by David Crane
fn17 It says a lot about national character and the very different legacies of victory and defeat, that while Britain ended up with Blomfield’s cross, German artists like Otto Dix turned for their inspiration to Grünewald’s terrifying Isenheim Altarpiece.
10. Keeping the Faith
fn18 Unfortunate timing too. This Anzac Day came in the wake of the notorious MCC ‘Bodyline Tour’ of Australia under D. R. Jardine that led to Australian threats to leave the Empire.
fn19 Australia’s was the only entirely volunteer army in the war. The 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, and the subsequent execution of its leaders, added to the antagonism of Australia’s Irish communities against Britain.
fn20 ‘If they had any shame,’ the Deputy Prime Minister wrote in his diary at the unveiling of the Australian National War Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux in 1938 – and his ‘they’ was directed specifically at Robert Menzies – ‘they should not have been there, having shirked their responsibilities during the sacrifice that was now being commemorated.’
NOTES
Abbreviations
Baker H. Baker, Architecture and Personalities, London, 1944
Birkenhead Lord Birkenhead, Rudyard Kipling, New York, 1978
Blomfield R. Blomfield, Memoirs of an Architect, London, 1932
Blythe R. Blythe, The Age of Illusion, London, 1963
CWGC Commonwealth War Graves Commission Archives
Immortal Heritage F. Ware, The Immortal Heritage: An Account of the Work and Policy of the Imperial War Graves Commission during Twenty Years, 1917–1937, London, 1937
Kenyon F. Kenyon, War Graves: How the Cemeteries Abroad Will Be Designed, HMSO, London, 1918
Longworth P. Longworth, The Unending Vigil, London, 1967
Lutyens Letters ed. C. Percy and J. Ridley, The Letters of Edwin Lutyens to his Wife Lady Emily, London, 1985
Milner Bodleian Library, Milner Papers
Stamp G. Stamp, The Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, London, 2007
Wilson K. M. Wilson, A Study in the History and Politics of the Morning Post 1905–1926, Lampeter, 1990
The Worker F. Ware, The Worker and His Country, London, 1912
Prologue
Ioannes Acutus … F. Saunders, Hawkwood, Diabolical Englishman, London, 2005, p. xvii
holy, haunted ground … Lord Byron, Childe Harold Canto II, London, 1812
Would it have been … D. A. Reid, Memoirs of the Crimean War, London, 1911, p. 161
Imagine them moving … Immortal Heritage, p. 27
corner of a foreign field … R. Brooke, The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke, London, 1918, p. 148
Chapter 1
Now, God be thanked … Ibid., p. 144
this Rupert of the pen … Violet Markham, Queen, 28 May 1921, p. 25
dared question … J. R. Brooke, Westminster Gazette, 1911, CWGC PO1/1
My academic qualifications … Milner, d38 ff.36–7
pity and indignation … Morning Post, 1 February 1906
As an undergraduate … W. Nimocks, Milner’s Young Men: The ‘Kindergarten’ in Edwardian Imperial Affairs, London, 1970, quoted, p. 13
For you your job … The Worker, p. vi
I was working late … Milner, d38 ff.149–50
It is magnificent … W. Beveridge, Power and Influence, London, 1953, quoted, p. 40
I told him of course … Ibid., p. 33
erratic but brilliant … J. R. Brooke, Westminster Gazette, 1911, CWGC PO1/1
At the time of … Ibid., quoted, p. 15
awake and ‘miserable’ … Ibid., quoted, p. 13
has been wanting … Ibid., quoted, p. 15
party hack … Ibid., quoted, p. 28
I am to take the views … Ibid., quoted, p. 20
The existence of … The Worker, pp. vii, 14–15, 276
highest attainment … Ibid., p. 25
third-class carriages … C. Carrington, Rudyard Kipling: His Life and Work, London 1955, quoted, p. 326
ready to perform … F. Ware, Educational Foundations of Trade and Industry, London, 1901, pp. 57–148
So long as … The Worker, p. 276
Chapter 2
The Royal Automobile Club … P. Longworth, Unpublished First Draft of ‘The Unending Vigil’, CWGC
no objection … Ibid.
The Mobile Unit was organised … CWGC MU1, Spring Report 1915
October 29th … CWGC MU1, November Report 1914
To be fair to them … CWGC MU1, 26 February 1915
The strong and able … Ibid.
