|
Post by Bromhead24 on Jul 20, 2006 19:14:57 GMT -5
What is your opinion of Charleton Heston's portrayal of Gordon in the film, KHARTOUM, Bromhead? It's been a long time since i've seen the film but from what i can remember, it was fairly accurate..I thought i saw it at Walley World a few weeks ago. I think i will get it this weekend if it's still there. I know that the films very brief battle of Abu Klea was way better than "The Four Feathers" Heston's (Gordon) death scene is very close to George Joy's painting "The death of General Gordon" Some accounts claim that Gordon was in a white uniform. Battle flag of the Mahdi's forces. The Arabic inscription reads: "Oh Allah! Oh Merciful! Oh Compassionate! Oh Living! Oh Unchanging! Oh Lord of Majesty and Liberality! There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is the Prophet of Allah. Mohammed the Mahdi is the Successor of the Prophet of Allah. Upon him be Blessings and Peace of Allah!.
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Jul 16, 2006 10:05:31 GMT -5
Sir Herbert Stewart, commander of the desert column for the relief of Gordon. He served with distinction as a staff officer in the Zulu, Transvaal and Egyptian wars and commanded the cavalry brigade at El Teb and Tamai. He is pictured here in the undress uniform of the 3rd Dragoon Guards. The film "The Four Feathers" rendition of Col Stewart. (who was NOT killed at the battle of ABU Klea) Colonel Fred Burnaby, Royal Horse Guards (The Blues), who joined the relief Expedition in an unofficial capacity and WAS killed at Abu Klea. Celebrated as an athlete, marksman and horseman, and for the book about his travels in central Asia (The Ride to Khiva). Wounded at El Teb when attached to Graham's Intelligence Department. Painting dated 1870 by J.G. Tissot.
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Jun 11, 2006 15:44:01 GMT -5
A cool view of the Martini-Henry bayonets..A formadable barrier don't you think?
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Jun 11, 2006 15:42:44 GMT -5
A birds eye view of the Square and the Mahdists attacking which in fact they only attacked from two sides.
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Jun 11, 2006 15:40:42 GMT -5
The British heavy camel regiment's square at the battle of Abu Klea (still from the movie The Four feathers). In the real square, there where over 1700 troops consisting of British army, Navy, a 150 man detachment of the 19th Hussars, mounted on horses. Four light field pieces and Sudanese troops.
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Jun 3, 2006 19:33:41 GMT -5
Photo's to follow soon...
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Jun 3, 2006 19:32:54 GMT -5
On 17 January 1885, a British force marching cross-country to the relief of General Gordon at Khartoum was attacked by the Mahdists, who were repulsed. On the 19th, when the British force was nearer Metemma, the Mahdists renewed the attack, again unsuccessfully. The opposing forces consisted of the 1,700 British of the Desert Column under Sir Herbert Stewart, against a Dervish force of 12,000. While the main British force (the River Column), led by General Sir Garnet Wolseley travelled by river from Korti to Khartoum, Stewart's column was to cut across country by column directly for Khartoum, since time was running short according to what little information was available from the garrison. The force was composed of four regiments of camel-mounted troops (Guard, Heavy, Light & Mounted Infantry), formed from detachments of the various regiments in Egypt and the River Column, and a detachment of the 19th Hussars, mounted on horses. Four light field pieces and a small Naval Brigade manning a Gardner machine gun finished off the force.
As the column approached the wells at Abu Klea, they were set upon by a Mahdist force. The troops were formed in square, with the cannon on the north face and the Naval Brigade, with their Gardner, at a corner. Several officers and men of HMS Alexandra were killed at the battle. The Gardner gun, was run out to the left flank of the infantry square to provide covering fire. The square closed behind them leaving them exposed. After seventy rounds were fired, the gun jammed and as the crew tried to clear it they were cut down in a rush by the dervishes. Out of the forty men in the Naval contingent, Lieutenants Alfred Piggott and Rudolph de Lisle were killed along with Chief Boatswain's Mate Rhodes and five other seamen and seven more were wounded. Lord Charles Beresford was 'scratched' on the left hand by a spear as he managed to duck under the gun. The weight of the rush pushed the sailors back into the face of the square. Several Dervishes were able to gain access to the square, but found the interior full of camels and were unable to proceed. The troops in the rear ranks faced about and opened fire into the press of men and camels behind them, and were able to drive the Dervishes out of the square and compelling them to retreat from the field.
The battle was remarkably short, lasting barely fifteen minutes from start to finish. Casualties for the British were nine officers and 65 other ranks killed and over a hundred wounded. The Mahdists lost 1,100 dead during the quarter hour of fighting, made all the worse by the fact that only around half of the Dervish force was actually engaged. British national hero Colonel F. G. Burnaby of the Royal Horse Guards was killed by a spear to the throat. Another action happened the next morning and the advance rescue force leader Sir Herbert Stewart was Wounded in the groin thus leaving command to the inexperienced leader Sir Charles Wilson (the column's intelligence officer) who was slower in organizing his forces.
Aftermath The column was too late to save Khartoum; it was taken by the Mahdists just a few days later leading to the death of General Charles Gordon. The Dervishes of Mahdi ruled the Sudan for the next thirteen years at the British defeat as the British pulled out of the area. The official public blame of the failed rescue was left with Prime Minister Gladstone for delaying several months for authorizing a rescue. Prime Minister Gladstone lost the public confidence and much authority within two months of the failed rescue.
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Jun 3, 2006 19:26:12 GMT -5
Siege of Khartoum, (March 13, 1884-Jan. 26, 1885), the Mahdi's siege of Khartoum, capital of the Sudan, which was defended by an Egyptian garrison under the British general Charles George ("Chinese") Gordon. The Mahdi's capture of the city and the slaughter of its defenders, including Gordon, caused a storm of public protest against the alleged inaction of the British government under Lord Salisbury.
The British government had become the prime European support of the khedive of Egypt but sought to remain aloof from the affairs of the Egyptian-ruled Sudan, especially after the Mahdi's tribesmen rose in revolt beginning in 1881. In early 1884, following a series of Mahdist victories, the British only reluctantly acquiesced in the khedive's selection of Gordon as governor-general of the Sudan. Gordon reached the capital of Khartoum on Feb. 18, 1884, and had succeeded in evacuating 2,000 women, children, and sick and wounded before the Mahdi's forces closed in on the town.
