1.
William Orpen
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Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, KBE, RA, RHA was an Irish artist who worked mainly in London. Orpen was a draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful, painter of portraits for the well-to-do in Edwardian society. During the First World War, he was the most prolific of the artists sent by Britain to the Western Front. There he produced drawings and paintings of ordinary soldiers, dead men, most of these works,138 in all, he donated to the British government and they are now in the collection of the Imperial War Museum. Both his parents were painters, and his eldest brother, Richard Caulfeild Orpen. The historian Goddard Henry Orpen was a cousin of his. The family lived at Oriel, a house with extensive grounds containing stables. Orpen appears to have had a happy childhood there, Orpen was a naturally talented painter and was enrolled, aged thirteen, at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. He won every major prize there and also the British Isles gold medal for life drawing before leaving to study at the Slade School of Art between 1897 and 1899, at the Slade Orpen mastered oil painting and began to experiment with different painting techniques and effects. His two metre wide painting, The Play Scene from Hamlet won the Slade composition prize in 1899. Orpens The Mirror, shown at the NEAC in 1900, references both Jan van Eycks Arnolfini Portrait of 1434 and also elements of seventeenth-century Dutch interiors, such as muted tones and deep shadows. Orpen depicted the Arnolfini convex glass in other paintings, including A Mere Fracture in 1901. Also in 1901, Orpen held an exhibition at the Carfax Gallery in central London. Whilst at the Slade, Orpen became engaged to Emily Scobel, a model, in 1901, she ended their relationship and Orpen married Grace Knewstub, the sister-in-law of Sir William Rothenstein. After he left the Slade, from 1903 to 1907, Orpen ran a private teaching studio, between 1902 and 1915, Orpen divided his time between London and Dublin. He taught at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art and his teaching influenced a generation of young Irish artists and his pupils included Seán Keating, Grace Gifford, Patrick Tuohy, Leo Whelan and Margaret Clarke. A key figure in the Celtic revival was Hugh Lane, who was a friend and mentor to Orpen, from 1908 onwards, Orpen exhibited works in the Royal Academy on a regular basis. The most notable of these works was Midday on the Beach, John Singer Sargent promoted Orpens work and he soon built a lucrative reputation, in both London and Dublin, for painting society portraits
2.
War photography
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War photography involves photographing armed conflict and its effects on people and places. With the invention of photography in the 1830s, the possibility of capturing the events of war to public awareness was first explored. Similar to battle photography, portrait images of soldiers were often staged. In order to produce a photograph, the subject had to be perfectly still for a matter of minutes, so they were posed to be comfortable and minimize movement. A number of daguerreotypes were taken of the occupation of Saltillo during the Mexican–American War, in 1847 by an unknown photographer, John McCosh, a surgeon in the Bengal Army, is considered by some historians to be the first war photographer known by name. He produced a series of photographs documenting the Second Anglo-Sikh War from 1848–49 and he also photographed local people and architecture, artillery emplacements and the destructive aftermath. McCosh later photographed the Second Anglo-Burmese War where he photographed colleagues, captured guns, temple architecture in Yangon, the Hungarian–Romanian Carol Popp de Szathmàri took photographs of various officers in 1853 and of war scenes near Olteniţa and Silistra in 1854, during the Crimean War. He personally offered some 200 pictures albums to Napoleon III of France, the first official attempts at war photography were made by the British government at the start of the Crimean War. In 1854 Gilbert Elliott was commissioned to photograph views of the Russian fortifications along the coast of the Baltic Sea, Roger Fenton was the first official war photographer and the first to attempt a systematic coverage of war for the benefit of the public. Hired by Thomas Agnew, he landed at Balaclava in 1854, the photos were converted into woodblocks and published in The Illustrated London News. Due to the size and cumbersome nature of his photographic equipment, Fenton also photographed the landscape – his most famous image was of the area near to where the Charge of the Light Brigade took place. Fenton left the Crimea in 1855, and was replaced by the partnership of James Robertson, in contrast to Fentons depiction of the dignified aspects of war, Beato and Robertson showed the destruction. They photographed the fall of Sevastopol in September 1855, producing about 60 images, in February 1858, they arrived in Calcutta to document the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. During this time they produced possibly the first-ever photographic images of corpses, in 1860 Beato left the partnership and documented the progress of the Anglo-French campaign during the Second Opium War. Teaming up with Charles Wirgman, a correspondent for The Illustrated London News, beatos photographs of the Second Opium War were the first to document a military campaign as it unfolded, doing so through a sequence of dated and related images. Their reconfigured scenes were designed to intensify the visual and emotional effects of battle, Gardner and Mathew Brady rearranged bodies of dead soldiers during the Civil War in order to create a clear picture of the atrocities associated with battle. In Soldiers on the Battlefield Brady produced a controversial tableau of the dead within a desolate landscape and this work, along with Alexander Gardners 1863 work Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter were images which, when shown to the public, brought home the horrific reality of war. Also during the American Civil War, Charleston photographer George S, the first photographs of South American warfare were published by the Montevideo firm of Bate & Cía
3.
Silhouette
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A silhouette is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single color, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the whole is typically presented on a background, usually white. The silhouette differs from an outline, which depicts the edge of an object in a linear form, while a silhouette appears as a solid shape. Silhouette images may be created in any visual media, but was first used to describe pieces of cut paper, which were then stuck to a backing in a contrasting colour. Other artists, especially from about 1790, drew an outline on paper, then painted it in, anything that appears this way, for example, a figure standing backlit in a doorway, may be described as in silhouette. Because of de Silhouettes austere economies, his name synonymous with anything done or made cheaply. Prior to the advent of photography, silhouette profiles cut from black card were the cheapest way of recording a persons appearance, the term silhouette, although existing from the 18th century, was not applied to the art of portrait-making until the 19th century. The silhouette is closely tied in mythology to the origins of art, pliny the Elder, in his Natural History Books XXXIV and XXXV, recounts the origin of painting. In Chapter 5 of Book XXXV, he writes, “We have no knowledge as to the commencement of the art of painting. The Egyptians assert that it was invented among themselves, six years before it passed into Greece. As to the Greeks, some say that it was invented at Sicyon, others at Corinth, but they all agree that it originated in tracing lines round the human shadow. “. In Chapter 15, he tells the story of Butades of Corinth, “Butades, a potter of Sicyon, was the first who invented, at Corinth, the art of modelling portraits in the earth which he used in his trade. Upon seeing this, her father filled in the outline, by compressing clay upon the surface, and so made a face in relief, the pots themselves exhibit strong forms in outline that are indicators of their purpose, as well as being decorative. For this reason profile portraits have been employed on coinage since the Roman era, the early Renaissance period saw a fashion for painted profile portraits and people such as Federico da Montefeltro and Ludovico Sforza were depicted in profile portraits. The profile portrait is linked to the silhouette. This is an important concept for artists who design characters for visual media, a silhouette portrait can be painted or drawn. However, the method of creating silhouette portraits is to cut them from lightweight black cardboard. This was the work of specialist artists, often working out of booths at fairs or markets, a traditional silhouette portrait artist would cut the likeness of a person, freehand, within a few minutes
4.
Battle of Broodseinde
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The Battle of Broodseinde was fought on 4 October 1917 near Ypres in Flanders, at the east end of the Gheluvelt plateau, by the British Second and Fifth armies and the German 4th Army. The battle was the most successful Allied attack of the Battle of Passchendaele, the unseasonal heavy rains in August had hampered British attempts to advance more than German attempts to maintain their positions. The plateau ran along the edge of the Ypres Salient and formed an obstacle to further eastward attacks. The battle followed the Battle of Menin Road on 20 September and the Battle of Polygon Wood on 26 September, Haig judged that the next attack, due on 6 October, would conclude the period of strictly limited advances. The following step would be an advance, with provision made for exploitation. Haig wanted XV Corps on the Belgian coast and the force of Operation Hush readied. Reserve formations of infantry, artillery, cavalry and tanks were to be made ready behind the Fifth and Second armies, capturing the ridge would probably take two more steps at three-day intervals, followed by another four days to repair roads over the captured ground. Haig explained that although exploitation of the due on 10 October was not certain. Divisions attacked on narrower fronts and troops advanced no more than 1,500 yards into the German defence zone, the tempo of the British operations added to the difficulty the Germans had in replacing tired divisions through the transport bottlenecks behind the German front. The British artillery preparation before Polygon Wood on 26 September, began 24 hours before the infantry attack, no formal artillery preparation was conducted before 4 October, except for the normal heavy artillery counter-battery fire and destructive fire on German strong-points. Despite the ruse of using practice barrages, a reliable agent informed the Germans that an attack was coming from as early as 1 October. The battle was almost called off when heavy rain began again on 2 October, the attack aimed to complete the capture of the Gheluvelt Plateau by the occupation of Broodseinde Ridge and Gravenstafel Spur. This would protect the flank of the British line and permit attacks on Passchendaele Ridge to the north-east. The attack was planned for 6 October, to give the II Anzac Corps time to prepare, twelve divisions were involved in the attack on a 14, 000-yard front. The original plan was to have the I Anzac Corps relieved after the Battle of Polygon Wood but the corps had fewer casualties and was fresher than expected, the two right flanking corps had 972 field guns and howitzers supported by 417 heavy and medium pieces. In the I Anzac Corps area, the 1st Australian Division objectives required an advance of 1, 200–1,800 yards, the first objective for the Anzac divisions was set just short of the crest of Broodseinde Ridge and the final objective another 200–400 yards beyond. The artillery plan had the first belt of creeping barrage beginning 150 yards beyond the jumping-off tapes, during the pause the barrage was to move 1,000 yards further to hit German counter-attacks and then suddenly return. At zero +130 minutes, it was to advance in 100-yard lifts every eight minutes to the final objective, after another pause the barrage was to creep forward at hourly intervals for 1,500 yards into the German defences
5.
East Yorkshire Regiment
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The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Cliftons Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before being amalgamated with the West Yorkshire Regiment to form the Prince of Waless Own Regiment of Yorkshire in 1958. Subsequently, the regiment amalgamated with the Green Howards and the Duke of Wellingtons Regiment to form the Yorkshire Regiment on 6 June 2006. Raised in 1685 in Nottingham by Sir William Clifton, 3rd Baronet and it took part in the Battle of Killiecrankie in July 1689 and the Battle of Cromdale in April 1690 during the Jacobite rising of 1689 to 1692. It went on to fight at the Battle of Ramillies in May 1706, the Battle of Oudenarde in July 1708 and it returned to England in 1714. It was sent to Scotland and took part in the Battle of Glen Shiel in June 1719 during Jacobite rising, the regiment was deployed to South America where it took part in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias in March 1741 during the War of Jenkins Ear. It also saw action at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746 during the next Jacobite rising, in 1751, when the numerical system of designation of Regiments of Foot was adopted, it became the 15th Regiment of Foot. The regiment went on to part in the capture of Île-dAix in 1757 and, having sailed for North America in 1758. In 1782 the regiment became the 15th Regiment of Foot, the regiment was sent to North America again in spring 1776 for service in the American Revolutionary War. It saw action at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, the Battle of White Plains in October 1776 and it also took part in the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777, the Battle of Germantown in October 1777 and the Battle of White Marsh in December 1777. The regiment was deployed to the West Indies in 1795 for service in the French Revolutionary Wars and fought at attacks on Martinique and Guadeloupe before returning to England in 1796. The regiment returned to the West Indies in 1805 for service in the Napoleonic Wars and took part in the invasion of Martinique in January 1809, the regiment spent most of the 19th century on garrison duty, both at home and throughout the Empire. The 1st Battalion was shipped to New Brunswick in 1862 at the time of the Trent Affair, when Britain, under the reforms the regiment became The East Yorkshire Regiment on 1 July 1881. The 2nd Battalion fought in the Second Anglo-Afghan War and the Second Boer War, the 1st Battalion landed at Saint-Nazaire as part of the 18th Brigade in the 6th Division in September 1914 for service on the Western Front. The 1/4th Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the York, the 7th Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of 50th Brigade in the 17th Division in July 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 8th Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 62nd Brigade in the 21st Division in September 1915 also for service on the Western Front, the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Battalions were raised in September 1914 from men volunteering in Hull. These units were additionally entitled 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th City of Hull battalions and they landed in Egypt as part of the 92nd Brigade in the 31st Division in December 1915 and then moved to France in March 1916 also for service on the Western Front. In 1935 the regiment was renamed The East Yorkshire Regiment, after its Colonel-in-Chief, in the Second World War, six hostilities-only battalions were raised
6.