It is good work … Milner, d349 ff.332–33
from ‘all the muddle … CWGC MU1, 21 December 1914
The British Red Cross … CWGC MU1, 21 February 1915
I shall never forget … L. Earle, Turn Over the Page, London, 1935, p. 102
when one day … Ibid., p. 104
The experience gained … CWGC MU1, Spring Report 1915
It was while … visiting … Ibid.
I may add … CWGC MU1, 6 December 1914
Another and very ingenious … Ibid.
the proud satisfaction … Ibid.
I feel sure … CWGC MU1, 6 December 1914
With very few exceptions … CWGC MU3, 10 May 1915
I was endeavouring … CWGC MU1, 6 December 1914
our soldiers in the shell … CWGC WG1298, 25 May 1916
We had one poor fellow killed … I. Mackay, Tell Them of Us, privately printed letters, 26 February 1915, ed. D. Mackay, 1994
Dear Miss F. Robertson … J. Robertson, The Hair Trunk, unpublished manuscript, p. 200
words of rough regret … CWGC WG548, undated press cutting
It is fully recognised … Longworth, quoted, p. 7
a lot of trouble over … CWGC SDC22, 25 September 1916
Into the old-fashioned … CWGC WG789, undated press cutting
At the beginning … CWGC SDC22, 28 September 1916
There is not, of course … CWGC Add4/1/3, 12 March 1915
It would be a matter … CWGC GRC2, 11 March 1915
neither cares nor understands … Milner, d350 ff.103–07
By means of this … CWGC GRC1, 21 August 1915
I saw the AG … CWGC GRC1, 31 August 1915
I am sorry … CWGC GRC1, 28 October 1915
to the crokers … I. Mackay, Tell Them of Us, privately printed letters, 1 October 1914, ed. D. Mackay, 1994
Chapter 3
the sole intermediary … Longworth, quoted, p. 39
The dug-outs … V. Brittain, Testament of Youth, London, 2004, p. 174
I told you … Milner, d350 ff.103–07
I have warned the Press … CWGC WG1076, 2 July 1915
In all ages … Ibid., Report of the French Commission of Public Health, Summer 1915
As regards the question … CWGC Add4/1/3, 27 February 1915
The noise is just like … Viscount Gladstone, W. G. C. Gladstone: A Memoir, London, 1918, quoted, p. 113
Heaven knows … Ibid., quoted, p. 107
We have been … Ibid., quoted, p. 116
I thoroughly enjoyed it … Ibid.
This unfinished letter … Ibid.
He had been warned … Ibid., p. 122
It was the earnest wish … Ibid., p. 124
I notice Gladstone’s body … CWGC GRC1, 16 April 1915
CONFIDENTIAL … CWGC GRC1, 5 May 1915
detestable … alien … Viscount Gladstone, W. G. C. Gladstone, London, 1918, p. 100
Here the Germans … Immortal Heritage, quoted, pp. 20–21
I believe that you … CWGC GRC1, 17 July 1915
Chapter 4
Collectivist, individualist … The Worker, p. 24
To Fabian Ware … Violet Markham, Queen, 28 May 1921, p. 24
keenness of all … CWGC MU1, undated report of Colonel Stewart
Vitalisers are few … Violet Markham, Queen, 28 May 1921, p. 24
With such examples … CWGC SDC22, 7 March 1917
He had he
ard rumours … Ibid., 25 September 1916
class-bound and incompetent … D. Stevenson, 1914–18: The History of the First World War, London, 2005, p. 117
I am sending you … CWGC WG1298, 7 July 1916
The French government … General Routine Orders 1104, December 1915
At the time of burial … CWGC GRC7, 17 April 1916
In special cases … Ibid.
