The Telegraph Book of Readers' Letters from the Great War

by Gavin Fuller

  To put the matter in a nutshell, the majority of those who have been bitterly disappointed during the last few weeks at their inability actively to serve their country, whether they be young men or men of middle age, have only their own laziness to thank. As their memories grew longer they have allowed their wind to grow shorter, and their muscles flabbier, till the authorities have no choice but to say, ‘It is very kind of you to offer your services, but you are no use to us.’

  I am told by experts in these matters that there is no reason why a man of fifty, or even of fifty-five, should not keep himself quite fit enough to sustain even the ardours of the present campaign, and that, so far has physical culture advanced, a man who is now quite out of condition could develop the muscles that are used in marching without marching a yard, and those that carry a soldier’s kit without tramping across the country with a dead weight of many pounds upon his back. It can, they say, all be done at home in a month or two.

  The South African Lesson

  I remember that, at the time of the South African war, many would-be recruits were refused by the authorities on account of some slight physical defect, such as insufficient chest expansion or a weakness of the heart. A good many hundreds of them went to the ingenious Mr Sandow, who, by taking a little trouble, added two or three inches to their chests or put their hearts right. Every man among them was ultimately accepted.

  The lesson then taught ought never to have been forgotten, but it has been. It was that every man ought to keep himself in good condition in case he should be wanted. We have none of the inconveniences attached to compulsory service, and we are not compelled to tear ourselves away from our businesses for annual training.

  As a thank offering for thus, surely the least that we can do is to keep ourselves fit. Had we done so in the past there would have been fewer heart burnings and fewer regrets on the part of those who have lately been rejected at the recruiting offices, while the accepted could probably have been got into trim in less time.

  It is no use lamenting over the past, but, with an eye to what the dark and unknown future may bring us, surely the best motto that we can take is ‘Get fit and keep fit.’

  One Who Regrets He Hasn’t

  DISTRESS AMONGST ACTORS

  SIR – On behalf of members of the theatrical profession, many of whom are sadly stricken by the war, I am appealing for money.

  Sir Herbert Tree has already generously arranged to hand over to a committee of representative actors about to be formed funds accumulating from the performances – crowded, I am glad to say – of Duke at His Majesty’s Theatre.

  The money which I am collecting will be through the same channel employed entirely for the benefit of families dependent for a livelihood upon work in the legitimate theatre.

  May I beg of you sufficient space in your valuable paper to call the attention of the public to my appeal for funds.

  I need not remind those to whom I appeal that members of the theatrical profession have ever been to the fore in helping the world at large when in need.

  Will generous readers of this appeal please send cheques or postal orders to me at the ‘Era’ office, 5 Tavistock Street, Strand, London W.C.

  Yours,

  Alfred Barnard, Hon. Treasurer, ‘Era’ War Distress Fund 5 Tavistock Street, Strand, W.C.

  12 September 1914

  FIELD GLASSES FOR TROOPS

  Lord Roberts’s Thanks

  SIR – The result of my appeal to sportsmen who are unable to take the field to give the use of the race glasses, field glasses, or stalking glasses to our non-commissioned officers under orders for the front, has been most gratifying.

  In the first three days after the issue of the appeal over 2,000 glasses were received. These glasses are being distributed as rapidly as possible among the non-commissioned officers destined for active service. I should like to take the opportunity of conveying their sincere gratitude to the owners who have given the use of their glasses.

  Most of the glasses received have been of the best modern patterns, and it is easy to realise how valuable they will prove in the field. Those who do not possess field glasses and who desire to assist should send cheques to The Secretary, National Service League, 72 Victoria Street, London S.W. All glasses should also be sent to this address.

  It will be my pleasure to send a personal letter of thanks to those who in this way contribute to the safety and welfare of our splendid soldiers.

  Every effort will be made to restore the glasses at the conclusion of the war. In all cases an index number is stamped upon the glasses and a record of their disposal registered at the Offices of the National Service League.

  Yours very truly,

  Roberts, F.M.

  Englemere, Ascot, Berks

  30 September 1914

  BOYCOTT OF GERMAN GOODS

  Plea For United Action

  SIR – I am very much in sympathy with your continued articles respecting the boycotting of German manufactures, but agree with you that it is quite possible that traders will not persist in this unless there is a strong and united protest from the public, backed up by their resolve not to buy German goods.

  I would suggest that a Non-German League should be started amongst the public, with a nominal subscription of 6d or 1s, mainly for the purpose of gathering a considerable number of names. These people would be asked to pledge themselves:

  1. Not to buy German-made articles for, say, a period of years;

  2. Not to buy any article whatever from a retailer whom they know to be stocking German goods.

  That ought to be quite easy for people in large towns. I am quite sure that unless some united course of this kind is taken we shall get back to the condition before the war, purely out of slackness, but if the wholesalers and retailers find that there is a big public resolve not to purchase at their establishments if they handle German goods, they will be very careful not to offend.

