Lost in the Shadow of Fame

by William E. Lemanski

  10. East of the Sun and West of the Moon, 1926, pg’s. 40 and 41; Theodore Roosevelt and Kermit Roosevelt

  11. Ibid., pg. 88

  12. Ibid., pg. 232

  13. Courtesy of the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History

  14. AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES of the JAMES SIMPSON-ROOSEVELT ASIATIC EXPEDITION by Karl P. Schmitd, 1926, pg. 167, Field Museum of Natural History

  15. Trailing the Giant Panda, 1929, pg. 30; Theodore Roosevelt and Kermit Roosevelt. The Kachin were a primitive, warlike indigenous people living in northern Burma

  16. Ibid., pg. 56

  17. Ibid., pg. 178

  18. Ibid., pg. 180

  19. Ibid., pg. 188

  20. Ibid., pg. 189

  21. Expedition News, June 2003 – Volume Ten, Number Six. Lololand is the home of the Lolo tribe. “Lolo’ was a pejorative Han Chinese term meaning ‘barbarian’ because of their primitive lifestyle and social hierarchy. The Lolos lived in the vast unmapped territory in southwestern China known as Lololand. Today the Lolos call themselves Nuosu and are under the blanket term of Yi with six other ethnic minority groups in the region. Aside from the Lolos reputation as fierce, barbaric and capable warriors, the Lolos had a caste system in place that revolved around the practice of slavery.” Kermit and TR Jr. described the Lolos as being similar to American Indians: “Wild-looking fellows with their black turbans and great capes. One mountaineer had his hair cut in a scalp-lock like an American Indian.”

  22. Trailing the Giant Panda, 1929, pg. 223; Theodore Roosevelt and Kermit Roosevelt.

  23. Ibid., pg. 225

  24. Takin: a rare horned mammal in the family Bovidae. The Takin, weighing up to 700 pounds wears a heavy coat of fur and is on the endangered species list. The Takin is thought to be the origin of the mythological “golden fleece.”

  25. The Korean Tiger is now extinct on the peninsula having disappeared in the first half of the 20th Century. However, biologists believe the species may still survive in small numbers across the border in China.

  26. Cleared for Strange Ports, 1927, page 56; Kermit Roosevelt and family members.

  27. Ibid., pg. 158 Kermit’s observation.

  28. Ibid., pg. 178

  29. Ibid., pg. 229. “FROM THE LAND WHERE THE ELEPHANTS ARE” by Belle Willard Roosevelt.

  30. Ibid., pg. 215

  31. Ibid., pg. 216

  Chapter VIII- Returning

  to Combat: World War II

  Back to the Army again, sergeant,

  Back to the Army again.

  'Ow did I learn to do right-about-turn?

  I'm back to the Army again!

  “Back to the Army Again” Rudyard Kipling

  The decade of the 1930s was an extremely unstable period for America and the industrialized nations across Europe. With much of the Western World mired in economic depression and job loss, many people began to question the efficacy of the capitalist system and democratic principles were increasingly being blamed for the troubles – people were looking for leadership that didn’t seem to exist. Not surprisingly, faltering economies based upon free market exchange began to turn a growing number of people inward or towards radical forms of government. To some, communism appeared to offer solutions, with fascism rising as a counterbalance. Even nature seemed to work against the interests of Americans as much of the Midwest farming regions turned into massive dustbowls and coupled with manufacturing loss in the east forced mass migrations of people to relocate while abandoning family homesteads and the familiarity and security of their birthplaces.

  As many nations were in a continual state of economic and social decline, one nation in Europe was energized by a charismatic leader who headed a political party that offered hope and salvation. The rise of the National Socialist or Nazi Party and its leader, Adolph Hitler mesmerized the German population and began a massive industrial and military buildup, all in contradiction with previously mandated strictures imposed by the victors of the Great War. Following the devastation of Europe at the end of the First World War, the victorious allied nations with the firm expectation of ensuring that Germany would never rise militarily again to threaten the world order, forced a set of rigid requirements on Germany at the Treaty of Versailles. A mandated loss of industry and industrial territory, payment of reparations, a severe reduction in military capability and reduced borders within a demilitarized zone along with a loss of overseas colonies all were designed to render Germany a broken and benign power.

