There are many controversies regarding British generalship in the First World War and the subject is too large and complicated to cover in a newsletter article. However, there does seem to be some consensus of opinion that General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien was, at the very least, shabbily treated by Sir John French the original Commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, due to a ‘long-standing prejudice’ towards him1.
General Smith-Dorrien had a long and distinguished military career, one of the few British survivors of the Battle of Isandlwana (1879) in the Anglo-Zulu War, he commanded British troops during the Fashoda incident (1898) between Britain and France in East Africa, and distinguished himself as a Major General in the Second Boer War (1899-1902). In comparison with other generals, historians have been kinder to the decisions he made during 1914-1915. The first version of the official history of The Great War published in 1922, vindicated Smith-Dorrien, and this was subtly reinforced in the revised edition of 1933.2 Smith-Dorrien cared for his soldiers, instituting reforms whilst General Officer Commanding at Aldershot and felt they should show, ‘individual initiative and intelligence’.3
Recent research carried out at Cornwall’s Army Museum has shed light on links between Smith-Dorrien and the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. During the Second Boer War, the 2nd Battalion DCLI fought at the Battle of Paardeberg (18–27 February 1900) and formed part of the 19th Brigade which was under the command of Smith-Dorrien, and perhaps this was the first time each became aware of the qualities of the other. In the build up to the First World War, Smith-Dorrien was appointed GOC Southern Command on 1 March 1912, and as such, had jurisdiction over many regimental depots, including Bodmin. A search within Cornwall’s Army Museum Archive has produced some truly evocative material from the following two years.
During August 1913, the 3rd Battalion DCLI (Special Reserve) took part in a Training Camp at Tregantle, near Torpoint, where they participated in exercises as part of an attacking force that tested the readiness of the defences of Plymouth, and a military parade. Some fantastic images cover both the Camp and the Exercise. Newspapers of the time extolled the ability of the Battalion as well as giving some details of the exercise and the reason for them.
From 6am on Wednesday 6 August to 10am 7 August the Battalion marched 32 miles without one soldier falling out. There are details from Battalion Orders regarding entraining at Keyham on 9 August, presumably to return to Bodmin. Only a year before the start of the First World War, troops are seen both in Scarlet and the familiar early First World War Service Dress. Cars and horses inhabit the same world and Smith-Dorrien is amongst it all.
3rd DCLI leaving the Torpoint Ferry for Tregantle, presumably at the start of the Camp, possibly to catch a train ride to Keyham from Bodmin and thereafter a brisk march to the Torpoint Ferry.
Left: Captain Barrow and Major Pike of the DCLI in a wonderful picture of a car at Tregantle Camp. Right: Refreshments on the Downs near Roborough, Devon. The troops are wearing white headbands, denoting that they are role playing the attacking or ‘enemy’ force.
General view of Tregantle Camp, possibly the start of a Church Parade.
Right: General H Smith-Dorrien taking the salute at Brickfields, Plymouth
A year later perhaps many of the men who took part these events were in France and the association between General Smith-Dorrien and the DCLI was again revived, as he found himself once again in command of the DCLI, this time as Commander of II Corps. Within the archive there is the story and research carried out by historian Everett Sharp into Captain Robert Harold Olivier who was killed on the Aisne on 14 September 1914. It is obvious from this research and other histories of General Smith-Dorrien and Captain Olivier, that they knew each other with the link extending back to Paardeberg. The following, (Accession Number 5798) is an extract of a letter from Smith-Dorrien to Edith Olivier, dated 13 November 1914.
The Cornwall’s are one of the best Battalions in my Army Corps, and your poor brother was regarded as one of the best leaders in it. I had quite a long talk with
him a few days before he met his noble death.
He was so well, in such excellent spirits and full of enthusiasm. The news that he too had fallen a victim to the unsatisable [sic] greed of Germany came as a great shock to me. It is impossible to guage [sic] the loss he must be to you and his Father, but it must be a great satisfaction to know that he was a brilliant leader in a Battalion which has covered itself with Glory.
I look forward to the time, when the war being over I can come and talk to you about him. Meanwhile I can only tell you what a loss he is to the Army.
Yours in Deepest Sympathy,
H.J. Smith Dorrien
Captain Robert Olivier (20 June 1879-14 September 1914)
While there is more research to do, this article shows the historical threads that connects us all, Bodmin Keep Cornwall’s Army Museum has local history, with national connections, linked to world events and places.
- Richard Holmes, Tommy The British Soldier on the Western Front 1914-1918, Harper Collins, London, 2004, p. 35.. ↩︎
- Dan Snow & Mark Pottle, The Confusion of Command The War Memories of Lieutenant General Sir Thomas D’Oyly Snow, 1914-1915, Frontline Books, London, 2011, p. 205 ↩︎
- Tim Travers, The Killing Ground The British Army, The Western Front & the Emergence of Modern War 1900-1918, Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2003, p. 47. ↩︎