R.N.OIV.� --. /s,l -</.to \ g\ ........ and we:9of fhrs / a;i .;,jat Joes if maffer as> Jong as "'" are "pulli:ng our wtu:7h1" " ZERO + 3 hrs .. A haflle palro/ {#���@ 17£ �g/ 076 ._g:2J. of: r:ud a Atp/5 � ffeca:. Copyright © Leonard Sellers, 2000 ISSN. 1368-499X The R.N.D. is produced and designed at Honeysuckle House, 17A Bellhouse Road, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. SS9 5NL. Telephone:- 01 702 521550. E Mail:- [email protected] The frontcover picture has been made possible by Mr Phil.Tomaselli of Bristol. I would like to express to him, my appreciation for his kind gift. THROUGH THE GATE OF HORN (A quite ImaginaryMisfortune) By Lieutenant A.P. Herbert. Hawke Battalion. In that darkhour beforethe dawn comes thronging, When people die and soldiers stand to arms, I lay and wrestled with a wicked longing To yield ungrudgingly to Lethe's charms. I weighed it well; forin Battalion Orders High Powers had registered theirawful aim:­ Allsubalterns to be unwinking warders Throughout that period. But all the same There are some times one simply has to keep For certain things. This was the time for sleep. I said' There stands a great unwrit tradition, Which kills of Colonels and makes Generals grey, That none who holds His Majesty's Commission Shall nod by night or be at rest by day; But in this middle time, when all is quiet, When shells are silent and no flies intrude, When no sun scorches and no rifleriot, And even my platoon requires no food, Shall I not slumber and the king forgive ? 1355. 'And, if the Staff suspects the man von Sanders Of swift offencesand the use of gas, I might remind them we are not in Flanders (Where one, it seems, may be that sortof ass), But nigh to Troy, where men employed no vapours Nor made attacks at this unnaturaltime, And Troy's traditions shall forbidsuch capers While cultured Turks possess the classic clime: These haunts of chivalry shall still condemn The least activity at three AM.' But anyhow, I slept. And then like thunder Big clouds of battle burst about my head. Methought a sentry made some hideous blunder; The Turk came creeping and the ground was dead; Softover Dardanus the sun stood staring; On Achi Baba paled the startled moon, When Islam's gallantest, with sounds like swearing, Drove back the pagans of the tenth platoon. A man called Ismail, in dirty blue, Stood kicking me. I woke - and it was true. The time is tedious in Constantinople; Meanwhile I pen this melancholy screed To friendlyneutrals, and perhaps the POPE'll Be touched and intervene and have me freed. Haply my lines, like some distressfulpennant, Shall flutter forthto that embattled Strait And reach and teach some drowsy Sub-Lieutenant To me more dutiful.At any rate The British fleetwill know that I am there, And not bombard without the greatest care. Lieutenant A.P. Herbert. * * * * * * Published in 'Half Hours at Relles.' By B.H. Blackwell, Broad Street. 1916. I would like to thank A.P. Watt on behalf of Crystal Gale & Jocelyn Herbert for permission to reproduce this poem. 1356. ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION PERSONALITY. Sub Lieutenant A. P. Herbert. 1890-1971. Hawke Battalion. By John Bailey As readers of the R.N.D. are aware I have been republishing A. P. Herbert's war poetry, which is well written and descriptive so that it highlights his experience of war and in so doing creates the atmosphere of the time. Now I have the additional pleasure of reproducing John Bailey's 'A Centennial Biography' of this larger than life character. It first appeared in 1990 in the Newsletter of the Essex branch of the Western Front Association that is called' If You Want The Old Battalion'. At that time John was the Hon. Editor. Alan Patrick Herbert, or APH as he was called all his life, was bornon the 24th September 1890, the eldest of three sons of Patrick Herbert, of Co Kildare a clerk in the Indian Office, forwhich position he had moved to London in 1872. This is the now accepted record of his parentage, although he does not go into his family on his father's side very much in his Autobiography. Certainly A.G. Macdonell a fellow Wykehamist, suggested that APH's real name was Hertzog. APH took much pleasure all his lifein 'laying the ghosts' of his forebears, and referring to his 'very peculiar nose'. APH's nose was to give him trouble formost of his life in more ways than one. Readers will know of this extraordinary man from his voluminous writings, and as the creator of Albert Haddock the scourge of the English Legal System. Those that have been divorced will, or will not, hold him in high regard forpushing The Matrimonial Causes Act through Parliament. Lovers of musical comedy will remember the lyricist of 'Bless The Bride' - written with Vivian Ellis-which had such a long run in the West End, and those with the wander-lust will never enjoy a book more than 'The Water Gypsies'. 