  The instability of the Depression and the severe economic condition of Germany in the early 1930s enabled Hitler to gain political traction with both the masses and the industrial and political leaders in the country. The fear of communism, the scapegoating of Germany’s Jewish population and the German citizen’s hope for a better life provided Hitler and his Nazis the opportunity to gain high political office and create a total dictatorship. During the early to mid 1930s as Hitler consolidated his strangle-hold on the government, he began to rebuild Germany’s industrial infrastructure and rearm her military, all in violation of the treaty commitments that were codified two decades earlier. An economically troubled and war-weary Europe which suffered the loss of four and a half million of its population in the Great War benignly looked on and was simply unable to respond to the growing threat. The great powers of Europe became helpless as the German Reich invaded Austria, forced the cession of the Sudetenland and finally, the occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia. The change in Europe’s pusillanimous, idle posture began on September 1, 1939 when Germany’s war machine invaded Poland. On September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany and the Second World War began.

  The United States, still struggling with the debilitating effects of the Depression, looked on with disinterest. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, realizing the precarious position of Britain, began to recognize the potential threat to the free world if Nazi aggression, allied with Italy and Russia, was permitted to spread across Europe and defeat the U.S.’s former allies. However, the American people, always apprehensive of Europe’s ageless, internecine warfare and still mindful of the slaughter of the recent “war to end all wars” were adamantly opposed to any U. S. involvement. Despite the opposition from those overwhelmingly supportive of neutrality, FDR worked behind the scenes to assist his new friend, Winston Churchill, and his beleaguered island nation. The United States would not formally enter the war until the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7, 1941.

  Kermit, ever the warrior, hastened once again to enter the fray as the only Oyster Bay Roosevelt at that time sympathetic with FDR’s concerns. Despite his advancing age, growing marital problems and alcohol abuse, he was determined to join a combat unit and fight Germans as the United States stood idly by. In September 1939 Kermit met with his friend, Winston Churchill who was then First Lord of the Admiralty and requested a commission in a machinegun corp: “being willing, if necessary to give up his United States nationality in order to be able to fight against Germany.”1 Churchill thought that this offer of service by a prominent American was one which should be accepted, and he understood from the Secretary of State for War, that the necessary arrangements had been made. The deal, approved by the King, was to commission Kermit as a Second Lieutenant in the Army with immediate promotion to the rank of acting Major.2 In December Kermit was assigned to the Machine Gun Training Center with the Middlesex regiment at Mill Hill.

  In August 1939 on the cusp of the German invasion into Poland, Germany and Russia signed a non-aggression pact and secretly developed plans to carve-up eastern Europe. Russia, in her alliance with Germany, albeit distrustful of her intentions, began to strengthen her borders but the strategic location of Finland in the northeast lay only twenty miles from the outskirts of the City of Leningrad. To secure her northern flank, Russia demanded concessions which the Finnish Government rejected. On November 30, the Russians attacked along the Finnish frontier and simultaneously bombed Helsinki, the capital of Finland. For
many weeks the Finns pummeled the Russian Army, inflicting terrible carnage on the overconfident Russian troops who were unprepared for the intense cold and snow of this Winter War. However, despite heavy Russian losses the Finns were greatly outnumbered and after numerous engagements began to be overcome with fatigue and run short on ammunition. The world stood by in horror during this violent invasion by a huge, belligerent nation of a small and valiant country, even the isolationist American people were shocked by the violence. As the tragedy was unfolding, the British were working behind the scenes to aid the Finnish forces. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin wrote to French Premier M. Daladier pressing his government to send help to the Finns as the British High Command began to plan for an international force of volunteers to aid the Finnish resistance. As of February, the Finnish Air force had received 52 of some 400 aircraft promised by the British and more were arriving at a rate of five to eight a day.3 Anti-aircraft guns and munitions were also being supplied. Kermit suggested to the British that they invoke the support of FDR. At a meeting of the War Cabinet the British High Command noted: “As, however, there is a good deal of unfriendliness between the Democratic and Republican sections of the Roosevelt family, this was thought to be not adviseable.”4

