With the passage of Empire the writings of Rudyard Kipling have certainly today taken on the air of debate. Created during an age when the pink of world globes symbolized the far reach of Queen Victoria, her soldiers and her little wars, Kipling’s work is a symbol of Britain and Empire.
Though no great critic of literature, as I tend to devolve myself from the non-mercy of passing years and instead attempt to understand the work for what it represented in its day, I find myself turning to Kipling’s work as a record of his thoughts; a man with pen perhaps musing for himself and his public. For myself, I would rather become engaged in learning more about this age of Kipling, reading, studying, or discovering more about the antagonist in Kipling’s work, the men who fought against the realm. As I sit here in quiet contemplation images pass through my mind and I can see Plummer, Connery and Caine, “The Man Who Would Be King” (1975), Stockwell, Flynn and Lukas in “Kim” (1950), and Grant, McLaglen, Fairbanks Jr. and Jaffe in “Gunga Din” (1939).
Then there is “Tommy”, the title of the British military historian Richard Holmes’ book on the British Great War soldier. The name Tommy is a well-known nickname of that Great War (1914 – 1918)solider whether he came from Devon or Northumberland, Liverpool or Bath, London, Hastings and so on. Tommy is derived from “Tommy Atkins” and the nickname may have its origins as early as 1743.
In 1892 Kipling’s ode to the British soldier, “Tommy” was published. This personal dialogue of one Tommy, one Tommy Atkins is cumulative in its discussion of the British soldier that defended Empire. Kipling’s solidier was the Tommy of the Crimea, the Indian Mutiny, Abu Klea, the Sudan, the Dargai Heights and elsewhere; wherever Britain’s colonies sat amongst the pink, and wherever the Empire was under threat.
Tommy’s opponents were often the locals, the ones whose lands the British occupied, opponents who challenged that age of Empire whether intentionally or not. These men, the Zulus, the Boxers, Pathans or the Boers, and so many others have become the focus of many - from professional historians to armchair generals, the museum, the re-enactors, the specialist and generalist. There are those among us who are resplendent in their knowledge of these times; knowledge of each ridge, each river, sabretache or badge, weapon or foe, and Tommy Atkins himself, red coats and all.
Did you know?
Rudyard Kipling’s son Lieutenant John “Jack” Kipling (Irish Guards) was killed in 1915. After the war ended Rudyard Kipling was asked to work with the Imperial War Graves Commission, now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, providing his pen for the needs of the commission.
Kipling penned, for the Stone of Remembrance in Commission cemeteries, “Their Name Liveth For Evermore” (Ecclesiasticus 44:14), and for the graves of the unidentified, “A Soldier of the Great War Known Unto God”. Kipling is also credited with coining the phrase “Builders of Silent Cities” for the War Graves Commission’s Masonic Lodge.
A film entitled “My Boy Jack” with David Haig as Rudyard Kipling and Daniel Radcliffe as John Kipling was produced for television in 2007. The film is based on Haig’s 1997 play of the same name which comes from Rudyard Kipling’s poem about his son and entitled “My Boy Jack”.
Aberdeenshire’s John Perie V.C., Corps of Royal Engineers.
The War in the Crimea 1854 – 1856
In London’s Hyde Park, 26 June 1857, there was an investiture, a unique gathering with Queen Victoria presenting, while on horseback, the first awards of the Victoria Cross. The Queen was particularly interested in the creation of this supreme award for valour that was founded in 1856. It was Victoria who chose the words “For Valour” to appear on the award rather than the earlier suggested “For the Brave”.
The supreme award for gallantry in the face of the enemy had only just begun its tradition of prestige and honour with 62 awards presented in approximately 10 minutes. Of these awards, made in recognition of personal valour during the war in the Crimea, there were others as in all 111 awards of the Victoria Cross were granted to sailors and soldiers who served Queen and Country in the Crimea 1854-1856.
