Predecessors of the modern Ministry of Defence:
Ministry of Defence (est 1964; Minister of Defence, Churchill, May 1940).
Prior to the Second World War defence policy was co-ordinated by the Committee of Imperial Defence (CID). In 1936 the post of Minister for Co-ordination of Defence was established, though he did not have a department and the political heads of the three services—the First Lord of the Admiralty for the Royal Navy, the Secretary of State for War for the Army and the Secretary of State for Air for the Royal Air Force—continued to attend Cabinet.
On the outbreak of war in 1939 the CID was suspended and on 3 April 1940 the office of Minister for Co-ordination of Defence was abolished. Winston Churchill, on forming his government in May 1940, created the office of Minister of Defence to exercise ministerial control over the Chiefs of Staff Committee and to co-ordinate defence matters. The heads of the three services were not included in the War Cabinet. The Minister had few departments, the most famous of which was MD1 which allowed unusual ideas for weapons to be developed under the patronage of Churchill with less interference from the services and got the nickname "Churchill's Toyshop".
On the outbreak of war in 1939 the CID was suspended and on 3 April 1940 the office of Minister for Co-ordination of Defence was abolished. Winston Churchill, on forming his government in May 1940, created the office of Minister of Defence to exercise ministerial control over the Chiefs of Staff Committee and to co-ordinate defence matters. The heads of the three services were not included in the War Cabinet. The Minister had few departments, the most famous of which was MD1 which allowed unusual ideas for weapons to be developed under the patronage of Churchill with less interference from the services and got the nickname "Churchill's Toyshop".
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After the end of the war in Europe in May 1945 the First Lord and the Secretaries for War and Air rejoined the Cabinet, though the Prime Minister remained Minister of Defence. The post was held by the Prime Minister of the day until Clement Attlee's government introduced the Ministry of Defence Act of 1946.
After the end of the war in Europe in May 1945 the First Lord and the Secretaries for War and Air rejoined the Cabinet, though the Prime Minister remained Minister of Defence. The post was held by the Prime Minister of the day until Clement Attlee's government introduced the Ministry of Defence Act of 1946.
The suspension of the CID was made permanent by a White Paper (Cmd. 6923) in 1946, and from 4 October that year the service chiefs were no longer in the Cabinet. The former First Lord of the Admiralty A.V. Alexander was appointed Minister of Defence on 20 December 1946 and the Ministry of Defence was formally established on 1 January 1947 by the Ministry of Defence Act 1946. The Ministry was responsible for liaising between the individual service ministries and co-ordinating defence policy.
From 1946, the three posts of Secretary of State for War, First Lord of the Admiralty, and Secretary of State for Air were formally subordinated to the new Minister of Defence, who possessed a seat in the Cabinet. The said three service ministers—Admiralty, War, Air—remained in direct operational control of their respective services, but ceased to attend Cabinet.
From 1946 to 1964, five Departments of State did the work of the modern Ministry of Defence: the Admiralty, the War Office, the Air Ministry, the Ministry of Aviation, and an earlier form of the Ministry of Defence. These departments merged in 1964; the defence functions of the Ministry of Aviation Supply merged into the Ministry of Defence in 1971.
Under the Defence (Transfer of Functions) Act 1964 the Ministry of Defence was merged with the Admiralty, the War Office and the Air Ministry to form the current Ministry of Defence on 1 April 1964; the Minister of Defence became Secretary of State for Defence.
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