On no account … CWGC Add3/1/3, 1 February 1918
We were not aware … J. C. Smuts, Jan Christian Smuts, London, 1952, p. 195
In April, 1916 … L. Earle, Turn Over the Page, London, 1935, p. 113
South Africa … CWGC Add3/1/3, 25 February 1919
[footnote] It was all Australia … R. Kipling, The Five Nations, London, 1903, p. 191
Beyond the area … E. Blunden, Undertones of War, London, 1936, p. 131
Crossing the Ancre again … Ibid.
the measurements and description … CWGC Add3/1/3, 30 June 1917
We are on the verge … CWGC SDC4, 29 June 1917
I am held up on my work … Longworth, quoted, p. 18
[footnote] My Dear Ware … CWGC SDC4, 13 December 1916
The field of Gommecourt … R. Holmes, Tommy, London, 2004, quoted, p. 46
Chapter 5
the great expansion … F. Ware, General Report for the period 21st May 1917, to 31st March 1920, II, HMSO, 1920, p. 5
It was vital … CWGC SDC22, 15 March 1917
old bait … Longworth, quoted, p. 27
In looking forward … CWGC SDC22, 15 March 1917
the first organisation … Longworth, p. 28
to keep alive … Ibid., quoted, p. 28
the freedom of the individual … H. Strachan, The First World War, London, 2005, quoted, p. 237
Democracy is not going … A. M. Gollin, Proconsul in Politics, New York, 1964, quoted, p. 238
When I visited … A. W. Hill, Our Soldiers’ Graves, Lecture to Royal Horticultural Society, CWGC Add3/1/3, 25 February 1919
The Commission recognised … CWGC SDC51, 19 November 1918
There is in art … Stamp, quoted, p. 60
For its character … R. Byron, Country Life, January 1931
Schooled under Rhodes … C. Hussey, The Life of Sir Edwin Lutyens, London, 1950, p. 322
I realised … Baker, p. 88
The cemeteries, the dotted graves … Lutyens Letters, p. 350
I most earnestly advise … Stamp, quoted, p. 78
I have not had the courage … CWGC Add1/1/3, 3 August 1917
The first person I saw … Lutyens Letters, p. 357
I bearded the Archbishop … CWGC Add1/1/3, 7 August 1917
There must be nothing … Ibid., 28 August 1917
The most beautiful … Lutyens Letters, p. 354
Such a rush … Ibid., p. 351
Afterwards went and saw … Ibid., p. 355
Lytton said … CWGC Add1/1/3, 20 August 1917
I see a bell-fry … Ibid., 25 July 1917
Professional jealousy … Lutyens Letters, quoted, p. 369
You are a werry nice man … Ibid., p. 348
The Commission recognised … Kenyon, p. 2
Chapter 6
He is an interesting … CWGC WG517, Chicago Tribune, 25 January 1920
The cemeteries, carefully … Blomfield, p. 178
in the squalid surrounding … Kenyon, p. 3
I have also had … Ibid.
It was felt that … Ibid., p. 6
It is necessary … Ibid.
My endeavour … Ibid., p. 4
be marked … Ibid., p. 7
There is some … Ibid., p. 9
It would meet … Ibid., p. 10
That the principle … F. Ware, General Report for the period 21st May 1917, to 31st March 1920, II, HMSO, 1920, p. 6
green coverlets … Immortal Heritage, p. 10
The beauty, the serenity … Ibid.
Those gruesome rags … V. Brittain, Testament of Youth, London, 2004, p. 225
We see men go on … E. Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, trans. B. Murdoch, London, 1996, p. 46
three rather gamy Germans … I. Mackay, Tell Them of Us, privately printed letters, 20 March 1915, ed. D. Mackay, 1994
Kiss me … R. Holmes, Tommy, London, 2004, quoted, p. 569
Covered with snow … E. C. Vaughan, Some Desperate Glory, London, 1917, p. 73
Chapter 7
I have not considered … Kenyon, p. 21
of specifications … Longworth, quoted, p. 38
The resting places … CWGC WG237/1, Kipling Advertisement
The cemeteries were often … Blomfield, p. 176
The total number … F. Ware, General Report for the period 21st May 1917, to 31st March 1920, II, HMSO, 1920, p. 9
Exhumation was a routine … J. Summers, Remembered: The History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, London, 2007, quoted, p. 30
committee of architects … Kenyon, p. 21
The Principal Architects … Blomfield, p. 177
unspeakable tyranny … The Times, 3 May 1919
the most heartless … Ibid., various, 1919–1920
I know how English people dislike … CWGC WG219 pt 1, 8 July 1919
Nothing could put … Spectator, 1 February 1919
The last thing … Ibid.
when they left us … Ibid.
Your Royal Highness … CWGC Add4/2/7, Petition to the Prince of Wales, 1919
Lost three sons … Ibid.
