https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/unequal-distribution-of-honours-nm2tbjx0x
Sir, A great deal has been written and said in connexion with civil honours bestowed on the occasion of his Majesty’s birthday, but if civil honours are open to criticism so also are military honours in a far greater degree. If civil honours may be said to represent the “mote”, then military honours surely take the place of the “beam”.
Whereas decorations are sparingly granted to officers, NCOs, and men who have risked their lives, the same awards are given as a matter of course to nearly every officer on the staffs; the more exalted the staffs the greater the number of decorations.
“Decorations” and “mentions” in dispatches are granted to Staff officers in a proportion to their whole number, as compared with the remainder of the Army, which would create astonishment were the actual figures given. The general officer naturally desires to show consideration and appreciation of the services of those with whom he is personally acquainted and with whom he comes daily in contact, and in his feelings of gratitude and generosity is apt to forget the fighting troops he does not see.
Whether this is the reason or not, the fact remains that Staff officers receive two and three decorations, whereas those who risk their lives are extremely fortunate if they receive one. The DSO is awarded to the flying officer who destroys a Zeppelin, to a camp commandant, or to an Assistant Provost-Marshal. The Military Cross decorates the jacket of a junior officer when a more generous view of his action might have resulted in the award of a VC; and the same Military Cross appears on the jacket of the warrant officer who is a clerk at General Headquarters.
The argument about decorations and their values can be continued ad infinitum, but the fact remains that decorations which have been looked upon as rewards for fighting services are granted in an infinitely greater proportion nowadays to officers who run no risks whatsoever. There is no uniformity of distribution, and whereas one general may make a minimum of recommendations, another will recommend a multitude. While I offer no suggestion for a remedy, it is well that the facts should be made public. Yours &c, x.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-06-14/register/cure-of-shell-shock-375k7zwm9
In the case of the neurasthenic the whole environment must be one of confident assurance of recovery. He should have a continual succession of graded experiences arranged to push from his mind the delusive feeling of inability to work.
It must on no account be supposed that neurasthenia was a fraud. It was not malingering, it was not wicked self-deception and, above all, it was not cowardice. It was a real disease. It was often found among men remarkable for their bravery, daring, and initiative. That they were not cowards was shown by the fact that many men who had recovered were found a second time in the fighting line. They did not want to go, but they did go, and indeed one almost doubted the sanity of men who knew the horrors of war and wanted to go back.
Infinite patience, common sense, a real but thoroughly disguised sympathy, were essential in those who undertook the care of these cases. Massage, electricity, light graduated work, fresh air, good wholesome food, and, above all, a healthy environment were essential adjuncts. The psycho-therapeutic method of treatment was wonderfully effective in the right hands. Nothing retarded recovery so much as the flying visits of unthinking but kindly intentioned philanthropic lady visitors.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-06-13/register/british-airmens-great-day-f6x8ncrvj
Some three tons of explosives were dropped on the morning of the battle on various aerodromes, railheads, and similar points of importance. With the earliest dawn our men flew to each enemy aerodrome within a certain radius and simply terrorized it. Besides dropping explosives, they attacked aerodromes at below the level of the shed-roofs, pouring machine-gun fire into the hangars and making it impossible for any enemy machine to get out and start. Besides all this, our airmen attacked guns moving on the road, convoys of ammunition wagons, and transport of all kinds. They hunted trains along the rails, and when trains stopped at stations and troops tried to detrain, the airmen fairly decimated them. Many of our men made long flights over enemy country and returned to their home aerodromes without ever being 500ft above the ground, in innumerable cases much lower.
One airman, finding no larger game, chased a single motor-car, with five passengers, along a road, coming down so low that, the engine not being quick in picking up, he hit the car with the under-body of his machine, with the not unnatural result that the car went in a clean somersault into a ditch. Then he found four gun teams on another road, attacked them, caused casualties both to men and horses, and left them tied up in knots. Then the same man charged a party of 500 infantry and scattered them.
june 15, 1917
Unequal distribution of honours
To the Editor of The TimesSir, A great deal has been written and said in connexion with civil honours bestowed on the occasion of his Majesty’s birthday, but if civil honours are open to criticism so also are military honours in a far greater degree. If civil honours may be said to represent the “mote”, then military honours surely take the place of the “beam”.
Whereas decorations are sparingly granted to officers, NCOs, and men who have risked their lives, the same awards are given as a matter of course to nearly every officer on the staffs; the more exalted the staffs the greater the number of decorations.