Wiltshire Regiment
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The regiment was originally formed as the Duke of Edinburghs, taking the county affiliation from the 62nd Foot and the honorific from the 99th Foot. In 1921, the titles switched to become the Wiltshire Regiment, the regiments depot was at Le Marchant Barracks in Devizes. The senior partner in the amalgamated Wiltshire Regiment was the 62nd Regiment of Foot, the 62nd was formed in 1756, originally as the second battalion of the 4th Regiment of Foot. In 1758, the battalion was redesignated as the 62nd Regiment of Foot, although a regiment of the line, many of its companies were initially deployed as marines, serving with Admiral Boscawens fleet during the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758. The balance of the regiment remained in Ireland where they defended Castle Carrickfergus from a French invasion force in 1758, after its initial baptism, the regiment would go on to see active service in the American Revolutionary War. Being used as infantry, the regiment took part in General John Burgoynes doomed campaign. Twelve years after the end of the American Revolution, the regiment would fight against revolutionary, taking part in campaigns in West Indies, Sicily, and the Peninsula where they won the battle honours Nive and Peninsula. Following the conclusion of the Napoleonic wars, the 62nd rotated through the expanding British Empire and it would serve as parts of garrisons in Canada and Ireland before being dispatched to India. While in India, the 62nd became part of General Sir Goughs army during the First Sikh War, during the war, although it lost its colours twice to various mishaps, the regiment would earn its proudest honour at the Battle of Ferozeshah. In tribute to the service of its sergeants, who commanded the regiment when virtually all the officers were killed or incapacitated, eventually, the regiment rotated back to the Home Islands in time to be available for the Crimean War. From 1854 to 1856, the regiment served in the Crimea, the 62nd took part in the failed attack on the Great Redan Bastion, suffering heavy casualties. With the end of the Crimean War, the 62nd returned to its task of policing the British Empire, during its last quarter century as an independent regiment, the 62nd would serve in Canada, Ireland, India and as part of Aden garrison. In 1871, as part of Cardwell reforms, the 62nd was linked with the 99th Regiment of Foot, with the subsequent Childers reforms, the two regiments were amalgamated into a single regiment, the Duke of Edinburghs Regiment, in 1881. The 99th Regiment of Foot was raised in 1824 in Edinburgh by Major-General Gage John Hall. It was unrelated to earlier units designated as the 99th Regiment of the British Army, including the 99th Regiment of Foot, in 1832, the new 99th Regiment received its county title, becoming the 99th Regiment of Foot. During its early years, the 99th spent much of its time in the Pacific, the first detachments of the 99th Regiment arrived in Australia with convicts transported aboard the transport ship North Briton, destined for Tasmania, in 1842. The rest of the 99th arrived with successive shipments of convicts, the 99th rotated through various colonial posts during much of 1842 until being ordered to Sydney, Australia. However, the 99th soon earned a reputation, alienating the locals to such an extent that an additional regiment had to be assigned to Sydney
7.
Battle of the Somme
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The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the reaches of the River Somme in France. The battle was intended to hasten a victory for the Allies and was the largest battle of the First World War on the Western Front, more than one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history. The French and British had committed themselves to an offensive on the Somme during Allied discussions at Chantilly, Oise, in December 1915. Initial plans called for the French army to undertake the main part of the Somme offensive, the first day on the Somme was, in terms of casualties, also the worst day in the history of the British army, which suffered 57,470 casualties. These occurred mainly on the front between the Albert–Bapaume road and Gommecourt, where the attack was defeated and few British troops reached the German front line, the battle is notable for the importance of air power and the first use of the tank. At the end of the battle, British and French forces had penetrated 10 km into German-occupied territory, the Anglo-French armies failed to capture Péronne and halted 5 km from Bapaume, where the German armies maintained their positions over the winter. Debate continues over the necessity, significance and effect of the battle, David Frum opined that a century later, the Somme remains the most harrowing place-name in the history of the British Empire. Allied war strategy for 1916 was decided at the Chantilly Conference from 6–8 December 1915, in December 1915, General Sir Douglas Haig replaced Field Marshal Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of the BEF. Haig favoured a British offensive in Flanders close to BEF supply routes, to drive the Germans from the Belgian coast, Haig was not formally subordinate to Marshal Joseph Joffre but the British played a lesser role on the Western Front and complied with French strategy. A week later the Germans began an offensive against the French at Verdun, by 31 May, the ambitious Franco-British plan for a decisive victory, had been reduced to a limited offensive to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun with a battle of attrition on the Somme. The Chief of the German General Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, intended to end the war by splitting the Anglo-French Entente in 1916, Falkenhayn chose to attack towards Verdun to take the Meuse heights and make Verdun untenable. The British would then have to begin a hasty relief offensive, Falkenhayn expected the relief offensive to fall south of Arras against the Sixth Army and be destroyed. If such Franco-British defeats were not enough, Germany would attack the remnants of armies and end the western alliance for good. Eloi, south of Ypres and reduced the German counter-offensive strategy north of the Somme, to one of passive, the Battle of Verdun began a week after Joffre and Haig agreed to mount an offensive on the Somme. The battle changed the nature of the offensive on the Somme, as French divisions were diverted to Verdun, German overestimation of the cost of Verdun to the French contributed to the concentration of German infantry and guns on the north bank of the Somme. The German offensive at Verdun was suspended in July, and troops, guns, the Brusilov Offensive, absorbed the extra forces that had been requested on 2 June by Fritz von Below, commanding the German Second Army, for a spoiling attack on the Somme. During the offensive the Russians inflicted c. 1,500,000 losses including c. 407,000 prisoners, three divisions were ordered from France to the Eastern Front on 9 June and the spoiling attack on the Somme was abandoned
8.
Windsor, Berkshire
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Windsor is a historic market town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the residences of the British Royal Family. The town is situated 23 miles west of Charing Cross, London,7 miles south east of Maidenhead and it is immediately south of the River Thames, which forms its boundary with its ancient twin town of Eton. Windlesora is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the name originates from old English Windles-ore or winch by the riverside. By the late 12th century the settlement at Windelsora was renamed Old Windsor, the early history of the site is unknown, although it was almost certainly settled some years before 1070 when William the Conqueror had a timber motte and bailey castle constructed. The focus of royal interest at that time was not the castle, however, from about the 8th century, high status people started to visit the site occasionally, and possibly this included royalty. From the 11th century the sites link with king Edward the Confessor is documented, after the Conquest of 1066 royal use of the site increased, probably because it offered good access to woodlands and opportunities for hunting – a sport which also practised military skills. Windsor Castle is noted in the Domesday Book under the entry for Clewer, although this might seem strange, it occurred because plans for the castle had changed since 1070, and more land had been acquired in Clewer on which to site a castle town. This plan was not actioned until the early 12th century, King Henry married his second wife at Windsor Castle in 1121, after the White Ship disaster. The settlement at Old Windsor largely transferred to New Windsor during the 12th century,1170, under Henry II, following the civil war of Stephens reign. At about the time, the present upper ward of the castle was rebuilt in stone. It had a merchant guild from the early 13th century and, under patronage, was made the chief town of the county in 1277. Somewhat unusually, this gave no new rights or privileges to Windsor. Windsors position as town of Berkshire was short-lived, however. Wallingford took over this position in the early 14th century, as a self-governing town Windsor enjoyed a number of freedoms unavailable to other towns, including the right to hold its own borough court, the right of membership and some financial independence. The town accounts of the 16th century survive in part, although most of the once substantial borough archive dating back to the 12th century was destroyed, probably in the late 17th century. New Windsor was a significant town in the Middle Ages. Its prosperity came from its association with the royal household
9.
Windsor Great Park
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Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of 2020 hectares, including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. The park was, for centuries, the private hunting ground of Windsor Castle. Historically the park covered an area many times the known as Windsor Forest. The park is managed and funded by the Crown Estate, most parts of the park are open to the public, free of charge, from dawn to dusk, although there is a charge to enter Savill Garden. The park is Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks, the Great Park is a gently undulating area of varied landscape. It has sweeping deer lawns, small woods, coverts and areas covered by huge solitary ancient oak trees, there is a small river in the north of the park called the Battle Bourne running to the Thames near Datchet. The River Bourne runs through a number of ponds to the south, chief amongst these are Great Meadow Pond and Obelisk Pond, near the great lake of Virginia Water. The most prominent hill is Snow Hill and the avenue of trees known as the Long Walk runs between here and Windsor Castle, the main Sheet Street Road into Windsor runs through the north-east of the park. On the western side of the park is The Village, built in the 1930s to house Royal estate workers, other buildings include the Royal Lodge, Cumberland Lodge, the Cranbourne Tower and Norfolk Farm. The park lies mostly within the parish of Old Windsor, though the eastern regions are in the Borough of Runnymede and there are small areas in the parishes of Winkfield. Areas associated with or attached to the Great Park, but not officially within its borders include the Home Park, Mote Park, Flemish Farm, Cranbourne Chase, Forest Lodge, the modern enclosed Deer Park is at the northern end of the Great Park. It is home to a herd of semi-wild deer, reflecting the original medieval purpose of the park. The Long Walk runs south from Windsor Castle to the 1829 Copper Horse statue of King George III atop Snow Hill where there are views of the castle. It is 2.65 miles from George IV Gateway at Windsor Castle to The Copper Horse, other equestrian statues in the park include one of the Prince Consort, to the west of the polo grounds, and one of Queen Elizabeth II near the Village. The Royal Lodge was built in the centre of the park as the Deputy Rangers house and it was made in to a retreat for the Prince Regent from 1812, but was largely pulled down after his death. The remains were renovated, in the 1930s, as a home for the Duke and Duchess of York before their accession as George VI and it is now the official residence of the Prince Andrew, Duke of York and not accessible by the public. The Royal Chapel of All Saints was built after the chapels of the Royal, the chapel was built in 1825 by Jeffry Wyattville and regularly used by George IV during the refurbishment of Windsor Castle. It was later remodelled in the Gothic Revival style by Samuel Sanders Teulon, Queen Victoria often attended the chapel as did the Duke and Duchess of York before their accession as George VI and Queen Elizabeth
10.
Queen Victoria
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Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne aged 18, after her fathers three brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments, publicly, Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together, after Alberts death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and it was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover and her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victorias father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, until 1817, Edwards niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora —by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen and her brother Leopold was Princess Charlottes widower. The Duke and Duchess of Kents only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a. m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace and she was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina, Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Dukes eldest brother, George, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent married on the same day in 1818, but both of Clarences daughters died as infants. Victorias father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, a week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son, George IV. The Duke of York died in 1827, when George IV died in 1830, he was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive
11.
