1957 Defence White Paper facts for kids
The 1957 White Paper on Defence (Cmnd. 124) was an important document from the British government in March 1957. It explained big changes planned for the British military. These changes greatly affected the defence industry, especially companies that built aircraft. Duncan Sandys, the new Minister of Defence, created this paper. Two main things influenced these decisions: the country's financial situation and the arrival of the "missile age."
In the past, air battles involved planes. High-flying bombers carried nuclear weapons, and fast fighter jets tried to stop them. But now, ballistic missiles could deliver these powerful weapons. There was no way to defend against them. This new situation made interceptor planes and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) seem less useful. It also looked like new manned aircraft wouldn't be needed much in a sky filled with missiles. Many aircraft projects were stopped, leaving less work for the many aircraft companies. The paper suggested these companies should join together to work more efficiently, as there would be fewer military projects in the future.
The Army also had many soldiers in Germany to stand against Warsaw Pact forces. But their main job was to act as a "tripwire force" to stop an attack. The real battle, if it happened, was expected to be fought with nuclear weapons. The Army was much larger than needed for this role, so its size was reduced. Only the Navy remained mostly unchanged. However, it started focusing more on sending forces to different parts of the world, rather than preparing for a huge battle with a Soviet fleet.
Contents
Main Changes in the Paper
The Role of Missiles
In the 1950s, the UK's war plans imagined a "three-day war." This war would start with a normal attack in Europe by the Warsaw Pact. But it would quickly turn into a fight using smaller nuclear weapons. NATO's strong air power was expected to win this battle. If the war continued, bigger strategic nuclear weapons would be used. This part of the battle would be between strategic bombers and the enemy's defenses. Western air forces were much stronger, so this battle would be short. However, the UK still needed to survive at least one wave of Soviet attacks.
After World War II, the Royal Air Force used the ROTOR radar network. This network covered all of Britain to find any strategic bombers trying to get close. The defenses included new jet interceptor aircraft and, at first, anti-aircraft artillery with new radars. By the early 1950s, bombers were flying faster and higher. They could drop their weapons from far away, out of reach of even the biggest anti-aircraft guns. So, plans began to replace these guns with surface-to-air missiles.
By the mid-1950s, the USSR was known to be building different ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear bombs. People around the world focused on the longest-range ones, called intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). But shorter-range missiles were cheaper and easier to build. These could reach the UK from bases in East Germany. There was no defense against these medium range ballistic missiles. It seemed they would be common by the mid-1960s.
The arrival of strategic missiles completely changed the UK's defense plans. Experts studying an anti-ballistic missile system, called Violet Friend, realized no real defense against these weapons was possible. The only way to stop an attack was to prevent it from starting. This could only be done through deterrence, meaning making the enemy afraid to attack. Even before this, the V force (Britain's nuclear bombers) needed to survive. With the ROTOR defense, there was some hope they could survive an air attack. But with missiles, there was no way. Any sign of an attack would mean the V force had to launch immediately to survive. If bombers were detected, missiles would surely follow. In this case, there was no point defending their airfields; the planes would either be gone or the war would already be lost.
In this situation, air defenses seemed unnecessary. If an attack happened, even destroying all attacking bombers would not change the final result once the missiles arrived. It was more likely that missiles would attack the V-force first, with Soviet bombers arriving later to hit targets that were probably already destroyed. Since there was no system to detect missile launches from far away, this became the main worry.
Because of this, the White Paper cancelled many defense systems. These included the Blue Envoy SAM and the Saunders-Roe SR.177 interceptor. It also greatly reduced the size and purpose of the Linesman/Mediator radar network, which was meant to replace ROTOR. To detect missile attacks, the UK arranged for a US BMEWS radar to be placed in England. Linesman's new job was mostly to stop aircraft carrying special jammers that the Soviets might use to hide from BMEWS.
Fewer Manned Aircraft Projects
With missiles being developed, many aircraft projects were cancelled because missiles could do the same jobs.
