CHAPTER CCLXV. THE ROYAL FAMILY AND THE WAR.

THE SOVEREIGN AND "THE FORCES OF THE CROWN "-QUEEN VICTORIA-KING EDWARD AND FOREJGN AFFAIRS-KING GEORGE IN 1914-THE KING'S DAy-VISITS TO THE FRONT-A MEMORY OF CRECy-THE HOUSE OF WINDSOR-ROYAL VISITS TO MUNITION WORKS AND INDUSTRIAL CENTRES-THE KING AND THE NAVy-THE PRINCE OF -VVALES AS A SOLDIER-THE QUEEN'S UNTIRING WORK-THE THRONE IN 1918.

HAT were the King and the Royal our old antagonist, was never broken, though Family doing during the Great War? it was often strained, and we had no share W What were the relations between His either in the American Civil War or in the Majesty and his people, his Army, three wars by which Bismarck made the and his Navy? How did he regard his duty, German Empire. Still less broken on the how did he perform it, and how were his surface was the reign of King Edward, whom efforts regarded at the front and in the country? the popular voice named "Peacemaker." How far did the young Princes do their share Soon after his accession the Boer War came to and the Queen and Princesses take a lead in an end; and from the date of the Peace of that multifarious war-work which, in the Vereeniging (May 31, 1902) to that of the hands of women, wa~ one of the wonders of King's lamented death in 1910, England was the country and th~ world? free from war altogether. Before speaking of King George in his What was the c,onstitutional position of relation to the Army, it will be well to look the Sovereign with regard to the Army and back upon some of the military and naval fea­ Navy during these reigns, and did it continue tures of the two preceding reigns. Both were unchanged? The answer is indicated with .in the main periods of peace, periods indeed of sufficient accuracy in the common description profound peace as compared with the period of these arms as "The Forces of the Crown." 'which closed in 1815 and that which began in It is indeed 'rather curious that, while we had 1914, though Queen Victoria had to face three for centuries possessed a "Royal" Navy, and serious wars-Crimeal India in 1857, and while our latest armed body was, during the South Africa-while "little wars" against Great War , officially nam.ed the Royal Air turbulent neighbours were a frequent and Force, we had no " Royal" Army. The omission perhaps inseparable accident of the rapid of the epithet is doubtless to be tr~ced to far­ growth of the Empire. But notwithstanding away historical causes, and is the outcome of the unhappy quarrel with Russia in 1854, that jealousy of standing armies which found England and her rulers passed safely through formal expression in the Bill of Rights (1689), many foreign storms and over many quick­ and remained a characteristic of Parliament sands. The peace between us and France, since the seventeenth century. The Bill of Vol. XVIII.-Part 225. 109 110 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

Rights declared that "the raising or keeping 1870-71 the spectacle of the Franco-German. of a standing Army within the Kingdom, " Tar stimulated Cardwell's reforms, did the­ unless it be by the consent of Parliament, is Duke's antiquated principles find it easy to against the law"; in other words, Parliament give way. At last, in 1895, public opinion must authorize the creation of the Army which grew too strong and too vocal, and the Duke,. Parliament was to pay. Still, though the then 76 years old, consulted the Queen as to· 'power of the purse always rested with Parlia- whether he should retire. She reluctantly, but ment, and though the organization of the Army, . very wisely, advised him to do so; and a Chief especially after Cardwell's reforms, ultimately whose fairness, industry, and devotion to his depended on a Parliamentary Secretary of work were universally recognized, made way State, no one ever seriously disputed that the for men more alive to the vital necessities of tjtular command belongs to the Crown. As the times. Lord Wolsel'ey wrote in 1887:< ;, From time Though, as has b;en said, the reign of King. immemorial the Sovereign has been the head Edward was a period of peace, it was marked of our Army, and it will be a bad day for by considerable efforts towards the strengthen ­ England should this ever be changed." "Com - , ing of both the land and the sea forces. New mand, preferment, and honour come to the types of ships were built-Dreadnoughts and Army from the Crown," says a great lawyer; super-Dreadnoughts, battle-cruisers and de­ and such remained the legal position. Queen stroyers, for the torpedo was assuming the­ Victoria was always jealous of her military importance which the Great War so amply rights. She was fond of the Army. She was proved. Two great naval reviews in the­ surrotmded by officers, all of them well schooled Solent, one of them held in honour ot the in military etiquette. She was fond of re­ Emperor of Russia, were held by the King, calling the fact that she was a "soldier's and showed to all the world that the British daughter" -for the Duke of Kent had been a Fleet was more powerful than ever. In 1907 General and Field-Marshal, and had been in Mr. Haldane, who, as Secretary of State for military command in Canada and at Gibraltar. War, profited greatly by the wisdom of King Her hiographer calls her love for the soldiers Edward, brought forward and carried his. "a dominant sentiment." scheme for the creation, of a Territorial Army In one matter Queen Victoria carried on a county basis.. In October the King her regard for her Royal prerogative further summoned the Lords-Lieutenant to Bucking­ than military, or indeed national, opinion ham Palace, and addressed them in an aI,limated! justified. This was in her appointment of speech, pointing out that the new Act would her cousin, the Duke of Cambridge, as Com.­ revive much of the importance formerly mander-in-Chief, and in her maintaining him belonging to their office. The Territorial> in the post-altered, modified, and extended Force was intended for home defence;· from time to time-for 40 years. The side by side with it there was patiently tnuy scandalous state of the Army, m developed that Expeditionary Force of six respect both of military equipment and of Divisions of Regulars which, when the fated general organization, was cruelly revealed by lTIOment came, was transported to France­ the blunders and failures of the Crimean " Tar; "without a single casualty," an,d stemmed' let us do justice to the memory of the Queen's the first German rush. These were the husband, the Prince Consort, and freely admit Divisions of which Marshal Foch said that .hat he, perhaps more than any .single man, they were" the finest troops" that he petsonally· helped to bring about essential reforms. But had ever seen. neither then nor later did the Duke of Cam­ King Edward died on May 6, 1910, and three­ bridge heartily recognize their necessity. Again, days later his only surviving son was pro­ when the Volunteer movement was brought claimed King under the title of George V. into being, Prince Albert actually drafted the The first four years of his reign hardly concern "Instnlctions to Lords-Lieutenant," issued in us here, but one cannot pass them by without May, 1859, which were the regulations on which the reflection, qtw,ntula sapientia r-egitur or-bis the Volunteer forge was raised and organized. terTaTum. We now know that we, our country, The Duke of Cambridge, however, was always our Empire, nay, civilization itself, was on the­ doubtful as to the utility of a civilian army of slopes of a volcano; that threatening, ull.ll1is­ this type; nor, eleven years later, when in takable murmurs were clearly audible; anCL • TH E Tll\1E8 HISTORY OF THE WAR. 111

FUNERAL OF QUEEN VICTORIA LEAVING WINDSOR CASTLE FOR THE ROYAL MAUSOLEUM AT FROGMORE. yet we passed our time less in prepari. ng result was the persuasion in t he m inds of t h8 for the storm than in quarr elling with one Kaiser and his Generals t hat civil war in ' another. For those were t he years of the Ireland was impending, and t hat England angry disputes between Lords and Commons, would at least have her hands full if t he first ab out the Parliament Bill, and then, Central Powers attacked France and Russia. when it became an Act, about its application The issues of peace and war are closely to the problem of Irish Government. One related to the direction. of a n ation's foreign 225-2 112 THE :TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. pplicy, and it is necessary to re fer briefly to it was especially so in the case of the famom; the part taken by Queen Victoria and King despatch to Washington on the occasion of the Edward in regard to the foreign relations of Trent affair, which Prince Albert, already the country. Both fully accepted the principle, struck by mortal illness, strengthened, rewrote which had been ~aining ground ever since the in his own hand, and easily persuaded the Queen fall of Napoleon, that the ideal policy for to sign. That dispatch, with its combination England was a policy of non-intervention, of firmness and sOl.md argument, undoubtedly and it is to ' her desire of sa~~guarding this averted the very serious danger of war. Very principle that we have to r6fer many of Queen often, however, the Queen was content with privately expressing her own opinions, which, at least in the first half of her reign, had what must be frankly recognized as a r eactionary element; for instance, in his account of the war in Italy, b~tween France and Austria, in 1859, Lord Malmesbury reports, "The Queen and Prince feel very strongly the defeat of the Austrians, and are anxiou ~ to take their part." The Foreign Minister, however, h,ad no difficulty in· pointing out that such a course was impossible; that not t en men in the House of COlTImons would vote for it; and the matter went no. further. Why the Queen sympathised. with Austria is obvious enough; she had an hereditary feeling for the Royal and Imperial families of Austria and Germany, and, on the other hand, she was nervous as to ,the intentions. of Napoleon Ill. When we r emember the . anti-English agitation of the French Colonels a few months later, we must admit that H er Majesty's fears were not groundless. However; as w~ happily know, things changed altogether during the last thirty years of her reign, and, though on some occasions, as during the Boer War, England had to put up with abuse levied impartially by the French and German n ews­ papers (when indeed the German situation was seriously threatening), there never was any real danger of a quarrel with France, and the con­ viction steadily grew on both sides that the interests of the two countries were substantially' the same. This conviction was immensely strengthened during King Edward's reign. It may be [Do wney. said of him that geniality was the law of THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT, K.G. his being; geniality which had not been, Inspector.General of Oversea Forces, extinguished either by the strict discipline in 1917. which he had b een kept during boyhood by an Victoria's most definite assertions of authority. admirable but too serious-minded father, * nor The leading case was her reluctance to b e led by his practical exclusion from polit~callife and by Lord Palm.erston on what she believed to authority during the forty years of his rather be too ad\renturous lines; a reluctance which imperious mother's widowhood. One special led her to insist upon all the dispatch8s of her outcome of this genial temperament was King Foreign · Ministers b eing submitted to her Edward's love for France. As Prince of Wales before they . were sent off. Sometimes this '" See Quarte1'ly Review, July, 1910: " The Character was to the undoubte.d advantage of the country; of King E dward VII." THETIME8 HISTORY OF THE WAR. 113