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
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His term as Commander-in-Chief of the Army in India saw him quarrel with another eminent proconsul, the Viceroy Lord Curzon, who eventually resigned. Kitchener then returned to Egypt as British Agent and Consul-General, in 1914, at the start of the First World War, Kitchener became Secretary of State for War, a Cabinet Minister. Kitchener died on 5 June 1916 when HMS Hampshire sank west of the Orkney Islands and he was making his way to Russia in order to attend negotiations when the ship struck a German mine. He was one of more than 600 killed on board the ship, Kitchener was born in Ballylongford near Listowel, County Kerry, in Ireland, son of army officer Henry Horatio Kitchener and Frances Anne Chevallier. His father had recently bought land in Ireland under a scheme to encourage the purchase of land after selling his commission. They then moved to Switzerland where the young Kitchener was educated at Montreux, then at the Royal Military Academy, pro-French and eager to see action, he joined a French field ambulance unit in the Franco-Prussian War. His father took him back to England after he caught pneumonia after ascending in a balloon to see the French Army of the Loire in action. Commissioned into the Royal Engineers on 4 January 1871, his service in France had violated British neutrality, and he was reprimanded by the Duke of Cambridge, the commander-in-chief. He served in Palestine, Egypt, and Cyprus as a surveyor, learned Arabic, Sir Walter Kitchener, had also entered the army, and was Governor of Bermuda from 1908 to 1912. In 1874, at age 24, Kitchener was assigned by the Palestine Exploration Fund to a mapping-survey of the Holy Land, replacing Charles Tyrwhitt-Drake, who had died of malaria. Conder and Kitchener’s expedition became known as the Survey of Western Palestine because it was confined to the area west of the Jordan River. The survey collected data on the topography and toponymy of the area, as well as local flora, the results of the survey were published in an eight-volume series, with Kitchener’s contribution in the first three tomes. This survey has had an effect on the Middle East for several reasons, The ordnance survey serves as the basis for the grid system used in the modern maps of Israel. The collection of data compiled by Conder and Kitchener are still consulted by archaeologists, the survey itself effectively delineated and defined the political borders of the southern Levant. For instance, the border between Israel and Lebanon is established at the point in upper Galilee where Conder and Kitchener’s survey stopped. In 1878 having completed the survey of Western Palestine, Kitchener was sent to Cyprus to undertake a survey of newly acquired British protectorate. Then in 1879 he became vice-consul in Anatolia, in 1883 Kitchener became a Freemason. On 4 January 1883 Kitchener was promoted to captain, given the Turkish rank bimbashi, Egypt had recently become a British puppet state, its army led by British officers, although still nominally under the sovereignty of the Khedive and his nominal overlord the Sultan of Turkey
12.
3rd Dragoon Guards
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The 3rd Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Earl of Plymouths Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1751 and it saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated into the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards in 1922. In 1746 it was ranked as the 3rd Dragoon Guards, shortly thereafter, in 1765, it took the title 3rd Dragoon Guards, for the future George IV. It took part in the suppression of the Bristol riots in 1831 and, after service in India, the regiment was employed chasing the elusive General Christiaan de Wet in spring 1901 during the Second Boer War. It retitled as 3rd Dragoon Guards in 1921, and was amalgamated with the 6th Dragoon Guards to form the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards the following year, lord Robert Manners 1782 Gen. Philip Honywood 1785 Lt-Gen. Sir William Fawcett 1804 Gen. Richard Vyse 1825 Gen, sir William Payne-Gallwey, 1st Baronet 1831 Gen. Samuel Hawker 1839 Lt-Gen. Sir James Charles Dalbiac 1842 Lt-Gen, francis Newbery 1847 Gen. Charles Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart 1851 Lt-Gen. Sir John Scott 1866 Gen. Robert Richardson Robertson 1883 Gen, sir William Henry Seymour 1891 Lt-Gen. Andrew Smythe Montague Browne 1905 Maj-Gen, sir Nevill Maskelyne Smyth after the regiment was amalgamated with the 6th Dragoon Guards British cavalry during the First World War Chant, Christopher. Battle Honours Awarded for the Great War
13.
Glamorgan Yeomanry
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The Glamorgan Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army originally raised in the late eighteenth century as a result of concern over the threat of invasion by the French. It also saw service in the Boer War, First World War, on 13 December 1899, the decision to allow volunteer forces to serve in the Second Boer War was made. This warrant officially created the Imperial Yeomanry, the Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry regiments to provide service companies of approximately 115 men each. In addition to this, many British citizens volunteered to join the new regiment, although there were strict requirements, many volunteers were accepted with substandard horsemanship/marksmanship skills, however they had significant time to train while awaiting transport. The first contingent of recruits contained 550 officers,10,371 men with 20 battalions and four companies, upon arrival, the regiment was sent throughout the zone of operations. The Glamorgan Yeomanry provided troops for the 4th Company, 1st Battalion, however, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line, later, a 3rd Line was formed to act as a reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Line regiments. The 1/1st Glamorgan Yeomanry was mobilised on 4 August 1914 as part of the South Wales Mounted Brigade on the outbreak of the First World War, the brigade was assembled at Hereford and moved to East Anglia by the end of August 1914. It joined the 1st Mounted Division the same month, replacing 1st South Midland Mounted Brigade which then moved to the 2nd Mounted Division, in November 1915, the brigade was dismounted. It was replaced in 1st Mounted Division by 2/1st Eastern Mounted Brigade when it departed for Egypt, with the brigade, the regiment was posted to Egypt in March 1916. On 20 March, the South Wales Mounted Brigade was absorbed into the 4th Dismounted Brigade, in March 1917 the regiment was re-roled as infantry and together with the Pembroke Yeomanry was converted into the 24th Battalion, The Welsh Regiment. It joined 231st Brigade in the 74th Division, in May 1918, the Division moved to France, where the battalion saw action on the Western Front. As part of the 74th Yeomanry Division it was involved in the following battles Second Battle of Gaza, Third Battle of Gaza, Battle of Beersheba, the 2nd Line regiment was formed in 1914. In January 1915 it joined the 2/1st South Wales Mounted Brigade, in September 1915, it moved with the brigade to Suffolk and joined the 1st Mounted Division. On 31 March 1916, the remaining Mounted Brigades were ordered to be numbered in a single sequence, in July 1916 there was a major reorganization of 2nd Line yeomanry units in the United Kingdom. All but 12 regiments were converted to cyclists and as a consequence the regiment was dismounted, further reorganization in November 1916 saw the regiment departing for the 1st Cyclist Brigade where it was amalgamated with the 2/1st Pembroke Yeomanry as the 2nd Cyclist Battalion. The regiment resumed its identity as 2/1st Glamorgan Yeomanry in March 1917 at Leiston. It moved to Benacre in July and to Worlingham near Lowestoft at the end of the year and it was still at Worlingham in 1st Cyclist Brigade at the end of the war
14.
Hussey Vivian, 3rd Baron Vivian
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Hussey Crespigny Vivian, 3rd Baron Vivian GCMG CB DL FRGS was a British diplomat from the Vivian family. Born at Connaught Place, London, Vivian was the eldest son of Charles Vivian, 2nd Baron Vivian, and was educated at Eton College. In 1864, he was sent to Athens with a treaty for the transfer of the Ionian Islands to Greece. In 1873, Vivian was sent to Alexandria as Consul-General, transferred to Bucharest a year later, in 1878, he was appointed to the Order of the Bath as a Companion. He was sent to Bern as Minister Resident in 1879 and was promoted to Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Confederation in 1881. Few months later, he was transferred to Copenhagen and in 1884 to Brussels, having succeeded to his fathers title in 1886, he was appointed to be a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Cornwall in 1887. In the 1890 Birthday Honours, he was promoted in the Order of St Michael and his final and highest position was to Rome in 1892, where he remained until he died from pneumonia in 1893. He was sworn of the Privy Council on the year of his death, the Prince of Naples was present at his funeral. On 8 June 1876, Vivian married Louisa Duff and they had five children, including, Dorothy Maud Vivian, George Crespigny Brabazon Vivian Alexandra Mary Freesia Vivian, married Charles Pelham, Lord Worsley. 1834–1842, Mr Hussey Vivian 1842–1878, The Hon. Hussey Vivian 1878–1881, The Hon. Hussey Vivian CB 1881–1886, His Excellency The Hon. Hussey Vivian CB1886, the Lord Vivian CB 1886–1887, His Excellency The Rt Hon. The Lord Vivian KCMG CB 1887–1890, His Excellency The Rt Hon, the Lord Vivian KCMG CB DL 1890–1893, His Excellency The Rt Hon. The Lord Vivian GCMG CB DL1893, His Excellency The Rt Hon, the Lord Vivian GCMG CB PC DL Radford, E. L. rev. Matthew, H. C. G. Vivian, Hussey Crespigny, third Baron Vivian, diplomatist, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
15.
Guinea (coin)
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The guinea was a coin of approximately one quarter ounce of gold that was minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814. From 1717 to 1816, its value was fixed at twenty-one shillings. Then, Britain adopted the standard and guinea became a colloquial or specialised term. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, where much of the used to make the coins originated. The name also forms the basis for the Arabic word for the Egyptian pound الجنيه el-Genēh / el-Geni, the first guinea was produced on 6 February 1663, a proclamation of 27 March 1663 made the coins legal currency. One troy pound of 11/12 fine gold would make 44½ guineas, the denomination was originally worth one pound, or twenty shillings, but an increase in the price of gold during the reign of King Charles II led to the market trading it at a premium. The price of gold continued to increase, especially in times of trouble, and by the 1680s, indeed, in his diary entries for 13 June 1667, Samuel Pepys records that the price was 24 to 25 shillings. The diameter of the coin was 1 inch throughout Charles IIs reign, Guinea was not an official name for the coin, but much of the gold used to produce the early coins came from Guinea in Africa. The coin was produced each year between 1663 and 1684, with the elephant appearing on some coins each year from 1663 to 1665 and 1668, and the elephant and castle on some coins from 1674 onward. The elephant, with or without the castle, symbolises the Royal African Company, the obverse and reverse of this coin were designed by John Roettier. The edge was milled to deter clipping or filing, and to distinguish it from the silver half-crown which had edge lettering, until 1669 the milling was perpendicular to the edge, giving vertical grooves, while from 1670 the milling was diagonal to the edge. John Roettier continued to design the dies for this denomination in the reign of King James II. In this reign, the coins weighed 8.5 g with a diameter of 25–26 mm, Coins of each year were issued both with and without the elephant and castle mark. The edge of the coins are milled diagonally, with the removal of James II in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, his daughter Mary, and her husband Prince William of Orange ruled jointly by agreement as co-monarchs. Their heads appear conjoined on the piece in Roman style, with Williams head uppermost. By the early part of this reign the value of the guinea had increased to thirty shillings. The guineas of this reign weighed 8, following the death of Queen Mary from smallpox in 1694, William continued to reign as William III. The coins of William IIIs reign weighed 8.4 g with a gold purity of 0.9123
16.
Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg
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Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg was Queen of Spain as the wife of King Alfonso XIII. Victoria Eugenie was born on 24 October 1887 at Balmoral Castle, as Prince Henry was the product of a morganatic marriage, he took his style of Prince of Battenberg from his mother, who had been created Princess of Battenberg in her own right. To her family, and the British general public, she was known by the last of her names, therefore, she spent her childhood at Windsor Castle, Balmoral, and Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousins, the Duke and her father died while on active military service after contracting fever in Africa in 1896. After the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, the Battenbergs moved to London, in 1905, the King of Spain made an official state visit to the United Kingdom. Victoria Eugenies uncle, King Edward VII, hosted a dinner in Buckingham Palace, Alfonso was seated between Queen Alexandra and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, King Edwards sister. He noticed Victoria Eugenie and asked who was the dinner guest with almost white hair, everybody knew that King Alfonso was looking for a suitable bride and one of the strongest candidates was Princess Patricia of Connaught, daughter of King Edwards brother, the Duke of Connaught. As Princess Patricia seemed not to be impressed by the Spanish monarch, Alfonso indulged his interest in Victoria Eugenie, when Alfonso returned to Spain he frequently sent postcards to Victoria Eugenie and spoke of her approvingly. Another obstacle to a marriage was Victoria Eugenies Protestantism, another potential problem was haemophilia, the disease that Victoria had transmitted to some of her descendants. Eugenies brother Leopold was a haemophiliac, so there was a 50% probability that Victoria Eugenie would be a carrier, still, if Alfonso married her, their issue could be affected by the disease. Some days later at Windsor, King Edward congratulated his niece on her future engagement, Princess Beatrice and her daughter arrived in Biarritz on 22 January and stayed at the Villa Mauriscot where some days later King Alfonso met them. At the Villa Mauriscot, Alfonso and his future bride conducted a chaperoned, then, Alfonso took Victoria Eugenie and her mother to San Sebastián to meet Queen Maria Cristina. The official reception of Victoria Eugenie into the Catholic faith took place on 5 March 1906 at Miramar Palace in San Sebastián, the terms of the marriage were settled by two agreements, a public treaty and a private contractual arrangement. Ratifications were exchanged on 23 May following. Article I, the treatys reference to the forfeiture of Victoria Eugénies British succession rights reflected neither the British governments censure of the alliance, nor any renunciation made by her. Rather, it was a recognition of the fact that by marrying a Roman Catholic. This exclusion was personal and limited, those among her descendants who do not become Roman Catholic remain in the line of succession to the British Throne, given at Our Court of Saint Jamess, the Third day of April 1906, in the Sixth Year of Our Reign. M Gladstone This was accompanied by a published declaration which read. Princess Victoria Eugenie married King Alfonso XIII at the Royal Monastery of San Jerónimo in Madrid on May 31,1906, present at the ceremony were her widowed mother and brothers, as well as her cousins, the Prince and Princess of Wales
17.
