Prime Minister's Tour

It was Sir Anthony Eden's busiest week since winning the British general election last May. Constantly on the move, from his country estate at Chequers to the English Channel, then north to the Scottish harbors, the Prime Minister talked and listened respectfully to the soldiers, sailors and airmen who man Britain's armed services. Eden's object was to brief himself on the problems--and possibilities--of streamlining British defenses at a saving to the harassed Treasury (see above).

Eden left Chequers in a helicopter (the first British Prime Minister to travel in one) and flew straight to Farnborough, site of Britain's famed annual air show. There, with his grey head tilted back over his immaculate white collar, he studied the performance of the flashy jet bombers and fighters on which his government will spend most of its defense money. Most spectacular of the zooming jet planes was a delta-wing Vulcan bomber, that slow-rolled over the field. "Would you like to fly home in one?" an official asked. "Yes, but no rolls," the Prime Minister said.

Eden, bundled up in a flying suit and flight helmet, climbed the narrow ladder into the belly of one of the Vulcans, and took off in a whoosh of jet exhaust. The Prime Minister directed the huge aircraft as far as the English Channel, took over the controls for one long stretch, then landed at an airport near his home in London. "Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful," said Eden scrambling out. "It was as smooth as a magic carpet."

Next day the Prime Minister arrived at the field training headquarters of the 3rd British Infantry Division. Eden, who won the Military Cross for gallantry in World War I, clambered in and out of armored vehicles, crawled into underground field defenses built to withstand the blast and radiation of atomic bombs dropped 500 yards away. "Pretty ancient aren't they, sir?" said a youthful sergeant when the Prime Minister inspected his living quarters. "They're awful," said Eden. "Accommodations must be improved."

With Britain's H-bomb expert, Sir William Penney, Eden examined supersecret atomic arms depots, wearing a long white smock and rubber boots as protection against radiation. Next week he will set off for Scotland, where the cruiser Glasgow will take him to sea. The 58-year-old Prime Minister is scheduled to transfer by wire from the Glasgow to a British aircraft carrier traveling at full speed.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.