"CORONATION'" REVIEW A TSPITH:EAD; 1902. " Majestic" (on left') and other warships of the period. he used to be called half a Parisian; 4espoke' Egypt, ' Newfoundland, Siam and other regions French perfectly; he liked French art: 'French' where the iJ?-'t.Ei;lr:ests of the two countries might theatres, and French society; and hi. ~ prIvate possibly ~ome into collision. visits to France were many: But when h~ The Franco-British Entente was a great became King, he seized the opportunity of' work of peace, clearly directed against no Power giving a more abiding form to the" union of or combination of Powers that. desired pea<;:e . . hearts" which he had so long privately culti­ Even Prince Biilow, then German Imp er~a l vated. With the full assent of his Ministers, Chancellor, accepted it at first as such, but on he planned a State visit to our Mediterranean second thoughts Germany recDgnized a fatal stations, to Italy, and to France, and this he blow to her ambitions, because they rest~d carried out in the spring of 1903. 'On board the essentially upon the maintenance of possible Victoria and Albert, he steamed to Lis90n, to causes of dissension between Great Britain and Gibraltar, to Malta, and to Naples ~ whence he the countries that were marked down as Ger­ passed to .Rome on a visit to King Victor many's victims in Europe. Henceforward , it Emmanuel. His reception by the people. of suited German propaganda-and the Kaiser- Rome was enthusiastic, nor was their ardour , to identify the person of King Edward with the lessened when King Edward, a few days later, , p'olicy that was represented in season and out went to the Vatican and paid a visit to the aged of season as an anti-German policy, a policy of Pope, Leo XIII, then 92 years old. "hem~ng Germany 'in." In fact, King He returned by way of Par:s, where the streets Edward before the war was treated to a small were decorated in his honour and where measure of the calumnies tllat in the first stages Government and people riva.lled each other in of the ~ar were heaped, with equally deliberate the warmth of their welcome. For some days mendacity, upon Sir Edward , Grey. Happily the King was in close intercourse with President all such attempts to undermine the position of Loubet, M. D elcasse, and other political leaders ; King Edward were defeated, and. no T eutonic the result being not only an increase of mutual guile could bring a breath of suspicion upon the cordiality between the two peoples, bu~ the ICing's perfect observance of constitutional very in"lportant Agreement which was signed, limits to his authority. Yet it should be sealed, and ratified in 1904. By this were r ecorded, and even emp1i~sized, that King settled, on a basis of happy give-and-take, all Edward, by the knowledge and judgment that those vexatious questions affecting ' Morocco, he brought to bear upon the problems of foreign THE T1MES H1STORY OF THE liVAR.

policy that were gradually ripening during his unswerving patriotism that waR surpassed by reign, reridered an immense service, helped to none of his subjects. The State papers of the - avert many p erils made in Germany for our time record the King's official efforts, in the undoing, and was indeed one of the chief conll'lnmications which, always upon advice, he architects of the great structure, founded upon had with the heads of other cOlmtries. to main-

[RlIssell. KING EDWARD VII. AS ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET, AND THE PRINCE OF WALES. AFTERWARDS KING GEORGE V. AS VICE·ADMIRAL. justice and liberty, which saved the world from tain the p eace. It fell to him, for instance, to German aggression. address to the T sar on August 1 a message King George, b etween his accession in 1910 urging delay and negotiation, to 'V" hicb the and the outbreak of war in 1914, took a less T sar could only reply: " I would gladly have prominent share in European affairs. But he accepted your proposals had not the German was well acquainted with the true situation, Ambassador this afternoon presented a Note ancl was prepared, when the great crisis broke·, to n'ly Governn'lent declaring war." In vain, to play his part wisely and well, with an it may b e added, did the Kaiser's brother, Prince THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 115

Henry of Prussia, stay in England up to the really covered a boundless field, for it was last moment that his presence could be tolerated not the first Six Divisions only, but the with a futile hope of exerting some sort of millions that. followed them, the Fleet, the influence upon, or through, tho British Court. Merchant ' Service and fishermen, the masses Then, as afterwards, through all th8 vicissitudes of w,ar workers of both sexes, and last and trials of the long struggle. the King and but not least, the innumerable sufferers from Queen cherished no thoughts or feelings but a long war, the wounded, the sick, and the those which inspired the whole British people. impoverished, whose "welfare was never absent from the thoughts" of the King and the On the afternoon of August 4 the King .Koyal Family. held a Council IiLnd issued proclamations For weeks before the outbreak of war the calling out the Army Reserve, embodying King had been deep in a mass of work. All the Territorial Force, and bidding all naval through JUly, 1914, he knew, both through his officers on the Reserves and Retired List own private information and through his to hold themselves in readiness for active Ministers, how critical the situation was. 8ervice; and on the following day he and his During those weeks he took, not without Naval Equerry spent several hours at the his Ministers' knowledge but very much Admiralty fnspecting the elaborate plans of the on his own initiative,' a step which some probable field of naval operations-naturally a extreme party men denounced as unconstitu­ work of the deepest interest to one who had tional. They only meant' that it threatened been for so many years an active naval officer. their own pet schemes with failure. It was Meantime, to anticipate one of the inevitable to summon to Buckingham Palace, 'on July results of war, the young Prince of Wales put 21, two leading men from each of the four himself at the head of a strong committee and parties chiefly concerned-Government, British issued a national appeal for funds for the relief Unionist, Nationalist and Ulster-and to of distress. A few days later, when the 'Expe­ urge upon them the necessity of at once comine ditionary Force was ready to depart on active to an arrangement on the Irish question. , It service, the King sent t,he following message to became known, though the passage was omitted the troops :- from the official report, that the King had " Buckingham Palace. strongly hinted at his main reason-the immi­ "You are leaving home to fight for the nent danger of a European war. " Te know safety and honour of my Empire. that unhappily no arrangement was reached. "Belgium, whose cOLmtry we are pledged N one the less the incident is a memorable to defend, has been attacked, and France is one as showing the King's intense desire to about.to be invaded by the same powerful present a united front to all possible enemies, foe. and his statesmanlike sense of the true interests "I have implicit confidence in you, my of the people. soldiers. Duty is your watchword, and I It has often been said that a King of England know your duty will be nobly done. who does his duty is bound to be the hardest "I shall follow your every movement with worked man in his dominions. Even in peace deepest interest and mark with eager satis­ time this is not much of an exaggeration, but faction your daily progress; indeed, your let us look at King George's routine dllring welfare will never be absent from my the long years of the Great War. Even when thoughts. in London his tasks and engagements com­ " I pray God to bless you and guard you pletely filled theday. His Majesty began work and bring you back victorious. with one of his secretaries at 9.30 a.m., but GEORGE, R.I. by that hour he had read the newspapers. ~' 9th August, 1914." Few sovereigns ever kept themselves in touch with public opinion through the medium of the " Your welfare will be never absent from my Press m.ore assiduously than King George; thoughts." These words were not a rhetorical if 'lie was travelling the papers ~ere brought to expression: they were a promise, and it was the Royal train so that he ' might see them nobly performed. Primarily addressed to the before the day's programme began. Work small body of soldiers which formed the with the secretaries went on for an p.our, and advance guard of a nation in arms, they was chiefly concerned with correspondence. 116 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

At ~0.30 the first of the interviews arranged for take a walk in the grounds of the palace at t.he day was given. It was a common thing for some time in the morning, but . usually his five or six people to be received on one morning, interviews lasted until lunch. At lunc~leo n a and the audiences as a nue were anything but distinguished visitor was often present, so that perfun.ctory. They. were also extremely varied. the King might talk with him. In the after· The King always took the greatest interest in ~oon on at least four days in the week His the stories of prisoners of war who escaped Majesty, generally accompanied by the Queen from captivity, and all but two of the officers and Princess Mary, drove out to visit hospitals who got away froin enemy countries, before and to see and converse with wounded officers '!'e;oiutio'n ope~ed ' the German f~ontier, visited and m en. Thousands of w01mded in the the Palace. Interesting visitors to England hospitals in and ar01:~nd London had the were usually commanded to go to ,the Palace, pleastITe of seeing the K ing in this way during and long conversations arose out of the the war. After tea His Majesty got through audience. As an example . of this type of at least two hours of serious State work. The interview it may be recalled that when Mr.' early evening was a favoured time for the and Mrs. Scoresby Routledge returned to reception of members of the W'ar Cabinet. England after a three years' scientific The King's daily communications with Ministers expedition in their yacht, they presented were sometimes merely matter s o~ form, but to the King and Queen Charles and Edwin very often. they involved qu~stions of high Young, two Pitcairn Islanders, desce~dant s importance, which it might take hours to Jf Midshipman Young, the sole mutineer offic~r settle. Then there was always a mass of of ~ . M.S. B01mty. His Majesty had a long Government documents to be read, and hITther conversation with the men about the conditions work with , the secretaries. The King dined of their island home and its people. In October, at 8.30. 1918, the King received Mr. George Dobson, While something like this was the regular the Correspondent of The Times in Petrograd, agenda paper of His Majesty when at Bucking­ who had been imprisoned and suffered great ham Palace or Windsor, Investitures had to hardships at the hands of the Bolshevists. be added once or twice a week, and he had to If engagements permitted, the K ing liked to carry out a whole second programme elsewhere.

KING GEORGE DRIVING WITH PRESIDENT POIl\/CARE IN PARIS DURING HIS' VISIT IN 1914. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 117

CHEERING THE KING AND QUEEN AT BUCKINGHAM 'PALACE On the night of the Declaration of War against Germany.•

In other words, he had constantly to visit which appeared in The T ·ime8 on D ecember 8, factories, hospitals, training camps, aerodromes 1914. This account,. indeed, is typical, for and other scenes of t he all-pervasive war though the occasions and the places were, activity throughout the c01mtry, and at frequent of course, different, the work and the daily intervals to visit the Fleet in its stations off progral'nme were much the same in all the the coast and the Army at the Front. Royal visits. In all the;e were natura.lly the The King's first visit to the front was paid same voyage across the Channel without notice after the war had lasted four months-months. given, the same silent preparations, the same marked by the devastation of Belgium, the r~pid motor journeys, the same constant talks retreat from Mons, and the epoch-making with Generals, English and French. battle of the Marne With regard to this visit His Majesty arrived on the 'coast on 1fonday, w.~ . ~annot do b ~ tter than summarise ~he Nove mber 3~, 1914, an~ returned on Saturday, detailed account provided by an eye-witnyss, ' D ecember 5, after a week, unfortun~tel v , of 118 THE TIl\!lES H18TOBY OF THE' WAR.

cold and rainy weather. H e was met by the contIngent-those fine fighting men of vvhom Prince of Wales, who had up to that time the Germans used to say that they would n ever given almost continuous service at the front, consent to fight by the side of the English and and, after visiting some of the hospitals at the for the cause of EngJand. Germans and base, he proceeded straight to G.H.Q., where English alike soon discovered that the races of he was received by Sir John French, then in India knew when they were well governed, chief command. It was arranged that on and were not at all anxious to exchange British three successive" days the King should make order either for domestic anarchy or for the tours of inspection round the Army Corps, tyranny of a German overlord. should converse with the Divisional Generals The first day's inspection included also a. and the Brigadiers, and should make acquain· visit to a large clearing hospital, where some of tance with their staff'S, and that the last days the patients were suffering from frost bite; and should be given to the examination of the in the afternoon the King met President Intelligence and other work clone at Head­ Poincare, his Prime. Minister, M. Viviani, and quarte.rs and to the bestowal of certain decora­ General J offre) the French Commander-in­ tions. In part the inspection had to do with Chief, who had won undying honour by his large masses of troops wherever they could be victory on the Marne. It can well be imagined conveniently collected; these, as well as the that when _the King and the President drove smaller bodies that were gathered in villages along the line in an open motor-car they had or at the cross roads, welcomed the Royal cars an enthusiastic reception. That day's journey in parade order, and then sent them on their ended with the bestowal of the Grand Cross way with lusty cheers, often audible to the of the Bath on General Joffre. The next day, enemy a few miles away. It is noteworthy which was finer, the King made a circular that on the first day, with the Maharajah of journey of no less than seventy miles, visiting a Bikanir and Major-General Maharajah Sir cavalry corps and the 3r.d Army Corps, his Pratap Singh in attendance, His Majesty in­ Majesty walking past the lines of cavalry, a spected_ the large and very effective Indian magnificent and formiclable body; and after-