From that time, the British government's refusal of all of Gordon's requests for aid, together with Gordon's own obdurate refusal to retreat or evacuate further, made disaster virtually inevitable. The Siege of Khartoum commenced on March 13, but not until August, under the increasing pressure of British public opinion and Queen Victoria's urgings, did the government at last agree to send a relief force under General Garnet Joseph Wolseley, setting out from Wadi Halfa (October 1884). After learning of two victories won by Wolseley's advancing forces, the Mahdi's troops were on the verge of raising the siege; but the further unaccountable delay of the relief force encouraged them to make a final, successful assault at a gap in the ramparts caused by the falling of the Nile's waters. The city's garrison was butchered, Gordon with it. The forerunners of the relief force, consisting of river gunboats under Lord Charles Beresford, arrived off the city on January 28, two days too late, and, after a brief gun duel with the Mahdist defenders, retreated downriver.
Soon after, the Mahdi abandoned Khartoum and made Omdurman his capital.
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on May 28, 2006 9:33:27 GMT -5
Below: A modern photo of Gordons Palace at Khartoum.
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on May 28, 2006 9:19:47 GMT -5
Below: Charles George Gordon, Governor of the Sudan's Equatorial Province from 1874 and Governor-General of the whole Sudan from 1877-79 in his Egyptian uniform of that office. Below: LtCol J.D. Hamill Stewart, 11th Hussars, who was sent to report on the Sudan in 1882 and accompanied Gordon to Khartoum in 1884
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on May 26, 2006 18:53:07 GMT -5
Above: Officers of the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards at Windsor Castle on 19 February 1885 before leaving for the sudan. Below: Officers of the same battalion a few weeks later at Suakin. Most have now grown beards and have a more relaxed look.
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on May 22, 2005 20:49:30 GMT -5
once this topic gets started, i'll ask to open up a Nepoleonic wars topic.
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on May 22, 2005 20:31:33 GMT -5
I thought we should expand from just the Zulu war to all of England's colonial wars. Egypt and the Sudan
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Dec 11, 2007 12:07:21 GMT -5
Continued.... Kitchener was created Earl Kitchener, of Khartoum and of Broome in the County of Kent, on 29 June 1914. Unusually, provision was made for the title to be passed on to his brother and nephew, since Kitchener was not married and had no children.
[edit] World War I The much-imitated 1914 Lord Kitchener Wants You poster.At the outset of World War I, the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, quickly had Lord Kitchener appointed Secretary of State for War; Asquith had been filling the job himself as a stopgap following the resignation of Colonel Seeley over the Curragh Incident earlier in 1914, and Kitchener was by chance briefly in Britain on leave when war was declared. Against cabinet opinion, Kitchener correctly predicted a long war that would last at least three years, require huge new armies to defeat Germany, and suffer huge casualties before the end would come. Smelling blood in the wind, Kitchener stated that the conflict would plumb the depths of manpower "to the last million."
A massive recruitment campaign began, which soon featured a distinctive poster of himself, taken from a magazine front cover. It may have encouraged large numbers of volunteers and has proven to be one of the most enduring images of the war, having been copied and parodied many times since.
In an effort to find a way to relieve pressure on the Western front, Lord Kitchener proposed an invasion of Ýskenderun with Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), New Army, and Indian troops. Alexandretta was an area with a large Christian population and was the strategic centre of the Ottoman Empire's railway network - its capture would have cut the empire in two. Yet he was instead eventually persuaded to support Winston Churchill's disastrous Gallipoli campaign in 1915–1916. That failure, combined with the Shell Crisis of 1915, was to deal Kitchener's political reputation a heavy blow; Kitchener was popular with the public, so Asquith retained him in office in the new coalition government, but responsibility for munitions was moved to a new ministry headed by David Lloyd George. Later in 1915 Kitchener was sent on a tour of inspection of Gallipoli and the Near East, in the hope that he could be persuaded to remain in the region as commander-in-chief.
At the end of 1915, the new Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir William Robertson, took office only on condition that he was granted the right to speak for the Army to the Cabinet in matters of strategy, leaving Kitchener solely with responsibility solely for manpower and recruitment. Whereas Kitchener had hoped to hold his armies in reserve to administer the coup de grace to Germany after the other warring nations had exhausted themselves, Robertson was suspicious of efforts in the Balkans and Near East, and was instead committed to major British offensives against Germany on the Western Front - the first of these was to be the Somme in 1916.
In May 1916, preparations were made for Kitchener and Lloyd George to visit Russia on a diplomatic mission. Lloyd George was otherwise engaged with his new Ministry and so it was decided to send Kitchener alone.
A week before his death, Kitchener confided to Lord Derby that he intended to press relentlessly for a peace of reconciliation, regardless of his position, when the war was over, as he feared that the politicians would make a bad peace.[citation needed]
On 4 June 1916, Lord Kitchener personally answered questions asked by politicians about his running of the war effort; at the start of hostilities Kitchener had ordered two million rifles with various US arms manufacturers. Only 480 of these rifles had arrived in the UK by 4 June 1916. The numbers of shells supplied were no less paltry. Kitchener explained the efforts he had made in order to secure alternative supplies. He received a resounding vote of thanks from the 200+ Members of Parliament who had arrived to question him, both for his candour and for his efforts to keep the troops armed; Sir Ivor Herbert, who, a week before, had introduced the failed vote of censure in the House of Commons against Kitchener's running of the War Department, personally seconded the motion.
In addition to his military work, Lord Kitchener contributed to efforts on the home front. The knitted sock patterns of the day used a seam up the toe, that could rub uncomfortably against the toes. Kitchener encouraged British and American women to knit for the war effort, and contributed a sock pattern featuring a new technique for a seamless join of the toe, still known as Kitchener stitch. [1] [2] [3]
[edit] Death Kitchener in First World War uniformAt Scapa Flow, Lord Kitchener embarked aboard the armoured cruiser HMS Hampshire for his diplomatic mission to Russia. On 5 June 1916, while en route to the Russian port of Arkhangelsk, Hampshire struck a mine laid by the newly-launched German U-boat U-75 (commanded by Curt Beitzen) during a Force 9 gale and sank west of the Orkney Islands. Kitchener, his staff, and 643 of the crew of 655 were drowned or died of exposure. His body was never found. The survivors who caught sight of him in those last moments testified to his outward calm and resolution. The same day, the last Division of Kitchener's New Army crossed the channel to take up its positions in Flanders and France where, eventually, and despite numerous setbacks, they helped to defeat Germany in 1918.
It should be noted that not everyone mourned Kitchener's loss. C. P. Scott, editor of the Manchester Guardian is said to have remarked that "as for the old man, he could not have done better than to have gone down, as he was a great impediment lately."