  The British, concerned with maintaining the appearance of neutrality in the conflict established a shadowy, unofficial organization named the Finnish Aid Bureau under the direction of an equally mysterious individual named Harold Gibson. The Bureau was a recruitment and management agency for an international force of volunteers that would assist the Finnish resistance. The concept of the international force was a throwback to the multi-national group of volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War in 1938. To ensure anonymity, the British Government opposed any active military personnel serving in the volunteer force. Eager to see action, Kermit, with the aid of Churchill lobbied for command of a combat unit and the Finnish volunteer force was decided upon. The British High Command initially balked at assigning Kermit to lead the force. Such an appointment might be regarded in the United States as an attempt by the British to involve that country in the war. Despite the haggling over political concerns, Kermit was finally cleared to command the unit. However, to maintain the appearance of a civilian volunteer force, Kermit had to resign his newly appointed army commission with the Middlesex Regiment. The idea of a new adventure that could renew his self-respect and redeem him in the eyes of his family was a great boost to Kermit’s morale – in his eyes the operation would be a “crusade.” He later commented for the London Times5: “I felt that in fighting for the Finns I should be ranging myself against the O.G.P.U. (Russian secret service, forerunner of the KGB) and the Gestopo and all the forces which are troubling the world today.” On February 4, 1940, Kermit made a lengthy radio broadcast against Germany to the British people on the B.B.C. stating the necessity to mount a “…modern Crusade to save Finland.”

  The plan was to ship fifty volunteers a week for a total unit size of approximately five-hundred fighters along with field guns and 30,000 rounds of ammunition. However, fate intervened and Kermit’s pursuit of redemption and glory in battle evaporated. Before departing with the first contingent of volunteers, Kermit’s ill health gained control, and he was forced to enter the hospital rather than begin execution of the ill fated operation. During the early months of 1940, Kermit lived in a state of constant, extreme pain. On February 2 he left the hospital in London to spend a one week leave with Belle at the Ritz. She arrived in England and attempted to nurse him to health in the London hotel where he received a constant round of doctors and dentists along with occasional nurse care. Belle was frantic at his weakened condition and vainly attempted to nurse him and constrain him from his obsession with pursuing a combat role in the war.

  On some occasions he was unable to leave his bed. In her diary*[24] she recorded:

  “Up all night – really frightened – doctor came about eleven – took charge but left me alone with very sick man from 11:30 to 3 o’clock – no medicine – could not keep father in bed – with difficulty and anguish kept him from going out – lovely day nurse finally arrived with doctor when I had about exhausted all strength and arguments.”

  Then “…good case of flu with probable pneumonia.” To add to Kermit’s ongoing misery he was suffering from bad teeth. On March 12: “Drained abscess continually but couldn’t remove tooth. Pieces of bone coming off. Kermit lived in much pain. Poison in blood.” On March 19: “Kermit had dysentery.” March 29: “Doctor found a spreptecarcus (sic) in K’s. intestines.”

  Despite his numerous and dreadful ailments, Kermit still had enormous vitality to endure pain and spring back. On March 7, after resigning his commission with the British, he was sworn into the Finnish Army. However, at fifty-one he was clearly beyond any condition for war making let alone overall command of the volunteer force. Having overruled Kermit’s stubbornness towards military service, the Finnish volunteer operation continued with a new commander and over the next few months became an embarrassment to the British Government as none of the volunteers saw action. On March 13, 1940, the exhausted Finns closed a peace agreement with the Soviets and capitulated to Russia ending hostilities. The hundreds of volunteer fighters that shipped to Finland without Kermit never fired a shot. Some returned to England, some remained, and the whereabouts of others were never recorded as the entire shadowy campaign became a failed footnote to the dramatic conflict that followed across Europe.