THE KING AND QUEEN VISIT THE CANADIAN WOUNDED AT TAPLOW, AUGUST 24-, 1917. 'llHE TIMES HISTORIT OF THE WAR. 119

wards he had the pleasure of presenting the to the central ofiice of this department. To Medaille Militaire, granted by the French quote the description given by The Times, PC0sident, to several Britisll soldiers. Before "This spot is really the nerve centre of the the day ended he also visited some artillery Army in the field, for into it r l1,diate the ten­ and engineer lmits and a detachment of the tacles along which flash messages from every Hoyal Flying Corps, besides insp ~ cting the part of the field of oper ations, from the base charcoal makers, who prepared charcod,l for and from England. By telegraph, air-line and the braziers in the trenches. Here, too, he cable, by wireless, by telephone and motor went through one of those large convalescent cyclist, does the information reach this office, homes or resting-places for m en slightly indis­ posed or over-done which worked wonders in the way of quickly enabling such men to return to duty fit and well. H e also witnessed an­ other excellent institution, a vast bathing es tabli ~hment, where multitudes of men could pleasantly get rid of the mud of the trenches and go back freshly clothed. That day ended with the presentation of the G.C.B. to General Foch and the G.C.M.G. to seven other French Generals. Thursday b egan with the investiture of Sir John French with the Order of Merit, and then followed visits to the 1st and 2nd Corps, which implied not only a long car journey but many conversations and a short address to the officers of one specially distinguished Brigade. After luncheon the King had ~ deeply interesting experience. The day was clear ) and he mounted to a commanding point from which he _saw the actual battle raging at no great distance. Far away to the right were Lille and Houbaix; then came a ridge w here the fighting had been terrific-a, ridge black with ruined villages ; and to the left was Ypres, clearly visible with its roofless Hallps . . Then the procession, turJaed homewards, passing for more than a mile through a double line of cavalry waving their swords and cheering. This was the last of the motor tours, and Friday was spent at General H eadquarters to give His Majesty the opportlmity of studying that KING GEORGE AND MR. LLOYD GEORGE. manifold and complicated staff work which few outsiders understand and which many the total number of message,s of all natures p 90ple failed to appreciate during the Great handled in one day averaging about three War. Too commonly it was said that the thousand, of which the majority are far longer privates were the only people who did the r eal than the average telegram of peflce time. work, and that the officers, except when it The whole building pulsated with the tick of came--to actual fighting, were purely ornamental. machines of different kinds. In one room the One wishes that such people could have SeeYL King watched ,the operators busily perforating what the King saw on that Friday as, with long strips of paper with the noisy' puncher' t he Comm.ander-in-Chief and the Chief of so that the messages could be sent off by the the General Staff, he passed slowly through vVheatstone high-speed apparatus. In another the offices of H eadquarters. First he inspected he saw several of these machin,es, which can the motor cyclist dispatch riders, a branch send at any speed up to a ;. llaxin~um of 600 of the Army Signal Units, and then passed words a minute, and some duplex machines by 225-3 120 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 12] which means messages can be sent along the been serious, for Surgeon-General Sir Arthur wires in both directions at the same time." Sloggett had the King conveyed by ambulance Near~y a year elapsed before the King paid and hospital train all the way to port. While his second visit to the Front (Oct. 22-Nov. 1, he was in the train there happened a pleasant 1915), a visit which was marred by an unfor­ little incident which was much spoken of at t1.mate accident. Having inspected the British the time. The King had determined personally camps at Havre he proceeded to meet the to invest Lance-Sergeant OliveI' Brooks, of the French President, with whom he reviewed Coldstream Guards, with the Victoria Cross, some British troops n ear H eadquarters, and and the ceremon.y was carried through without then visited the French Armies, expressing mishap, although His Majesty :was so weak that hin1.self delighted both with their martial he could not without assistance drive the pin appearance and with their recent fine per­ · through the thick khaki. On board the formances in d hampagne. Some little time' hospital ship Anglia there were some 50 before his departure for France His Majesty other injured men, and unfortunately the had issued two addresses, one to the Army crossing was very rough. But no harm was through Sir John French, and one to the done, Victoria Station was reached without people at large; in the former he expressed his difficulty, and an ambulance conveyed His admiration of the fine work done by both Majesty from the station to the Palace, being Allies towards the end of September, the attended by an English and a Canadian nurse, British in the n eighbourhood of Loos and the the English '. sister being by a curious coin­ French in Champagne, where they took 23,000 cidence the same nurse who had attended prisoners, while in the second address he King Edward when suffering from typhoid. strongly appealed to the country for renewed The public anxiety was allayed by a cheerful efforts. " More men and yet more are wanted bulletin, but the seriousness 6f the accident to keep my Armies in the field, and through may be gauged by the fact that the King was them to secure victory and enduring peace_ ... confined to his rooms for six weeks, the latest I ask you, men of all classes, to come forward · bulletin being issued on Dec. 1 :-;. A curious voluntarily and take your share in the fight." point in this last report was the official state: . The last words recall the fact that conscription ment of Sir Frederick Treves and Sir Bertrand had not yet become the law of the land_ As Dawson that they had found it "necessary on to the actual tour, it was described at the medical grounds that the King should take a time as "a happy mixture of the strictly little stimulant daily during his convalescence." practical with the necessary sprinkling of This, of course, referred to the self-denying ceremonial," a noteworthy incident of the ordinance issued a long time before, wherein latter being the bestowal of the Croix de Guerre the King announced that no alcohol was to be on the Prince of ·Wales, who by this time had consumed in any of the Royal houses till the become almost a veteran soldier. conclusion of the war, an ordinance that was All went well l.mtil October 28, when the strictly observed to the end. visit was naturally approaching its end. On A third visit to the troops followed eight that day the King had just reviewed two months later, and this time the King came bodies of troops from the First Army when the into close and interesting touch with the rank mare that he was riding, alarmed by a sudden and file of the great new armies which had outburst of cheers at a few yards' distance, been fighting so valiantly and so cheerfully reared twice, and the second time failed to on the Somme battlefields. During a strenuous recover h erself, f ~ ll over and rolled · on the · and hard-working week he saw and was seen King's leg. The cheers stopped with difficulty by hlU1.dreds of thousands of his splendid while His Majesty, who had been lifted into soldiers. Following out his instinct to get to a car and was sitting there in great pain, made know the men, their thoughts and their feel­ his way to quarters where he could be properly ings, he spoke with many scores of " Tommies " attended to. Five distinguished surgeons and along the roads, going to or coming from the physicians were quickly on the spot; favom'able fighting line, on parades, in billets and in trenches. reports were issued, and on Nov. 1 His Majesty Not only did he see the men-he saw the was safely transported to Buckingham Palace, ground over which they had fought. The crossing the Channel on board a hospital ship. Special Correspondent of The T1·mes at British It was evident, however, that the accident had Headquarters said, at the time, that the King 122 THE TL~1ES HISTORY OF THE WAR. visited battlefields where our guns were roar­ General Order, in which he said : "I have had ing, and over which the enemy threw shells opportunities of visiting some of the scen es of every day. He climbed in and out ·of t.renches desperate fighting, and of appreciating to a which saw desperate fighting in the early days slight, extent the demands made upon your of the battle of the Somme, and went into courage and physical endurance in order to German dug-outs and picked up relics of the assail and capture positions prepared during battle with his own hands. He spent hours the past two years and stoutly defended to the in c:1sualty clearing stations t.alking with the last. I have realized not only the splendid wOlmded, and he saw German prisoners work which h as been done in immediate touch coming down from the scene of their capture. with the enemy, but a lso the vast organizations On his arrival in France the King visited Sir behind the fighting line, honourable alike to Douglas Haig, ,\1I'ho since his previous visit the genius . of the initiator s and to the heart had succeeded Sir John French as Commander­ and hand of the workers." A cordial and in ~C hi e f of the Expeditionary Force, and in confident message ended with the assurance to the course of the week h e talked with President the troops: " I r eturn home more than ever Poincare, General J offre and General Foch. proud of you." vVithout actually entering the French b attle Again almost a year elapsed b efore the King ione h e saw great numbers of French soldiers was able to. visit the Front, but the 1917 visit at the point where the two armies touched. was made particularly interesting by the On Thursday, August 10, the King spent fact that the Queen accompanied him to some some hours on the r eal battlefield and in place distance beyond the port of landing, and of undoubted danger, where " few people spent a week in visiting hospitals and convoys, cared to go unless duty called them." The and the n ewly established " ' iV.A.A.C." A spot~ in fact, was "lmhealthy," and it was very interesting episode was Her Majesty's well that the enemy did not guess the King driving with the Prince of Wales to the battle­ was there. The Prince of vVales accompanied field of Crecy, where "the Prince stood on the King on the t.our. the exact spot, as tradition gives it, where At the close uf his visit His Majesty issued a the BII-I.ck Prince stood, nearly 600 years b efore,

THE KING MEETS PRESIDENT POINCARE AND MARSHAL JOFFRE IN FRANCE, OCTOBER 1915. THE T l 1YlES HISTORY OF rHE }fT AR. 123

[Official photograph. THE KING IN PERONNE.

on the famous day when he assumed the On July 11, III company with Sir H enry now faniiliar Prince of Wales' feathered crest Horne, the King visited the famous" Vimy and motto, which had belonged to the slain Ridge; and at another time he held a review King John of Bohemia." But we have to of those tremendous new instruments of battle, look still farther back for a visit of a King the Tanks. Afterwards came a visit to the King and Queen of England to the battle front in of the Belgians, with aeroplanes for guides and war time. As Sir Herbert Maxwell pointed guards, and to that strange, fantastic outcome out in a letter to The Times, the latest occasion of the war, a camouflage factory, where were ·on which such an event had occurred was in woven" the robes of deception for the bewilder­ the year 1304, when Queen Margaret accom­ ment of the Boche." Very different experi­ panied her husband, Edward 1. , t.o the siege rot ences filled the next two days-a visit across 'Stirling Castle. the An.cre to the formidable Thiepval, which While Queen Mary made an exhaustive tour had cost the lives of so many mstermen in ·of the hospitals and other "institutions of 1916, and which, after many vicissitudes and succour" which abounded in the rear of the Il'luch more bloodshed, was now again ours; Armies, and once or twice motored to points and another trip past Martinpuich and D elville -overlooking the Somme battlefield, King'George vVood to that monument of German barbarism, was with the fighting men, chiefly those of once beautihu peronne. "France's D ay"­ Sir Herbert Plumer's Army. Guided by that JlUY 14-followed, and tIns the King spent in ilistinguished General, he explored the recently visiting a hospital, full of French wOLUlded, at capt'ured Messines Ridge, lunched outside a a great sea-port, and in once more telling the cottage which a peasant woman insisted upon sufferers what admiration he felt for them, still occupying, though the gLUlS boomed their fellows, and their cOLUltry. around her, entered a town and examined the fine show of enemy guns just captured by the Imn1.ediately after his return from France English, the Australians, and the New Zealand the King took a step which gave intense troops, and was heartily welcomed by the Mayor satisfaction not only to his armies, but to Ins .and his Council and the whole population. millions of subjects throughout the Empire . 124 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR .

