1 May 4th 1916 2 Isabella Place Combe Down, Bath Private To the Under Secretary in Ireland Sir Pardon the suggestion
that aeroplanes at every
place in Ireland where there
were enough troops to make
it worth while would be a
good thing — more than one
where there were many troops
If the telephone had been cut
the want of an aeroplane if
we had more would have been
much help — Probably the sight of them
coming and going fromtrips
would help to extend their
influence — It would be
also a little excitement
of a harmless nature and
and besides tending to deter
rebels —might tend to
restore the confidence of
the loyal population
They might have been asked
for all I know —but they
were not mentioned in the
news papers —In locating
rebels in large bodies in
city or county they might be
most useful —if there were
further need it might have
been during the outbreak Your obed servant
E F Batty PS It would be
undesirable to have
them where they could
be captured PPS If the first accounts had not been too tolerable
I might have thought of this before in France
to be of use.