[edit] Conspiracy theories The suddenness of Kitchener's death, combined with his great fame and the fact that his body was never recovered, almost immediately gave rise to conspiracy theories that have continued almost to this day.
Fritz Joubert Duquesne, a Boer and German spy, claimed to have sabotaged and sunk the HMS Hampshire, killing Kitchener and most of the crew. According to German records, Duquesne assumed the identity of Russian Duke Boris Zakrevsky and joined Kitchener in Scotland. En route to Russia, Duquesne signalled a German U-boat to alert them that Kitchener’s ship was approaching. He then escaped on a raft just before the HMS Hampshire was destroyed. Duquesne was awarded the Iron Cross for this act. In the 1930s and 1940s, he ran the famous Duquesne Spy Ring and was captured by the FBI along with 32 other Nazi spies in the largest espionage conviction in U.S. history.
The fact that newly-appointed Minister of Munitions (and future prime minister) David Lloyd George was supposed to accompany Kitchener on the fatal journey, but cancelled at the last moment, has been given great significance by some. This fact, along with the alleged lethargy of the rescue efforts, has led some to claim that Kitchener was assassinated, or, somewhat more plausibly, that his death would have been convenient for a British establishment that had come to see him as figure from the past who was incompetent to wage modern war. Given that Kitchener's death hit Britain like a thunderclap and was widely perceived as a disaster for the war effort, this interpretation seems far-fetched, to say the least.
After the war, there were a number of conspiracy theories put forward, one by Lord Alfred Douglas, positing a connection between Kitchener's death, the recent naval Battle of Jutland, Winston Churchill and a Jewish conspiracy. (Churchill successfully sued Douglas for criminal libel and the latter spent six months in prison.) Another claimed that the Hampshire did not strike a mine at all, but was sunk by explosives secreted in the vessel by Irish Republicans.
Probably the most spectacular Kitchener-related conspiracy was the effort in 1926 by a hoaxer named Frank Power to actually recover and bury Kitchener's body, which he claimed had been found by a Norwegian fisherman. He brought a coffin back from Norway and prepared it for burial in St. Paul's. At this point, however, the authorities intervened and the coffin was opened in the presence of police and a distinguished pathologist. The box was found to contain only tar for weight. There was widespread public outrage at Power, but he was ultimately never prosecuted.[1]
The role of Fritz Joubert Duquesne in Kitchener's death has been hypothesised/documented in several books and movies:
The man who killed Kitchener; the life of Fritz Joubert Duquesne, 1879-, by Clement Wood. New York, W. Faro, inc., 1932. Sabotage! The Secret War Against America, by Michael Sayers & Albert E. Kahn. Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1942. The House on 92nd Street, won screenwriter Charles G. Booth an Academy Award for the best original motion picture story, 1945. Counterfeit Hero: Fritz Duquesne, Adventurer and Spy, by Art Ronnie. Naval Institute Press, 1995 ISBN 1-55750-733-3 Fräulein Doktor, a Dino DeLaurentis film "", 1969. The Man who would kill Kitchener, by Francois Verster, a documentary film on the life of Fritz Joubert Duquesne that won six Stone awards, 1999.
[edit] Memorials Following his death the town of Berlin, Ontario, Canada, was renamed Kitchener in his honour. Mount Kitchener in the Canadian Rockies was also named in his honour. A memorial to him was erected on the nearby cliffs. Earl Kitchener, Elementary School, is a dual-track (English and French) school of approximately 500 students. It is located in the west end of Hamilton, Ontario (Canada) below the Niagara Escarpment. A letter from Lord Kitchener suggests that the motto of this elementary school be "thoroughness." Lord Kitchener Elementary School is located on a 2.7–hectare site on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). A frame building was constructed in 1914, and a main building in 1924. Both are still in use in 2007, but likely to be replaced after 2008 as they are not suitable for seismic upgrading. In the City of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, the Kitchener Memorial Hospital was named in his honour. It is now known as Geelong Hospital. The original building is still in use although it no longer houses patients. A month after his death the Lord Kitchener National Memorial Fund was set up by the Lord Mayor of London to honour his memory. It was used to aid casualties of the war, both practically and financially; following the war's end, the fund was used to enable university educations for soldiers, ex-soldiers and their sons, a function it continues to perform today.[4] The Lord Kitchener Memorial Homes in Chatham were built with funds from public subscription following Kitchener's death. A small terrace of cottages, they are used to provide affordable rented accommodation for servicemen and women who have seen active service or their widows and widowers.[5] The Kitchener Memorial on Mainland, Orkney is on the cliff edge at Marwick Head, near the spot where Kitchener died at sea. It is a square crenellated stone tower and bears the inscription: "This tower was raised by the people of Orkney in memory of Field Marshal Earl Kitchener of Khartoum on that corner of his country which he had served so faithfully nearest to the place where he died on duty. He and his staff perished along with the officers and nearly all the men of HMS Hampshire on 5th June, 1916."[6][7]
[edit] Debate on Kitchener's sexuality Some biographers have concluded that Kitchener was a latent or active homosexual, though this is not universally accepted. Writers that make the case for his homosexuality include Montgomery Hyde, Ronald Hyam, Dennis Judd[8] and Richardson. Biographers who make the case against include Cassar, Pollock, and Warner. Magnus and Royle hint at homosexuality, though Magnus is said to have later recanted.
The proponents of the case point to Kitchener's friend Captain Oswald Fitzgerald, his "constant and inseparable companion," whom he appointed his aide-de-camp. They remained close until they met a common death on their voyage to Russia.[9] From his time in Egypt in 1892, he gathered around him a cadre of eager young and unmarried officers nicknamed "Kitchener's band of boys." He also avoided interviews with women, took a great deal of interest in the Boy Scout movement, and decorated his rose garden with four pairs of sculptured bronze boys. According to Hyam, "there is no evidence that he ever loved a woman."[10]
A contemporary journalist remarked that Kitchener "has the failing acquired by most of the Egyptian officers, a taste for buggery."[11][12] According to another writer, "when the great field marshal stayed in aristocratic houses, the well informed young would ask servants to sleep across their bedroom threshold to impede his entrance." His compulsive objective was sodomy, regardless of their gender. [13]
J. B. Priestley noted in his book on The Edwardians that one of Lord Kitchener's personal interests in life included planning and decorating his residences. He was also known to collect delicate china with a passion.