Of the 62 Victoria Crosses presented at the investiture eleven were presented to Scottish born soldiers. Seven other Scottish-born soldiers awarded the Victoria Cross for the Crimea were not in attendance at the investiture.
The Hyde Park Recipients
Sergeant-Major John Grieve (Recipient 15 of 62) Balaclava 25 October 1854 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) / Heavy Brigade Born Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland (3 May 1821)
Corporal John Ross (Recipient 25 of 62) Sebastopol 21 July 1855 Corps of Royal Engineers Born Inch, Scotland (1822)
Sapper John Perie (Recipient 27 of 62) Sebastopol 18 June 1855 Corps of Royal Engineers Born Huntley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (1831)
Sergeant James McKecknie (Recipient 36 of 62) Alma 20 September 1854 Scots Fusilier Guards Born Paisley, Renfrewhsire, Scotland (June 1826)
Private William Reynolds (Recipient 37 of 62) Alma 20 September 1854 Scots Fusilier Guards Born Edinburgh, Scotland (1827)
Lieutenant William Hope (Recipient 39 of 62) Sebastopol 18 June 1855 7th Regiment of Foot Born Edinburgh, Scotland (12 April 1834)
Private Samuel Evans (Recipient 44 of 62) Sebastopol 13 April 1855 1st Battalion, 19th Regiment of Foot Born Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland (circa 1821)
Captain Charles Lumley (Recipient 53 of 62) Sebastopol 8 September 1855 2nd Battalion, 97th Regiment of Foot Born Forres, Morayshire, Scotland (1824)
Captain Sir William James Montgomery-Cuninghame (Recipient 58 of 62) Sebastopol 20 November 1854 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade Born Maybole, South Ayrshire, Scotland (20 May 1834)
Sergeant John Simpson Knox (Recipient 59 of 62) Alma 20 September 1854 Scots Fusilier Guards Born Glasgow, Scotland (30 September 1828)
Private Roderick McGregor (Recipient 60 of 62) Sebastopol July 1855 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade Born Inverness, Scotland (1824). Also given as Dunain, Highland, Scotland (1822)
Not in Attendance
Sergeant Henry Ramage Balaclava 25 October 1854 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) / Heavy Brigade Born Morningside, Edinburgh, Scotland (1827)
Private Thomas Beach Inkerman 5 November 1854 2nd Battalion, 55th Regiment of Foot Born Dundee, Scotland (24 January 1824)
Private John McDermond Inkerman 5 November 1854 1st Battalion, 47th Regiment of Foot Born Glasgow, Scotland (1832)
Colour-Sergeant Henry MacDonald Sebastopol 19 April 1855 Corps of Royal Engineers Born Inverness, Scotland (28 May 1823)
Captain Thomas de Courcy Hamilton Sebastopol 11 May 1855 1st Battalion, 68th Regiment of Foot Born Stranraer, Scotland (20 July 1825)
Colour-Sergeant Peter Leitch Sebastopol 18 June 1855 Corps of Royal Engineers Born Orwell, Kinross, Scotland (August 1820)
Colour-Sergeant James Craig Redan 6 September 1855 3rd Battalion Military Train Born Perth, Scotland (10 September 1824)
The Crimiea is where the sons of Scotland first came into contact with the legend that would become the Victoria Cross. More awards would follow shortly afterwards during the Indian Mutiny 1857 – 1858.
For your interest a video clip from the National Army Museum, the Crimean War campaign journal of Lieutenant Mark Walker V.C., 1st Battalion, 20th Regiment of Foot. Awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Inkerman, 5 November, 1854. Walker was born, 24 November 1857, at Gore Port, Finca County, Westmeath, Ireland.
The Victoria Cross and Great War pair of William Johnstone Milne, 16th Battalion C.E.F. (The Canadian Scottish).
