100 Years Ago
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2016-10-08/register/the-hundredth-day-fxtvpz6vb
The hundredth day
october 8, 1916
Yesterday was the hundredth day of the Battle of the Somme, which surpasses in magnitude and intensity any previous conflict in the history of the world, and has effectually shattered the modern legend of German invincibility in war. Throughout the battle the enemy have mainly sought to preserve their reputation, not in open fighting, but in skilfully constructed refuges far below the earth’s surface. No retreat, however deep and cunningly devised, has availed them against the crushing fire of the Allied artillery and the irresistible onslaughts of the British and French infantry. On the first day of the battle they were driven from elaborate works, which they believed to be impregnable, and the hundredth day found them still falling back. They have often been tenacious in defence, and it is fair to acknowledge that on Saturday night they retained sufficient resolution to deliver a counter-attack which had a small measure of success. On Saturday afternoon, evidently owing to an improvement in the weather, Sir Douglas Haig was able to renew his advance in the direction of Bapaume. He attacked on a front of rather more than four miles, from the Albert-Bapaume road to the village of Lesbeoufs. Between that village and Gueudecourt the line was advanced from six hundred to a thousand yards. The steady forward sweep of the British Army has brought it within three miles of Bapaume. In conjunction with the British attack, the French made a brilliant advance north-east of Morval. This extremely satisfactory operation, which marks the steady progress of the joint offensive, may be the prelude of further triumphs.
Should events of still greater magnitude occur in the Somme area, there is some danger lest the natural elation already justly prevalent may tend to obscure the broader realities of the war. It cannot be too often urged that we have to face even greater sacrifices than those already made, if we are to secure the full fruits of the Allied victories on the Somme. While we rejoice that we are slowly weakening the enemy on the Western front, we should recognize that they still enjoy marked advantages elsewhere. The only way to form a just estimate of the course of the war is to examine it as a whole, and to take calm and balanced views.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2016-10-10/register/crofters-and-service-j7wcbtf2n
Crofters and service
October 10, 1916
To the Editor of The Times. Sir, It is daily becoming more apparent how difficult it is to find men for the ranks of the Army and, at the same time, to leave the country with sufficient labour to cultivate the land. The Government have appointed a committee to “comb out” various trades. This will not improve matters for agriculture. In the Highlands and West of Scotland there are thousands of able-bodied young crofters now being exempted from service by tribunals, on the grounds that they are engaged in farming. It would be interesting to investigate what their “agriculture” consists of. For the most part a crofter has some subsidiary occupations, such as fishing, carting, or letting his house to summer visitors. A crofter’s farming operations do little more than feed himself and family, and by selling the few head of stock bred on the croft he raises sufficient money to pay his very small rent.
If the Government’s object is not only to provide men to fight, but also to maintain, or increase, the food of the people, then would it not be more true economy to enrol these crofters as soldiers to work upon the farms in England than to leave them alone in the highlands to scratch a poor soil? Their livestock might be put in charge of one selected local farmer. The rents of the crofts would be met from proceeds in the management of the stock, and the homes of the crofters would be maintained from the same funds. At the end of the war a similar head of stock would be delivered back to the crofters.
As things are now, it would seem that a great waste exists in leaving these fine, able-bodied men to struggle along under the poorest possible conditions of agriculture, and all the while contributing nothing of consequence to the nation’s food supply, whereas, by organization and enrolment for war service, they would be made available to help the farmers in the best cereal-producing parts of the country; and in themselves these crofters would each be worth half a dozen or more of the inexperienced town-dwellers and women now employed upon the land.
I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, agricola.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/airmen-stranded-in-the-desert-7lr936f5f
Airmen stranded in the desert
OCTOBER 10, 1916
The death of Second Lieutenant Stewart Gordon Ridley, Royal Flying Corps, in the Libyan Desert at the age of 19 was announced in The Times of June 28. The circumstances in which he laid down his life are now known, and in the opinion of his squadron commander and of the captain of the Imperial Camel Corps, who had charge of the search for him and for J A Garside, a mechanic who was with him, they show that Mr Ridley shot himself, and that this act was one of self-sacrifice prompted by the hope of saving his subordinate. Mr Ridley, who had landed in Egypt at the beginning of June, was sent out on June 14 from an oasis in the desert as escort to another pilot, who took with him the mechanic. They were to fly to an advanced landing ground, to which supplies been been sent, and were to do reconnaissance work. They failed to find the appointed station, and, as darkness was approaching, landed without being certain of their position. Next morning the engine of Mr Ridley’s aeroplane would not start, and a slight fault was found in it. The other pilot decided to go back alone to the base, leaving all the food and water which they had. It was arranged that he should return on the following day and take Mr Ridley and the mechanic separately to the landing ground. When he arrived again at the place he found that they had gone, leaving some odds and ends, but no message. Search was made, and it was ascertained that they had flown 25 miles, landed, and flown on again after having patched up the machine. Nothing more was discovered until June 20, when the aeroplane and the bodies of the two men were found by a search party.
In a rough diary kept by Garside it was recorded that an unsuccessful attempt to start the engine had been made in the morning of June 18, and that later in the day, on Mr Ridley’s suggestion, they had walked to some hills and returned exhausted. “Hardly any water - about a spoonful. Mr Ridley shot himself at 10.30 whilst my back was turned. No water all day; don’t know how to go on; feeling very weak; wish someone would come; cannot last much longer.” On the 19th, Garside had written a few more lines, concluding: “Could last days if had water.” It was in the afternoon of the next day that the bodies were found.