  Believe me, yours faithfully,

  G.W.W.

  London W.C.

  BRITISH-MADE TOYS

  SIR – The innate mechanical inventiveness of the British expert workman has not had the encouragement it deserves and needs. Toy and fancy goods manufacturers are only working three or four days a week. Why? Where is the need for short time when orders for hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of German toys will never be executed?

  What are we to think of British toy manufacturers who have raised their prices ten per cent, since the war, and have even made the advance applicable to all orders secured before that time?

  Let us get to business. The time has arrived when the German toy industry can be captured. But this will not be done if we look at the question from a philanthropic standpoint. It can be conclusively proved that it is possible to make toys more cheaply and more profitably in this country than on the Continent. With all due respect to the British manufacturer, the foreigner has beaten him in business acumen. He has adapted his commodity to the requirements of the public.

  What is wanted is a toy factory run on up-to-date business lines, with a commercial intelligence department as a leading feature. Without the slightest doubt it would prove a sound, remunerative investment to the shareholders.

  It means the establishment in this country of a new and flourishing industry with illimitable possibilities. It means the permanent employment of a large and an increasing number of British workpeople.

  Yours truly,

  B. Wilde

  258 Droylsden Road, Newton Heath, Manchester

  1 October 1914

  GIFTS TO GERMAN PRISONERS

  SIR – The letter of Lady Hulse in your issue of Monday is both well timed and badly needed. I have several times read of German prisoners in this country being treated as honoured guests, instead of the vicious monsters they have so often proved themselves to be.

  Why is it that in this country there is always a class so saturated with maudlin and misplaced sentiment that it is always ready to bestow its pit
y and sympathies upon the wrongdoer? One has only to remember what took place in Belgium a few weeks ago, and, in fact, is still taking place, murder, fire and unbridled license by these modern Huns to see the monstrous absurdity of bestowing such acts of kindness as Lady Hulse refers to upon those of their number who have been so fortunate as to fall into our hands.

  If these misguided Britishers have such a super abundance of charity and goodwill, let them spend it upon our own brave soldiers and sailors, and leave these prisoners to the care of the military authorities.

  That they will be well looked after there is no doubt. We as a nation always treat our foes better than they deserve.

  Your obedient servant,

  V. Page

  Gorleston-on-Sea

  HOARDING OF GERMAN TOYS

  SIR – Toys can be made by British labour better than they have ever been made in Germany, if only there was co-operation.

  But I would ask you more particularly to make known the fact that several large stores and large retail toy shops, in London and elsewhere, have been buying up every stray scrap of German-made toys and fancy goods and are ‘nursing’ it ready for the Christmas trade in toys. Those goods will undoubtedly be passed on to the public as British, or at any rate, the goods of friendly nations, and this is just where the difficulty arises with those of us who are truly patriotic.

  I remain, Sir, yours faithfully,

  British Trader

  2 October 1914

  CHEAP SUGAR

  SIR – In your excellent leading article in Monday’s Daily Telegraph on ‘Trade War with Germany’, you mention ‘sugar’. Of all the articles we import from Germany sugar is the least understood by the people, considering its universal necessity.

  The point to note is, that Great Britain is the only country which does not produce sugar for her own requirements. For thirty years, we have, in a large measure, been dependent largely upon the Continental supply of beet sugar. From a small beginning a gigantic industry has been built up under the fostering care of the German Government, until the cane source of supply became severely crippled, as it was not able to compete in price with subsidised German sugar.

  The Germans deliberately set out to capture this important market, and, incidentally, to ruin the West Indies and other cane-producing countries, by their cartels, bounties and rebates. It is quite obvious that individuals could not compete against a deliberate policy of a Government. Germany produced sugar for ‘export’; that is her policy.

  Since the Sugar Convention, however, many of her immoral trading methods have been stopped or mitigated, but she has, in the meantime, created this large sugar industry at the expense and ruin of others, and if she had not been stopped, even a little, by the Sugar Convention, she would have stamped out opposition and then charged us her own prices.

  There are some (agricultural enthusiasts) who advocate growing beetroot ourselves, but at the best this policy would be one of a slow and doubtful growth unless our Government subsidised it for years, and subsidising any industry should be a last resort, and avoided if possible.

  There are two methods of ensuring a plentiful supply of sugar on a safe permanent basis: (1) Encourage the growth of cane sugar; (2) keep the refining industry in our own hands at home. We have had practical experiences of the necessity for this during the last few weeks. It is not too much to say that if it had not been for the British refiners, sugar would have been unobtainable.

  Raw cane sugar, and plenty of it, with refiners to refine it and confectioners to use it – that is a sound British policy, and this can be obtained by admitting raw sugar free of duty.