THE LEGENDARY VICTORIA CROSS
The Bronze
Much has been written on the origins and history of the Victoria Cross (VC) instituted in 1856. For the award’s 150th anniversary (2006) historian and author John Glanfield included in his book, The Bravest of the Brave. The Story of the Victoria Cross an investigation into the story that all Victoria Crosses have been made from the bronze of two Chinese cannons, used by the Russian Army during the Crimea War, and captured by the British at Sebastopol.
Mr. Glanfield’s research has led him to conclude that the bronze of the Chinese cannons, now exhibited at the Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich, England, has only been used to produce the VC since December 1914. Mr. Glanfield also discovered that the bronze ingot used for VC production went missing for three years during the Second World War and that another source of bronze had to found to produce the prestigious decoration. Glanfield’s research further calls into question whether the two Chinese guns were even captured at Sebastopol! A great reminder for historians to continually dig at commonly held beliefs.
In a 2005 Daily Telegraph interview Glanfield stated, “There was an accepted legend and no one had researched whether it was true. When something has been the belief for 150 years it becomes accepted as truth…,The truth has become fogged by time, myth and misinformation. Part of the myth is that every cross has been cast from the two [Woolwich] cannon.” (Daily Telegraph, December 28, 2005).
Cascabels
One of the Chinese cannons at the Royal Artillery Museum.
A visit to Firepower, the museum of the Royal Artillery in Woolwich, England allows the visitor to get quite close to the two famed muzzle-loading cannons that supplied the bronze for the production of the VC. The bronze being taken from the cannon’s cascabels, the round devices at the back of the cannon on which arresting ropes were secured to deal with the gun’s recoil when fired. In removing the two cascabels it is estimated that 224 lbs. of bronze was acquired, enough to produce, since December 1914, 810 crosses, not including the Budd VC of 2006 and the Ashworth VC of 2013.
The back of the cannon where the bronze cascabel was located.
The bronze ingot produced from the cascabels is highly prized and kept in a vault belonging to the Royal Logistic Corps of the British Army. In December 2005 it was estimated that there was enough bronze to produce a further 85 awards. Through the process of creating a Victoria Cross there is some wastage of bronze material.
Visit Firepower, the Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich, England at:
Alec Forbes of Hancocks moulding his 751st V.C. Date unknown. From The Bronze Cross page, 6.
Each award, since 1856, has been produced by Hancocks of London, England (established 1849). In March 1856, Hancocks was authorized, by the British government to produce 106 crosses. The cross itself is cast, not die-struck, and is hand finished and chased. Once detailed the cross is further finished again with bronze. Details of the recipients are engraved on the reverse of the suspender usually with rank, name and unit and the date of the deed engraved within the circlet on the reverse of the cross. For the 150th anniversary Hancocks produced a limited edition, 1,357 in number, specimen VCs which are available for purchase by the general public. Visit the following Hancock website pages for further information:
Despite my constant yearning for historical accuracy one realizes that some things become what they become. Repeated over the course of time, they seemingly become what we yearn for, and what we want to believe. It makes the legend more legendary. Even through gathering some data for today’s blog sifting through myth, legend, and truth I cannot help but wander to a famed film from 1962, John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, starring Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne, where truth and legend meet head on.
Finding Balance Hall of Valour, Canberra, Australia
“In the hall the small crosses that mean so much lie under the stories of those who earned them.”
Ben Lisson, ABC News
Not silver, not gold. No fine enamels, nor precious gems, a simple cross of bronze suspended from a crimson ribbon. On the cross pattee a crowned lion atop a crown with a scroll beneath, its banner lettered with the sans-serif words, “FOR VALOUR”.
The award held in high esteem is reported upon and showered with attention, in contrast to many of its recipients who are humbled by the recognition that the award brings. These acts of valour live on forever through the many keepers of our history who will research, study; write articles, lecture and debate about them.
