Letter from Joseph P. Walshe to John W. Dulanty (London)
(105/82) (Secret)

Your minute No. 31 of the 15th July¹, concerning the desire of the British Air Council to establish a range for bombing and firing from the air practice on the North Eastern shore of Lough Foyle.

The Minister would be very glad indeed if you could prevail on the Dominions Office to prevent this project being put into execution. From every point of view it is objectionable. The area selected is just across the Foyle opposite Moville, and, apart from the disagreeable political aspects, the townspeople and the farmers of the district would be sure to raise violent objections to the disturbance caused by the explosions and the noise of the engines.

You should remind the Dominions Office that protests have been made successfully in many places in Great Britain during the past year against similar invasions. The political objection, which is the major one here, was not present in Great Britain.

In all the circumstances, the Dominions Office should not have any very serious difficulty in persuading the Air Council to forego their intentions with regard to the Lough Foyle area. The better alternative, from the political point of view, would be to select some spot in Great Britain, though we are hardly in a position to raise more than a mild objection to the establishment of a practice area in parts of the Six Counties remote from the Border.