  Yours faithfully,

  Geo. Nightingale

  33 Queen’s Avenue, Muswell Hill, N.

  GERMANY’S TRADE ENERGY

  SIR – I was exceedingly pleased to read your excellent leading article in today’s issue, as it emphasises the fact that the capture of German trade at the present moment is perfectly useless unless it is accomplished by such a reformation in our trading methods as will enable us to retain it when Germany is again in a position to compete with us.

  During my stay in various parts of the world while in the Navy I have been able to make inquiries on the subject, with the result that in most cases the Germans appeared to be making headway, particularly in the Far East. This is undoubtedly due to the greater energy, knowledge of the requirements of the country, and willingness to oblige of the German firms. I am almost inclined to consider the latter quality as of the greatest importance, for German firms were willing to take any trouble to procure whatever their customers required.

  There is another point which also affects the question, and that is the unfortunate idea which most young Britishers who go abroad appear to acquire – that they are entitled to at least as much time for amusement as for work. I should like to point out that this is not the way the young Germans look at it, and that this may in some degree affect the success of the firms to which they belong.

  Yours truly,

  R.N., Retired

  Hay, Hereford

  3 October 1914

  TOMMY’S SONGS

  SIR – Mr J.M. Glover is quite right. Tommy certainly ought to have a repertoire of his own. Then are many collections of soldiers’ songs published, but the majority of the lyrics are far above Tommy’s head and have no attraction for him as a soldier at all. They are mostly of the objective order and relate to his achievements in the field, and are absolutely devoid of the real sentiments that appeal to Tommy personally as a man, to his human nature and his affections.

  The songs I refer to are mostly written about him for others to sing. The intimate note is almost invariably missing. He still marches to ‘The Girl I Left Behind Me’ and the ‘British Grenadiers’, but I doubt if he ever sings either of them. By my desk as I write I have many volumes that contain thousands of songs of the soldier – The Universal Songster alone includes 3,000 military songs – but very few were designed for the soldier himself. I remember when ‘The Captain With his Whisker Took a Sly Glance at Me’ was a great favourite with the private at home and abroad – my father was in the Army – and later, though not a soldier’s song, ‘In the Strand’. Tommy wants tune and a good swinging chorus, and the theatres and the music halls frequently suit his requirements.

  ‘Tommy Atkins’ misses the point – a soldier can hardly sing about himself – and the same argument applies to nearly all the new songs that are just now flooding the music halls and the market. That is why ‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’ is so popular. The words of the chorus alone strike home to Tommy’s instincts. In Tipperary lives ‘the sweetest girl I know’.

  There you have it in a nutshell. Where would Tommy be without his sweetheart? Mr Glover may be interested to know that there is more than one song about his early home – ‘Were You Ever in Sweet Tipperary?’

  S.J. Adair Fitzgerald

  London N.

  BRITISH WAR PRISONERS

  SIR – On my way back from Petrograd I met Prince Peter Lieven at Stockholm. He had just been released from a camp of prisoners of war in Germany, and informed me that the British prisoners were exceptionally harshly treated.

  Among the prisoners were about 200 Gordon Highlanders, who were constantly subjected to insult on the part of the guards on account of their kilts.

  This continued until finally one Highlander demanded an interview with the officer commanding the camp, to whom he spoke as follows: ‘My uniform is 1,000 years old, and has been worn by kings. If it be insulted again I will not be answerable for the consequences nor what happens to me.’

  The Highlanders were not molested after that. Prince Lieven told me that the British were always served last at meals, and if there were not sufficient to go round they had simply to do without food. The parole of officers was not accepted.

  I am, Sir, yours truly,

  F.V.T.

  London

  P.S. Among the prisoners was the colonel of the King’s Own Scottis
h Borderers, and a major of the Royal Irish.

  5 October 1914

  TRAINING OF BOYS

  Value of Cadet Corps

  SIR – At this particular time, when the manhood of the nation is rallying to the colours, it is surely a golden opportunity to give to the youth of the country the elements of a military or semi-military instruction.

  Territorial cadets have not received much encouragement in the past, or we should have at our disposal now many thousands of young fellows on the verge of manhood ready and willing within the next year or two to take their place in the ranks of the Army. Indeed, some of the senior cadet corps, such as the Royal Fusiliers and King’s Royal Rifle Corps, have each sent two or three companies to Territorial units. Their places were at once filled up, and now most of the cadet corps are up to their full establishment. As, however, their maintenance is mostly provided by private benevolence, it is a severe strain on commanding officers, who naturally find great difficulty in providing funds at this particular time.

  A large body of opinion considers that service in cadet corps, boys’ brigades, and so forth should be made a compulsory phase of education, and that a boy should be compelled while at, or after leaving, school to join one or other. He could take his choice – naval, military or non-military. There are organisations for each.