At a meeting of the Privy COl.llcil, to which Our 'Grandmother Queen Victoria of blessed Dominion Ministers as well as the Duke · of and glorious memory to relinquish and dis­ Connaught, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the continue the use of all German Titles and Lord Chancellor, the Prime Minister, Lord Dignities: Curzon, Lord Rosebery and others had been And whereas We have declared these Our ;;;ummoned, His Majesty signed a Proclamation de terminations in Our Privy Council: announcing that for the future the Royal Now, therefore, We, ont of our Royal V\Till House and Family should be known as "of and Authority, do hereby declare and annonnce Windsor," and relinquishing and discontinuing that as from the date of this Our Royal Pro­ clamation Our House and Family shall be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor, and that all the descendants in the male line of Our said Grandmother Queen Victoria who are subjects of these Realms, other than female descendants who may marry or may have married, shall bear the said Name of Windsor: And do h ereby further declare and annOlmce . that Vi' e for OurseJves and for and on behalf of Our descendants and all other the descen­ dants of Our said Grandmother Queen Victoria who are subjects of these, Realms, relinquish and enjoin the discontinuance of the use of the Degrees, Styles, Dignities, Titles and Honours of Dukes and Duchesses of Saxony and Princes and Princesses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and all other German Degrees, Styles, Dignities,. Titles, Honours and Appellations to Us or to· them heretofore belonging or appertaining. Given at Our Court at Buckingham Palace, this Seventeenth day of J uly, in the year of our Lord One thousand nine hundred and seventeen, and ill­ [Offieial photogmpk. the Eighth year of Our Reign. THE KING CHATTING WITH MEN WOUNDED IN THE GERMAN OFFEN­ GOD SAVE THE KING. SIVE, 1918. The choice of the name of Windsor for the­ Royal House was very popular, for Windsor,. the use of all German titles. The text of the longer than any other royal residence, had Proclamation was as follows :- been associated with the fortunes and the lives By THE KING. of the Kings and Queens of England. The A PROCLAMATION step was more democratic than appeared on the­ DECLARING THAT THE NAME OF WINDSOR IS surface, for it meant that the male descendants TO BE BORNE BY HIS ROYAL HOUSE AND of the sovereign would be commoners in the­ FAMILY AND RELINQUISHING THE USE OF third generation, with a courtesy title as the­ ALL GERMAN TITLES AND DIGNITIES. sons of dukes, and plain Mr. Windsor in the GEORGE R.I. fourth generation. The Times, commenting on. HEREAS We, having taken into con­ the King's action, said: W sideration the Name and Title of Our Royal House and Family, have determined Cynics may regard the change as a matter of no importance, but they are mistaken. His Majesty h as' that henceforth Our House and Family shall been better advised. It is not wisdom, but folly, to. be styled and known as the House and Family ignore the influence of sentiment on the populace. More than anything else it binds the Empire together, and the of Windsor: war has demonstrated the strength of the bond by­ And whereas We have further determined proofs whic~ no man can gainsay or belittle. The for Ourselves and for and on behalf of Our King has known well how to gratify the patriotic senti­ ment of all the British peoples which centres on the· descendants and all other the descendants of Crown. in this as in other things. During the earlier- THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE vVAR. 125

par t of Queen Victoria's reign, after her marriage, t ho his cheering mission to H eadquarters, and Gennan elem en t. at court was a standing cause of irrita­ t ion a m on g t he mass of t he people of t his cou ntry, as on. his return wrote, on March 30, a letter to everyone who knows t hem ifl well aware. L a t er the Field-Marshal Haig, which did much to keep feeling, on ce acu te, ab ated, and during K ing Edward's up the spirits of the soldiers and the people reign it died d own. It was not a p erson al feeling against m ern bel'S of t he R oyal F amily , wh o were, and are, at home. It expressed the King's gratitude popular , b u t d ue to an instinctive dislike of Teu tonism ; for" the skilful, unswerving manner in which and wh o sh all say n ow t h at it was n ot just ified ? By the formidable attack h ad b een, and still was, I his last act King George h as expu nged the m emory of it, an d therein h e h as done w isely . dealt with," and it proceeded :- "Though for the moment our troops have W e now come to the y ear 1918, crowded b een obliged b ~ sheer weight of numbers b eyond all precedent with events of high import to give some ground, the impression left to the British E m pire, t o Europe, and to man­ on my mind is that no Army could be in kind. In the spring our ar:mies had to suffer better heart, braver, or more confident, a check which, had it n ot been retrieved, might than. that which you have the honour to have led the way to a disastrous end; in. command. August, as the fifth year of the war was just "Anyone privileged , to share these experi­ beginning, it was retrieved , and retrieved with ences would feel with me proud of the British a vengean ce. March saw the worst set-back race and of t1;lat unconquerable spirit which of the Allied armies ; August, the new attack will, please God, bring u s through our present of the forces united "lmder t he supreme corn·, trials. mand of General Foch, carrying out with su ­ " W e at home must insure that the m an prem e success the plan of that great strategist, power 'is adequately maintained, and that our and driving back the enemy from point to point, worker s, m en and women, will continue nobly from river to river, from line to line! The King to meet the demands for all the necessities of was eager to share both his Army's t,emporary war. Thus may yo~ be relieved from any failure and its success. With even. more anxiety as to the m eans by which, with the secrecy than u mal, he slipped across the Channel support of our faithful and brave Allies, your in the last' week of March , spent two days upon heroic Army shall justify that inspiring de-

(Qfficia! photograph' THE KING AT THE FRONT: RECEIVING FRENCH OFFICPR~ , AUGUST, 1917. ]26 . THE Tl1'dES HISTORY OP THE TiVAR.

t ermihation which I found permeat ed . all Royal visit. It is doubtful whether we shall ever r8.nks. r eturn again to the stiff, solemn and ceremonial " B elieve m.e, very sincerely yours, occasions which served to bring the people and "(Signed) GEORGE R.I." their monarch into contact in the days of On July 8 came the happy augw'y of the Queen Victoria and even of King Edward VII. Royal Silver Wedding Day, marked by a great The event was usually a stone-laying ceremony gathering in the Guildhall, and the delivery by or the formal opening of a public building; His Majesty of a spirited and confident speech. ponderous addresses of welcome were r e2.d and A month later there followed t he great Anglo­ there were drives through streets carefully F l'ench attack of August 8; three days before barricaded to keep the loyal citizens at a proper it was delivered the King was once 1nore in distance. Much money, public and private, France, destined to witness the glorious opening was spent on · bunting, Venetian poles and and the "lUlmistakable proIll.ise of success. The triuinphal a rches, and, so that there might be letter which he sent to Sir Douglas Haig just a show, many people rode in open carriages before returning is a document of much interest, in a procession. There was a mounted military showing not only the King's confidence, but the band, a sovereign's escort of Life Guards, and thorough way in which he turned these visits a State landau dravvn by six horses to carry into tours of inspection of the highest value. the RoyaJ visitors. King George and Queen On the one side he commended the fighting Mary with their simple, democratic ways had force as a whole, and expressed the" pride and no taste for display of this kind, and the type veneration" which he felt towards the m en of royal tour they had b eglUl to develop in the on whom he had bestowed the Victoria Crosses; early years of their reign r educed formality .on the other, he gave his high approval to and circ"lUllstance to a minimum and brought D epartments so various as the Forestry Depart­ them into really close touch with the everyday ment, the hospitals, those who cared for the lives and toil of thousands of their subjects. horses and mules, the organizers of play and The methods and details of these visits relaxation, and the chaplains of all denomina­ needed little further simplification to fit them tions. And with the fighting force he naturally for days of war when their u sefulness suddenly g~ouped "the transport services by land and became of national importance. So far as sea, and those vast industries' in which the experience could suggest alterations the changes men and women at home maintain the supplies took on the form of cutting red-tape, and bring ­ of food and munitions of war." ing the King into personal contact with as ~any This brings us to His Majesty's action with of the worlm~s and their trade "lmion leaders regard to the mlUlition works. It is a truism as possible. Sorr;te of the tours "lUldertaken in to say that if m en are the first necessi.ty of a 1917 and 1918 ~T e r e delightful in their uncon­ modern army, food and munitions nUl a close ventional incidents and their entire freedom Tace for the second place; and with r egard to from stilted ceremony. The writer saw their munitions, the way in which England met the Majesties walk along the narrow cobbled tremendous demand will ever b e rightly re­ street s of aNorth cOlUltry town with an excited garded as a source of national pride. The cheering throng of m en, women and children wonderful story of the development of the pressing on their heels and almost jogging their munitions industries, from the spring of 1915 elbows ; pass ..down lanes of workpeople in onwards, has been fully told in earlier chapters. * factories where hlUldreds of hands could have The King, as might have been expected, touched them as they went by; and shoulder r ealized from early in 1915 ' the immense a way among a boisterously and embarrassingly importance of munitions, and did his best by loyal crowd of fish porter s on the quay at -constant visits to different works to encourage Grimsby. both the workers and their employers . Even On April 30, 1915, the King, with Lord bp-fore the war the King and Queen had shown Kitchener, visited the Government Small a desire to see for themselves the conditions Arms work at Enfield and at "\Valtham Abbey and processes of some of the industries of the and spoke to several of the workmen as he country, and they had gradually changed the went through the factories ; 10 days later Court idea of the purpose and programme of a he was at Portsmouth Dockyard, and asked Sir Hedworth Meux to express to the Admiral­ • .See especially Val. V., Chapter XCIII., and Va !. X ., · C:~apter CLXII. Superintendent, the heads of departments, THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE W-AR . 127

and the workmen in the dockya.rds his appre­ While His Majesty's reception was ~ve rywhe re ciation of the p art which" by their devotion cordial, the shipwrights and munition workers to duty they wer e taking in maintaining at Barrow were p erhaps the most enthusiastic the strength and efficiency of His Majesty's of all. In July the King went to Coventry Fleet» In this way there began a series of and the Birmingham district, where he saw a tours which may b e sa,id to have occupied variety of operations. His round included such almost the whole summer. On May 17 the establishments as those of the Birmingham King went to the Clyde, where he received with Small Arms Co., the Wolseley Motor Co., and g reat sat~s'fR,ction a resolution unanimously Kynochs, where Mr. Arthur Chamberlain passed by the workmen employed by the showed him the making of quick-firing 18- Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Com­ pounder shells, th-e capping of cartridge cases, / pany expressing their determination to put and the packing of cartridges. He heard with

