have seen previously how the other difficulties were surmounted and
how our airships were evolved, type by type, and the measure of success
which attended them. It is interesting to recall that five years ago
we only possessed three ships capable of flying, and that during the
war we built upwards of two hundred, of which no fewer than 103 were
actually in commission on the date of the signing of the Armistice.

The work carried out by our airships during the war falls under three
main headings:

1. Operations with the fleet or with various units.

2. Anti-submarine patrol and searching for mines.

3. Escort of shipping and examination duties.

With regard to the first heading it is only permissible at present to
say very little; certain manoeuvres were carried out in connection with
the fleet, but the slow development of our rigid airships prohibited
anything on a large scale being attempted. The Germans, on the other
hand, made the fullest use of their Zep