Alfonso XIII of Spain
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Alfonso XIII was King of Spain from 1886 until the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931. Alfonso was monarch from birth as his father, Alfonso XII, had died the previous year, Alfonsos mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as regent until he assumed full powers on his sixteenth birthday in 1902. With the political failure of the dictatorship, Alfonso impelled a return to the democratic normality with the intention of regenerating the regime, nevertheless, it was abandoned by all political classes, as they felt betrayed by the kings support of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. He left Spain voluntarily after the elections of April 1931. In exile, he retained his claim to the throne until 1941. Buried in Rome, his remains were not transferred until 1980 to the Pantheon of the Kings in the monastery of El Escorial, Alfonso was born in Madrid on 17 May 1886. He was the son of Alfonso XII of Spain, who had died in November 1885. The French newspaper Le Figaro described the king in 1889 as the happiest. His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as his regent until his 16th birthday, during the regency, in 1898, Spain lost its colonial rule over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War. When he came of age in May 1902, the week of his majority was marked by festivities, bullfights, balls, by 1905, Alfonso was looking for a suitable consort. On a state visit to the United Kingdom, he stayed at Buckingham Palace with King Edward VII, there he met Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, the Scottish-born daughter of Edwards youngest sister Princess Beatrice, and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. He found her attractive, and she returned his interest, there were obstacles to the marriage. Victoria was a Protestant, and would have to become a Catholic, Victorias brother Leopold was a haemophiliac, so there was a 50 percent chance that Victoria was a carrier of the trait. Victoria was willing to change her religion, and her being a carrier was only a possibility. Maria Christina was eventually persuaded to drop her opposition, in January 1906 she wrote an official letter to Princess Beatrice proposing the match. Victoria met Maria Christina and Alfonso in Biarritz, France, later that month, in May, diplomats of both kingdoms officially executed the agreement of marriage. Alfonso and Victoria were married at the Royal Monastery of San Jerónimo in Madrid on 31 May 1906, with British royalty in attendance, including Victorias cousins the Prince, the wedding was marred by an assassination attempt on Alfonso and Victoria by Catalan anarchist Mateu Morral. As the wedding procession returned to the palace, he threw a bomb from a window which killed or injured several bystanders and members of the procession, on 10 May 1907, the couples first child, Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, was born
18.
Daily Mirror
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The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper founded in 1903. It is owned by parent company Trinity Mirror, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply The Mirror. It had a daily print circulation of 716,923 in December 2016. Its Sunday sister paper is the Sunday Mirror, originally pitched to the middle class reader, it was transformed into a working-class newspaper after 1934, in order to reach a large, lowbrow audience. The Mirror has had a number of owners and it was founded by Alfred Harmsworth, who sold it to his brother Harold Harmsworth in 1913. In 1963 a restructuring of the interests of the Harmsworth family led to the Mirror becoming a part of International Publishing Corporation. The Mirror was owned by Robert Maxwell between 1984 and 1991, the paper went through a protracted period of crisis after his death before merging with the regional newspaper group Trinity in 1999 to form Trinity Mirror. The paper has supported the Labour Party since the 1945 general election. The Daily Mirror was launched on 2 November 1903 by Alfred Harmsworth as a newspaper for women, hence the name, he said, I intend it to be really a mirror of feminine life as well on its grave as on its lighter sides. To be entertaining without being frivolous, and serious without being dull and it was not an immediate success and in 1904 Harmsworth decided to turn it into a pictorial newspaper with a broader focus. Harmsworth appointed Hamilton Fyfe as editor and all of the female journalists were fired. The masthead was changed to The Daily Illustrated Mirror, which ran from 26 January to 27 April 1904, when it reverted to The Daily Mirror. The first issue of the paper did not have advertisements on the front page as previously. Two days later, the price was dropped to one halfpenny and to the masthead was added, circulation grew to 466,000 making it the second-largest morning newspaper. Alfred Harmsworth sold the newspaper to his brother Harold Harmsworth in 1913, in 1917, the price was increased to one penny. Circulation continued to grow, in 1919, some issues more than a million copies a day. Lord Rothermere was a friend of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, the Mirror was the first British paper to adopt the appearance of the New York tabloids. By 1939, the publication was selling 1.4 million copies a day, in 1937, Hugh McClelland introduced his wild Western comic strip Beelzebub Jones in the Daily Mirror
19.
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
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Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the British Army, where he served for some 40 years, seeing service in various parts of the British Empire. During this time he was created a royal duke, becoming the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. In 1911, he was appointed as Governor General of Canada and he occupied this post until being succeeded by the Duke of Devonshire in 1916. After the end of his tenure, Arthur returned to the United Kingdom and there, as well as in India, performed various royal duties. Though he retired from life in 1928, he continued to make his presence known in the army well into the Second World War. He was Queen Victorias last surviving son, Arthur was born at Buckingham Palace on 1 May 1850, the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The prince was baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Bird Sumner, as with his older brothers, Arthur received his early education from private tutors. It was reported that he became the Queens favourite child, following his arrival at Halifax, Arthur toured the country for eight weeks and made a visit in January 1870 to Washington, D. C. where he met with President Ulysses S. Grant. Arthur made an impression on many in Canada, as he became the 51st chief on the council, his appointment broke the centuries-old tradition that there should only be 50 chiefs of the Six Nations. Arthur was promoted to the rank of colonel on 14 June 1871, substantive lieutenant-colonel in 1876, colonel on 29 May 1880 and. He gained military experience as Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army from December 1886 to March 1890 and he went on to be General Officer Commanding Southern District, at Portsmouth, from September 1890 to 1893. The Prince had hoped to succeed his first cousin once-removed, the elderly Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, as Commander-in-chief of the British Army, upon the latters forced retirement in 1895. But this desire was denied to Arthur, and instead he was given, between 1893 and 1898, command of the Aldershot District Command, the regiment had recently been converted to the infantry role from the 2nd Battalion, 5th British Columbia Regiment of Canadian Artillery. With the Princes agreement the unit was renamed 6th Regiment, Duke of Connaughts Own Rifles on 1 May 1900 and he was subsequently appointed colonel-in-chief of the regiment, then known as The British Columbia Regiment, in 1923. He held that appointment until his death, on his mothers birthday in 1874, Arthur was created a royal peer, being titled as the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex. Through his childrens marriages, Arthur became the father-in-law of Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, arthurs first two children predeceased him, Margaret while pregnant with his sixth grandchild. For many years, Arthur maintained a liaison with Leonie, Lady Leslie, sister of Jennie Churchill, alongside his military career, he continued to undertake royal duties beyond, or vaguely associated with, the army. On the return from a posting in India, he again and he also toured Canada in 1906
20.
George V
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George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. He was the son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. From the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession behind his father and his own brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. From 1877 to 1891, George served in the Royal Navy, on the death of his grandmother in 1901, Georges father became King-Emperor of the British Empire, and George was created Prince of Wales. He succeeded his father in 1910 and he was the only Emperor of India to be present at his own Delhi Durbar. His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, the Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, in 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations. He had health problems throughout much of his reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son. George was born on 3 June 1865, in Marlborough House and he was the second son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Albert Edward and Alexandra. His father was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and he was baptised at Windsor Castle on 7 July 1865 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Longley. As a younger son of the Prince of Wales, there was expectation that George would become king. He was third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother, George was only 17 months younger than Albert Victor, and the two princes were educated together. John Neale Dalton was appointed as their tutor in 1871, neither Albert Victor nor George excelled intellectually. For three years from 1879, the brothers served on HMS Bacchante, accompanied by Dalton. They toured the colonies of the British Empire in the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia, and visited Norfolk, Virginia, as well as South America, the Mediterranean, Egypt, Dalton wrote an account of their journey entitled The Cruise of HMS Bacchante. Between Melbourne and Sydney, Dalton recorded a sighting of the Flying Dutchman, after Lausanne, the brothers were separated, Albert Victor attended Trinity College, Cambridge, while George continued in the Royal Navy. He travelled the world, visiting many areas of the British Empire, during his naval career he commanded Torpedo Boat 79 in home waters then HMS Thrush on the North America station, before his last active service in command of HMS Melampus in 1891–92. From then on, his rank was largely honorary
21.
Delhi Durbar
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The Delhi Durbar, meaning Court of Delhi, was a mass assembly at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was three times, in 1877,1903, and 1911, at the height of the British Empire. The 1911 Durbar was the only one attended by the sovereign, the term was derived from common Mughal term durbar. The 1877 Durbar was largely an official event and not a popular occasion with mass participation like later durbars in 1903 and 1911 and it was attended by the 1st Earl of Lytton—Viceroy of India, maharajas, nawabs and intellectuals. This was the culmination of transfer of control of much of India from the British East India Company to The Crown and it was at this glittering durbar that a man in homespun spotless white khadi rose to read a citation on behalf of the Pune Sarvajanik Sabha. Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi put forth a demand couched in polite language. With this demand, it can be said that the campaign for a free India was formally launched, the durbar would later be seen as controversial because it directed funds away from the Great Famine of 1876–78. The durbar was held to celebrate the succession of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark as Emperor, the two full weeks of festivities were devised in meticulous detail by Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India. It was a display of pomp, power and split second timing. Neither the earlier Delhi Durbar of 1877, nor the later Durbar held there in 1911, souvenir guide books were sold and maps of the camping ground distributed. A special Delhi Durbar Medal was struck, firework displays, exhibitions, the assembly awaiting them displayed possibly the greatest collection of jewels to be seen in one place. Each of the Indian princes was adorned with the most spectacular of his gems from the collections of centuries, on the first day, the Curzons entered the area of festivities, together with the maharajahs, riding on elephants, some with huge gold candelabras stuck on their tusks. The durbar ceremony itself fell on New Years Day and was followed by days of polo and other sports, dinners, balls, military reviews, bands, the world’s press dispatched their best journalists, artists and photographers to cover proceedings. The popularity of movie footage of the event, shown in cinemas throughout India, is often credited with having launched the country’s early film industry. The India Post issued a set of two commemorative souvenir sheets with special cancellation struck on 1 January 1903 -12 noon, a sought after item for the stamp collectors today. Practically every ruling prince and nobleman in India, plus thousands of landed gentry and other persons of note, the official ceremonies lasted from 7 December to 16 December, with the Durbar itself occurring on Tuesday,12 December.05 ounces. His action was interpreted at the time as a sign of dissent to British rule, afterwards, the royal couple ascended to the domed royal pavilion, where the King-Emperor announced the move of Indias capital from Calcutta to Delhi. Then on 14 December the King-Emperor presided over a parade of 50,000 troops
22.
