Malcolm Ross: from the Peaks to the Trenches
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Malcolm Ross: From the peaks to the trenches Allison Oosterman A thesis submitted to AUT University in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 2008 School of Communication Studies Primary supervisor: Dr Alan Cocker Malcolm Ross: From the peaks to the trenches Dedicated to the memories of relatives who fought and were killed in the Great War Alfred Harpham Corlett & Franklin Corlett 1890-1915 1893-1915 (Brothers killed together at Chunuk Bair, Gallipoli, August 8, 1915) Robert Henry Lambie 1888 – 1916 (Killed at Bir el Abd, Egypt, August 9, 1916) Samuel James Beart Foss 1882- 1916 (Died of wounds, the Somme, France, September 24, 1916) ii Malcolm Ross: From the peaks to the trenches TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication i Table of contents ii-iv List of illustrations v-viii Acknowledgements ix Abstract x Introduction 1-12 1. The thesis as biography 2. History as narrative 3. The journalist as historian 4. The duties of the historian 5. Methodology 6. New Zealand and general war scholarship 7. Chapter contents Chapter 1 Early days of Malcolm Ross 1862-1914 13-46 1:1 Introduction 1:2 Early years in Otago 1:3 Becoming a journalist 1:4 Moving on up 1:5 Peak experiences 1:6 Artistic pursuits – photography 1:7 The lure of Wellington 1:8 London calling? 1:9 Authorship and other writing 1:10 Overseas travel 1:11 Conclusion Chapter 2 Early New Zealand journalism 47-81 2:1 Introduction 2:2 Pre-war newspapers 2:3 New Zealand at the turn of the century 2:4 The Australian influence on journalism 2:5 The New Zealand journalist 2:6 The literary journalist 2:7 Australia – the land of opportunity 2:8 Duties of a pre-war journalist 2:9 Libel 2:10 Conditions of work 2:11 Co-operation among journalists iii Malcolm Ross: From the peaks to the trenches 2:12 The ideal journalist 2:13 Conclusion Chapter 3 Ross’s journalism prior to World War I 82-104 3:1 Introduction 3:2 The late 19th century and early 20th century “newshole” 3:3 Pre-war journalistic style 3:4 The interview 3:5 Point of view 3:6 Ross’s journalism 3:6:1 The missing university professor 3:6:2 The interviews 3:6:3 Mountaineering 3:6:4 A news story – the wreck of the Penguin 3:7 Conclusion Chapter 4 New Zealand war correspondence and the appointment of the country’s first official war correspondent 105-146 4:1 Introduction 4:2 Inspiring war correspondents prior to 1899 4:3 New Zealand war correspondence before 1915 4:3:1 The New Zealand wars 1840s-1880s 4:3:2 The Samoan “troubles” of 1899 4:3:3 The South African War 1899-1902 4:3:4 The Boxer rebellion 1900 4:3:5 War correspondence and the Russo-Japanese War 1904 4:3:6 Last foray of an independent war correspondent – Samoa 1914 4:4 The selection of New Zealand’s first official war correspondent. 4:5 Conclusion Chapter 5 War correspondence at Gallipoli 147-176 5:1 Introduction 5:2 New Zealand and the Gallipoli campaign 5:3 The journalist corps 5:4 Sir Ian Hamilton and the correspondents 5:5 Banishment to Imbros 5:6 Second influx of correspondents 5:7 Collaboration or competition? 5:8 Censorship 5:9 Photography 5:10 Other difficulties faced by journalists at Gallipoli 5:11 Conclusion Chapter 6 The Gallipoli campaign and the readers back home 177-05 6:1 Introduction 6:2 Press coverage of the Gallipoli campaign up to June 1915 6:3 Malcolm Ross departs for Egypt 6:4 Malcolm Ross’s arrival in Egypt 6:5 The reaction in New Zealand to Ross’s early reports 6:6 Malcolm Ross finally gains permission to go to Gallipoli iv Malcolm Ross: From the peaks to the trenches 6:7 Malcolm Ross at the front 6:8 The reaction to Malcolm Ross’s despatches in New Zealand 6:9 A b r ie f survey of Malcolm Ross’s published stories 6:10 Conclusion Chapter 7 Malcolm Ross on the Western Front 206-235 7:1 Introduction 7:2 Arrival in France - 1916 7:3 Despatch despair 7:4 Transport woes 7:5 The British journalist corps 7:6 Family time and other diversions 7:7 Old friends and colleagues in London 7:8 Impressions of the New Zealand soldier 7:9 Battles– the New Zealand effort 7:9:1 The affairs and affrays of 1918 7:9:2 The relief of Le Quesnoy 7:10 The war histories 7:11 Conclusion Chapter 8 Ross’s correspondence at the Front 236-270 81 Introduction 8:2 Malcolm Ross on the Western Front – 1916 8:3 General criticism of news from the front 8:4 The battle of the Somme 1916 8:5 Criticism continues unabated