Rearmament: the Pace Quickens

Ian Lloyd

Chapter 12 in Rolls-Royce, 1978, pp 174-186 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Towards the end of 1937 there was a considerable revival of interest in official circles which may have been caused by the increasing dissatisfaction with the progress of the rearmament drive. An enquiry from Captain Halam, then Director of Aircraft Production at the Air Ministry, elicited the reply from Hives that Rolls-Royce could produce 100 engines a week ‘provided we can have complete control of our sub-contractors and augment their plant where necessary’. A discussion on the subject of foundry capacity took place between Hives, Sidgreaves and Air Vice-Marshal W. L. Welsh (then Air Member for Supply and Organisation) at which the latter was informed that Rolls-Royce had decided to go ahead independently and employ its own capital in creating this capacity. This preserved the management’s complete independence of action in a sphere where unfettered and immediate action was of decisive importance. In a letter to Colonel Disney written on 20 December Hives informed him that ‘this does not mean that we have lost interest; it really means that we have decided to go ahead on our own. I can promise you that in four to five months time our foundry and our technical organisation connected with it will be equal to anything else in the world.’ On 15 December the board authorised the immediate expenditure of £39,000 on this project.

Keywords: Private Enterprise; Parent Company; Ministry Official; Aircraft Production; Labour Problem (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1978
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DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-03914-2_12

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