However, it is the public portrayal of the Victoria Cross when exhibited in our museums and wherever the crosses may be held that is of interest to us today. Although I have not had the chance to visit the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, the words of Richard Johnson (Project Designer) is insightful as to the thought dedicated to the new space, opened in 2010.
“For us I think the challenge was how do we get that balance between, you know, the monumental, the symbolic and the personal.”
Richard Johnson / Project Designer / Hall of Valour, Australian War Memorial
Lewis gunner on the Canadian National War Memorial, Ottawa.
The CEF, the Lewis Gun and the Victoria Cross
Designed in the United States the air cooled Lewis Gun was widely adopted by British and Commonwealth forces in 1915. However, Belgian forces were equipped with the Lewis gun in 1913 and when German forces first encountered this light machine gun in 1914 they nicknamed the weapon, the Belgian Rattlesnake. The Lewis gun was easily recognizable. The gun featured a circular magazine or drum with 47 .303 cartridges as its venom. With an aluminum cooling jacket running the full length of the barrel this feature added to the gun’s distinct look on the field of battle. During the Great War Lewis gun teams comprised an operator and as many as three to six men carrying ammunition drums and following along the path of the gun’s operator. In 1916 battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force may have had 8 Lewis Guns, by early 1918 perhaps as many as 16 and towards the end of the war 32 guns.
Naturally, when causing havoc, Lewis guns attracted a considerable amount of attention from enemy forces. Five soldiers of the C.E.F. were awarded the Victoria Cross for actions that featured Lewis guns. The recipients were:
Frederick Hobson V.C.
Sergeant Frederick Hobson 20th Canadian Infantry Battalion Battle of Hill 70, northwest of Lens, France, 18 August 1917 (Supplement to the London Gazette 17 October 1917, pages 10677/10678)
During a strong enemy counter-attack a Lewis gun in a forward post in a communication trench leading to the enemy lines, was buried “by a shell, and the crew, with the exception of one man, killed.
Sjt. Hobson, though not a gunner, grasping the great importance of the post, rushed from his trench, dug out the gun, and got it into action against the enemy who were now advancing down the trench and across the open.
A jam caused the gun to stop firing. Though wounded, he left the gunner to correct the stoppage, rushed forward at the advancing enemy and, with bayonet and clubbed rifle, single handed, held them back until he himself was killed by a rifle shot. By this time however, the Lewis gun was again in action and reinforcements shortly afterwards arriving, the enemy were beaten off.
The valour and devotion to duty displayed by this non-commissioned Officer gave the gunner the time required to again get the gun into action, and saved a most serious situation.
[Hobson died 18 August 1918. Commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, France]
Joseph Kaeble V.C., M.M.
Corporal Joseph Kaeble M.M. 22nd Canadian Infantry Battalion Neuville-Vitasse, France, 8 June 1918 (Supplement to the London Gazette, 16 September 1918, page 11076)
For most conspicuous bravery and extraordinary devotion to duty when in charge of a Lewis gun section in the front line trenches, on which a strong enemy raid was attempted.
During an intense bombardment Cpl. Kaeble remained at the parapet with his Lewis gun shouldered ready for action, the field of fire being very short. As soon as the barrage lifted from the front line, about fifty of the enemy advanced towards his post. By this time the whole of his section except one had become casualties. Cpl: Kaeble jumped over the parapet, and holding his Lewis gun at the hip, emptied one magazine after another into the advancing enemy, and, although wounded several times by fragments of shells and bombs, he continued to fire, and entirely blocked the enemy by his determined stand. Finally, firing all the time, he fell backwards into the trench, mortally wounded. While lying on his back in the trench he fired his last cartridges over the parapet at the retreating Germans, and before losing consciousness shouted to the wounded about him: ” Keep it up boys; do not let them get through! We must stop them! ” The complete repulse of the enemy attack at this point was due to the remarkable personal bravery and self-sacrifice of this gallant non-commissioned officer, who died of his wounds shortly afterwards.
