ome, and must become, incomparably the most heavily-armed nation in the world and the nation most completely ready for war.We cannot have any anxieties comparable to the anxiety caused by German rearmament. (Deighton 38).Even as early as four years before the outbreak of World War II, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, spoke to the House of Commons on why Britain was ill-prepared to meet the German threat:I tell the House... frankly neither I nor my advisers had any idea of the exact rate at which production could be, and actually was being, speeded up in Germany in the six months between November and now (May). We were completely misled on that subject. There has been a great deal of criticism. About the Air Ministry as though they were responsible for possibly an inadequate programme, for not having gone ahead faster, and for many other things. I only want to repeat that whatever responsibilities of the Government as a whole, and we are all to blame. (Deighton 39).After Churchills repeated warnings of Germanys rearmament, it is apparent that there was a slight shift in policy toward the preparedness of Royal Air Force. The British government increased spending for the Royal Air force from17.5 million British pounds in 1934 to 73.5 million British pounds in 1938. The increase in spending alone could not prepare Britain for war without an appropriate plan of action. One man, Sir Thomas Inskip, proposed the switching of plans and showed that Winston Churchill was not the only one to recognize how lacking Britain was in terms of war forces:Then in December 1937, Scheme J was suddenly checked. Sir Thomas Inskip, Minister for the Coordination of Defense, argues that it would cost too much and provided too few fighters. After prolonged argument, in April 1938 the Cabinet accepted Scheme L, by which the RAF would reach a strength of 1,352 bombers and 608 fighters by April 1940. Airmen claim that Inskip was a poor minister who forced thes...
