Professor Martin Edmonds

Martin Edmonds’ obituary in today’s Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/02/05/professor-martin-edmonds-internationally-renowned-pioneer-defence/ shows how even one informed and sympathetic academic – even in distant Lancaster – can influence opinion and debate in Whitehall.

His ‘Bailrigg Paper’ no 28 Maritime Manoeuvre: Expeditionary Warfare, Jointery and the Role of the Carrier  is a timeless exposition of the case for the carrier, and was a source which defence experts, politicians of all colours, journalists and civil servants could readily draw upon in the 1997 Strategic Defence Review, and it undoubtedly influenced the debate in favour of the CVF.  Passages from No 28 still crop up even at third or fourth hand.

Interestingly, the list of sources in the endnotes includes, among politicians, journos and academics, several naval officers including Admirals Ben Bathurst, Peter Abbott, RTR Phillips, Terry Loughran, (then Cdr) David Steel, Richard Cobbold, and Col Rob Fry and Cdrs Ed Featherstone, Jeremy Stocker and Chris Durbin – suggesting a high level of engagement between the Royal Navy and academe.

The Lancaster conference and several Bailrigg papers in the late 90s were supported and partly sponsored (from a very small budget) by the Head of Defence Studies (Royal Navy).