Royal Naval Reserve
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The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, the Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War and Afghanistan. This led to a Royal Commission on Manning the Navy in 1858 and this established the RNR as a reserve of professional seamen from the British Merchant Navy and fishing fleets, who could be called upon during times of war to serve in the regular Royal Navy. The RNR was originally a reserve of only, but in 1862 this was extended to include the recruitment. From its creation, RNR officers wore on their uniforms a unique, after initial shore training, officers embarked in larger ships of the Royal Navys fleet for one year, to familiarise themselves with gunnery and naval practice. In 1910, the RNR was formed to recruit and train fishermen for wartime service in minesweepers, prior to the First World War, one hundred RNR officers were transferred to permanent careers in the regular navy—forever after referred to as the hungry hundred. In their professional careers, many RNR officers went on to command the largest passenger liners of the day and some also held positions in the shipping industry. On mobilisation in 1914, the RNR consisted of 30,000 officers, Officers of the permanent RNR on general service quickly took up seagoing appointments in the fleet, many in command, in destroyers, submarines, auxiliary cruisers and Q-ships. Others served in units of the battle fleet including a large number with the West Indies Squadron who became casualties at the Battle of Coronel. One such casualty was armed naval drifter HMT Frons Olivae, which hit a mine off Ramsgate on 12 October 1915 in an explosion killed at least five other seamen. One casualty, a Newfoundlander serving with the Royal Naval Reserve, was buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal. Merchant service officers and men serving in armed merchant cruisers, hospital ships, fleet auxiliaries, although considerably smaller than both the RN and the RNVR, the RNR had an exceptional war record, members being awarded twelve Victoria Crosses. Again, RNR officers found themselves in command of destroyers, frigates, sloops, landing craft and submarines, or as specialist navigation officers in cruisers, in convoy work, the convoy commodore or escort commander was often an RNR officer. As in the First World War, the RNR acquitted itself well, during the Second World War, no more ratings were accepted into the RNVR, which then became the main route for wartime officer entry. The service was called the Wavy Navy, after the 3/8-inch wavy sleeve rings that RNVR officers wore to differentiate them from RN/RNR officers. From 30 November 2007, mainly due to increasing involvement of the RNR in RN operations and deployments, similarly, RNR ratings no longer wear RNR shoulder flashes. From 1938 until 1957, the RNVR provided aircrew personnel in the form of their own Air Branch, in 1947, their contribution was cut to anti-submarine and fighter squadrons only. By 1957, it was considered by the UK government that the required to operate modern equipment was beyond that expected of reservists
23.
Gallipoli Campaign
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The peninsula forms the northern bank of the Dardanelles, a strait that provided a sea route to the Russian Empire, one of the Allied powers during the war. Intending to secure it, Russias allies Britain and France launched an attack followed by an amphibious landing on the peninsula. The naval attack was repelled and after eight months fighting, with casualties on both sides, the land campaign was abandoned and the invasion force was withdrawn to Egypt. The campaign was one of the greatest Ottoman victories during the war, in Turkey, it is regarded as a defining moment in the nations history, a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the Ottoman Empire crumbled. In 1908, a group of officers, known as the Young Turks. The new régime implemented a program of reform to modernise the political and economic system. An enthusiastic supporter, Germany provided significant investment, German diplomats subsequently found increasing influence, despite Britain previously being the predominant power in the region, while German officers assisted in training and re-equipping the army. Despite this support, the resources of the Ottoman Empire were depleted by the cost of the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913. In December 1913, the Germans sent a mission to Constantinople. The geographical position of the Ottoman Empire meant that Russia and her allies France, during the Sarajevo Crisis in 1914, German diplomats offered Turkey an anti-Russian alliance and territorial gains in Caucasia, north-west Iran and Trans-Caspia. The pro-British faction in the Cabinet was isolated due to the British ambassador taking leave until 18 August, as the crisis deepened in Europe, Ottoman policy was to obtain a guarantee of territorial integrity and potential advantages, unaware that the British might enter a European war. This action strained diplomatic relations between the two empires and the German government offered SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau to the Ottoman navy as replacements, by allowing the German ships to enter the Dardanelles, the Ottomans confirmed their links to Germany. In September, the British naval mission to the Ottomans, which had established in 1912 under Admiral Arthur Limpus, was recalled due to increasing concern that Turkey would soon enter the war. Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon of the Imperial German Navy took over command of the Ottoman navy, the German naval presence and the success of German armies on all fronts, gave the pro-German faction in the Ottoman government enough influence to declare war on Russia. On 27 October, Goeben and Breslau, having been renamed Yavûz Sultân Selîm and Midilli, sortied into the Black Sea, bombarded the Russian port of Odessa and sank several Russian ships. The Ottomans refused an Allied demand that they expel the German missions and on 31 October 1914, Russia declared war on Turkey on 2 November. The next day, the British ambassador left Constantinople and a British naval squadron off the Dardanelles bombarded the outer defensive forts at Kum Kale, a shell hit a magazine, knocked the guns off their mounts and killed 86 soldiers. Fighting also began in Mesopotamia, following a British landing to occupy the oil facilities in the Persian Gulf, the Ottomans prepared to attack Egypt in early 1915, aiming to occupy the Suez Canal and cut the Mediterranean route to India and the Far East
24.
Winston Churchill
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Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill KG OM CH TD PC DL FRS RA was a British statesman who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his overall, in 1963, he was the first of only eight people to be made an honorary citizen of the United States. Churchill was born into the family of the Dukes of Marlborough and his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a charismatic politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer, his mother, Jennie Jerome, was an American socialite. As a young officer, he saw action in British India, the Anglo–Sudan War. He gained fame as a war correspondent and wrote books about his campaigns, at the forefront of politics for fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he served as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary, during the war, he continued as First Lord of the Admiralty until the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign caused his departure from government. He then briefly resumed active service on the Western Front as commander of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He returned to government under Lloyd George as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War, Secretary of State for Air, at the outbreak of the Second World War, he was again appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister and he led Britain as Prime Minister until victory over Nazi Germany had been secured. After the Conservative Party suffered a defeat in the 1945 general election. He publicly warned of an Iron Curtain of Soviet influence in Europe, after winning the 1951 election, Churchill again became Prime Minister. His second term was preoccupied by foreign affairs, including the Malayan Emergency, Mau Mau Uprising, Korean War, domestically his government laid great emphasis on house-building. Churchill suffered a stroke in 1953 and retired as Prime Minister in 1955. Upon his death aged ninety in 1965, Elizabeth II granted him the honour of a state funeral and his highly complex legacy continues to stimulate intense debate amongst writers and historians. Born into the family of the Dukes of Marlborough, a branch of the noble Spencer family, Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, like his father. His ancestor George Spencer had changed his surname to Spencer-Churchill in 1817 when he became Duke of Marlborough, to highlight his descent from John Churchill, Churchill was born on 30 November 1874, two months prematurely, in a bedroom in Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire. From age two to six, he lived in Dublin, where his grandfather had been appointed Viceroy, Churchills brother, John Strange Spencer-Churchill, was born during this time in Ireland
25.
War correspondent
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A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. They were also called special correspondents in the 19th century and their jobs require war correspondents to deliberately go to the most conflict-ridden parts of the world. Once there, they attempt to get enough to the action to provide written accounts, photos. Thus, being a war correspondent is often considered the most dangerous form of journalism, on the other hand, war coverage is also one of the most successful branches of journalism. Newspaper sales increase greatly in wartime and television news ratings go up, News organizations have sometimes been accused of militarism because of the advantages they gather from conflict. William Randolph Hearst is often said to have encouraged the Spanish–American War for this reason, only some conflicts receive extensive worldwide coverage, however. Among recent wars, the Kosovo War received a deal of coverage. Written war correspondents have existed as long as journalism, before modern journalism it was more common for longer histories to be written at the end of a conflict. The first known of these is Herodotuss account of the Persian Wars, thucydides, who some years later wrote a history of the Peloponnesian Wars was an observer to the events he described. Her description of the events took place in the Marshall House are particularly poignant because she was in the midst of battle. A further modernization came with the development of newspapers and magazines, one of the earliest war correspondents was Henry Crabb Robinson, who covered Napoleons campaigns in Spain and Germany for The Times of London. Another early correspondent was William Hicks who letters describing the Battle of Trafalgar were also published in The Times, early film and television news rarely had war correspondents. Rather, they would simply collect footage provided by sources, often the government. This footage was often staged as cameras were large and bulky until the introduction of small, the situation changed dramatically with the Vietnam War when networks from around the world sent cameramen with portable cameras and correspondents. This proved damaging to the United States as the brutality of war became a daily feature on the nightly news. The discourse in mediated conflicts is influenced by its public character, by forwarding information and arguments to the media, conflict parties attempt to use the media influence to gain support from their constituencies and persuade their opponents. The continued progress of technology has allowed live coverage of events via satellite up-links, the rise of twenty-four hour news channels has led to a heightened demand for coverage. William Howard Russell, who covered the Crimean War, also for The Times, is described as the first modern war correspondent
26.
Admiralty
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The new Admiralty Board meets only twice a year, and the day-to-day running of the Royal Navy is controlled by a Navy Board. It is common for the authorities now in charge of the Royal Navy to be referred to as simply The Admiralty. The title of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom was vested in the monarch from 1964 to 2011, the title was awarded to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh by Queen Elizabeth II on his 90th birthday. There also continues to be a Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom, the office of Admiral of England was created around 1400 although there had already been Admirals of the Northern and Western Seas. In 1546, King Henry VIII established the Council of the Marine, later to become the Navy Board, operational control of the Royal Navy remained the responsibility of the Lord High Admiral, who was one of the nine Great Officers of State. In 1628, Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission, the office of Lord High Admiral passed a number of times in and out of commission until 1709 after which the office was almost permanently in commission. In 1831, the first Navy Board was abolished as a separate entity, in 1964, the Admiralty along with the War Office and the Air Ministry as separate departments of state were abolished, and re-emerged under one single new Ministry of Defence. Within the expanded Ministry of Defence are the new Admiralty Board which has a separate Navy Board responsible for the running of the Royal Navy. The Army Board and the Air Force Board, each headed by the Secretary of State for Defence, the Board of Admiralty consisted of a number of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. The Lords Commissioners were always a mixture of admirals, known as Naval Lords or Sea Lords and Civil Lords, the quorum of the Board was two commissioners and a secretary. The president of the Board was known as the First Lord of the Admiralty, after 1806, the First Lord of the Admiralty was always a civilian while the professional head of the navy came to be known as the First Sea Lord. The first real concerted effort to organise the Admiralty was started by Henry VIII. Between 1860 and 1908 there was no study of strategy and of staff work conducted within the naval service. All the navys talent flowed to the great technical universitys and it was perceived by officials within the Admiralty at this time that the running of war was quite a simple matter for any flag officer who required no formal training. The new War Staff had hardly found its feet and it struggled with the opposition to its existence by senior officers they were categorically opposed to a staff. The deficiencies of the system within this department of state could be seen in the conduct of the Dardanelles campaign, there was no mechanisms in place to answer the big strategic questions in 1914 a Trade Division was created. In 1916, Sir John Jellicoe came to the Admiralty, he organized the staff as following, Chief of War Staff, Operations, Intelligence, Signal Section, Mobilization, Trade. This for the first time gave the naval staff direct representation on the Board, the would direct all operations and movements of the fleet, while the would be responsible for mercantile movements and anti-submarine operations
27.