WOMEN WORKERS' HOMAGE TO THE KING AND QUEEN ON THE OCCASION OF THEIR SILVER WEDDING, JUNE 29, 1918. The scene in the Quadrangle at Buckingham Palace.

forth their b eRt efforts to turn out as efficiently interest that the firm was employing four times and rapidly as possible the Government work as many m en and women as they were 12 entrust ed to them. In reply to the resolution months previously and that the output was His :M~a j es ty said that it would indeed b e a six times greater. There were about 8,000 h appy outcome t o his visit if it had in any way workpeople on the ground during the Royal conduced to this expression of patriotic resolve. visit. At the works of the Metropolitan From the Clyde the lung passed on to Tyneside, Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company, Saltley, where he went over the Wallsend Slipway and the King made a short speech in which he said Engineering Company's works, and other he had not come to criticize b~t to show his shipyards and armament works. The tour was interest in the country's effort to meet the then carried to B arrow, where the visit was heavy demands for the m eans of carrying on rOll1.arkable for the long conversations b etween the war. H e fully appreciated the evident the King and the worlunen, som e of whom had zeal and cheerfulness with which the hands b een in the same occupation for over 40 years. were working, and he was confident that the 128 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE W AB.

THE KING'S VISIT TO THE CLYDE: THE ENGINE ROOM AT MESSRS. ROWAN'S WORKS. out.put would be increase,d and that there would and their toil in the shipbuilding yards. Hard­ be but one certain result-victory. handed rivetters, engineers working unheard-o Very similar were His ~ajesty's experiences in hours of overtime, women shell fillers, and Yorkshire at the end of September, 1915; they even grimy boys got an entirely new conception included visits to munition works, to hospitals, of their Sovereign when he came among them. and to Leeds University, where the utility of They discovered that the King was very high scientific instruction in war-time was human, eager to learn from workmen as welI brought home by the sight of a demonstration as from managers, cheerful and pleasant of the use of poison gas in warfare. At Shef­ without being condescending, and above all, field his entertainment was varied, for at one that he was without. a trace of the stiffness and of the great works His Majesty fired from the arrogance associated with the idea of militarism. experimental range an armour-piercing ,shell The sequence of tonrs began in May with a­ against hard-faced armour, which it pierced round which covered Chester, some works in very satisfactorily. Flintshire, taking in Hawarden on the way, During 1916 the King saw little of the muni­ the great shipbuilding yards at Birkenhead~ tion works, being doubtless' well satisfied with a trip on the Mersey, Manchester and Liverpool" the reports that he constantly received as to then a second visit to Barrow, and finally their unceasing acti vi t y. B ut in 1917 he was Carlisle and Gretna, where a great new again busily inspecting factories of all kind!"' , munitions factory sprawled over land which both in England and Scotland. On all tours before the war was open country. Every­ during the last two years of the war newspaper where their Majesties were deeply impressed correspondents were given facilities to accom­ with the extent and variety of the n ew organiza­ pany the King, and this led to the public tion of industries, andfor the first time, perhaps.,. learning how warm was the welcome every­ they were able to realize how remarkable a, whe~e extended to His Majesty, how close the part women had come to play in war work. interest evinced by the King in the processes At an extensive explosives factory, which he was shown, and how wishful he was to talk in less than two years had sprung up on the with the workers at their lathes, their furnaces, borders of Wales, they saw 3,000 women and THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE W AB. 12g, girls engaged in the production of T.N.T. by a huge howitzer shop, wherein were big and in the conversion of cotton waste into gun­ naval guns, turbines, heaps of shells, torpedoes,_ cotton. The welcome given to the King and and a hundred other of the deadly instruments Queen was spontaneous and exuberant. Hun­ of modern war. From the North-west the­ dreds of trousered young women, some in King and Queen returned to London, and the brown, with brown or scarlet caps and belts, next day they paid an impromptu visit to a some in cream, with white caps, some in khaki, fuse factory in one of the suburbs, quite newly surged blithely along in the wake of the Royal installed, and cleverly and efficiently worked visitors as they passed through the chain of in several of its departments by women and buildings, and an attempt by works officials girls. to stem the merry rush was quite unavailing. Three weeks later their Majesties started for­ At Gretna they found that of the 13,000 the north-east coast to inspect another branch operatives and staff workers then employed­ of the country's industries, and more especially the number was afterwards increased- nearly the shipbuilding yards. Unrestricted and ruth­ 10,000 were . women. Here again enthusiasm less submarine warfare at this period was ran high. At Liverpool the King watched reducing our mercantile marine to an extent. 500 women at the lathe, converting rough the danger of which was known to the Govern­ forgings into carefully tested shell bodies, ment but which the public had scarcely grasped. while the Queen was visiting an explosives The King and Queen saw something ' of the­ factory largely staffed by women. On the tireless energy, ungrudging toil, and widespread same day, as though to show the world-extent activity which was giving us new ships to set of the war, the King had been to the docks, against, at any rate, a part of our losses on the­ visited two American armed liners and talked seas. Chalked in large yellow letters on to the gunners gathered in the sterns of the the partly-built hull of a cargo boat in a . vessels. During the visit to Barrow their Wearside yard which the King visited he­ Majesties noticed a change highly significant saw the , words, "We will deliver the ships." of t,he times we lived in: what had been two The message was meant as a promise to be­ years before a private park h ad been covered fulfilled.

THE KING'S VISIT TO THE CLYDE : WATCHING THE FLOW OF METAL FROM A FURNACE. 130 THE Tl1VIES HISTORY UP 'IHE WAR.

During this tour the King had an informal in the programme of a five days' tour-the walk through the streets. Their Majesties T ees, the vVear, the Tyne and the Humber, had made a journey up the Tees on a steam and the work the visitors went through may be tug, and for miles had b een getting glimpses gathered by the fact that on the first day they Df the romance of an industrial river. They inspected 11 busy establishments in Middles­ had seen smoke pouring ' from a hundred brough, Stockton and vVest Hartlepool. To ·stacks, the fierce light of fmnaces, piles of anyone possessed of less mechanical knowledge pig-iron, weather-beaten ships in dock, n ew and a less retentive memory than the King ships cleanly painted, and the gaunt sk eletons such a task would have b een impossible or Df ships r ecently b egun. They landed at the useless, but His Majesty had a minute Stockton Corporation Quay. From the quay knowledge of every engine of war, and his · a street strikirlg steeply up the hillside was memory for these things, like his memory for packed with cheering m en and women. Motor­ the d etails of battles and positions of regiments, ·cars were awaiting the arrival of the tug, was extraordinary. The experience on the but the Royal party chose to walk to the north-east coast was practically repeated shipbuilding yard they were to visit. As three months later, when the King paid a long the Kin.g and Queen passed through old­ visit to the Clyde and saw with much satisfac­ fashioned thoroughfares the people gave them tion the great improvement that h ad taken .a rousing reception. Children in bright place in the quantity of the ship-building work clean pinafores waved tiny flags and strained done in the West of Scotland. Meantime, their voices to swell the volume of their while the King was exploring this important greeting. On the pavements, in the door­ region, the Queen and Princess Mary went to ways, and at upper windows women cheered Coventry, where the work had not b een as heartily. Hundreds of people fell in behind l.minterrupted as it might have b een; and there the official party and cheered and eheered again saw many of the 40,000 women and girls who .as they hurried along. The incident was im­ were employed in the aeroplane and other fac­ .mensely popular. Four rivers were included tories. Similarly, in October, the Royallacl es

THE ROYAL ' TOUR OF THE NORTH-EAST COAST. Inspecting Munition Girls at Stock ton. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 13J

THE KING AT l\EWCASTLE: IN AN ARMAMENT FACTORY. made a careful inspection of the equipment busy working at aeroplanes, and working and stores at Woolwich, and of the multitude uncomni only well. These also the Royal party of women who sorted and stored them. witnessed, and then passed 'on to B ath, where Some v isits t.o other places during the con­ " for the first time in 200 years, if 10,cal historians cluding months of 1917 provided their Majesties are correct, a r eigning King of England drank with quite , new experiences. At Bristol, for the waters in the Grand Pump Room." It was example, b esides various ,shell factories, they n atural t hat the King and Queen should first went to see the buildings where "smokes" satisfy their curiosity as to the details of Bath were made for the front. Half an hour was as a water-cure; but after a short time they spent in an atmosphere fraErant with the scent h ad to go off to the n eighbouring steel foundries of fine Virginia leaf, and 3,000 people were and rubber works-so all-pervading are the seen at work making and packing cigarettes needs of war. N or were these the last en gage­ and pipe tobacco. In the Woodbine room­ ments of the year, for later, in November, a the factory was that of Messrs. Wills- a few deeply interesting visit was paid to the National minutes were passed watching machines throw­ Physical Laboratory at T eddington, where Sir ing out cigarettes at a speed of 10 to the second, Richard Glazebrook showed his Majesty such with sharp-eyed girls standing by to detect any processes as the minute setting of the gauges faulty delivery. In other long clean rooms the of shells and similar operations. Elsewh ere a visitors were shown leaf tobacco pouring from little later his Majesty went down to see a vast shoots into cutting machines, "much as tent factory, tents b eing a prime n ecessity to trusses of corn are devoured by threshing armies like ours that were fighting all over the machines at a fanTI," and saw men handle the world in every climate; and her e the King cut leaf with f0rks as they might pitch hay on was specially interested to see the provision 01 a stack. Their )\'Iajesties were cheered all a strange new device that the enemies' m ethods through the works, and the Queen often spoke had imposed upon us- the making of gas masks to the girls at the b en ches. Some miles away for horses. lTIOre hundreds of "th e invading sex" were The year 1918 was also marked by a number 132 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