“Decorations” and “mentions” in dispatches are granted to Staff officers in a proportion to their whole number, as compared with the remainder of the Army, which would create astonishment were the actual figures given. The general officer naturally desires to show consideration and appreciation of the services of those with whom he is personally acquainted and with whom he comes daily in contact, and in his feelings of gratitude and generosity is apt to forget the fighting troops he does not see.
Whether this is the reason or not, the fact remains that Staff officers receive two and three decorations, whereas those who risk their lives are extremely fortunate if they receive one. The DSO is awarded to the flying officer who destroys a Zeppelin, to a camp commandant, or to an Assistant Provost-Marshal. The Military Cross decorates the jacket of a junior officer when a more generous view of his action might have resulted in the award of a VC; and the same Military Cross appears on the jacket of the warrant officer who is a clerk at General Headquarters.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-06-14/register/cure-of-shell-shock-375k7zwm9
June 14, 1917
Cure of shell-shock
Sir John Collie lectured yesterday at the Royal Institute of Public Health on “The Management of Neurasthenia and Allied Disorders in the Army”. He said that most, if not all, of the cases of neurasthenia arising in the Army were, directly or indirectly, the result of actual concussions — shell-shock — or the conditions prevailing in modern warfare. The predisposing causes were fear, the fear of being afraid, terrifying experiences, want of sleep, and the appalling sights at the front. These emotional conditions, when extended over days and weeks, produced irritability and loss of self-control. The effect of seeing and hearing high explosives, even without any injury, sometimes brought about a profoundly neurasthenic condition. He had found the most common physical signs to be disorderly action of the heart, epileptiform seizures, tremors, functional stiffness and functional loss of power of muscles, loss of flesh, and loss of hearing and speech.In the case of the neurasthenic the whole environment must be one of confident assurance of recovery. He should have a continual succession of graded experiences arranged to push from his mind the delusive feeling of inability to work.
It must on no account be supposed that neurasthenia was a fraud. It was not malingering, it was not wicked self-deception and, above all, it was not cowardice. It was a real disease. It was often found among men remarkable for their bravery, daring, and initiative. That they were not cowards was shown by the fact that many men who had recovered were found a second time in the fighting line. They did not want to go, but they did go, and indeed one almost doubted the sanity of men who knew the horrors of war and wanted to go back.
Infinite patience, common sense, a real but thoroughly disguised sympathy, were essential in those who undertook the care of these cases. Massage, electricity, light graduated work, fresh air, good wholesome food, and, above all, a healthy environment were essential adjuncts. The psycho-therapeutic method of treatment was wonderfully effective in the right hands. Nothing retarded recovery so much as the flying visits of unthinking but kindly intentioned philanthropic lady visitors.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-06-13/register/british-airmens-great-day-f6x8ncrvj
June 13, 1917
British airmen’s great day
One of the most joyous things about the victory of Messines has been the splendid efficiency of our air service. They were the one branch of the Army to which the thunderstorm on the night of June 6-7 was a serious inconvenience. It hampered the rest of the Army little, but for some eight or nine hours immediately before the launching of our attack, flying was impossible, and so much work which might have been done had to be postponed till dawn. I see from my notes made at the time that on the part of the front where I was, the first aeroplane passed overhead at eight minutes after 3 o’clock. At 3.10 the attack was made. By 3.30 the sky was full of our machines, one flight of 12 and another of five being overhead simultaneously, as well as many single aeroplanes on various duties. Not one German machine appeared then or seemingly during the battle.Some three tons of explosives were dropped on the morning of the battle on various aerodromes, railheads, and similar points of importance. With the earliest dawn our men flew to each enemy aerodrome within a certain radius and simply terrorized it. Besides dropping explosives, they attacked aerodromes at below the level of the shed-roofs, pouring machine-gun fire into the hangars and making it impossible for any enemy machine to get out and start. Besides all this, our airmen attacked guns moving on the road, convoys of ammunition wagons, and transport of all kinds. They hunted trains along the rails, and when trains stopped at stations and troops tried to detrain, the airmen fairly decimated them. Many of our men made long flights over enemy country and returned to their home aerodromes without ever being 500ft above the ground, in innumerable cases much lower.
One airman, finding no larger game, chased a single motor-car, with five passengers, along a road, coming down so low that, the engine not being quick in picking up, he hit the car with the under-body of his machine, with the not unnatural result that the car went in a clean somersault into a ditch. Then he found four gun teams on another road, attacked them, caused casualties both to men and horses, and left them tied up in knots. Then the same man charged a party of 500 infantry and scattered them.
No comments:
Post a Comment