War Office
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The name War Office is also given to the former home of the department, the War Office building located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. During August 2013 it was announced that the former War Office building would be sold on the open market. The War Office developed from the Council of War, an ad hoc grouping of the King and his military commanders which managed the Kingdom of Englands frequent wars. It was equivalent to the Admiralty, responsible for the Royal Navy, and the Air Ministry, the department had several London homes until it settled at Horse Guards in Whitehall during 1722, where it was to remain until 1858. The first War Office Secretary at War is usually said to have been William Blathwayt and it was, however, a fairly minor government job which dealt with the minutiae of administration rather than grand strategy. Issues of strategic policy during wartime were managed by the Northern and Southern Departments, from 1704 to 1855, the job of Secretary was possessed by a minister of the second rank, although he was occasionally part of the Cabinet. Many of his responsibilities were transferred to the Secretary of State for War after the creation of more senior post during 1794. The job of Secretary at War was merged with that of the Secretary of State for War during 1855, during 1855 the Board of Ordnance was abolished as a result of its perceived poor performance during the Crimean War. This powerful independent body, dating from the 15th century, had directed by the Master-General of the Ordnance. The disastrous campaigns of the Crimean War resulted in the consolidation of all duties during 1855 as subordinate to the Secretary of State for War. He was not, however, solely responsible for the Army and this was reduced in theory by the reforms introduced by Edward Cardwell during 1870, which subordinated the Commander-in-Chief to the Secretary for War. His resistance to reform caused military efficiency to lag well behind that of Britains rivals, the management of the War Office was hampered by persistent disputes between the civilian and military parts of the organisation. The government of H. H. Asquith attempted to resolve this during the First World War by appointing Lord Kitchener as Secretary for War, making him the first, however, this was thought unsatisfactory, during his tenure, the Imperial General Staff was virtually dismantled. Its role was replaced effectively by the Committee of Imperial Defence, the War Office decreased greatly in importance after the First World War, a fact illustrated by the drastic reductions of its staff numbers during the inter-war period. On 1 April 1920, it employed 7,434 civilian staff and its responsibilities and funding were also reduced. During 1936, the government of Stanley Baldwin appointed a Minister for Co-ordination of Defence, when Winston Churchill became Prime Minister during 1940, he bypassed the War Office altogether and appointed himself Minister of Defence. Clement Attlee continued this arrangement when he came to power during 1945, during 1964, the present form of the Ministry of Defence was established, unifying the War Office, Admiralty, and Air Ministry. The records of the War Office are kept by The National Archives with the code WO and it contains about 1,000 rooms across seven floors, linked by 2½ miles of corridors
28.
Second lieutenant
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Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1b rank. Like the United Kingdom, the rank of second lieutenant replaced the rank of ensign, the rank of second lieutenant was phased out in the Australian Regular Army in 1986. The Canadian Forces adopted the rank insignia of a single gold ring around the service dress uniform cuff for both army and air personnel upon unification in 1968 until the late 2000s. For a time, naval personnel used this rank but reverted to the Royal Canadian Navy rank of acting sub-lieutenant, currently, the Canadian Army insignia for second lieutenant is a pip and the Royal Canadian Air Force insignia for lieutenant is one thick braid. The equivalent rank for the Royal Canadian Navy is acting sub-lieutenant, also known as an Ensign in the Foot Guards units. The insignia consists of a bar in accordance with the color of the ceremonial uniform buttons. For cavalry or forest rangers, ceremonial dress buttons were silver, as was the horn on the forest commissioned officers képi. The insignia consists of a silver star. Officers holding this rank should be addressed as Kyrie Anthypolochage by their subordinates, in Indonesia, Second lieutenant is known as Letnan Dua which is the most junior ranked officer in the Indonesian Military. Cadets who graduate from the Indonesian Military Academy achieve this rank as young officers, senior Non-commissioned officers promoted to becoming commissioned officers go to the Officers Candidate School in Bandung for achieving the Second Lieutenant rank. The Lieutenant rank has two levels, which are Second lieutenant and First lieutenant, lieutenants in Indonesia usually command a Platoon level of troops and are referred to as Danton abbreviated from Komandan Pleton in Indonesian. Since 1951 in the Israel Defense Forces (סגן-משנה (סגמ segen mishne has been equivalent to a second lieutenant, from 1948 –1951 the corresponding rank was that of a segen, which since 1951 has been equivalent to lieutenant. Segen mishne means junior lieutenant and segen literally translates as assistant, typically it is the rank of a platoon commander. Note that the IDF uses this rank across all three of its services, the equivalent rank in Norway is fenrik. This is the first rank, where they are commanding officer, Fenriks are usually former experienced sergeants but to become a fenrik one has to go through officers training and education. Fenriks fill roles as second in command within a platoon, Fenriks are in some cases executive officers. Most fenriks have finished the War Academy as well, and are fully trained officers, to qualify for the Military Academy, Fenriks are required to do minimum 6 months service in international missions, before or after graduation. The Pakistan Army follows the British pattern of ranks, a second lieutenant is represented by one metal pip on each shoulder in case of khaki uniform and one four quadric printed star on the chest in case of camouflage combat dress
29.
Western Front (World War I)
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The Western Front or Western Theater was the main theatre of war during World War I. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, the tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. This line remained unchanged for most of the war. Between 1915 and 1917 there were several major offensives along this front, the attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire, as a result, no significant advances were made. In an effort to break the deadlock, this front saw the introduction of new technology, including poison gas, aircraft. But it was only after the adoption of improved tactics that some degree of mobility was restored, the German Armys Spring Offensive of 1918 was made possible by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that marked the end of the conflict on the Eastern Front. In spite of the stagnant nature of this front, this theatre would prove decisive. The terms of peace were agreed upon with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, belgiums neutrality was guaranteed by Britain under the 1839 Treaty of London, this caused Britain to join the war at the expiration of its ultimatum at 11 pm GMT on 4 August. Armies under German generals Alexander von Kluck and Karl von Bülow attacked Belgium on 4 August 1914, Luxembourg had been occupied without opposition on 2 August. The first battle in Belgium was the Siege of Liège, which lasted from 5–16 August, Liège was well fortified and surprised the German Army under von Bülow with its level of resistance. German heavy artillery was able to demolish the main forts within a few days. Following the fall of Liège, most of the Belgian field army retreated to Antwerp, leaving the garrison of Namur isolated, with the Belgian capital, Brussels, although the German army bypassed Antwerp, it remained a threat to their flank. Another siege followed at Namur, lasting from about 20–23 August, for their part, the French had five armies deployed on their borders. The pre-war French offensive plan, Plan XVII, was intended to capture Alsace-Lorraine following the outbreak of hostilities, on 7 August the VII Corps attacked Alsace with its objectives being to capture Mulhouse and Colmar. The main offensive was launched on 14 August with 1st and 2nd Armies attacking toward Sarrebourg-Morhange in Lorraine, in keeping with the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans withdrew slowly while inflicting severe losses upon the French. The French advanced the 3rd and 4th Armies toward the Saar River and attempted to capture Saarburg, attacking Briey and Neufchateau, before being driven back
30.
First day on the Somme
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The first day on the Somme,1 July 1916, was the opening day of the Battle of Albert, the name given by the British to the first two weeks of the Battle of the Somme. The objective of the attack was to capture the German first and second positions from Serre south to the Albert–Bapaume road, German counter-attacks during the afternoon recaptured most of the lost ground north of the Albert–Bapaume road and fresh attacks against Thiepval were costly defeats. On the north bank of the Ancre, the attack of VIII Corps was another failure, the VII Corps diversion at Gommecourt was also costly, with only a partial and temporary advance south of the village. Several truces were observed to recover wounded from no mans land on the British front, the French had 1,590 casualties and the German 2nd Army lost 10, 000–12,000 men. The nature of a joint offensive on the Somme began to change almost immediately, French divisions intended for the joint offensive were soon diverted to Verdun and the offensive was eventually reduced to a main effort by the British and a supporting attack by one French army. By the end of the Gallipoli Campaign in the Mediterranean, twelve British divisions were in Egypt, high losses incurred in holding ground by a policy of no retreat were preferable to higher losses, voluntary withdrawals and the effect of a belief that soldiers had discretion to avoid battle. When a more flexible policy was substituted later, discretion was still reserved to army commanders, despite the certainty by mid-June of an Anglo-French attack on the Somme against the 2nd Army, Falkenhayn sent only four divisions, keeping eight in the western strategic reserve. No divisions were moved from the 6th Army, despite it holding a line with 17 1⁄2 divisions. Longer-range guns were to engage German artillery with counter-battery fire, to deprive German infantry of artillery support during the attack, when French infantry were at their most vulnerable. Wire-cutting was to be performed by field artillery, firing high explosive shells and supported by specialist wire-cutting sections of infantry, during the attack, the field artillery would fire a linear barrage on trenches and the edges of woods and villages. Infantry tactics were to be based on reconnaissance, clear objectives, liaison with flanking units, General attacks would need to be followed by the systematic capture of remaining defences for jumping-off positions in the next general attack. The importance of organised artillery fire power and the integration of types of weapons, troops were to advance in a succession of lines grouped into waves, followed by parties to consolidate captured ground or pass through the leading troops and continue the advance. The 9th Division had attacked at Loos with four battalions on a front of 1,600 yards, a second battalion followed each of the leading battalions in the same formation, ready to leapfrog beyond and a second brigade followed the first as a reserve. Six lines of infantry, with the soldiers 2 yards apart had confronted the German defence, lines and waves had been made thinner and shallower after 1915 and on 14 July 1916, in the attack on Longueval, the division advanced with four battalions. Six platoons had gone forward on a front of about 1,000 yards, on the Somme front, Falkenhayns construction plan of January 1915 had been completed. Barbed wire obstacles had been enlarged from one belt 5–10 yards wide to two belts 30 yards wide, about 15 yards apart, double and triple thickness wire was used and laid 3–5 feet high. The trenches were traversed and had sentry-posts in concrete recesses built into the parapet, dug-outs had been deepened from 6–9 feet to 20–30 feet,50 yards apart and large enough for 25 men. An intermediate line of strongpoints about 1,000 yards behind the front line was also built, communication trenches ran back to the reserve line, renamed the second position, which was as well-built and wired as the first position
31.
Beaumont Hamel
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Beaumont-Hamel is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. During the First World War, Beaumont-Hamel was close to the front line, near many attacks, especially during the Battle of the Somme, by 1918 the village had been almost totally destroyed. The banks of white chalk at Beaumont Hamel led to a sector of British trenches being nicknamed White City, to the west of the village was Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt, one of the sites of the mines exploded on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. On 1 July 1916, nearly 700 men of the Newfoundland Regiment were killed or injured by German fire when they were ordered over the top by their officers, Newfoundland commemorates this event as Memorial Day on 1 July each year
32.
Order of the Crown (Belgium)
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The Order of the Crown is a national order of the Kingdom of Belgium. It is considered in diplomatic traffic as a gift of very high value, th Order was established on October 15,1897 by King Leopold II in his capacity as ruler of the Congo Free State. The order was first intended to recognize heroic deeds and distinguished service achieved for service in the Congo Free State—many of which soon became highly controversial. In 1908, the Order of the Crown was made a decoration of Belgium. Currently, the Order of the Crown is awarded for services rendered to the Belgian state, the Order of the Crown is also awarded for distinguished artistic, literary or scientific achievements, or for commercial or industrial services in Belgium or Africa. The Order may also be bestowed to foreign nationals and is awarded to military. During the Second World War, the Order of the Crown was extensively authorized for award to Allied military personnel who had helped to liberate Belgium from the forces of Nazi Germany. The Order of the Crown is awarded by royal decree, the badge of the Order is a white-enamelled Maltese cross with straight rays, in silver for the Knight class and in gold for the higher classes. The obverse central disc has a crown on a blue enamelled background. The badge is suspended from a wreath of laurel and oak leaves. The plaque for Grand Cross is a faceted silver five-pointed star with rays between the branches of the star. The centre shows the obverse of a commanders cross, the plaque for Grand Officer is a faceted five-armed Maltese asterisk, with golden rays between the arms. The centre shows the obverse of an officers cross, the medal is round in gold, silver and bronze versions, with a suspension in the form of a royal crown with two pendelia and a ribbon ring. The obverse shows a finely ribbed central area with bead surround, the surrounding circlet carries the motto of the Belgian Congo, Travail et Progrès —the later issues are bilingual including the Dutch Arbeid en Vooruitgang in the lower half of the circlet. The reverse is a stylised double L crowned Leopold II monogram within a palm wreath, the ribbon of the order is usually plain maroon. Stars and borders or stripes can be awarded together, but these deviations are currently only rarely awarded, the ribbon of the palms and medals has a vertical white border on both sides as well as a metal pin showing a reduction of the palm or medal. A number of different regulations rule the award of national orders for the various ministries, in addition, the national orders may be awarded by the king for especially meritorious deeds. The royal decrees are published in the Belgian official journal, Moniteur Belge, for people who are not Belgian honours are not published in the Moniteur and bestowed all year round by the foreign office
33.
