Si vis pacem para bellum - 06/06/16

Seagate Rotary’s speaker on Monday was member Donald Menzies, with the title ‘Si vis pacem para bellum’.  Once he had translated the Latin for those whose school learning was forgotten, he gave a description of the Fleet Air Arm of the immediate post war period.  In 1945 Britain had 55 aircraft carriers of varying sizes and functions, operating 3700 aircraft.  This was followed by a Navy produced promotional film of life on an aircraft carrier in the 1960s.  It featured Scimitars, Sea Vixens, Gannets and Buccaneers flying from HMS Eagle, the first Audacious class carrier, in a simulated attack on an enemy inland target.

A fascinating time capsule of 60s life, attitudes and film technique;  a sort of slightly updated Dambusters, illustrating what was 50 years ago the cutting edge of naval air power.  There were discussions and opinions on the decline of the UK’s naval power.  The Navy now has 46 ships, a part built carrier, and apparently no suitable carrier based aircraft.  The question came back to the title of the talk.  A Vote of Thanks was proposed by Jim Anderson.