  Following a short recuperative stay in a London hospital, Kermit once again stubbornly set his sights on a combat role and began to angle for command of a fighting unit; he just would not recognize that his days of martial glory had passed. He obsessed with the desire to enter the war in a combat role and used every contact he knew in England, from royalty to the Prime Minister. The Roosevelts engaged in a hectic round of social activity: Belle dining with royalty including Winston Churchill while Kermit played golf, visited London clubs, and shot pheasant as he campaigned with military officers for a command. In April he reapplied to the British Army, and on the 22nd, he met with Lt. Colonel C. McVean Gubbins of the Royal Artillery. Gubbins was a career military officer, a war hero in World War I, an author, linguist and military strategist. He commanded a group of special assault troops that later became the famed British Commandos. Kermit immediately developed a liking and trust in him. In his new assignment, Belle recorded in her diary, Kermit would,

  “Laison between Norwegians and (the) War Office – very important setup – taking wireless equipment and wireless men – two lots going, as Gubbins indicated.”

  The mission was classified Top Secret.

  In the spring of 1940 the German High Command became concerned that the Norwegian port of Narvik, critical for the shipment of iron ore from Sweden was in jeopardy. Additionally, Germany, gaining command of the sea bordering Norway, would undermine the Allied blockade of Germany. Coincidently, both Germany and the British arrived at the same strategic conclusion at the same time as German troops landed on Norwegian soil. The British began a coastal mine-laying operation. A series of naval engagements ensued with German landing operations at Narvik following a British evacuation under heavy air attack. The campaign occurred at the beginning of April and ended on June, 10 with Germany prevailing. On April 25th Kermit, in anticipation of serving in the extreme conditions of cold and snow in Norway left for Scotland to work with polar experts Andrew Crofts and Quintin Riley. He eventually reached Narvik and distinguished himself assisting in the evacuation under heavy German bombing and strafing runs.

  By the end of June Kermit was once again back in England and high and dry in his pursuit of combat, writing to Belle: “This looking for something to do is hard work, always being asked for advice and then doing nothing to do oneself.”6 His luck and influence with the British War Office once again landed him a trip to the Middle East with the Middlesex Regiment. However, the assignment was more of a tedious exercise in boredom than an opportunity to gain valor whil
e engaging the enemy. Writing7 to his friend and former commando from Norway, polar explorer and military officer, Lt. Cdr. Quintin Theodore Petroc Molesworth Riley:

  “That’s a long trip out (to Egypt) by way of the Cape, six to seven weeks with one port of call. It was interesting in the desert, but the Italians just didn’t have any fight in them. I thought surely we’d hear from them around Massawa where they had destroyers, submarines and airplanes, but although we had forty four hundred troops packed like sardines aboard our ship, we never saw an Italian. “On patrol it was the same way; you could never get in more than a couple of bursts before they legged it.”

  The idleness and lack of action began to wear on Kermit and he turned to drink to pass the time. Adding to his deteriorating situation, dysentery began to trouble him: “I had bad luck in having two attacks of dysentery, one quite severe – the head surgeon died in the bunk next mine; but I’m all right now. The combination of his physical ailments and excessive drinking resulted in his being recalled to England and mustered out of the military.

  Notes-

  1 Declassified Top Secret record of the British National Archive; Conclusions of a Meeting of the War Cabinet held at 10 Downing Street, held on Tuesday, September 19, 1939.

  2 Ibid., Saturday, September 23, 1939.

  3 Ibid., February 9, 1940.

  4 Ibid., date unknown by author and not recorded in British Archives.

  5 The Times, March 4, 1940; “British Volunteers for Finland – Mr. K. Roosevelt in Command.

  6 Letter, Kermit to Belle dated 28 June, 1940; Belle and Kermit Roosevelt Collection, Library of Congress

  7 Letter dated 23 February, 1941; Kermit Roosevelt to Lt. Cdr. Quintin Theodore Petroc Molesworth Riley in the Liddell Hart Center for Military Archives, King’s College, London