This included the next generation of supersonic interceptor planes for high-flying bombers, called the F.155. Also cancelled were the temporary planes that would have been used until the F.155 arrived in 1963, like the Saunders-Roe SR.53 and Saunders-Roe SR.177. Duncan Sandys believed that the existing interceptor planes would be enough until the Bristol Bloodhound missile was ready. After that, a bomber attack seemed unlikely as the world moved more towards missiles. So, even the Blue Envoy surface-to-air missile was cancelled. Although it was much more powerful than Bloodhound, by the time it was ready in the mid-1960s, there would be nothing for it to shoot down.
The RAF was especially unhappy with one of Sandys' decisions. They pointed out that the Tupolev Tu-22 and Myasishchev M-50 supersonic bombers would arrive before Bloodhound was fully ready. They also said their current interceptor planes, like the Gloster Javelin, couldn't successfully attack these new bombers. Sandys changed his mind and allowed the English Electric P.1 (which later became the Lightning) to continue being developed. A new air-to-air missile to arm it, the Hawker Siddeley Red Top, was also approved.
The Avro 730 supersonic light bomber was also cancelled, along with the Blue Rosette nuclear weapon it would have carried.
The Royal Auxiliary Air Force also stopped its flying duties.
Aircraft Industry Changes
The paper said that the aircraft industry needed to reorganize. Many smaller companies should combine to form a few larger ones. It was made clear that new contracts would only be given to these merged companies. This included the only new aircraft project, which later became the TSR-2.
Under pressure, in 1960, English Electric, Bristol Aeroplane Company, and Vickers-Armstrong merged. They formed the British Aircraft Corporation, or BAC. Hunting Aircraft soon joined the BAC group. In the same year, de Havilland, Blackburn Aircraft, and Folland merged into Hawker Siddeley. Hawker Siddeley already included Armstrong Whitworth, Avro, Gloster, and Hawker since 1935. Westland Aircraft took over all the helicopter makers, including Saunders-Roe, Fairey Aviation, and Bristol's helicopter work. Saunders-Roe's hovercraft work was separated and joined with Vickers Supermarine to become the British Hovercraft Corporation.
Very few companies remained independent after these mergers. Only Handley Page was a major independent company, along with smaller ones like Auster, Boulton Paul, Miles Aircraft, Scottish Aviation, and Short Brothers. Most of these disappeared by the 1970s, having merged into the British Aerospace company. Scottish Aviation stayed independent until 1977, and Shorts was bought by Bombardier in 1989.
Engine companies were also "encouraged" to merge. In 1959, Armstrong Siddeley and Bristol's engine division merged to become Bristol Siddeley. But they were soon bought by Rolls-Royce in 1966. This left Rolls-Royce as the only major British aircraft engine manufacturer.
Changes to the British Army
The British Army was to become smaller and be reorganized. This was because National Service (when young men had to join the military) was ending. The Army was changing to an all-volunteer force. The goal was to "keep the Army up-to-date with changing situations, policies, weapons, and ways of war." Fifty-one large units and many smaller ones were to be closed down or combined. This would leave the army with about 165,000 officers and soldiers. This process was planned in two stages, finishing by the end of 1959 and 1962.
Many changes happened in different parts of the Army. For example, the Royal Armoured Corps (which uses tanks) had several regiments combine. The infantry (foot soldiers) also saw big changes. Existing regiments were grouped into "brigades," and many battalions (smaller units) were merged.
The Royal Artillery also had many changes, especially for its anti-aircraft (AA) units. Many regular AA units were closed down between 1958 and 1962.
Other parts of the Army were also reduced in size. The Royal Engineers lost about 15,000 soldiers. The Royal Signals lost 13,000 soldiers. Some work of the Royal Army Service Corps was given to civilian companies, leading to a loss of 18,000 men. The Royal Army Ordnance Corps lost 11,000 soldiers and became more efficient. The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers lost 23,000 soldiers. Other military branches also saw similar reductions.
Since 1938, the Air Branch of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) had provided reserve pilots and aircrew for naval air operations. From 1947, their role was limited to anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and fighter units, still using many propeller aircraft. However, modern weapon systems became much more complex. Also, helicopters were increasingly used for ASW. It was thought that reservist training could not keep up with these changes. With the Air Branch ending, the Short Seamew aircraft was no longer needed, and its production was cancelled.