However, he was apparently in love with, and may have been engaged to, Hermione Baker, the beautiful young daughter of Valentine Baker, commander of the Egyptian gendarmarie, but she died from typhoid in January 1885, aged eighteen. In 1902 he unsuccessfully courted Lord Londonderry's daughter, Helen Mary Theresa. He was friendly, in her old age, with the courtesan Catherine Walters.
[edit] Kitchener in historical films In the film Khartoum, mention is made of "Major Kitchener"'s involvement in the Gordon Relief Expedition of 1884-5. In the film Young Winston, Kitchener, portrayed by Sir John Mills, is shown disapproving of the young Winston Churchill's attempts to see action in Sudan. He disdainfully sweeps a book by Churchill into the bin, and is astonished when, during the battle of Omdurman, it is Lieutenant Churchill who brings him a message about the speed with which the enemy are approaching. Kitchener is incorrectly shown as wearing the insignia of a full general, a higher rank than he in fact held at that time. In the film Breaker Morant, he is portrayed by Australian actor Alan Cassell.
[edit] Kitchener in fiction In the British sitcom Dad's Army, Lance Corporal Jones repeatedly tells tales of when he served under General Kitchener against the "Fuzzy Wuzzies". The rumours about Kitchener's sexuality are briefly touched upon in the episode Number Engaged: when Pike asked why Jones always put his hand on his hip in a somewhat flamboyant manner when imitating Kitchener, Jones replied that he didn't want to go into it. Kitchener was referred to in the novel Rilla of Ingleside of Lucy Maud Montgomery. The sinking of the HMS Hampshire is portrayed in the 1969 film Fräulein Doktor, where Suzy Kendall's character relays information which leads to a U-Boat sinking the ship and killing Kitchener.
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Dec 11, 2007 12:06:54 GMT -5
A bio of his lordship.
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916
Place of birth Ballylongford, County Kerry, Ireland Place of death HMS Hampshire, sunk west of the Orkney Islands, Scotland Allegiance United Kingdom Service/branch British Army Years of service (1871-1916) Rank Field Marshal Commands Mahdist War (1884-1899) Second Boer War (1900–1902) Commander-in-Chief, India (1902–1909) Battles/wars Franco-Prussian War; Mahdist War: - Battle of Ferkeh - Battle of Atbara - Battle of Omdurman Second Boer War; - Battle of Paardeberg World War I Awards Order of the Garter Order of St Patrick Order of the Bath Order of Merit (Commonwealth) Order of the Star of India Order of St Michael and St George Order of the Indian Empire Aide-de-camp Privy Council of the United Kingdom Other work British Consul-General in Egypt (1911-1914) Secretary of State for War, United Kingdom (1914–1916) Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC (24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was an Anglo-Irish British Field Marshal, diplomat and statesman popularly referred to as Lord Kitchener.
Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Survey of Western Palestine 3 Egypt, Sudan and Khartoum 4 The Boer War 4.1 Court martial of Breaker Morant 5 India and Egypt 6 World War I 7 Death 7.1 Conspiracy theories 8 Memorials 9 Debate on Kitchener's sexuality 10 Kitchener in historical films 11 Kitchener in fiction 12 See also 13 Other 14 Bibliography 15 References 16 External links
[edit] Early life Kitchener was born in Ballylongford, County Kerry in Ireland, son of Lt. Col. Henry Horatio Kitchener (1805 – 1894) and Frances Anne Chevallier-Cole (d. 1864; daughter of Rev John Chevallier and his third wife, Elizabeth, née Cole). The family were English, not Anglo-Irish: his father had only recently bought land in Ireland. The year his mother died of tuberculosis, they moved to Switzerland in an effort to improve her condition; the young Kitchener was educated there and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Pro-French and eager to see action, he joined a French field ambulance unit in the Franco-Prussian War; his father took him back to England after he caught pneumonia after ascending in a balloon to see the French Army of the Loire in action. He was commissioned into the Royal Engineers on 4 January 1871. His service in France had violated British neutrality, and he was reprimanded by the Duke of Cambridge, the commander-in-chief. He served in Palestine, Egypt, and Cyprus as a surveyor, learned Arabic, and prepared detailed topographical maps of the areas.
[edit] Survey of Western Palestine In 1874, at age 24, Kitchener was assigned by the Palestine Exploration Fund to a mapping-survey of the Holy Land, replacing Charles Tyrwhitt-Drake, who had died of malaria (Silberman 1982). Kitchener, then an officer in the Royal Engineers, joined fellow Royal Engineer Claude R. Conder and between 1874 and 1877, they surveyed what is today Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, returning to England only briefly in 1875 after an attack by locals in the Galilee, at Safed (Silberman 1982).
Conder and Kitchener’s expedition became known as the Survey of Western Palestine because it was largely confined to the area west of the Jordan River (Hodson 1997). The survey collected data on the topography and toponymy of the area, as well as local flora and fauna. The results of the survey were published in an eight volume series, with Kitchener’s contribution in the first three tomes (Conder and Kitchener 1881-1885).
This survey has had a lasting effect on the Middle East for several reasons:
The ordnance survey serves as the basis for the grid system used in the modern maps of Israel and Palestine. The collection of data compiled by Conder and Kitchener are still consulted by archaeologists and geographers working in the southern Levant. The survey itself effectively delineated and defined the political borders of the southern Levant. For instance, the modern border between Israel and Lebanon is established at the point in the upper Galilee where Conder and Kitchener’s survey stopped (Silberman 1982).
[edit] Egypt, Sudan and Khartoum Kitchener later served as a Vice-Consul in Anatolia, and in 1883, as a British captain but with the Turkish rank of bimbashi (major), in the occupation of Egypt (which was to be a British puppet state, its army led by British officers, from 1883 until the early 1950s), and the following year as an Aide de Camp during the failed Gordon relief expedition in the Sudan. At this time his fiancée, and possibly the only female love of his life, Hermione Baker, died of typhoid fever in Cairo; he subsequently had no issue. But he raised his young cousin Bertha Chevallier-Boutell, daughter of Kitchener's first-cousin, Sir Francis Hepburn de Chevallier-Boutell.
Kitchener won national fame on his second tour in the Sudan (1886–1899), being made Aide de Camp to Queen Victoria and collecting a Knighthood of the Bath. In the late 1880s he was Governor of the Red Sea Territories (which in practice consisted of little more than the Port of Suakin) - with the rank of Colonel - then after becoming Sirdar of the Egyptian Army in 1892 - with the rank of major-general in the British Army - he headed the victorious Anglo-Egyptian army at the Battle of Omdurman on September 2, 1898, a victory made possible by the massive rail construction program he had instituted in the area.
