CADET--MIDSHIPMAN--LIEUTENANT
Jellicoe's life on H.M.S. _Britannia_ was an interesting and varied
one. Probably he looks back on the years spent in what has been aptly
called "The Cradle of our Sea Kings" as the best years of his life. He
joined at a very interesting period, too, just when the
Franco-Prussian War was raging most fiercely.
For a healthy lad life on the _Britannia_ must have been an ideal
existence. Of course there were hardships, doubtless greater ones
forty years ago than there are now. Hardships find out the weak spots
in humanity--mental as well as physical. Hardships make men.
Discipline is strict in the Navy, stricter than in the sister Service,
but it is of a different kind. Sailors see life from a quite different
standpoint from that from which soldiers look at it. In the old days
there was a great deal of brutality in the Navy, but with it, at the
same time, a great comradeship--a deep understanding of human nature.
To-day brutality has practically disappeared, but the deep
understanding of human nature remains, and with it brotherly love.
A sailor's ship becomes his home, and happy as was young Jellicoe in
his father's house in Southampton, his heart was soon centred in the
_Britannia_ and the ever-varying round of work and play which used to
keep the cadets busy from morning to night.
Captain W. Graham was in command of the _Britannia_ during the greater
part of the period Jellicoe served his apprenticeship to the sea--from
1874 to 1877.
Turning-out at sunrise and turning-in soon after sunset; parade, swim,
drill, preparation; classes, ranging from Latin to Algebra, from
gunnery to rope-splicing--this is a rough idea of a day on the
training ship in the early 'eighties.
An old musty boat may not have been the healthiest place for a growing
boy from a fond mother's and a modern physician's point of view, but
the breeze which swept up the silvery Dart from the English Channel
and whistled through her rigging and portholes was stimulating and
life-giving.
The _Britannia_ still lies at her old moorings, between the little
village of Dittisham and Dartmouth town, with Kingswear, the terminus
of the Great Western Railway, on the left. The Dart is one of the most
beautiful and romantic of English rivers. It rises only about a score
of miles away from Dartmouth, right on the moorland, in a wilderness
of gorse and heather.
It rushes through the granite-strewn valleys, past the glorious wooded
banks of Holne Chase, roaring and tumbling until it reaches Totnes.
Here its wild course is stopped with startling abruptness; from a
foaming shallow trout stream it is turned into a stately river--broad,
deep and calm. But the waters still carry the colour of the peat and
the scent of the heather; the hills still rise from the mossy banks
carpeted with daffodils and primroses in spring. And right down to the
sea itself, thatch-roofed cottages, stately houses and ruined castles
peer through the foliage.
Dartmouth is noted for three things--its cockles and plums from
Dittisham, its orchards and its annual Regatta, which in Jellicoe's
day was famous throughout the world.
The author has it from the best authority that young Jellicoe joined
in some of the successful raids on the aforesaid orchards, that he
tasted and approved of Dittisham plums and cockles, and it is more
than likely that he attended the Regatta, which, from a boy's point of
view, as well as that of many grown-ups, was most attractive as a
Fair.
At the end of Jack Jellicoe's first year on the _Britannia_ he showed
his instructor and his fellow-cadets the kind of stuff of which he was
made. He was quiet, unassuming, yet always ready for work, and equally
ready to take his place in the cricket eleven, or to put in a little
practice in the field between the goal-posts. When he came out at the
head of his rivals in the examinations, and got first for every
examination that it was possible for him to pass, he must have
occasioned no inconsiderable surprise.
Next year much the same thing happened, though, at the same time,
Jellicoe began to develop a _penchant_ for left-hand bowling. He was
useful with an oar, too. On the _Britannia_ every kind of game was
encouraged among the cadets. Of course swimming, shooting, rowing,
sculling and the "gym" came under part of the curriculum. A cadet need
not play cricket or football, but he would probably have a bad time if
he did not. If he wished, he got his chance at tennis and racquets and
bowls; athletic sports were, of course, held regularly.
Besides the time-honoured paper chase, the _Britannia_ had a pack of
beagles, of which the lieutenant was generally master; the pack is
still in existence to-day. The hounds met, during the season, once or
twice a week, hunting the hillsides, and along the open country from
the cliffs beyond Kingswear, inland, for several miles. Only the
master is mounted, and sometimes he dispenses with his horse; everyone
else is on foot, and, as a cadet remarked, "You have to be pretty
nippy if you want to be in at the death."
Amidst such surroundings, on one of the oldest ships belonging to His
Majesty on the bosom of England's most beautiful river, John Rushton
Jellicoe's character was developed. At the age of thirteen he found
himself afloat--and he has kept afloat ever since. His ship has in
very truth been his home, for he has always been actively engaged,
and never known--perhaps never wanted--a real rest or a proper
holiday.
Of course Jellicoe passed out of the _Britannia_ just as he had passed
into her--first of his year by over a hundred marks. During the period
he was on board as midshipman he took nearly all the prizes--though he
was only allowed to keep a selection. But the future Admiral of the
Fleet was not after prizes. He possessed what an old boatswain aptly
described as _a hungry brain_. It is rather surprising that he never
suffered from mental dyspepsia, since in his desire for knowledge he
was absolutely avaricious. In his examination as sub-lieutenant a few
years later, he took no fewer than three "firsts."
It was not very long before Jellicoe saw active service. He was
appointed to H.M.S. _Agincourt_ in 1881, and was present at the
bombardment of Alexandria. This was in July of 1882, just after the
attacks made on the Europeans in Alexandria, for which Ahmed Arabi was
held responsible. Arabi was then Prime Minister and leader of the
Rebellion against the English. It was he who had heavy guns mounted
on the forts and ordered earthworks to be thrown up for their
protection.