-of tours of the same kind. At the end of the buffeting and inconvenience wi th the February came a visit by the King to Harwich, greatest good humour. The visit to Lincoln­ especially to a vast number of auxiliary craft, shire was unusually interesting and varied in while on the same day the Queen with the its programme. In one day the Royal party Prince of W" ales and the Princess Mary explored walked tlirough busy workshops noisy with the the London docks, chiefly to see for them selves clang of hammers, and stood in the silent the huge stores of grain and the processes of cloisters of Lincoln's noble cathedral; saw th.c . unloading it. shaping of machinery of war and passed · The Royal family took a deep interest in the . through the wards of a military hospital; the food question which during the winter had King held in his hand an ancient sword giver to Lincoln by Richard n. and later looked on inventions which three years earlier had not b een thought about. Lincoln was the birth- i : place of the Tanks, and their Majesties saw the ', manufacture of these monsters and watched them manamvre and gambol over a ; testing ground. The King added an tillscheduled item to the programm~ by taking a trip inside .one:/ of the machines. The ride included a fearsome plunge into the "Hindenburg Trench," re­ garded as the sternest test in the trials to which Tanks were put. It had not been intended that the trench should be negotiated with the Sovereign as passenger, but the ~ing himself directed the course and picked out all the steepest places for inclusion in the trip. The tour closed with a visit to a vast new aerodrome where Prince Albert was serving as THE KING AT LINCOLN. a Captain in the Royal Air Force. Takes a trip in a Tank. The next tour, which proved to be the last given Lord Rhondda very acute problems to of its kind before the achieving of victory in solve. Voluntary food economy was practised the war, was to the West Riding of Yorkshire, in the Royal household from the day when the where three busy days were divided among the need for it was first urged by the ~ood Con­ group of towns where cloth is made; towns troller, and when compulsory rationing of which saw in the war an almost greater meat, sugar a ld fats was introduced the King transformation of their industry than befell and Queen, lik ) the humblest of their subjects, any others throughout the country. In the had their ration cards and lived strictly within days of p eace the Army used less than one the allowance of food pe~mitted by the cards. per cent. of the wool manufactured at Bradford, On several occasions they visited towns asso­ Leeds, and the neighbouring places ; after ciated with the food supplies of the COtilltry. three years of war the purchases of cloth by At Reading they saw the n anufacture of the War Office had reached the colossal figure biscuits at Messrs. Huntley & Palmer's works of 1,600,000,000 pounds' weight, of the value and the packing and distribution of vegetable of more than a hundred millions sterling ; the seeds by the firm of Sutton & Sons. The King, cloth coming largely from this district, althougp like the Queen, spent hours going round the of course a great, deal was provided by Scotland, food warehouses 'of the London Docks. During Ulster, and the English Midlands. Again the a tour through Lincolnshire their Majesties King and Queen found a large part of the work went to the fish docks at Grimsby, where they done by women and girls, said to amount to saw fish being slung in baskets from trawlers qu.ite 61 per cent. of the workers; and these to the quay, and long lines of cod, plaice, Yorkshire women, whose musical voices are whiting and turbot exposed for auction in the famous, enlivened the Royal visit with songs sheds. As they walked through the docks the instead of cheers. There was much talk King and Queen were almost hemmed in by between his Majesty and tho managers about crowds of cheering fish workers, but they took standardizing the quality of the cloth, and at THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 133

Leeds t.he King bought a length of standard he commanded the cruiser Melampus. Six .cloth fer his own use. years afterwards he took the Crescent on a special cruise. Much later he hoisted his flag The intense interest which King George had in the Indomitable, and took her across the ·a lways taken in the Royal Navy was based, so Atlantic for a visit to Canada, that being the to speak, on natural and personal as well as on voyage during which, according to an officer's public grotmds. With the Fleet he was directly story reported in The T imes of that date: associated from boyhood, and he was in the most " We all took a turn in the stokehole, including literal sense what only two of his modern the Prince of Wales, who threw in six shovelfuls predecessors had been, a Sailor King. H e for luck." This anecdote illustrates what is ·entered the Navy as a lad of thirteen, and wen~ proved by abundant evidence on all sides­ up steadily through all ranks until, in 1907, that throughout his naval career the Prince .be was made an Admiral. This would not have made himself and proved himself a thorough b een, possible had he been his father's eldest sailor, knowing his work in every detail, ,son, for the H eir-Apparent to the Throne must enjoying it, and developing more and more b e prepared for still higher duties and trained those qualities of good companionship for to a practical understanding of yet wider which naval men have always been remarkable. interests. But Prince George was a second This was an excellent training for a public son, and it was only after the death of his position of any kind; but in a more special brother in 1892 that he came into the line of way the Prince's long career with the Fleet ·direct succession to the Throne. Henceforth qualified him for the great po ~ ition that he he had to prepare himself for larger responsi­ was destined to hold. He was to rule over the bilities; and yet it was many years before British Empire, and it is !.l0 exaggeration to say .he qeased to make long sea voyages and even that during the thirty years that followed ,to command ships. In the manmuvres of 1892 his. entering into the Navy in 1877 he visited,

THE KING AND QUEEN AMONG \-THE T~N.T. WORKERS. 134 THE TIMES HIS TORY OF THE W A R.

(O/fic,at photog'raph. fHE QUEEN INSPECTING A V.A.D. DETACHMENT ON THE WESTERN FI{ONT. whether as a naval officer or as a direct repre­ war; but first it m ay be well to recall hi3 sentative of the Crown, almost every corner of earliest official utterance as King. H e was that Empire. As boys he and his brother went proclaimed on May 9, 1910; next , day he round the world in the Bacchante, becoming issued m essages to the N avy, the Army and personally acquainted with the W est Indies, India . The first intimately concerns our the Australian ports, Y okohama and, on. their subject and may here be quoted ;- return, the Suez Can al and the H oly L and. " Marlborough H ouse, P all Mall, S.W. Many times during the next t wenty years " I t is m y earnest wish , on succeeding to Prince George made long voyages, until, in the Throne, t o m ake known to the N avy 1902, he sailed in the Ophir on a great Imperial how deeply gr atefuf I am for its faithful Mission, opening the first Parliament of the and distinguished services r endered to the Australian Co~onwealth, and passing to N ew late King, my b eloved F ather , who ever Zealand, to South Africa, and to Canada and showed the greatest solicitude in its welfare N ewfoundland. When he returned home he and efficiency. was created Prince of Wales, and on that very " Educated and trained in that Profession evening, speaking at the Guildhall; in the name which I love so d early, r etirem ent from active of the Empire, he addressed his country in the duty has in no sense diminished my feelings m emorable words ; "Wake up, 'England! " of affection for it. For thirty -three years I The last great voyage which he made as Prince have had the honour of serving in the Navy. of Wales was at the end of 1905, when he and and such intimate participation in its life the Princess paid a truly Imperial visit to the and work enables m e to know how thoroughly Indian Empire. They made the voyage in I can depend upon that spirit of loyalty H.M.S. R enown, escorted by a squadron of and zealous devotion t o duty of which the cruisers, and their tour and the public work glorious history of our Navy is t he outcome. performed therein not only deeply impressed " That you will ever continue t o b e, as the Princes and p eople of India, but gave the in the past, the foremost defender ' of your King that exact knowledge of Indian charac­ Country's honour, I know full well, and your t ~ r and of Indian problem s which ~ a s of su ch fortunes will always be followed by m e with r0al service to him during the Great War. deep feelings of pride and affectionat e interest. This retrospect may increase the reader 's "GEORGE R.I." interest in the story of King George's relations There are m any dem onstrations of this with the Fleet during, and just b efore, the " pride and affectionate inter est " t o be THE TIMES HISTORY OF' THE WAR. 135 gathered from the history of the next four threatening at first, had cleared and become years; but we pass to a memorable date, brilliant, so that nothing interfered with a day just one fortnight before the declaration which must have been one of pure enjoyment of war. On that day, July 20, 1914, there was to the King as a sailor, and of confident to be seen at Spithead the most marvellous satisfaction to him as head of the State. spectacle of naval ' power, organization and The war broke out, and the Fleet began to readiness that the eyes of men had ever beheld. work in earnest. Sections of it were in every It was the largest and strongest fleet that sea; one was destined to have rude ex­ had ever been concentrated in British waters; periences-at first unhappy, because a weak .a fleet of ships of all sizes which, having squadron was met by a strong enemy force, been for some days moored four deep along but afterwards glorious, when the Falkland ·the Solent, steamed out to sea past the I sles ~iped out the memory of Coronel-while Royal yacht in a procession 22 miles long. the mass of the ships guarded our own coasts, With the ships was what was described as patrolling the North Sea or waiting for the ·an "imposing array of aircraft," probably enemy to appear. The e~emy appeared once the biggest array seen up to that time. The in force, and the Battle of Jutland followed :ships steamed by at 11 knots, taking exactly on May 31, 1916, with one result that was in two hours to pass the King; and during that its way decisive-that the enemy withdrew to -time his skilled eye could see all types of hi,S hiding-place, and remained there_ battleships-King Edwards and Dreadnoughts, The bulk of our Fleet also withdrew to its Bulwarks and Majestics-and some fifty bases, though a vast number of vessels, -cruisers, showing, like the battleships, every especially cruisers and des.troyers, remained stage of improvement which the last few busily engaged on their multifarious duties. years had made; while afterwards, when the He~e, however, we are only concerned with Fleet had passed, the Royal yacht moved the Fleet at its bases, for it was to the bases away, taking His Maj83ty to inspect a crowd that the King for the most part confined his of destroyers at Selsey Bill. The weather. visits. If our record of these is briefer and

THE KING AND QUEEN AT AN AEROPLANE FAC.TORY AT BEDFORD, JUNE 1918. 1.36 THE TIMES HISTORY ,OF THE WAR.

