Skip to main content

Tag: Lord Kitchener

Horace Smith-Dorrien

Horace Smith-Dorrien (1858-1930)

Written by Lawrance, W on . Posted in Historical Figures.

Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien was born on 26th May 1858 at Berkhamsted and was the eleventh of the fifteen children of Robert Algernon and Mary Ann Smith-Dorrien. Following his education at Harrow, he attended the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, from where he joined the 95th Regiment of Foot and saw service in the Zulu Wars, Egypt, India, the Sudan and the Boer War. By 1912, he had been promoted to full General, which made him a natural choice, as far as Lord Kitchener was concerned, to command II Corps of the British Expeditionary Force. Sir John French, Commander in Chief of the BEF, did not agree with this appointment, but was forced to accede to Kitchener’s wishes. Smith-Dorrien’s troops took part in battles at the Marne, the Aisne and Ypres during 1914, although French disapproved of some of his methods. During the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915, Smith-Dorrien recommended to French that his troops be allowed to withdraw, which gave French the excuse he needed to sack Smith-Dorrien on the grounds of his pessimism. His replacement, Herbert Plumer, then carried out Smith-Dorrien’s plan – with French’s approval. Smith-Dorrien played no further significant part in the First World War. He had married Olive Croft Schneider in 1902 and they had three sons. He died in August 1930, following a car accident.

British volunteers for "Kitchener's Army" waiting for their pay in the churchyard of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London, August 1914.

War – At Last!

Written by Lawrance, W on . Posted in Featured Posts, History.

There was a general feeling of relief when war eventually broke out. There had been tension and certainty of conflict for so long, that many people now felt released from this and looked forward to the anticipated ‘adventure’ of war. Most assumed that this would be a short conflict and that it would definitely be over by Christmas. The one dissenter in the British government was the newly appointed Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, who predicted that the conflict would last a minimum of three years and require a huge army of at least one million men.

The British Army, under the command of Field Marshal Sir John French, was the smallest of all the major European powers, but was mobilised on 4th August, with the first troops landing in France just three days later. Young men, aged between nineteen and thirty were being urged to volunteer for the armed forces and swell the ranks of the regular army, now referred to as the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The initial response to this call to arms, was enthusiastic, but in an effort to offer even greater encouragement, the government advocated that young men should be allowed to train and serve with people who they already knew in civilian life. It was, therefore, suggested that battalions of ‘Pals’ should be formed – made up of men from the same towns, villages, factories, clubs or even football teams. By the end of September, Kitchener had his expanded army.

Across the Channel in Belgium, the German army was facing far greater resistance from ‘Little Belgium’ than had been anticipated as even civilians unexpectedly joined the defence of their country. The Germans did not really know how to manage this situation and some soldiers began to carry out reprisals against civilians, some of which were violent and occasionally involved women and children. Such atrocities soon led to the portrayal of the German soldiers as the ‘Monstrous Hun’, in newspapers throughout Europe. This propaganda tool was a gift to Great Britain and exaggerated stories and images of the violence encouraged even more men to enlist – not only to protect Belgium, but also to prevent the Germans from having the same opportunities in Britain.