It is interesting to remember that Kitchener was in Egypt at this
time, on furlough. He, of course, saw that a conflict was inevitable;
and when the great exodus of foreigners from the town took place he
remained behind.
But his furlough expired and he was due to return home. He applied for
an extension, and obtained it. Meanwhile, the British battleships
waited outside beyond the harbour, among them the _Agincourt_, with
young Jellicoe on board. Arabi continued to strengthen the defences of
Alexandria and to pour troops into the town.
On July the 10th Arabi received the British Ultimatum; the guns of the
Fleet were trained on the fortifications, and steamers crowded with
people crept out of the harbour, Kitchener on one of them. A few hours
later the first shot was fired by one of the English boats--and
Jellicoe received his baptism of fire.
The enemy's guns were soon silenced, and Arabi withdrew his forces
inland. But a terrible massacre took place in Alexandria; houses were
pillaged and burnt. Eventually a force of bluejackets and Marines was
landed from the Fleet and order was restored.
Of course Arabi and his followers retreated. It was realized a big
force would be required to suppress him, and an expedition was fitted
out under the command of Sir Garnet Wolseley, and Kitchener (whose
extension of furlough had again expired, and who ought to have
returned to England) got his chance.
So it happened that thus early in their careers the two men,
Lieutenant Kitchener, R.E., and Lieutenant Jellicoe, R.N., in whose
hands, jointly, now rests the safety of the British Empire and the
welfare of the world, saw War for the first time and fought for the
first time together.
For Jellicoe, after taking part in the bombardment of Alexandria, was
fortunate enough to accompany the Naval Brigade which was landed and
marched with Wolseley's troops on Cairo, and fought at Tel-el-Kebir,
where Arabi had strongly entrenched his men.
The odds against the British forces were about two to one, but early
in September a decisive victory was gained by us, and Arabi's army
routed. For his share in this action Lieutenant Jellicoe was awarded
the Egyptian Medal and the Khedive's Bronze Star.
It is not recorded whether Jellicoe and Kitchener ever met on the
battlefield, or, if they did, whether they ever spoke. For then, as
now, both were men of few words.
"He is great," Colonel Taylor said afterwards of Kitchener, "and he is
clever."
"He don't waste words," was a bluejacket's criticism of Jellicoe, "but
when he does speak, he hits the mark every time."
Kitchener remained in Egypt--where he was fated to accomplish the
first portion of his life's work for the Empire. Jellicoe returned to
England, and we next hear of him at the Royal Naval College at
Greenwich, where he showed that his "mental appetite" was far from
satiated. He won the £80 special prize for Gunnery Lieutenants; this
was a significant moment in his career. As the world knows, British
Naval Gunnery is unrivalled. It was Jellicoe who helped to place it in
the enviable position it now holds.
After leaving Greenwich, Jellicoe served on H.M.S. _Monarch_. It was
in May, 1886, while still a lieutenant on this ship, that he nearly
lost his life. Sir John Jellicoe has had three very narrow escapes,
and this was the first.
The _Monarch_, which had been lying off Gibraltar, went out for target
practice. A stiff breeze was blowing and dirty weather was
experienced. Soon a heavy sea got up, and presently the _Monarch_
sighted a ship in difficulties; she turned out to be a cargo steamer
from Glasgow, the _Ettrickdale_, and was fast on the rocks, with the
waves breaking over her and threatening to knock her to pieces. The
_Monarch_ had only taken one cutter out with her, her smallest; but
her Commander asked for volunteers to man it, so that an attempt
should be made to rescue the crew of the shipwrecked boat.
There did not seem to be much chance of the small cutter living in
such an angry sea; but this was the kind of job which appealed to
Lieutenant Jellicoe, who was one of the first to volunteer, and he was
given command of the crew.
With seven seamen he started on his desperate--almost
hopeless--enterprise. Though the cutter was splendidly managed, she
capsized before the _Ettrickdale_ could be reached, and Jellicoe was
struggling with his men in the boiling waters.
Marvellous to relate, not a life was lost. More dead than alive, they
all managed to reach the shore. For this attempt at saving life
Jellicoe received a medal. It was given him by the Board of Trade. But
he was not allowed to keep it very long, for he lost it when, in 1887,
he went down with the _Victoria_. Fortunately for England and her
Empire, Jellicoe came up again--but his silver medal did not.
Presumably the Board of Trade must have heard of the terrible accident
which cost England so many valuable lives and horrified the whole
world; but the officials did not offer to replace Jellicoe's lost
medal, and when he wrote and asked if they could obligingly supply him
with a duplicate, he received a formal reply that he could have one if
he chose to pay for it.
Up to the present we believe that he has not "paid," and so probably
he is without the silver medal he first won for gallantry. Perhaps
the Board of Trade is still debating whether it would be justified in
going to the expense of providing the Admiral of the British Fleet
with another.
Mrs. Jellicoe, Sir John's mother, possesses an interesting little
souvenir in the telegram which Jellicoe sent after he had been
rescued, announcing that he was safe--
"_Quite safe terrible affair love Jack_."
This simple message naturally brought great joy and relief to his
father's and mother's hearts. And now the Nation confidently awaits,
with Sir John Jellicoe's family, the receipt at any moment of another
telegram almost similarly worded--
"_Quite safe splendid affair love Jack!_"