Last week Vickers, Ltd., one of the greatest armament firms in the world, held its annual meeting in London. General the Hon. Sir Herbert Alexander Lawrence, chairman of the board, cleared his throat, sipped a glass of water, and read his report.
There had been, he was glad to say, "a very satisfactory increase in orders for land armaments, in particular light tanks and anti-aircraft equipment." He had a novelty to announce. The Whitehead Torpedo Co., a Vickers subsidiary, had just produced a new torpedo specially designed for firing from airplanes, and the Air Ministry was charmed with it. Striking back at...