Croix de Guerre
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The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, the Croix de guerre was also commonly bestowed on foreign military forces allied to France. The Croix de guerre may either be awarded as an individual or unit award to soldiers who distinguish themselves by acts of heroism involving combat with the enemy. The medal is awarded to those who have mentioned in dispatches. The unit award of the Croix de guerre with palm was issued to military units whose members performed heroic deeds in combat and were recognized by headquarters. The Croix de guerre medal varies depending on which country is bestowing the award, separate French medals exist for the First and Second World War. For the unit decoration of the Croix de guerre, a fourragère is awarded, regulations also permitted the wearing of multiple Croix de guerre, meaning that such medals were differentiated in service records by specifying French Croix de guerre, French Croix de guerre, etc. There are three distinct Croix de guerre medals in the French system of honours, Furthermore, the French collaborationist government created two croix during World War II. These croix are now illegal under French law and wearing them is outlawed, The Croix was created by a law of April 2,1915, the Croix reinstated an older system of mentions in dispatches, which were only administrative honours with no medal. The sculptor Paul-André Bartholomé created the medal, a cross with swords. The French Croix represents a mention in dispatches awarded by a commanding officer, depending on the officer who issued the mention, the ribbon of the Croix is marked with extra pins. Mentioned in Despatches, a star for those who had been mentioned at the regiment or brigade level. A silver star, for those who had been mentioned at the division level, a silver gilt star for those who had been mentioned at the corps level. A bronze palm for those who had been mentioned at the army level, a silver palm stands for five bronze ones. A silver gilt palm for those who had been mentioned at the Free French Forces level, the French Croix de guerre des TOE was created in 1921 for wars fought in theatres of operation outside France. It was awarded during the Indochina War, Korean War, when World War II broke out in 1939, a new Croix de guerre was created by Édouard Daladier. It was abolished by Vichy Government in 1941, which created a new Croix de guerre, in 1943 General Giraud in Algiers created another Croix de guerre
34.
Edward VIII
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Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January 1936 until his abdication on 11 December the same year. Edward was the eldest son of George V and Mary of Teck and he was named Prince of Wales on his sixteenth birthday, nine weeks after his father succeeded as king. As a young man, he served in the British Army during the First World War, Edward became king on his fathers death in early 1936. However, he showed impatience with court protocol, and caused concern among politicians by his apparent disregard for established constitutional conventions. Only months into his reign, he caused a crisis by proposing marriage to Wallis Simpson. When it became apparent that he could not marry Wallis and remain on the throne and he was succeeded by his younger brother, George VI. With a reign of 326 days, Edward was one of the monarchs in British history. After his abdication, he was created Duke of Windsor and he married Wallis in France on 3 June 1937, after her second divorce became final. Later that year, the couple toured Germany, after the war, Edward spent the rest of his life in retirement in France. Edward was born on 23 June 1894 at White Lodge, Richmond Park and he was the eldest son of the Duke and Duchess of York. His father was the son of the Prince and Princess of Wales and his mother was the eldest daughter of Francis and Mary Adelaide, Duke and Duchess of Teck. At the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession to the throne and he was baptised Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David in the Green Drawing Room of White Lodge on 16 July 1894 by Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury. The names were chosen in honour of Edwards late uncle, who was known to his family as Eddy or Edward and he was always known to his family and close friends by his last given name, David. As was common practice with children of the time, Edward. One of Edwards early nannies often abused him by pinching him before he was due to be presented to his parents and his subsequent crying and wailing would lead the Duke and Duchess to send him and the nanny away. The nanny was discharged after her mistreatment of the children was discovered, Edwards father, though a harsh disciplinarian, was demonstrably affectionate, and his mother displayed a frolicsome side with her children that belied her austere public image. She was amused by the children making tadpoles on toast for their French master, initially Edward was tutored at home by Helen Bricka. Upon his parents return, Edward was placed under the care of two men, Frederick Finch and Henry Hansell, who brought up Edward and his brothers
35.
Mildred Harris
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Mildred Harris was an American film actress during the early part of the 20th century. She was also the first wife of Charlie Chaplin, Harris began her career in the film industry as a child actress when she was 11 years old. Mildred Harris was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the daughter of Harry Harris, a telegraph operator, Harris made her first screen appearance at the age of 11 in the 1912 Francis Ford and Thomas H. Ince-directed Western short The Post Telegrapher. She followed the film with various roles, often appearing opposite child actor Paul Willis. In 1914, she was hired by The Oz Film Manufacturing Company to portray Fluff in The Magic Cloak of Oz and Button-Bright in His Majesty, in 1916, at the age of 15, she appeared as a harem girl in Griffiths epic Intolerance. She appeared in Frank Capras 1928 silent drama The Power of the Press with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and she found the transition to the talkies difficult and her career slowed dramatically. She performed in vaudeville and burlesque, and, at one point and she was critically praised for her performance in the 1930 film adaptation of the Broadway musical No, No Nanette. Harris continued to work in film in the early 1940s, largely through the kindness of her former director, deMille, who cast her in bit parts in 1942s Reap the Wild Wind, and 1944s The Story of Dr. Wassell. Her last film appearance was in the posthumously-released 1945 film Having A Wonderful Crime, the 16-year-old Harris met actor Charlie Chaplin in mid-1918, dated, and came to believe she was pregnant by him, but the pregnancy was found to be a false alarm. They married privately on October 23,1918, in Los Angeles, the couple quarreled about her contract with Louis B. Mayer and her career. Chaplin felt she was not his intellectual equal and their child Norman Spencer died in July 1919, at only three days of age, and the couple separated in the autumn of 1919. Chaplin moved to the Los Angeles Athletic Club, Harris tried to keep up appearances, believing a happy marriage was possible but, in 1920, she filed for divorce based on mental cruelty. Chaplin accused her of infidelity, and though he would not name her lover publicly, Harris denied rumors Chaplin had been physically violent, and divorce was granted in November 1920, with Harris receiving $100,000 in settlement and some community property. In 1924, Harris married Everett Terrence McGovern, the union lasted until November 26,1929, when Harris filed for divorce in Los Angeles, on grounds of desertion. The couple had one son, Everett Terrence McGovern, Jr. in 1925, in 1934, she married the former football player William P. Fleckenstein in Asheville, North Carolina. The couple remained married until Harriss death on July 20,1944 and she had been ill for three weeks. She was buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, Harris has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6307 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. In 1992, she was portrayed by Milla Jovovich in the biographical film Chaplin, Mildred Harris at the Internet Movie Database Mildred Harris at AllMovie Mildred Harris at Find a Grave Silent Era People Mildred Harris at Virtual history
36.
Order of the British Empire
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There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
37.
British Empire Medal
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The British Empire Medal is a British medal awarded for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to replace the original medal, the British Empire Medal, which may be awarded posthumously, is granted in recognition of meritorious civil or military service. Recipients are entitled to use the post-nominal letters BEM, the honour is divided into civil and military medals in a similar way to the Order of the British Empire itself. While recipients are not technically counted as members of the Order, between 1993 and 2012, the British Empire Medal was not awarded to subjects of the United Kingdom, although it continued to be awarded in some Commonwealth realms during that time. The practice of awarding the British Empire Medal to subjects of the United Kingdom was resumed in June 2012, to coincide with the Queens Diamond Jubilee, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was first established in 1917, along with the Order of the British Empire. The medal was part of the Order and could be awarded for meritorious service or for gallantry. It was awarded to 2,015 people,800 of whom were from foreign countries, in 1922, the original medal was discontinued and split into two separate honours, which still formed part of the Order of the British Empire. These two honours were known as the Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Meritorious Service, of these medals, the EGM was awarded for acts of bravery, until it was replaced by the George Cross in 1940. The BEM was awarded in circumstances as the lower classes of the Order of the British Empire. On 24 September 1940, the George Cross was established and the EGM was revoked by Royal Warrant the same day, recipients of the BEM were not affected by these changes. This was done so that the BEM for bravery would honour the same classes of people who were awarded the BEM for other services, more senior recipients would generally receive an appointment to the Order of the British Empire itself. Unlike the GC and GM, the BEM for Gallantry could not be awarded posthumously and was replaced in 1974 with the Queens Gallantry Medal. Again, recipients of the BEM for services other than acts of bravery were not affected by these changes, the BEM continued to be awarded to subjects of the United Kingdom until 1992. Those awarded the honour did not receive it from the monarch in person, while awards of the BEM therefore ceased to be made to subjects of the United Kingdom, the medal continued to be awarded in the Commonwealth realms, such as the Bahamas and the Cook Islands. This would start beginning in 2012, to coincide with the Queens Diamond Jubilee, in the 2012 Birthday Honours, released on 16 June 2012, the BEM was awarded to 293 people. Recipients of the British Empire Medal Search recommendations for the British Empire Medal on The UK National Archives website, British Empire Medal on the Veterans Affairs Canada site
38.