less detailed than that of his visits to the be shown in all parts of the country.. The Army it is because, from the nature of the case, spectators were introduced into some of the the affairs of the Fleet in war-time were kept less secret mysteries of the battleships, and more secret than those of the forces on land. were delighted to make acquaintance with such Accordingly, with regard to most of the bearers of famous names as Adm·r.11 B ua 0ty, King's visits, the public knowledge had to be Admiral S :r Hugh Evan-T'homas and Admiral .confined to the barest facts and to those Sir Doveton Sturdee, the victor of the Falkland Messages to the Admir!1l in Command which I slands. During the visit His Majesty had His Majesty was in the habit of sending on his not only passed from one great ship to another, return home. For example, early in July, 1915, and examined the cruisers and destroyers! but the King ~ote to Admiral J ellicoe to express his he went on board the Flagship of the mine­ " delight" that he had at l~s~ been able to sweeping fleet and made personal acquaintance with the plucky fellows who, having once been peaceable fishermen, now manned a vessel of which The Times correspondent said, in de­ scribing the scene: " Now she sweeps for different fish, and her trawls are wire ropes; and not nets. She sweeps for mines and gets them, and -her crew are out in gales and half gales, making clear the path of the great ships. and the little. Without these sweepers and the men that man them the Fleet would lose its power of movement." Everything we,nt well, and His Majesty's telegram to Admiral Beatty, after the visit, expressed the highest satisfaction. As for the King's visit during July, 1918, the new feature was that it gave· His Majesty an opportunity of seeing, to use his own words, "the splendid ships of THE KING INVESTING ADMIRAL the United States in line with our own." But PAKENHAM WITH THE K.C.B. besides this he was able once more to take' visit the Grand Fleet; that -he had left it with special notice of many of the officers and men feelings of pride and admiration, that he had who in the spring had borne their part in the­ seen the greater portion of the officers and famous raid on the Mole of Zeebrugge, an men; and he added: ': I Fealize the patient exploit which, it need hardly be said, h~d and determined spirit with which you have thrilled the King as it thrilled the whole nation,. faced long months o~ waiting and hoping." and which h'e had recognized by messages of Very naturally and with perfect sincerity the warm congratulation and by the bestowaL of Admira~ wrote tendering his "most profound honours. thanks" for the message, and adding:' ." Your There came one more visit, on the eve 0 f Majesty's intimate knowledge of the feelings perhaps the most ~omentous day in naval which permeate the officers and men of the annals. The King, with the ·Queen and the Royal Navy wiiJ enable you to appreciate the Prince of Wales? went to Rosyth on Novem­ depth of their devotion, loyalty, and respectful ber 20, 1918, and' reviewed the Fleet before it affection, which feelings your Majesty's visit sailed to a rendezvous in the North Sea to· has intensified." The visit in June, 1916, was receive the surrender of the finest ships of the' even more memorable, for it followed close German Navy. Previously, on the day the upon the Battle of Jutland, which gave His armistice was .signed, His Maje ~ ty had sent Majesty the opportunity of addressing repre­ through Sir Eric Geddes, the First Lord of sentatives of units on parade in words of con­ the Admiralty, a 'stirring message of thanks to­ gratulation and consolation. the Fleet. " Now that the last and most. The visit in June, 1917, was longer and formidable of our enemies has. acknowledged perhaps more varied, and on this occasion the the trimnph of the Allied arms on beh>1lf of Admiralty relaxed their veto on publicity so right and justice, I wish to express my praise far that they allowed a " film " of the visit to and thal~ldulness t~ the o.fficers, I me~, ,and_ THE T,lMES HIS TORY OF , 'llHE WAR. ~37 women of the Royal Navy and Marines, with the ironclads, and that when to the normal their comrades of the Fleet auxiliaries and Mer­ p erils of the sea there were added the perils, cantile Marine, who for more than four years that came from a relentless enemy armed with have kept open the seas, protected our shores, scientific devices of every kind, every sailor and given us safety. Ever since that fateful round our shores might be at any moment F01.:rrth of August, 1914, I have remained stead­ called upon for acts of l~e roi sm . Consequently fast in my ~onf ' idence that, whether fortune in the r ecords of 1914- 1918 we have frequent frown,ed or smiled, the R oyal Navy would once references to His Majesty's care for the men of more prove the sure shield of the British the MerchaI;l.t, Service, the trawlers ' and the Empire in the hour of trial. N ever in its fishing fieEJ't. Let W? .~ake two. , particular history has the Royal Navy, with God's h elp, instances from the .ye~rs ~ 1915 and 1916. On

THE KING DECORATES A SEAMAN. On the right is Admiral Pakenham wearing the n~wly-bestowed ribbon and cross of a K.C. H. done greater things for us, nor b etter sustained N ew Year's Day, 1915, the battleship For­ its old glories and the chivalry of the seas. midable, of 15,000 tons, was torpedoed and With full and grateful hearts the peoples of sunk in the Channel, with the loss of 600 lives. the British Empire salute the White, the R ed, F our boats were launched from the stricken and the Blue Ensigns, and those who have vessel; one was lost, two got safe to shore, given their lives for the Flag. I am proud and the fourth, a cutter with 70 men, was to hava served in the Navy. I am prouder rescued under in ~redibl e difficulties by the. still to be its Head on this memorable day." trawler Providence, of Brixham. The fine A wo'rd should be added to show that His conduct and the splendid seamanship of the Majesty did not confine his interest to the master, William Pillar, and his crew have been more conspicuous fighting elements of the fully described in this History; we only Navy . . H e well knew that we had a great sea­ m ention them again becau se the King sent for faring population outside those who manned Pillar to Buckingham P alace, pinned on his 138 THE- TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

breast the Silver Medal for Gallantry, and regarded the outrage with abhorrence and the -said to him: " I congratulate you most deepest indignation." heartily upon your gallant and heroic conduct. It is indeed a great feat to have saved 71 lives. Before leaving the pl.ITely military and naval I realize how difficult your task must have aspects of the war, we must dwell for a moment been because I know myself how arduous it upon the services of the Royal Princes, and is to gybe a vessel in a heavy gale." The especially of the Prince of Wales. The Prince of Wales joined the Army very early, giving up with much regret his last term at Oxford. Lord Kitchener insisted upon his completing his training, and on November 17 he was gazetted A.D.C. to Sir-John French, at that time in chief command. In a dispatch issued in the middle of April, 1915, Sir John wrote: "H.R.H. continues to m!tke most satis­ factory progress. During the Battle of N euve Chapelle he acted upon my General Staff as a Liaison Officer. R eports from the General Officers Commanding Corps and Divisions to which he has been attached agree in com­ m~nding the thoroughness with which he per­ forms ar~y work entrusted to him. I have myself been very favol.ITably impressed by the quickness with which H.R.H. has acquired knowledge of the various branches of the seryice, and the deep interest he has always displayed in the comfort and welfare of the men." Many: opinions equally favourable from officers and private soldiers might be quoted; and it must-be remembered that it was not until June 23 of that year that the Prince completed his 21 st year. In October he accompanied his father in a tour through the front, and re­ ceived from the hand of the French President the Croix de Guerre. Soon afterwards, when home on leave, he accepted the Chairmanship of the Statutory Committee for dealing with Naval and Military Pensions, and made an excellent speech, reported in The Times- of January 18, 1916. Two months later, having been appointed Staff Captain on the Mediter­ lSpeaight. ranean Expeditionary Force, he arrived in THE PRINCE OF WALES IN 1918. Egypt, where he was enthusiastically received other instance is the tragical case of Captain by the British and Australian troops; he Fryatt, who, as will be remembered, was presently visited the Suez Canal defences, and barbarously murdered by the Germans at the on April 28 the world heard of him riding end of July, 1916, because he had defended through Khartum, where his father and mother his ship, a merchant vessel, against the attack had been fOl.IT y ears b efore. of a submarine. The King, fully sharing the Dl.ITing 1917 the Prince of Wales paid a visit -indignation of the whole country against this to Italy, and he returned there with Lord Cavan violation of the rules of war, caused a letter to when the important British r pinforcements be written to the widow declaring the captain's were sent out after the Caporetto disaster act was" a noble instance of the resource and towards the end of the year. The Prince's self-reliance so characteristic of the Mercantile action at the hour of Italy'S greatest trouble Marine," and adding that "His Maiesty was immensely appreciated. THE TIlYJE8Hl8TORY OF THE HTAR. ]3~

During 1918 it had been intended that the work, that of collecting n'loney and that of Prince should go through the two months' visiting the sick and inspecting the hospitals. course of Higher Staff training at Cambridge, First, within three days of the declaration of but the military developments took him back war, we had the Appeal of the Prince of Wales,. to France, where he was attached for about not primarily for the benefit of the sick and five weeks to the Canadian Corps under wounded, but for the relief of the" considerable General CUlTie. The Canadians were as de ­ distress" which would inevitably come to " the lighted with him as he was with them. With people of this country least able to bear it." the Canadians he entered Lille. The termina­ tion of the fighting delayed the fulfilment of the plan that the Prince should serve also for a tim.e with the Australians. ' iVhen the German line · broke the Prince was an early visitor to many ,historic centres- among them, as well as Lille, to Cam.brai, Douai, Valenciennes, Mons, Bruges and Maubeuge. The King's second son, Prince Albert, was in the earlier part of the war what his . father was as a youth, a naval officer, working and watching just like th9 other midshipmen and sub-lieutenants on the Grand Fleet­ Then came a period of illness, a nd . Prince Albert, not being strong enough to resume his duties with the Fleet, was attached to the Air Service. For a time he was stationed at Cl'anwell, in Lincolnshire, and later, with the rank of Captain, he served at Hastings with the training brigade of Royal Air Force cadets. In October, 1918, he tlew across the Channel to France, and took up duty there. As was to be expected, the King and Queen, Queen Alexandra, and the other members of the Royal Family took a leading part in pro­ viding and superintending the agencies for the relief of inevitable suffering, which are one of the few happy accompaniments of modern war. From t.he days of the old Patriotic Fund" started during the Crimean campaign, these 'agencies had gone on increasing in magnitude and efficiency with every war; during the Great

vVar, with the Red Cross on the one side, the [Downey. Home hospitals on the . other,. and all sorts PRINCE ALBERT IN 1918. of private or semi-public organizations, between To this Appeal the Queen added a brief one on them they assumed immense proportions. It her own account, asking "the women of our is unnecessary ;to specify them, or to dwell upon country who are ever ready to 'help those in need the wide range of such organizations, as the to give their services and l;tssist in the local Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A., or upon the multi­ administration. of the fund." Needless to say tude of large private houses which wer e given that a large sUm was promptly raised, while up in whole or in part to hospital work; enough other funds more directly destined for the relief to say that it was rare to find a family of the of the sick and wounded were at once set on middle or upper class which did not furnish foot; many of them continued to grow through­ one or more of its female members to hospital out the war: The King and the Roya,} work of one kind or another. The Royal Family were generous contributors to these Family was from the beginning active in helping funds, whether by direct gifts of ~oney or by what may be called the two branches of this sending valuable objects to those Red Cross 140 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. sales at Christie's which became an annual branches the deep sympathy of the won1.en institution. His Majesty's' own noble gift of of England, with the Queen at their head, Her £100,000 to the nation, announceQ. on April 3, Majesty in April, 1918, wrote a most touching 1916, was the leading instance of his practical letter " To the men of our Navy, Army and beneficence. Air Force" which could hardly b e surpassed As to their Majesties' visits to hospitals at as a clear statement of the objects of the war, home · and abroad, a complete list would fill and as an assurance of the trust and hope of the columns. They began early, for during the men's families at home. "Ovr pride in you," first week in September, 1914, the King and said the Queen, "is immeasurable, our hope Queen spent four successive days in visiting unbounded, our trust absolute. You are fight­ hospitals in and arolmd London'; and during ing in the cause of Righteousness and Freedom, the next few m<;mths, besides superintending the fighting to defend the children and women of vast number of articles of clothing which kept our land from the horrors that have overtaken pouring into St. James's Palace in answer to. other countries, fighting for our very existence Her Majesty's Appeal, she worked inces­ as a People at Home and Across the Seas. You santly in visiting such ' institutions as the are offering your all. You hold back nothing, AInerican Women's Hospital, the Indian Hos­ and day by day you show a love so great that no pitals at Brighton and in the New Forest, and man can have greater. We, on our part, send the wounded- British and Belgian soldiers in forth, with full hearts and unfaltering will, the St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Or, again, at lives we hold most dear." other times Her Majesty would spend an after­ To return for one moment to some of the noon in Visiting various Nurse~ Trai~ng Col­ practical ways in which the Queen showed leges in N ortli London, the Union Jack- Hostel her sympathy, reference may be made to one near vV ~ter]oo ~tation and the married' quarters or two visits devoted to the study of some of the ~djoining, or the street Shrines' in' memory of wonderful appliances by which modern surgery fallen soldiers which became a featUre' in' S~uth was providing artificial limbs. At the end of Hackney and' o~her districts.- And; to bring July, 1918, in company with the ' King and home to the fighti,ng ' men of all ra'Iiks and Princess Mary, Her Majesty went to her own