He quite possibly prevented war between France and Britain when he dealt firmly but non-violently with the French military expedition to claim Fashoda, in what became known as the Fashoda Incident.
He was created Baron Kitchener, of Khartoum and of Aspall in the County of Suffolk, on 18 November 1898 as a victory title commemorating his successes, and began a programme restoring good governance to the Sudan. The programme had a strong foundation based on education, Gordon Memorial College being its centrepiece, and not simply for the children of the local elites - children from anywhere could apply to study.
He ordered the mosques of Khartoum rebuilt and instituted reforms which recognised Friday - the Muslim holy day - as the official day of rest, and guaranteed freedom of religion to all citizens of the Sudan. He went so far as to prevent evangelical Christian missionaries from attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity.
Kitchener rescued a substantial charitable fund which had been diverted into the pockets of the Khedive of Egypt, and put it to use improving the lives of the ordinary Sudanese.
He also reformed the debt laws, preventing rapacious moneylenders from stripping away all assets of impoverished farmers, guaranteeing them five acres (20,000 m²) of land to farm for themselves and the tools to farm with. In 1899 Kitchener was presented with a small island in the Nile at Aswan as in gratitude for his services; the island was renamed Kitchener's Island in his honour.
[edit] The Boer War During the Second Boer War (1899–1902), Kitchener arrived with Lord Roberts on the RMS Dunottar Castle and the massive British reinforcements of December 1899. Officially holding the title of chief of staff, he was in practice a second-in-command, and commanded a much-criticised frontal assault at the Battle of Paardeberg in February 1900.
Following the defeat of the conventional Boer forces, Kitchener succeeded Roberts as overall commander in November 1900, and after the failure of a reconciliatory peace treaty in February 1901 (due to British cabinet veto) which Kitchener had negotiated with the Boer leaders, Kitchener inherited and expanded the successful strategies devised by Roberts to crush the Boer guerrillas.
In a brutal campaign, these strategies removed civilian support from the Boers with a scorched earth policy of destroying Boer farms, slaughtering livestock, building blockhouses, and moving women, children and the elderly into concentration camps. Conditions in these camps, which had been conceived by Roberts as a form of controlling the families whose farms he had destroyed, began to degenerate rapidly as the large influx of Boers outstripped the minuscule ability of the British to cope. The camps lacked space, food, sanitation, medicine, and medical care, leading to rampant disease and a staggering 34.4% death rate for those Boers who entered. The biggest critic of the camps was Cornish humanitarian and welfare worker Emily Hobhouse. Despite being largely rectified by late 1901, they led to wide opprobrium in Britain and Europe, and especially amongst South Africans.
The Treaty of Vereeniging was signed in 1902 following a tense six months. During this period Kitchener struggled against Sir Alfred Milner, the Governor of the Cape Colony and the British government. Milner was a hardline conservative and wanted to forcibly anglicise the Afrikaners, and Milner and the British government wanted to assert victory by forcing the Boers to sign a humiliating peace treaty, while Kitchener wanted a more generous compromise peace treaty that would recognise certain rights for the Afrikaners and promise future self-government. Eventually the British government decided the war had gone on long enough and sided with Kitchener against Milner. (Louis Botha, the Boer leader with whom Kitchener negotiated his aborted peace treaty in 1901, became the first Prime Minister of the self-governing Union of South Africa in 1910.) The Treaty also agreed to pay for reconstruction following the end of hostilities. Six days later Kitchener, who had risen in rank from major-general to full general during the war, was created Viscount Kitchener, of Khartoum and of the Vaal in the Colony of Transvaal and of Aspall in the County of Suffolk.
[edit] Court martial of Breaker Morant Main articles: Court martial of Breaker Morant and Breaker Morant The Boer commandos had no uniforms: they fought in their ordinary civilian attire. On long service, as the state of their clothing became progressively worse, many resorted to taking the clothes of captured troops. This was widely perceived by British commanders as an attempt to masquerade as British soldiers in order to gain a tactical advantage in battle; in response, Kitchener ordered that Boers found wearing British uniforms were to be tried on the spot and the sentence, death, confirmed by the commanding officer.
This order - which Kitchener later denied issuing - led to the famous Breaker Morant case, in which several soldiers, including the celebrated horseman and bush poet Lt. Harry "Breaker" Morant, were arrested and court-martialled for summarily executing Boer prisoners and also for the murder of a German missionary believed to be a Boer sympathiser. Morant and another Australian, Lt. Peter Handcock, were found guilty, sentenced to death and shot by firing squad at Pietersburg on 27 February 1902. Their death warrants were personally signed by Kitchener.
[edit] India and Egypt Following this, Kitchener was made Commander-in-Chief in India (1902–1909) - his term of office was extended by two years - where he reconstructed the greatly disorganised Indian Army. He clashed with the Viceroy Lord Curzon of Kedleston, who had originally lobbied for Kitchener's appointment but who now became a passionate and lifelong enemy after being forced to resign as Viceroy. Whilst in India Kitchener broke his leg badly in a horseriding accident, leaving him with a slight limp for the rest of his life.
Kitchener was promoted to the highest Army rank, Field Marshal, in 1910 and went on a tour of the world. He aspired to be Viceroy of India, but the Secretary of State for India, John Morley, was not keen and hoped to send him instead to Malta as Commander-in-Chief of British forces in the Mediterranean, even to the point of announcing the appointment in the newspapers. Kitchener pushed hard for the Viceroyalty, returning to London to lobby Cabinet ministers and the dying King Edward VII, from whom, whilst collecting his Field-Marshal's baton, Kitchener obtained permission to refuse the Malta job. However, perhaps in part because he was thought to be a Tory (the Liberals were in office at the time) and perhaps due to a Curzon-inspired whispering campaign, but most importantly because Morley, who was a Gladstonian and thus suspicious of imperialism, felt it inappropriate, after the recent grant of limited self-government under the 1909 Indian Councils Act, for a serving soldier to be Viceroy (in the event no serving soldier was appointed Viceroy until Archibald Wavell in 1943), Morley could not be moved. The Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, was sympathetic but was unwilling to overule Morley, who threatened resignation, so Kitchener was finally turned down for the post of Viceroy of India in 1911.
Kitchener then returned to Egypt as British Agent and Consul-General in Egypt (the job formerly held by Sir Evelyn Baring, Lord Cromer) and of the so-called Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1911–1914, during the formal reign of Abbas Hilmi II as Khedive (nominally Ottoman Viceroy) of Egypt, Sovereign of Nubia, of the Sudan, of Kordofan and of Darfur). Whatever the legal niceties, Egypt was in reality a British puppet state and the Sudan a directly-administered British colony, making Kitchener Viceroy of the region in all but name.
