june 20, 1917
English titles for Englishmen
When the war broke out people were quick to see that some awkwardness might arise from the possession of English titles by foreign persons and of foreign titles by British subjects. The King’s request this morning is made to those Princes and Princesses of his family who bear German names and titles. First of all, he asks them to relinquish those titles and to adopt other names. The titles were conferred by ruling Sovereigns and are the birthright of those who bear them; but in Great Britain they are merely courtesy titles, used at the King’s pleasure. In asking for their relinquishment the King confers membership of the British peerage. The Duke of Teck (the Queen’s brother, son of the English Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, who married a German duke) ceases to bear the title of a German duke and will take that of an English marquess. His brother, Prince Alexander of Teck, becomes an English earl. Prince Alexander of Battenberg (the son of Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Beatrice, and of the German Prince Henry of Battenberg) gives up his German name and takes an English marquisate; his surviving brother, Prince Leopold, will be called “of Battenberg” no longer; his father’s brother, Prince Louis of Battenberg, becomes an English marquess, and Prince Louis’s two sons, Prince George of Battenberg and Prince Louis Francis of Battenberg, will also relinquish their German names.All these were Englishmen before they became English in name. Prince Louis of Battenberg, naturalized 50 years ago, was till lately First Sea Lord of the Admiralty; his sons are both in the British Navy. Prince Alexander of Battenberg (whose father died on active service with our Army in Ashanti in 1896) is serving in the British Army. The Duke of Teck (who married the late Duke of Westminster’s daughter, Lady Margaret Grosvenor) and his brother are both in the British Army.
These Englishmen will now bear English names and titles. The name of Battenberg will give place to that of Mountbatten. That is simply the English translation of the German name, but it is not perhaps wholly accidental that the new name of a First Sea Lord’s family should also be that of the little headland that overlooks the old eastern harbour of Plymouth, whence Drake sailed.
June 19, 1917
Tropical storms in London
Further heavy thunderstorms broke over the London district yesterday afternoon. In the West End the rain fell with tropical suddenness, and drove across the streets in steaming sheets of water. Instead of cooling the atmosphere, the rain seemed at first to make it hotter.The Thames Valley seemed to be the centre of the storm, and the river rose with startling rapidity. The full force broke over the Richmond and Hammersmith districts shortly before 2 o’clock. Hail and rain fell in torrents for about 20 minutes, and all the main roads were rendered impassable. In many places large tracts of wood-paving were to be seen floating on the water which had penetrated underneath. Houses, market gardens, and allotments were flooded in all directions.
Lightning set fire to a bed in a house at Walton, and struck a cottage at Shepperton, passing down the chimney and removing the firegrate to another part of the room. At Aldershot a barrack room was struck, and four men seriously injured. Owing to the flooded streets, tramway car and omnibus traffic was suspended, and many business premises swamped. The lightning set fire to and destroyed a riverside bungalow at Hampton Wick. A naval observation balloon got into difficulties over Dulwich during the storm, and came down on allotments in Rosendale Road. The occupants of the car were shaken but uninjured. The deflated envelope, tackle and car were taken away on a coal lorry.
The rain was the cause of some damage and much discomfort in the Lord Chief Justice’s Court. The Court is lighted by a vaulted skylight, the open windows of which form the only ventilation during hot weather. No apparatus is provided for closing these windows from the interior of the Court, and an attendant has to be sent up to the roof to shut them. Yesterday the thunder shower came on during the luncheon adjournment. Rain fell through the open windows on the Bench and on counsel’s books, papers, and on the seats for 10 minutes, and not until the shower was almost over was it found possible for an attendant, dressed in oilskins, to ascend to the roof and close the windows. After the rain had stopped the windows remained shut, and the atmosphere became worse during the afternoon.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-06-16/register/june-16-1917-h8qgq0m7x
June 16, 1917
King Constantine’s departure
The departure of ex-King Constantine, with Queen Sophie, the Crown Prince, the Princesses, and Prince Paul, which I witnessed this morning at Oropos, in the Gulf of Euboea, took place very quietly. Oropos is a tiny fishing village with a small jetty. All night and all morning motor-cars had been bringing the King’s luggage. A number of the King’s personal friends came to see him off. The late King George’s yacht Sphakteria was refitted rapidly to receive the Royal Family, and lay off Oropos escorted by two French destroyers, whose tri-colours flapped against the Euboean hills.The ex-King and Queen and the Crown Prince arrived in motor-cars shortly after 11 o’clock. The King wore a general’s uniform and got slowly out of the car, which drew up close to the jetty, where two French officers stood rigidly. A small group of country people and schoolgirls mingled with M Zaimis, the Prime Minister, courtiers, and official personages. The King was pale, but erect and composed. He took a bouquet of flowers which a small child thrust out to him. People gave subdued cheers, and peasants on the jetty knelt as the King and Queen passed them. The King made way for the Queen, bidding the people let them pass. The Royal Family then quickly entered a waiting motor-launch and were borne to their vessel. The King was dignified, and bowed and saluted, but he scarcely uttered a word from the moment of his arrival till the launch cast off. Several of his friends were weeping. One man threw himself in the water in an endeavour, apparently, to follow the Royal boat, but he was rescued. The King and his family are eventually going to St Moritz, Switzerland, through Italy.
The following is King Constantine’s proclamation on leaving Athens: Yielding to necessity, and having in view only the interests of the country, I am leaving my dear country with the Crown Prince, leaving my son Alexander on the throne. Still, when far from Greece, the Queen and I will always preserve the same love for the Hellenic people. I beg all to accept my decision calmly, trusting in God, whose protection I invoke for the nation. In order that my bitter sacrifice may not be in vain I exhort you to maintain order and quiet discipline. May God protect Greece.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-06-15/register/unequal-distribution-of-honours-nm2tbjx0x
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.
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