THE PRINCE OF WALES VJSITS AEROPLANE ENGINE WORKS. THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 14i hospital at Roehampton, where they were met vales cents or gave a little pleasant relief to by a guard" composed entirely of old patients our own officers on leave or to foreigners who, having been fitted with artificial limbs, visiting London. They were very different are now employed in the instruction of other L~om the State Balls and the Garden Parties patients." At Brighton, a few days later, of long ago, but perhaps they were not less Her Majesty visited the Queen Mary Workshops, enjoyable. Take, for example, their Majesties where she saw a large nUlnber of men who, reception on February 17, 1917, of a hundred having lost at least one limb on service, were officers from over-seas, most of them con­ learning electrical engineering, motor mechanics, valescents from hospital, -but some on short metal-fitting, shoe-making, tailoring . and a leave from the Front. In the State Ball Room

PRINCESS MAR Y . CONGRATULA TING A BADGED LAND-GIRL AT THE SENATE· HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE.

score of other trades, some of them being able a stage with a cinematograph screen was to earn two, three and even four guineas a erected. After the show came the more purely week. friendly part of the entertainment-tea in the Mention has been made of the Princess Mary, household dining-room, served by a munber of and this account of the Royal work for the great ladies, with the King and Queen, Princess hospitals must not close without further refer­ Mary, and the Duke of Connaught walking ence to this young lady's admirable service. about and chatting with their guests. There All through the war she was only less busy were several entertainments of a similar kind, than her mother, and eventually became fully and some on a larger scale were given in the engaged as a "V.A.D." in the Hospital for Riding School or the Quadrangle to more or less Sick Children in Great Ormond Street. It disabled soldiers; and with these may b e should be added that in May, 1918, she opened classed the deeply interesting review, held a, new Orthopreclic Hospital at Windsor. during the summer of 1918; of the Women's This rapid survey may be concluded with a L and Army. brief notice of some of the truly friendly enter­ tainments with which at various times during While the final stage/?> of the war saw a great the war the King and Queen cheered the con- sweeping away of the autocratic monarchies and 142 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE TiV AR.

dynasties of Europe, in the great outburst of and som e civilians. Motor-cars carried three rejoicing which filled London for a Novemb er and four times their normal number of p eople. week, no part stood out more prominently than Every taxi-cab had half a dozen men and the wonderful popularity of the King and girls on the roof, and soldiers txied to k eep Queen with their p eople. The n ews of the precarious places on the steps. Everybody signing

THE KING AND QUEEN INSPECTING W.A.A.C·. s AT ALDERSHOT.

acknowledge the enthusiastic greeting of great Patriotic songs, old and n ew, were StUlg, and masses of their subjects, and also of soldiers of at short intervals soldiers led staccato calls of the United States Armies. The T im es, in a de­ "We want King George." Indications that scription of the scene at mid-day, said that after the King would again show himself came when the King had first b een out on the balcony the servants from the Palace hung festoons of p eople turned to go, but as th~ y walked away crimson velvet over the balcony, but the they were met by fresh throngs, flushed with crowd had to suffer a long wait. Merry inci­ enthusiasm. Through the Green Park came a dents enlivened the interval. A rollicking procession of munition girls in their overalls, band of subalterns, carrying flags a na blowing with a trem endous Union Jack. Men with flags police whistles, pushed into the massed p eople, tied to sticks and umbrellas, women who had cleared a circle, and romped hand-in-hand wreathed their hats with the ...national colours, round a " T eddy b ear" on wheels decorated Dominion soldiers, officers, and m en of British with a flag. An American officer from the top regiments, troops from the United States, men of a taxi-cab entertained the crowd with a of the Royal Air Force, Wrens" ', W.A.A.C.'s, demonstration of college yells. . girls from Government offices, and children Insist ently and loudly, however, the cry poured into the wide open space before the "vVe want King George" punctuated the Palace railings. Motor.lorries brought along songs and cheers and laughter. The crowd cheering loads of passengers, some in uniform had gathered with a fixed purpose, and as the THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR. 143 rninutes sped they became more determined panied with nervous laughter and tears. People to have their way. At last, a few minutes remembered the early days of the war, and before 1 o'clock, the massed band of the Brigade emotion gripped and almost overwhelmed of Guards came in sight playing a trimnphal many of them. The crowd showed no wish to 11'larch. As they wheeled into position in the dissolve, and men began to call for a speech. forecourt, the King stepped out On to the The band quietened them with "The Old balcony. The Queen, Princess Mary, and the Hundredth," and the crowd reverently took up Duke of Connaught were again with him" and the hymn.. Enthusiasm quickly had its fling Princess Patricia also joined the group. A roar again. American and Belgian national· airs of cheering went up such as London had not provoked great cheers, and everybody sang the heard during the period of the war, and above "Marseillaise." Then the King spoke. Few the upturned faces handkerchiefs fluttered, could hear him, but his message was well hats waved, and thousands of flags, the flags of chosen. "vVith you,'" he said, "I rejoice, all the Allies, flapped and shook. The strains of and thank God for' the victories ' which the the National Anthem, played by the Guards, at Allied Armies have won, bringing hostilities first were scarcely heard against the cheering, to an end and peace within sight." "Now but gradually' the people caught the music, thank we all our God" was played by the and with the third line of the hymn voices took band after the King's words, and an historic up the words. Came once n~ore "Rule scene ended with a final round of cheering, ' iD Britannia," and then another tremendous which the musicians of the band and the Kinf. note of che'ering, led by the King, while the joined. Queen waved a flag above her head. Next the Each day during "armistice week" their band led the crowd in singing "Auld Lang Majesties drove through some part of London, Syne," and after this 10,000 people took up and everywhere they were received with un­ " Tipperary," " Keep the Hon~e Fires Burning," bOl.~nded enthusiasm. The secret of the de­ and the more stately, but b eautiful, "Land of lTlonstration of loyalty was not to be fOl.md 'Hope and Glory." "Tipperary'" was accon~- n~erely in the excitement of people intoxicated

AFTER THE ARMISTICE: KING AND QUEEN IN SOUTH LONDON. NOVEMBER 1918- Scene in the Old Kent. Road. 144 THE TIMES HISTORY OF THE WAR.

with the triumph of the Allies against German their life and by their conduct t h at t h ey are there not t,o despotism. It was rooted in sincere respect be ministered unto but to minister. Monarchies in t h ese days are h eld, if they continue to be held, not by the and affection for the King and Queen. The shadowy claim of any so·called Divine right, not as has COlmnon feeling cannot be better expressed been the case with the H apsburgs and H ohenzollerns by any powers of dividing and dominating popular forces and than by quoting from the speeches made in poptllar will, not by pedigree and not by tradition-they Parliament on November 18, when it was are held and can only be held by the highest form of resolved that humble addresses be presented public service, by understanding, by sympathy with t he common lot, by devotion to the common will. to his Majesty congratulating him on the con­ Earl Curzon, in the House of Lords, claimed clusion of the Armistice and the prospect of a. that the King during the war had been the victorious peace. Mr. Bonar Law, who moved symbol and the spokesman of his p eople in all the address in the Commons, said :- parts of the world. By constant self-sacrifice, Europe is seething with revolution to.day. Even in by inexhaustible energy, by unfailing sympathy those circumstances we can look forward to the future with hope, with courage, and with confidence. We have with their people, the King and Queen l~ad that confidence because the institutions which habit has endeared themselves to millions of our race. created are with us based on the strongest of all founda. The King received the addresses in the Royal tions-the consent of the nation which is subjected to them. Of these institutions none is stronger or rests on Gallery at vVestminster the follo~;y ing day, and more secure f01mdations than the Throne. The Throne in an admirable message to the Empire paid is the link, as I b elieve, which has kept the British Empire together, which has enabled it to play a glorious part in warm tributes to the work of the Forces and of this terrible struggle, and which will make the union their Con:unanders, to the contribution of the closer and closer. But the Throne as an in5titution would have been much less strong but for the character of its Dominions and of India, and to the efforts of occupant. Everyone connected with any Government our Allies. H e called for the creation of a better lmows, and the people know too, that from the first day Britain and for the preservation of the spirit of of this war until this hour no man has devoted himself more wholeheartedly or more unselfishly to the great comradeship which had been shown in the y ears task in whi.ch as a. nation we have been engaged than the of war. King. And in that work h e has been nobly helped by his Royal Consort. They have shared the sacrifices; By general consent the position of the Royal they have rejoiced in the joys, and they have sympathized Family when the war drew to its close was with the sorrows of their people, and at this ti~e, when stronger and better secured than that of any kings like shadowy phantoms are disappearing from the stage-and are disappearing so quickly that we can Royal House had ever been in Europe. Soldiers, hardly remember their names-our Sovereign is passing sailors and workers gave their loyalty to the daily without an escort through the streets of the centre of the Empire, and is everywhere met with tributes of King with a deep sincerity. With a Sovereign respect, of devotion, and of affection. These phantom openly sympathetio wit~ democracy, mode tin kings have fallen because they base their claim on an bearing, unimpeachable in his private life, imaginary Divine right. Our King rests secure because the foundation of his Throne is the will of his people. generous, and devoted to the welfare of the Mr. Asquith, in an equally graceful tribute, Empire and the millions of people who lived said :- within its borders; and with a Constitution fOlmded on ordered freedom and maintained In the cras h of thrones, built some of them on un· righteousness, propped up in other cases by a brittle by a broad and l.mtranunelled franchise, no sane framework of convention, the Throne of this country reformer could hope to find gain for his cause stands unshaken "broad·based upon the people's will." It by interfering with the Throne or the estab­ h ;;t,.s been reinforced to a degree which it is impossible to measure by the living example of our Sovereign and his lished form" of Government. Great Britain had gracious Consort, who have always felt and shown by indeed good reason to be grateful to its monarch.