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Nov 20, 2007 15:25:06 GMT -5
Why would Kitchener later admit it? Did he feel he was above being held accountable for it? I'm not sure, i believe that it is explained in the book. Lord Roberts from his staff perjured himself on the stand, hell Kitchners staff knew about the orders to shoot prisoners. I know that Lord Kitchner was killed not long after in the Gallipoli campaign (i think) when his ship was torpedoed. The Australian Government is just as guilty as Kitchner, they ignored pleas for help from Major Thomas and when the citizens of Australia found out (after the execution) they went nutz and just about overthrew the Government. They changed their ways after that.
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Nov 20, 2007 11:02:55 GMT -5
Has anyone seen the film? I have it on VHS and DVD and i think it's a great film. As usual, the film makers only used Lt Wittons book as a guide and there where many inaccurate events in the film. Read the book then whach the film and you will notice what i'm talking about. Spoiler..... Lord Kitchner later said during WWI that he did infact order the executions of the boer prisoners that Morant and Handcock where executed for......Politics
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Nov 19, 2007 19:27:01 GMT -5
That too me a long time to cut and paste the book...Hope you all enjoy it.
Bromy
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Nov 19, 2007 19:26:21 GMT -5
when I was, for some reason never made known to me, released with Lieutenant Hannam. I, Robert Maynard, make oath and say:-- 1. I was a member of the Bushveldt Carbineers on active service in the high veldt, North Transvaal, and took part in the operations against the Boers. 2. I was acquainted with Lieutenant Witton, and verily believe that Lieutenant Witton at all times carried out to the strict letter of the law the orders he received from his superior officers. 3. In those particular incidents which led to his becoming court-martialled and convicted he was merely carrying out the orders received from his superior officers. Many paragraphs, verses, comments, and illustrations on my case appeared from time to time in the press in different parts of the world. This is from "The Owl," South Africa: Now list to the tale of an injured man-- As ever a one was he-- Who is eating his heart in durance vile, While those who should suffer can laugh and smile, And pick their own company. He came from the land of the kangaroo-- From a land of men, I trow-- To fight or die for Old England's right, To risk the peril, obey the might That should order him to or fro. But an order came, in the course of time, Hard for a man to do; For life, after all, is a precious thing, And it isn't so easy to sever the string When it comes to me or you. But you must not falter, or reason why, In the deadly time of war. You must simply do as you're told to do By those in authority over you, Or what is authority for? He obeyed, as a son of the Empire should, Nor stopped to count the cost; The result was the same, with authority's name, As though he had done it for personal fame, His case was entirely lost. And so, to abide with the vile and corrupt They sent him to prison away, To languish and pine for his freedom divine; Though they made it for life, yet I think there's a sign That he has not much longer to stay. Just about this time Major Lenehan had been reinstated in the Commonwealth forces. To use his own words, he had a terrible battle the lying reports that had been published had discredited the Carbineers in the eyes of the public. Ultimately he succeeded in obtaining the sympathy of one Australian Government, with the above result. In June, 1904, I received a message informing me that my father was seriously ill, and that Mr. Hughes, the then Minister for External affairs, had been interviewed, and it had been suggested to him that, as the Imperial authorities had agreed to consider the, question of my release in the following February, they might be again approached. Mr. Hughes brought the request before the Prime Minister, and a cable message was sent, rehearsing the facts with respect to, my dying father, and intimating that it would be regarded as a gracious act if my immediate release were granted. To this the Hon. A. G. Lyttelton, Secretary of State for the Colonies, replied on 21st June, the date of my father's death, that he was not disposed to depart from the promise made by the military authorities to reconsider my sentence in February, 1905. Early in July, being still ignorant of my father's death, I again petitioned, asking for my release on account of his serious illness; to this petition I did not receive any reply. Just at this time the Hon. J. D. Logan, M.L.C., of Capetown, arrived in England. He was a doughty champion of my cause, and enlisted the sympathy of many of the members of the House of Commons on my behalf, particularly that of Major Eustace Jamieson, M.P., who, after much battling and buffeting, induced the authorities to grant my release. Not expecting this to be accomplished for several days, Mr. Logan returned to his home in Scotland. Upon arrival at Cardross House, in Perthshire, he found a telegram waiting for him to the effect that the prisoner Witton would be handed over to him at once. This meant returning immediately to England. Mr. Logan was completely knocked up, and hardly felt equal to the task, but he ordered out his motor car, caught the midnight express at Stirling, and arrived in London the following morning. My case had been brought forward in the House of Commons during the night of 10th August. Mr. Churchill asked the Secretary of State for War whether he could now state the intention of His Majesty's Government in respect to Witton; to this question Mr. Arnold-Foster replied, "His Majesty the King has been pleased to order that Witton be released." (Cheers.) The first intimation I received that my sentence had been remitted, and that I was at last free, was imparted to me by the Governor of the prison in his private office, on Thursday, 11th August. He asked me if I knew the Hon. J. D. Logan or Major Jamieson. I replied that I was not personally acquainted with either of those gentlemen. "Well," he said, "I have just received a telegram instructing me to hand you over to them; they will be here at three o'clock to take you away. There is not much time to get you fitted out; however, we will do the best we can for you." After being handed several congratulatory telegrams I was hurried away to the separate cells. Here I began to collect my thoughts. So at last the glad tidings had come, and in two hours I would pass the barrier that separated the bond from the free. My joy was unutterable, yet it was tinged with one regret-I wished that it had come a little sooner. I had received the news that my father had passed away, and I felt that the knowledge that I had gained my freedom would have gladdened his heart in his last hours. At the cells I was waited upon by the tailor and shoemaker, who took a rough measurement for clothes and boots; after this a hurried visit was paid to the photographer's studio. Here I took off my prison jacket and donned a coat of mufti, many sizes too small for me, and a collar that fastened at the back; an antiquated, faded tie completed the civilian outfit. In a few minutes two photographs were taken, also finger prints on the Bertillon system of identification. Upon returning to my cell the master tailor brought me an outfit of clothes, the, largest size in stock. I cast off my prison garb and donned a suit of dark green tweed, a suit which proclaims every wearer to the world as an ex-convict. When I dressed myself the trousers required to be turned up at the bottom, and the sleeves at the wrists, but I was satisfied. I did not ask for anything different. The tailor inspected me and remarked, "It's not a bad fit after all." I