[footnote] CWGC SDC30 various, September 1919
When the widows … W. Burdett-Coutts, War Graves – Statement of Reasons in Support of the Proposal of the Imperial War Graves Commission, London, 1920, p. 4
As I see the position now … CWGC WG999, 16 April 1920
as one who is strongly … W. Burdett-Coutts, War Graves, p. 2
An attack on … CWGC WG999, 15 April 1920
I understand that you … Ibid.
The Imperial War Graves Commission … W. Burdett-Coutts, War Graves, p. 10
No one could be … Hansard, 4 May 1920 [and subsequent quotations passim]
Chapter 8
The Commission itself … Longworth, p. 59
Life in that wilderness … Ibid., p. 63
It is the simplest … The Times, 2 September 1920
In France and Belgium … Stamp, quoted, p. 99
I, for one … Hansard
It is impossible … Ibid.
It will certainly … Ibid.
My own feeling … CWGC WG219 pt 1, 18 February 1919
Sir, my son … Ibid., 18 December 1919
In my recollection … Ibid., 4 March 1919
I may tell you … Ibid., 8 July 1919
Pernicious little bitch … Birkenhead, quoted, p. 271
Allah, for his own purposes … Ibid., quoted, p. 290
He was a man … Ibid., quoted, p. 288
One mustn’t let … J. Flanders, A Circle of Sisters, London, 2001, quoted, p. 319
He looks very straight … Birkenhead, quoted, p. 267
Two of my men … Ibid.
After nearly two years’ … CWGC WG999, 16 July 1920
There should be a granite … CWGC WG237/2, 18 February 1919
fragments of destroyed … CWGC WG237/2, 24 January 1919
The policy of the Commission … CWGC WG219 pt 2, 12 January 1921
During the past week … CWGC 219/4, 19 January 1921
Clearly … some compromise … Longworth, p. 85
Chapter 9
The design of such … Kenyon, p. 7
the dignity of the … Cabinet Papers 123, 14 November 1919
only a very few … CWGC WG1617 NBMC Report, 24 February 1921
agreed to abandon … H. F. Chettle, ‘British Monuments on the Scenes of the Great War’, Dalhousie Review, January 1935, p. 448
The [Naval Memorials] Committee … National Archives Adm116/1160
fills me with dismay … CWGC WG1617, 20 July 1921
&
nbsp; great scheme of decoration … Longworth, quoted, p. 98
unfortunately did not understand … Ibid., p. 15
May I suggest something … CWGC WG1031, 15 March 1920
because my child … J. Winter, Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning, Cambridge, 1996, quoted, p. 25
the temporary structure … Stamp, p. 42
In the autumn of 1919 … Blomfield, p. 186
I was in fact … Ibid.
I tried hard … Ibid., p. 188
had to find … Ibid., p. 187
Having regard to … CWGC WG1687/2, 22 November 1921
It is a memorial … Stamp, quoted, p. 105
For instance … CWGC WG219 pt 2, 10 February 1923
One only has to glance … Stamp, quoted, p. 123
Its high arch screams … Ibid., quoted, p. 184
Many preferred to look … Ibid., p. 158
I wanted a massive lion … Blomfield, p. 189
Let us pass on to … CWGC Add1/1/21 F, Ware Script for Armistice Broadcast, 10 November 1929
From the great wall … Baker, quoted, p. 92
It was laid out … Ibid., p. 91
[The King] expressed … Ibid.
It consists of … Ibid.
Oaks were planted … Ibid., p. 90
The unveiling ceremony … Ibid.
What I wanted … Blomfield, p. 179
at eighteen … Birkenhead, quoted, p. 291
His loss … Ibid., p. 261
Chapter 10
Each stage reproduces … The Worker, p. 32
Do you think … CWGC WG250/1/1 pt 2, 5 February 1931
I have just returned … Ibid.
might ultimately be allowed … Longworth, quoted, p. 138
For Ware … CWGC Add1/1/21, Leo Amery, Memorial Service Address 1949
and falter in his faith … CWGC Add1/1/141, 10 November 1926
Can we possibly … Ibid., 24 April 1933
On former Novembers … Ibid., 10 November 1929
In the course of my pilgrimage … Longworth, quoted, p. 80
regenerative power of sacrifice … E. T. Linenthal, Sacred Ground: Americans and their Battlefields, Chicago, 1991, p. 97