in 1917 8:6 The Battle of Third Ypres – Passchendaele 1917 8:7 The relief of Le Quesnoy - 1918 8:8 Conclusion Epilogue Malcolm Ross’s final years 271-273 Conclusion 274-287 References 288-317 Appendices & Tables 318-334 Appendix A Conditions of employment of the official war correspondent published in The New Zealand Times, March 2, 1915. Appendix B Me! Published in The Observer, April 10, 1915, p. 4 Appendix C The Battle of Sari Bair, by Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett Appendix D War news – The fight for Chunuk Bair, by Malcolm Ross Appendix E On Gallipoli - the attack in August - what the New Zealanders did, by Malcolm Ross Table 1 War correspondents at Gallipoli in 1915 Table 2 Reportage at Gallipoli v Malcolm Ross: From the peaks to the trenches Attestation of authorship “I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person (except where explicitly defined in the acknowledgements), nor material which to a substantial extent has been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma of a university or other institution of higher learning.” vi Malcolm Ross: From the peaks to the trenches List of Illustrations NB: Most of these illustrations have not been included in this digital copy for copyright reasons. Figure 1: Portrait of Malcolm Ross, photographed by Stanley P. Andrew in 1910. National Library reference no: 1/1-014723-G. Figure 2: Figure 2: Cabinet card portrait of George Fenwick taken, probably in the 1890s, by John Richard Morris of Dunedin. National Library reference no: PA3-0169. Figure 3: Portrait of Forrest Ross, held at the Hocken Library, Dunedin. Figure 4: Malcolm Ross, at Ball Hut, Tasman Glacier according to Duncan Ross. [1890s] National Library reference no: 1/2-008246-G Figure 5: Noel Ross as a child, dressed as a mountaineer - Photograph probably taken by one of his parents. [ca 1894] National Library reference no: 1/2-054916-F Figure 6: Coach and passengers, crossing a river. [ca 1890s]. National Library reference no: 1/2-008248-G. Photograph by Malcolm Ross. Figure 7: M a lc o l m Ross as published in the Otago Witness on February 6, 1901, p. 30. Figure 8: Members of the parliamentary press gallery 1904. National Library reference no: 1/2-118594-F Figure 9: Governor Ranfurly’s party that crossed the Huiarau trail from Waikaremoana to Ruatoki [March 1904]. National Library r eference no: PA1-q-634-01. Photograph by Malcolm Ross. Figure 10: Members of the Board of the New Zealand Press Association at the annual conference in Auckland in 1902. National Library reference no: 1/4-014957-F. Figure 11: View of the reporters’ room at the Auckland Star newspaper 1906. N a t io n a l L i b r a r y r eference no: PA1-0-373-06b. Figure 12: The literary staff of the Dominion newspaper, Wellington, in about 1910. National Library reference no: PACo ll-0450-15. Figure 13: Quintin McKinnon and Ernest Mitchell. National Library reference no: PACo ll-7581-36. vii Malcolm Ross: From the peaks to the trenches Figure 14: Ignace Paderewski about 1910. National Library reference no: 1/2-098859- F. Figure 15: Climbing Ngauruhoe in 1907. One of the climbers is James Cowan. National Library reference no: PACo ll-5800-06. Photograph by Malcolm Ross. Figure 16: Men hauling wreckage and a body on beach at Cape Terawhiti, Wellington, after the wreck of the ship Penguin in 1909. National Library reference no: 1/1- 020152-G. Figure 17: Archibald Forbes - the "King of Specials" published in the Otago Witness December 9, 1882, p. 8. Figure 18: James Cowan and Alys Stowell about 1914. National Library reference no: PACo ll-5877-1. Figure 19: New Zealand and Samoan group, during the 1888-1889 civil war in Samoa. National Library reference no: 1/1-006636-G. Photograph by Malcolm Ross. Figure 20: Naval machine gun crew with maxim gun, during the Samoan civil war 1888-1889. National Library r eference no: 1/1-006638-G. Photograph by Malcolm Ross. Figure 21: Horses being shod at the camp at Newtown Park, Wellington, during the South African War 1899-1902. National Library reference no: 1/1-006672-G. Photograph by Malcolm Ross. Figure 22: F. B. Hughes, the photographer sent by the Otago Daily Times and other New Zealand papers to South Africa, 1900. Figure 23: New Zealand soldiers, on board a troopship en route to Samoa 1914. National Library reference no: 1/4-017518-F . Photograph by Malcolm Ross. Figure 24: New Zealand troops in Western Samoa, August, 1914.