was then taken again to the office of the Governor. By this time Mr. Logan and Mr. Herbert Kitson, his private secretary, had arrived. On being ushered in, Mr. Logan came forward and congratulated me on regaining my freedom, and informed me that he intended taking me to Scotland for some grouse shooting. The Governor then handed me over some money that had been lodged with him by my brother pending my release, also a sum of thirty shillings earned by industry and good conduct during my incarceration. I was not furnished with any formal discharge from His Majesty's prison until some weeks later. I was handed over to Mr. Logan, and after being warmly congratulated by the Governor and his deputy, we passed out through the barrier; then the gates rolled back, and I entered again into my freedom. More than one officer came up and wrung my hand, and wished me good luck. A carriage was in waiting outside, and we hurriedly drove to the railway station. My first thoughts were to send the good news to my relatives in Australia, and from Weymouth a cablegram was despatched to my brother. This was hardly necessary, as the news had flashed round the world before it had been imparted to me. We reached Waterloo station at 9 o'clock, and drove to the Hotel Metropole for dinner. Here I met Major Jamieson, M.P., and expressed to him my warmest thanks for his efforts on my behalf. As we sat down to dinner I could not help thinking of the dinner I had with the late officers of the Carbineers the night before we left Pietersburg, when we were in happy expectation of freedom the following morning. After a few hours' rest we drove to Euston, and boarded the midnight express for the North. I tried to sleep but could not; so much had been crowded into the last few hours that my brain seemed in a whirl. At eight in the morning we arrived at Stirling, where Mr. Logan's chaffeur was waiting at the station with the car. In half an hour we arrived at Cardross House, Mr. Logan's shooting-box in Perthshire. As soon as breakfast was over the guns were brought out, and we joined the other guests, who had made an early start on Flanders Moss; just eighteen hours after leaving Portland I shot my first grouse. The ladies joined us for lunch, making a pleasure party of twelve. This, my first luncheon on the moors, was to me a notable one; speeches and toasts were indulged in, and here I made my first speech. My host, the Hon. James D. Logan, member of the Cape Legislative Council, is a popular figure in South African circles, where he is universally known as the "Laird of Matjesfontein." This genial son of Scotia was born at Reston, Berwickshire. He is the life and soul of South African sport, and at one time took a South African cricket eleven to England at his own expense. When the war began he raised a corps at Matjesfontein, and did excellent service at the front; he had his horse shot under him at Belmont. Those weeks I spent with Mr. Logan I look back upon as the brightest in my life, being such a contrast to the abode of gloom I had so suddenly left. On 29th September I embarked at Liverpool on the White Star liner "Runic" for Australia; the passenger list totalled 500. Splendid weather was experienced during our run to Capetown. At Capetown the "Runic" remained in port only a few hours. Here I was met and warmly welcomed back to South Africa by Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Easton, Mr. Bruce Hardy, Mr. Palmer, and other members of the Capetown Release Committee, who had done such excellent work in making the facts of my case so universally known. On the 12th November 1904, after a chequered experience extending over nearly five years, I placed my foot again on my native soil. On my arrival in Australia I met among others Mr. Wainwright, general secretary of the Australian Natives' Association, and his son, Mr. Austin Wainwright, who so ably assisted my brother in his efforts towards my release. I also met Mr. Alfred Deakin, a true compatriot, who during his term of office as Prime Minister of the Commonwealth had been untiring in his efforts to secure my liberty and return to Australia.
|
|
|
Post by Bromhead24 on Nov 19, 2007 19:25:47 GMT -5
the orders of Lieutenant Morant, a man of strong feelings and eager to avenge the savage murder of his friend Captain Hunt. "In the matter of the shooting of the missionary, the only one of the crimes charged which really excited any moral indignation, the court, without hesitation, found him not guilty, and never, I should think, has a feebler charge been brought before a court. "I was not a friend of these officers of the Bushveldt Carbineers, but my sympathy was aroused by the harsh treatment they received-in being kept in close arrest (I myself, the chaplain, was requested not to visit them) for some months before they were tried, and by the way the case was, as it were, prejudged from the statements of bad men, and by the utterly false accounts which were inserted in English and, I believe, Australian papers. "I did not see your husband after he was taken down to Pretoria, but I understand that he died simply and fearlessly, as he had lived. "I have heard it said that the execution convinced the Boers of British fairness, and made them ready to come to terms. If this be so, then Lieutenants Morant and Handcock died for their country in a very special sense, and this is one of the many instances of suffering, even if undeserved, bringing salvation." "With much sympathy and good wishes, I am yours very truly, JOSHUA BROUGH." Now, as to Lieutenant Robertson, who gave evidence against his brother officers. During the long imprisonment of the men before they were shot, and the others who escaped the death penalty, he was retained in Pretoria as a witness, and allowed £1 a day expenses. He had afterwards a first-class passage to England and back. As to the witnesses for the prosecution, whose statements were more or less conflicting, some of them boasted openly that they expected to be rewarded with farms. This will show how much their evidence merited reliance. I had an opportunity while in Pretoria, in June of last year, of discussing the case with many ex-irregulars of the Bushveldt Carbineers. Those who had volunteered evidence against their officers would scarcely favourably impress a jury of citizens. Decent young fellows complained that they had not been called for the defence. The conviction of Witton, they declared, fairly staggered them. They begged of me, with no simulated emotion, to do my utmost as a journalist to bring out the truth and to rescue as speedily as possible Witton from the dungeon he did not deserve, for his humanity was apparent throughout his military career, when a ruder nature would have been absolutely corrupted. I promised these young men to do my utmost, and, although effort after effort has resulted in failure, we do not despair of abstracting Witton's case from its musty pigeon-hole in the War Office. I leave to other members of the deputation a statement of what we have done on Witton's behalf. The War Office assures us that "there are no extenuating circumstances in Witton's case." The French Minister for War assured the Republic-and the world-that there was no doubt about the guilt of Dreyfus. The Empire's Dreyfus case is the Witton scandal. It is a greater peril to Empire than a conspiracy of the Powers. Let justice be done and honour vindicated, even though the delicate susceptibilities of the War Office be perturbed thereby. Mr. Bruce-Hardy spoke on the legal aspect of the case as follows:--Sir Gordon Sprigg,-I am afraid that after the eloquent speech of my worthy friend Mr. Melville, I can say but little that will be of any great assistance to this deputation. One point, however, I might put some slight stress on, and that is the legal aspect of the case. Firstly, I would like to cite a clause out of the Army Regulations and Manual of Military Law of 1899, viz., part 1, sec. 