Jellicoe:Command of the Grand Fleet
| ||||||||
Jellicoe himself described the last weeks of peace in 1914:
- In June, 1914, my wife and I paid a visit to Aix-les-Bains; I had a little trouble in one knee, due to an accident at football [rugby] in my younger days, which under medical advice took me to Aix for treatment. We spent a pleasant three weeks there playing a good deal of tennis and making trips into the surrounding country. During our stay there the news reached us of the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and his wife at Sarajevo; and, as time passed, the international position appeared to be one of some anxiety. We left Aix-les-Bains early in July, and on the way home spent a week end at Wimereux where later on during the war a big hospital was established.[1]
While in Aix-les-Bains on 17 June, Jellicoe had written to his friend Sir Frederick Hamilton of his own future prospects after completing his tenure as Second Sea Lord:
- When I came to the Admiralty the First Lord [Churchill] indicated to me pretty clearly that he intended to offer me the command of the Home Fleet in succession to Callaghan. He has spoken frequently since I have been Second Sea Lord as if this was settled, and has even gone so far as to agree that I should go on half pay in September in readiness for it, as I once told him that I wanted three months' spell before taking up the command if he intended to offer it to me. But up to date he has not offered it, and as we so constantly disagree, it is quite possible that he may think I am not the right person for it.[2]
It is somewhat difficult to ascertain when Jellicoe was definitely earmarked to succeed Callaghan as Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet, as none of his three main biographers give much mention to it. Indeed, on 8 May, 1914, Lord Fisher was moved to write in a postscript to Churchill, "What about nominating Jellicoe to succeed Callaghan so as to make sure! You never know what a day may bring forth!"[3] In June it was rumoured in public that Callaghan would be succeeded by Jellicoe after hauling down his flag in December.[4]
Upon his return to Britain, Jellicoe had to deal with a report Churchill had asked him to look over during his holiday, concerning the occupation of the German islands of Sylt or Borkum. As Jellicoe recounted later, "I felt that, as both islands could be commanded by long-range gunfire from the mainland, we could not usefully hold the islands after their capture, since any vessels which we based on them would be exposed to this attack, with no possibility of reply.[5]
Having apparently settled into a first-class carriage at King's Cross for the journey north to Wick, the nearest mainline train station to the Orkneys, Jellicoe was given an envelope by a naval officer. Upon the front of the envelope were hand-written orders for opening by W. Graham Greene, the Secretary to the Admiralty:[6]
- Only [double-underlined] to be opened on receipt of telegraphic instructions from the Admiralty to that effect, which will be conveyed in the words:—
- "Open secret personal envelope taken with you from London"
- —
- Vice-Admiral Sir John Jelliicoe KCB &c.[7]
That same evening, Churchill wrote to King George V:
- Shd war come I shall have to submit to Your Majesty the name of Sir John Jellicoe for the supreme command. I have reached with regret the conclusion that Sir George Callaghan is not equal to the strains wh it wd entail upon the C. in C. These are not times when personal feelings can be considered unduly. We must have a younger man. Your Majesty knows well the purely physical exertion wh the command of a gt fleet demands. This however can remain in suspense until the situation becomes definite.[8]
The following day he again wrote to the King:
- Mr Churchill with his humble duty submits to Your Majesty that the present situation renders a change in the Supreme Command of the Fleet imperative. Sir John Jellicoe has now arrived at Scapa, and Mr Churchill proposes, either tomorrow or the next day to relieve Sir George Callaghan & to appoint Sir John Jellicoe, with the acting rank of Admiral, to be Commander-in-Chief. Mr Churchill would respectfully and most earnestly ask Your Majesty's approval to the course proposed.[9]
Footnotes
- ↑ Quoted in Bacon. Earl Jellicoe. p. 188.
- ↑ Jellicoe Papers. I. p. 36.
- ↑ Quoted in Churchill. Winston S. Chuchill. Companion Volume II Part 3. p. 1976.
- ↑ "The Portsmouth Command: Sir Hedworth Meux's Successor" (News). The Times. Wednesday, 17 June, 1914. Issue 40552, col C, pg. 8.
- ↑ Quoted in Bacon. Earl Jellicoe. p. 188.
- ↑ Barnett. The Swordbearers. p. 103.
- ↑ Reproduced in Barnett. The Swordbearers. p. 104.
- ↑ Quoted in Churchill. Winston S. Chuchill. Companion Volume II Part 3. p. 1992.
- ↑ Quoted in Churchill. Winston S. Chuchill. Companion Volume II Part 3. p. 1994.
Bibliography