[Kaeble died 9 June 1918. Buried at Wanqetin Communal Cemetery Extension, France]
Robert Spall V.C.
Sergeant Robert Spall Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Near Parvillers, France, 13 August 1918 (Supplement to the London Gazette, 26 October 1918, page 12670)
For most conspicuous bravery and self-sacrifice when, during an enemy counter-attack, his platoon was isolated. Thereupon Sjt. Spall took a Lewis gun and, standing on the parapet fired upon the advancing enemy, inflicting very severe casualties. He then came down the trench directing the men into a sap seventy-five yards from the enemy. Picking up another Lewis gun, this gallant N.C.O. again climbed the parapet, and by his fire held up the enemy. It was while holding up the enemy at this point that he was killed.
Sjt. Spall deliberately gave his life in order to extricate his platoon from a most difficult situation, and it was owing to his bravery that the platoon was saved.
[Spall died 13 August 1918. Commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, France]
Charles Smith Rutherford V.C., M.C., M.M.
Lieutenant Charles Smith Rutherford MC MM 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles Monchy-le-Preux, France, 26 August 1918 (Supplement to the London Gazette 11 January 1918, page 13472)
For most conspicuous bravery, initiative and devotion to duty. When in command, of an assaulting party Lt. Rutherford found himself a considerable distance ahead of his men, and at the same moment observed a fully armed strong enemy party outside a “Pill Box” ahead of him. He beckoned to them with his revolver to come to him, in return they waved him to come to them. This he boldly did, and informed them that they were prisoners. This fact an enemy officer disputed and invited Lt. Rutherford to enter the “Pill Box,” an invitation he discreetly declined. By masterly bluff, however, he persuaded the enemy that they were surrounded, and the whole party of 45, including two officers and three machine guns, surrendered to him.
Subsequently he induced the enemy officer to stop the fire of an enemy machine-gun close by, and Lt. Rutherford took advantage of the opportunity to hasten the advance of his men. to his support.
Lt. Rutherford then observed that the right, assaulting party was held up by heavy machine-gun fire from another “Pill Box.” Indicating an objective to the remainder of his party he attacked the “Pill Box ” with a Lewis gun section and captured a further 35 prisoners with machine guns, thus enabling the party to continue their advance.
The bold and gallant action of this officer contributed very materially to the- capture of the main objective and was a wonderful inspiration to all ranks in pressing home the attack on a very strong position.
Hugh Cairns V.C., D.C.M.
Sergeant Hugh Cairns D.C.M. 46th Canadian Infantry Battalion Before Valenciennes, France, 1 November 1918 (Supplement to the London Gazette 31 January 1919 page 1504)
For most conspicuous bravery before Valenciennes on 1st November, 1918, when a machine gun opened on his platoon. Without a moment’s hesitation Serjt. Cairns seized a Lewis gun and singlehanded, in the face of direct fire, rushed the post, killed the crew of five, and captured the gun. Later, when the line was held up by machine-gun fire, he again rushed forward, killing 12 enemy and capturing 18 and two guns.
Subsequently, when the advance was held up by machine guns and field guns, although wounded, he led a small party to outflank them, killing many, forcing about 50 to surrender, and capturing all the guns. After consolidation he went with a battle patrol to exploit Marly and forced 60 enemy to surrender. Whilst disarming this party he was severely wounded. Nevertheless, he opened fire and inflicted heavy losses. Finally he was rushed by about 20 enemy and collapsed from weakness and loss of blood.
Throughout the operation he showed the highest degree of valour, and his leadership greatly contributed to the success of the attack. He died on the 2nd November from wounds.
[Cairns died 2 November 1918. Buried at Auberchicourt British Cemetery, France]
Did you know?
A depiction of a Lewis Gun in operation appears in a film entitled “The ANZACS” [Austrailian New Zealand Army Corps]. A clip is provided that shows a Lewis gunner operating against an enemy pillbox.