9:--"Every person subject to military law who commits the following offence, that is to say, disobeys in such manner as to show a wilful defiance of authority any lawful command given personally by his superior officer in the execution of his office, whether the same is given orally or in writing, or by signal or otherwise, shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to suffer death or such less punishment as in this Act mentioned." Now I think the above Act is very plain, and I would take it that in this case it implies that had he (ex-Lieutenant Witton) disobeyed the order given him by his superior officer to shoot the now deceased, he (Witton) would have been guilty of a misdemeanour, and would have been liable to be shot. But to come to the point, we ascertained that ex-Lieutenant Witton did at the time oppose the shooting of the deceased. He stated that as a junior officer he would have to carry out the order of his superior, but he did so under protest; therefore again I might say that I fail to see how this ex-Lieutenant has committed any crime. The only point, as far as I can ascertain, that could be brought up against him is that, having received instructions from his senior in command, he protested, which would be but a slight misdemeanour or offence. But he has not been tried on that account. He was tried for murder, and has been sentenced to penal servitude for life. I must confess that I fail to see where this man has obtained justice. Undoubtedly, if he had disobeyed his orders, he would probably have been sentenced to death or imprisonment. It appears clear that had ex-Lieutenant Witton obeyed or disobeyed he would have been found guilty. Therefore I would submit that this man is, according to Army Regulations, innocent, and I trust that you, Sir Gordon, will see this matter in its true light, and use your best endeavours and advocate a reopening of this case before a civil tribunal. Mr. C. R. Juchau, who spoke next, referred to what had already been done in this matter locally. Continuing, he said:--Shortly before the arrival in Cape Colony of the ex-Colonial Secretary, a meeting was held, at which it was decided to prepare a petition for signatures, and a deputation was appointed to wait on the right hon. gentleman with the petition, and ask him to lay the matter before His Majesty the King. Mr. Chamberlain would not receive the deputation, but would take the petition and place it before the King. This promise we agreed on was not fulfilled. Meetings were held also in Johannesburg and Pretoria, the Boer Generals giving their hearty support to the movement; and this we submit, argues well for the justice of our cause. Sir Arthur Lawley, however, has stated that in Witton's case there were no extenuating circumstances. This, we hold, is a very unfair and most infamous decision in the face of the facts. As you are aware, sir, all our efforts so far have been fruitless, but we are determined to persevere. The press throughout the world has recently been written to and asked to lend its powerful influence to get the case reopened and the full evidence published. Our labours are purely humanitarian, and we are determined to see justice done the unfortunate ex-officer. With regard to one point dealt with in re the shooting of Boer prisoners for wearing khaki, I do not think the authorities concerned will deny the following case which came under my notice. Colonel Cookson's column operated in the Western Transvaal during the later stages of the war. About April, 1902, two Boers were caught in Reitvlei district, about 40 miles from Klerksdorp, and one of these men was drumheaded and shot for wearing a British khaki uniform-I believe by a firing party from B squadron (Major Scott) Damant's Horse. As a trooper of Cookson's column, I know that none of the officers concerned were court-martialled up to the declaration of peace. Captain Baudinet cited the case of the shooting of Baxter, a Boer, for wearing khaki by the order of Colonel Scobell, and up to the time of the signing of peace he had not heard that Colonel Scobell had been tried by court-martial. He had offered at the time of Witton's trial to give evidence on Witton's behalf, but was assured any exculpatory evidence would be superfluous. Mr. J. W. Van Reenan, an ex-officer of high rank in the army of the late Free State, said that on the subject of khaki he wished to make some pointed remarks, inasmuch as previous to the outbreak of hostilities khaki clothing was ordered to be, purchased for the use of the Boer forces. In support of that statement he added that he had to produce vouchers from the various merchants who supplied the cloth. British prisoners captured by the burgher forces on many occasions informed him that orders had been given by British officers that all Boer prisoners found wearing khaki were liable to be shot. Consequently, under these circumstances, he could quite understand the difficulty and uncertainty which must have arisen in the minds of junior officers in carrying out such instructions from superiors. Sir Gordon Sprigg said he had listened with great interest to the speeches of the deputation, and was impressed with the very remarkable features of the case. In many respects they were unique, and he could quite understand that there was widespread public interest taken in the case. He would at once say that he was in sympathy with the wishes of those who desired to see the early release of the young Victorian officer. He could quite understand the difficulties of a court-martial sitting during military operations arriving at just decisions. He would go into the case very carefully, and could promise them that he would put the appeal in the proper quarters in the strongest terms. CHAPTER XXV. FREEDOM AT LAST! A reply was received some time later by Mr. Easton from the Premier's secretary, stating that the Premier had received a despatch from the Colonial Secretary, who said that the Secretary of State for War was of opinion that the time had not yet arrived for advising His Majesty to grant my pardon. Affidavits were secured from E. Hammett, late Sergeant-Major in the Bushveldt Carbineers, and R. Maynard, also a late member of that ill-fated corps; they were as follows:-- I, Ernest Hammett, Squadron Sergeant-Major, late Bushveldt Carbineers, of Taunton, in the County of Somerset, make oath and say as follows:-- 1. That on 20th June, 1901, I joined the Bushveldt Carbineers at Capetown. On the 24th June, 1901, I proceeded to join my regiment, then stationed at Pietersburg, Transvaal. 2. That on 2nd August, 1901, I received orders to join the detachment at the Spelonken, some seventy miles north of Pietersburg, which was commanded by Lieutenant Morant. Lieutenant Witton was the officer in charge of the convoy, which left Pietersburg on 3rd August, 1901, and I, being the senior noncommissioned officer, had many opportunities of conversing with him, and found him to be a thorough officer and a gentleman. We arrived at Spelonken on the 4th August, 1901, at 5 p.m. 3. I am positive that in all the operations in which Lieutenant Witton and myself were engaged, Lieutenant Witton carried out to the strict letter of the law the orders he received from his superior officer only. And therefore I fail to see how he could be held responsible for any regrettable orders given by Lieutenant Morant. 4. Lieutenant Morant and Lieutenant Handcock, who were shot at the old Pretoria gaol on 27th February, 1902, were senior officers to Lieutenant Witton, all being Australians, and, I may add, not drilled to the discipline that is traditional to the ordinary British officers; but for hard work and fighting propensities I never fell in with three braver or more humane gentlemen during my fifteen years' military career. 5. I was arrested on the 24th October, 1901, with the officers of the Bushveldt Carbineers, and detained in the Pietersburg prison until 1st January, 1902,
|
|