1357. Income tax payers will revere him forhis lifelong and very witty campaign against the Inland Revenue, - who can forgetthe drawer ofcheques on an unboiled egg, (the Bank had to boil it, to cleat it ! ), on a table cloth, and perhaps the most celebrated of all, on the side ofa cow. But for the article let us look at APH - the Soldier/Sailor. APH left Winchester in 1909, and went up to New College, Oxfordin 1910. In his last year at Winchester he had won the King's Gold Medal forEnglish Verse, and the King's Silver Medal forEnglish Speech, and as an Exhibitioner (receiving £40 a year)at New College he was forced to continue with the Classics and to take Honour Moderations. Escaping to the Law, he finishedwith a good First in the Honour School ofJurisprudence, was still 'a swot', as he put it, played school, lawn tennis, cricket, ran with the Beagles, (the Prince ofWales was inthe same pack), spoke at the Union, became Secretary (Harold Macmillan was Librarian,) and all in all had a very enjoyable time at Oxford. But it was to be the last 'Golden Summer' that of 1914. The Union speakers had said; "Participation in the struggle is the only valid activity, there must be involvement". Poignantly APH in a visit to Oxford many years later recalled; "When I walk through the Garden Quad today I cannot remember all the names that bounded out fromthe staircases or sat in the windows. But those that I do remember were all extinguished in the war." One of the lasting memories, he tells us, was ofRonnie Poulton, the great three-quarter, snaking through enemy forwards, the ball well ahead ofhim, as ifhe were an invisible man. Even a Greek Scholar, who had never kicked a ball, could scarce forbear to cheer. Ronnie was 'Oxford', so was the Greek scholar, thinkingof Sparta .... It was during 'that pregnant July' of1914 that he met and fellfor Gwendolen Quilter, the feelingwas mutual, and it was to be a whirlwind romance, and wedding. APH was attending the OxfordHouse Mission in Bethnal Green, - he had promised them a year - beforehis Bar exams, but his friendswere joining up, and two weeks later he bicycled to Lambethand enlisted as an Ordinary Seaman in the R.N.V.R. His younger brothers, Owen and Sidney had already joined the Army and Navy respectively - Owen was killed at Mons, and Sidney was to be lost in a later War on HMS Hood - 'and it was the desire to be with Sidney that led me to jointhe Royal Navy!' APH became engaged to GWEN H. Quilter in December 1914 and they were married in the frrst week ofJan, 1915, at Bethnal Green, the bride in white and he 'resplendent in his bluejackets uniform sporting on his sleeve the red anchor ofan Acting Leading Seaman. This anchor gave him as much pleasure as his First Degree in Law. At HMSCrystal Palace he received his Commission in the RNVR as Sub Lieutenant and was posted to Hawke Battalion ofthe recently formedRoyal Naval Division, which was training at Blandford Camp, Dorset. Hood Battalion, commanded by Colonel Arnold Quilter, (1) APH's cousinby marriage, were also training there, fullof kindred spirits fromUnive rsity:­ Rupert Brooke, Charles Lister, Douglas Jerrold, Arthur Asquith, Denis Brown, F. S. (Cleg) Kelly, Patrick Shaw Stewart, Vere Harmsworth and Bernard Freyberg among them; - only 1358. September 1914. Crystal Palace 1915. Sub-Lieutenant, As Ordinary Seaman. Hawke Battalion. Lieutenant William Ker, R.N.V.R. Lieutenant C.S. Codner, M.C., Transport Officer, Hawke Battalion. 1359. three of whom were to survive the War - and one can believe that APH enjoyed the Mess Evenings with the 'Graduate' young Officers ofDrake, Hood, Howe and Hawke around etc. In late spring of 1915 'C' and 'D' Companies of Hawke embarked for Gallipoli to join the Battalions of the RND - or what was left of them- which were already ashore, and arrived at the Island ofLemnos on the 1? 111 May. APH was given command ofNo 11 Platoon, of 'C' Company, comprised ofTynesiders who spoke what to him was a foreigntongue and which became theircomplaint when he spoke to them ! He had, in fact, in his Platoon men from remote Durham villages whose dialect baffled their 'ship mates' fromNorthumber land. His closest friendon Gallipoli was Lieutenant William Kerr, (to be killed at The Ancre in November 1916), whose letters home fromGallipoli were to so enhance the Hawke Battalion History, (2) written by Jerrold, who was also to write the History of The Royal Naval Division in the Great War, (3) Sadly APH's letters of 1915 do not survive, but his first War Poetry 'Half Hours at Relles' (4) and the first three chapters of 'The Secret Battle' (5) with their vivid pictures ofthe Peninsula, show us how much APH was scarred by his experiences there.