The hundredth day
october 8, 1916
Yesterday was the hundredth day of the Battle of the Somme, which surpasses in magnitude and intensity any previous conflict in the history of the world, and has effectually shattered the modern legend of German invincibility in war. Throughout the battle the enemy have mainly sought to preserve their reputation, not in open fighting, but in skilfully constructed refuges far below the earth’s surface. No retreat, however deep and cunningly devised, has availed them against the crushing fire of the Allied artillery and the irresistible onslaughts of the British and French infantry. On the first day of the battle they were driven from elaborate works, which they believed to be impregnable, and the hundredth day found them still falling back. They have often been tenacious in defence, and it is fair to acknowledge that on Saturday night they retained sufficient resolution to deliver a counter-attack which had a small measure of success. On Saturday afternoon, evidently owing to an improvement in the weather, Sir Douglas Haig was able to renew his advance in the direction of Bapaume. He attacked on a front of rather more than four miles, from the Albert-Bapaume road to the village of Lesbeoufs. Between that village and Gueudecourt the line was advanced from six hundred to a thousand yards. The steady forward sweep of the British Army has brought it within three miles of Bapaume. In conjunction with the British attack, the French made a brilliant advance north-east of Morval. This extremely satisfactory operation, which marks the steady progress of the joint offensive, may be the prelude of further triumphs.
Should events of still greater magnitude occur in the Somme area, there is some danger lest the natural elation already justly prevalent may tend to obscure the broader realities of the war. It cannot be too often urged that we have to face even greater sacrifices than those already made, if we are to secure the full fruits of the Allied victories on the Somme. While we rejoice that we are slowly weakening the enemy on the Western front, we should recognize that they still enjoy marked advantages elsewhere. The only way to form a just estimate of the course of the war is to examine it as a whole, and to take calm and balanced views.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2016-10-10/register/crofters-and-service-j7wcbtf2n
Crofters and service
October 10, 1916
To the Editor of The Times. Sir, It is daily becoming more apparent how difficult it is to find men for the ranks of the Army and, at the same time, to leave the country with sufficient labour to cultivate the land. The Government have appointed a committee to “comb out” various trades. This will not improve matters for agriculture. In the Highlands and West of Scotland there are thousands of able-bodied young crofters now being exempted from service by tribunals, on the grounds that they are engaged in farming. It would be interesting to investigate what their “agriculture” consists of. For the most part a crofter has some subsidiary occupations, such as fishing, carting, or letting his house to summer visitors. A crofter’s farming operations do little more than feed himself and family, and by selling the few head of stock bred on the croft he raises sufficient money to pay his very small rent.
If the Government’s object is not only to provide men to fight, but also to maintain, or increase, the food of the people, then would it not be more true economy to enrol these crofters as soldiers to work upon the farms in England than to leave them alone in the highlands to scratch a poor soil? Their livestock might be put in charge of one selected local farmer. The rents of the crofts would be met from proceeds in the management of the stock, and the homes of the crofters would be maintained from the same funds. At the end of the war a similar head of stock would be delivered back to the crofters.
As things are now, it would seem that a great waste exists in leaving these fine, able-bodied men to struggle along under the poorest possible conditions of agriculture, and all the while contributing nothing of consequence to the nation’s food supply, whereas, by organization and enrolment for war service, they would be made available to help the farmers in the best cereal-producing parts of the country; and in themselves these crofters would each be worth half a dozen or more of the inexperienced town-dwellers and women now employed upon the land.
I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, agricola.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/airmen-stranded-in-the-desert-7lr936f5f
Airmen stranded in the desert
OCTOBER 10, 1916
The death of Second Lieutenant Stewart Gordon Ridley, Royal Flying Corps, in the Libyan Desert at the age of 19 was announced in The Times of June 28. The circumstances in which he laid down his life are now known, and in the opinion of his squadron commander and of the captain of the Imperial Camel Corps, who had charge of the search for him and for J A Garside, a mechanic who was with him, they show that Mr Ridley shot himself, and that this act was one of self-sacrifice prompted by the hope of saving his subordinate. Mr Ridley, who had landed in Egypt at the beginning of June, was sent out on June 14 from an oasis in the desert as escort to another pilot, who took with him the mechanic. They were to fly to an advanced landing ground, to which supplies been been sent, and were to do reconnaissance work. They failed to find the appointed station, and, as darkness was approaching, landed without being certain of their position. Next morning the engine of Mr Ridley’s aeroplane would not start, and a slight fault was found in it. The other pilot decided to go back alone to the base, leaving all the food and water which they had. It was arranged that he should return on the following day and take Mr Ridley and the mechanic separately to the landing ground. When he arrived again at the place he found that they had gone, leaving some odds and ends, but no message. Search was made, and it was ascertained that they had flown 25 miles, landed, and flown on again after having patched up the machine. Nothing more was discovered until June 20, when the aeroplane and the bodies of the two men were found by a search party.
In a rough diary kept by Garside it was recorded that an unsuccessful attempt to start the engine had been made in the morning of June 18, and that later in the day, on Mr Ridley’s suggestion, they had walked to some hills and returned exhausted. “Hardly any water - about a spoonful. Mr Ridley shot himself at 10.30 whilst my back was turned. No water all day; don’t know how to go on; feeling very weak; wish someone would come; cannot last much longer.” On the 19th, Garside had written a few more lines, concluding: “Could last days if had water.” It was in the afternoon of the next day that the bodies were found.