Imperial War Museum
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Imperial War Museums is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military war effort and sacrifice of Britain, the museums remit has since expanded to include all conflicts in which British or Commonwealth forces have been involved since 1914. As of 2012, the aims to provide for, and to encourage. Originally housed in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham Hill, the museum opened to the public in 1920. The outbreak of the Second World War saw the museum expand both its collections and its terms of reference, but in the period, the museum entered a period of decline. The 1960s saw the museum redevelop its Southwark building, now referred to as Imperial War Museum London, during the 1970s, the museum began to expand onto other sites. The first, in 1976, was an airfield in Cambridgeshire now referred to as IWM Duxford. In 1978, the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Belfast became a branch of the museum, in 1984, the Cabinet War Rooms, an underground wartime command centre, was opened to the public. From the 1980s onwards, the museums Bethlem building underwent a series of multimillion-pound redevelopments, finally,2002 saw the opening of IWM North in Trafford, Greater Manchester, the fifth branch of the museum and the first in the north of England. In 2011, the museum rebranded itself as IWM, standing for Imperial War Museums, the museum is funded by government grants, charitable donations, and revenue generation through commercial activity such as retailing, licensing, and publishing. General admission is free to IWM London and IWM North, the museum is an exempt charity under the Charities Act 1993 and a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. As of January 2012, the Chairman of the Trustees is Sir Francis Richards, since October 2008, the museums Director General has been Diane Lees. On 27 February 1917 Sir Alfred Mond, a Liberal MP and First Commissioner of Works and this proposal was accepted by the War Cabinet on 5 March 1917 and the decision announced in The Times on 26 March. A committee was established, chaired by Mond, to oversee the collection of material to be exhibited in the new museum, there was an early appreciation of the need for exhibits to reflect personal experience in order to prevent the collections becoming dead relics. Sir Martin Conway, the Museums first Director General, said that exhibits must be vitalised by contributions expressive of the action, the experiences, the valour and the endurance of individuals. The museums first curator and secretary was Charles ffoulkes, who had previously been curator of the Royal Armouries at the Tower of London, in July 1917 Mond made a visit to the Western Front in order to study how best to organise the museums growing collection. While in France he met French government ministers, and Field Marshal Haig, in December 1917 the name was changed to the Imperial War Museum after a resolution from the India and Dominions Committee of the museum. The museum was opened by The King at the Crystal Palace on 9 June 1920, shortly afterwards the Imperial War Museum Act 1920 was passed and established a Board of Trustees to oversee the governance of the museum
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National Library of Scotland
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The National Library of Scotland is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the countrys National Collections. Its main base is in Edinburgh city centre, the headquarters is on George IV Bridge, between the Old Town and the university quarter. There is also a modern building in a residential area on the south side of the town centre. This was built to some of the specialist collections and to provide large-scale extra storage. The National Library of Scotland holds 7 million books,14 million printed items and it has the largest collection of Scottish Gaelic material of any library. Originally, Scotlands national deposit library was the Advocates Library belonging to the Faculty of Advocates and it was opened in 1689 and gained national library status in the 1710 Copyright Act, giving it the legal right to a copy of every book published in Great Britain. In the following centuries, the library added books and manuscripts to the collections by purchase as well as deposit, creating a privately funded national library in all. The National Library of Scotland was formally constituted by Act of Parliament in 1925, the Nation recognised Grant with a baronetcy, and he was created Sir Alexander Grant of Forres in June 1924. Government funding was secured which matched Sir Alexanders donation, work on the new building was started in 1938, interrupted by the Second World War, and completed in 1956. The architect was Reginald Fairlie, the sculptor was Hew Lorimer. The coat of arms above the entrance was sculpted by Scott Sutherland, by the 1970s, room for the ever-expanding collections was running out, and other premises were needed. Since 1999, the Library has been funded by the Scottish Parliament and it remains one of only six legal deposit libraries in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and is governed by a board of trustees. The Library also holds many ancient family manuscripts including those of the Clan Sinclair, on 26 February 2009, areas of the building were flooded after a water main burst on the 12th floor. Firefighters were called and the water was stopped within ten minutes. A number of items were lightly damaged, the last letter written by Mary Queen of Scots made a rare public appearance to mark the opening of a new Library visitor centre in September 2009. The Library joined the 10,10 project in 2010 in a bid to reduce their carbon footprint, one year later they announced that they had reduced their carbon emissions according to 10, 10s criteria by 18%. In April 2013 the Library advertised for a Wikipedian in residence, in September 2016 the Library opened a new centre at the refurbished Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, in partnership with Glasgow Life and the University of Glasgow. The centre provides access to the Librarys digital and moving image collections
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Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
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Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE, ADC was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front from late 1915 until the end of the war and he was nicknamed Butcher Haig for the two million British casualties endured under his command. The Canadian War Museum comments, His epic but costly offensives at the Somme and Passchendaele have become synonymous with the carnage. Haig was born in a house on Charlotte Square, Edinburgh but technically it was addressed as 19 Hope Street and he was not an aristocrat by birth, or landed gentry. His father John Haig—an irascible alcoholic—was middle class, and as head of the familys successful Haig & Haig whisky distillery had an income of £10,000 per year and his mother was from a gentry family fallen on straitened circumstances. Rachels cousin, Violet Veitch, was mother of the playwright, Haigs education began in 1869 as a boarder at Mr Batesons School in Clifton Bank, St Andrews. Later in 1869, he switched to Edinburgh Collegiate School, and then in 1871 to Orwell House, both of Haigs parents died by the time he was eighteen. After a tour of the United States with his brother, Haig attended university, studying Political Economy, Ancient History and French Literature at Brasenose College, Oxford and he devoted much of his time to socialising – he was a member of the Bullingdon Club – and equestrian sports. He was one of the best young horsemen at Oxford and quickly found his way into the University polo team and he was commissioned as a lieutenant into the 7th Hussars on 7 February 1885. Haig played polo for England on a tour of the United States and he would remain a polo enthusiast all his life, serving as Chairman of the Hurlingham Polo Committee from its reorganization in May 1914 until 1922. He would also be President of the Army Polo Committee and founder of the Indian Polo Association and he then saw overseas service in India, where he was appointed the regiments adjutant in 1888. He was something of a disciplinarian, but also impressed his superiors by his skill at sorting out paperwork and he was promoted to captain on 23 January 1891. Haig left India in November 1892 to prepare for the exam for the Staff College, Camberley. Although he was placed in the top 28 candidates he was not awarded a place as he had failed the compulsory mathematics paper. He concealed this failure for the rest of his life and later recommended dropping the mathematics paper as a requirement. Haigs colour blindness would not have been an issue if he had passed the mathematics paper. Fraser was one of those who had lobbied for Haig to enter the Staff College, and he was nominated in late 1894. While waiting to take up his place, he travelled to Germany to report on cavalry manoeuvres there, the careers of French and Haig were to be entwined for the next twenty-five years, and Haig helped French write the cavalry drillbook, published 1896
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National Portrait Gallery, London
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The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was the first portrait gallery in the world when it opened in 1856, the gallery moved in 1896 to its current site at St Martins Place, off Trafalgar Square, and adjoining the National Gallery. It has been expanded twice since then, the National Portrait Gallery also has regional outposts at Beningbrough Hall in Yorkshire and Montacute House in Somerset. It is unconnected to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, the gallery is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The gallery houses portraits of important and famous British people, selected on the basis of the significance of the sitter. The collection includes photographs and caricatures as well as paintings, drawings, one of its best-known images is the Chandos portrait, the most famous portrait of William Shakespeare although there is some uncertainty about whether the painting actually is of the playwright. Not all of the portraits are exceptional artistically, although there are self-portraits by William Hogarth, Sir Joshua Reynolds, some, such as the group portrait of the participants in the Somerset House Conference of 1604, are important historical documents in their own right. Portraits of living figures were allowed from 1969, the three people largely responsible for the founding of the National Portrait Gallery are commemorated with busts over the main entrance. At centre is Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, with his supporters on either side, Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay and it was Stanhope who, in 1846 as a Member of Parliament, first proposed the idea of a National Portrait Gallery. It was not until his attempt, in 1856, this time from the House of Lords. With Queen Victorias approval, the House of Commons set aside a sum of £2000 to establish the gallery, as well as Stanhope and Macaulay, the founder Trustees included Benjamin Disraeli and Lord Ellesmere. It was the latter who donated the Chandos portrait to the nation as the gallerys first portrait, Carlyle became a trustee after the death of Ellesmere in 1857. For the first 40 years, the gallery was housed in locations in London. The first 13 years were spent at 29 Great George Street, there, the collection increased in size from 57 to 208 items, and the number of visitors from 5,300 to 34,500. In 1869, the moved to Exhibition Road and buildings managed by the Royal Horticultural Society. Following a fire in buildings, the collection was moved in 1885. This location was unsuitable due to its distance from the West End, condensation. Following calls for a new location to be found, the government accepted an offer of funds from the philanthropist William Henry Alexander, Alexander donated £60,000 followed by another £20,000, and also chose the architect, Ewan Christian
42.
Prince Arthur of Connaught
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Prince Arthur of Connaught KG KT GCMG GCVO GCStJ CB PC was a British military officer and a grandson of Queen Victoria. He served as Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 20 November 1920 to 21 January 1924, Prince Arthur was born on 13 January 1883 at Windsor Castle. His father was the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and his mother was the former Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. Arthur was the first British royal prince to be educated at Eton College, after attending finishing school, Prince Arthur was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, from where he was commissioned into the 7th Hussars in 1901. During the Second Boer War, he saw duty with the 7th Hussars. In 1907, he was promoted to the rank of captain in the 2nd Dragoons and he became the honorary Colonel-in-Chief of this regiment in 1920. During the First World War, Prince Arthur served as aide-de-camp to Generals Sir John French and Sir Douglas Haig and he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1919 and became a colonel in the reserves in 1922. In October 1922, Prince Arthur was promoted to the rank of major general and became an aide-de-camp to his first cousin. Since the kings children were too young to undertake public duties until after the First World War, Prince Arthur carried out a variety of duties at home. On 15 October 1913, Prince Arthur married his cousin Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife at the Chapel Royal, St. Jamess Palace, London. The couple were attended by five bridesmaids, The Princess Mary, Princess Maud of Fife, Princesses Mary, Helena, Princess Alexandra was the eldest daughter of the late Duke of Fife and The Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of King Edward VII. As such, the couple were first cousins once removed, Princess Alexandra held the title of Duchess of Fife in her own right. After their marriage, Arthur and Alexandra were styled Their Royal Highnesses Prince, together they had one child, Alastair. Alastair was styled from 1917 by the title of Earl of Macduff until he succeeded at his grandfathers death as 2nd Duke of Connaught. After the accession of his cousin, King George V, Prince Arthur, as such, he undertook a wide variety of royal duties on behalf of the King, and acted as a Counsellor of State during periods of the Kings absence abroad. In 1906, by order of the King, he vested the Meiji Emperor of Japan with the Order of the Garter, in 1918, he was a guest aboard the Japanese battlecruiser Kirishima when she voyaged from Japan to Canada. In 1920, Prince Arthur succeeded Viscount Buxton as governor-general and commander-in-chief in South Africa, the Earl of Athlone succeeded him in these posts in 1924. Upon returning to Britain, Prince Arthur became involved in a number of charitable organizations, like his father, the Duke of Connaught, he was active in the Freemasons, becoming Provincial Grand Master for Berkshire in 1924
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Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife
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Princess Arthur of Connaught, 2nd Duchess of Fife, GCStJ was a granddaughter of King Edward VII and great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Alexandras father was Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, Princess Louise accordingly became the Duchess of Fife. Alexandra was born at East Sheen Lodge, Richmond on 17 May 1891, as a female-line granddaughter of the British monarch, Alexandra was not entitled to the title of Princess of the United Kingdom Great Britain and Ireland, nor to the style of Her Royal Highness. Instead she was styled Lady Alexandra Duff, as the daughter of a duke, on 5 November 1905, King Edward VII declared his eldest daughter Princess Royal. From that point, Her Highness Princess Alexandra held her title and rank, not from her ducal father, around 1910, Alexandra became secretly engaged to Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark, a son of King George I of the Hellenes. The engagement was terminated when their disapproving parents learned of the liaison, as Prince Christophers father was a younger brother of Princess Alexandras maternal grandmother, the hopeful couple were first cousins once-removed. On 15 October 1913, Princess Alexandra married her cousin Prince Arthur of Connaught at the Chapel Royal, St. Jamess Palace, the brides attendants were, Princess Mary, daughter of King George V. Princess Mary of Teck and Princess Helena of Teck, daughters of Prince Adolphus, Princess May of Teck, daughter of Prince Alexander of Teck and Princess Alice of Albany. Prince Arthur of Connaught was the son of the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria and thus a younger brother of her maternal grandfather. As such, Arthur and Alexandra were first cousins once removed, after their marriage, Alexandra was referred to as HRH Princess Arthur of Connaught, in accordance with the tradition that a wife normally shares the title and style of her husband. With her husband, Alexandra also carried out engagements on behalf of her uncle, King George V. She also served as a Counsellor of State between 1937 and 1944, during World War I, Princess Arthur of Connaught served as nurse at St. Marys Hospital in Paddington. When Prince Arthur was appointed general of the Union of South Africa in 1920, she accompanied him to Pretoria. Upon the couples return to Britain, she continued to carry out royal duties and she died at her home near Primrose Hill, London, in 1959 and was buried at St Ninians Chapel, Braemar. The Royal Encyclopedia, ISBN 0-333-53810-2 Marlene A. Eilers, Queen Victorias Descendants, ISBN 91-630-5964-9 Alison Weir, Britains Royal Families, the Complete Genealogy, rev. ed. ISBN 0-7126-4286-2
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Prince John of the United Kingdom
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Prince John of the United Kingdom was the fifth son and youngest of the six children born to King George V and his wife, Queen Mary. At the time of Johns birth, his father was the Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the monarch of the United Kingdom. In 1910, George succeeded to the throne upon Edwards death, in 1909, John was discovered to have epilepsy. As his condition deteriorated, he was sent to live at Sandringham House and was away from the public eye. There, he was cared for by his governess, Lala Bill, Prince John died at Sandringham in 1919, following a severe seizure, and was buried at nearby St Mary Magdalene Church. His illness was disclosed to the public only after his death. Prince Johns alleged seclusion has subsequently brought forward as evidence for the inhumanity of the royal family. His long acknowledged learning disability and an intellectual disability have both been linked to his severe epilepsy, recent speculation finds some behaviors consistent with autism. Prince John was born at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate on 12 July 1905 and he was the youngest child and fifth son of George Frederick, Prince of Wales and Mary, Princess of Wales. He was named John despite that names unlucky associations for the royal family, at the time of his birth, he was sixth in the line of succession to the throne, behind his father and four older brothers. As a grandchild of the reigning British monarch in the line. John was christened on 3 August in the Church of St Mary Magdalene at Sandringham, much of Johns early life was spent at Sandringham with his siblings—Prince Edward, Prince Albert, Princess Mary, Prince Henry and Prince George—under the care of their nanny Charlotte Lala Bill. Though a strict disciplinarian, the Prince of Wales was nonetheless affectionate toward his children, in 1909, Johns great-aunt, the Dowager Empress of Russia wrote to her son, Emperor Nicholas II, that Georges children are very nice. The little ones, George and Johnny are both charming and very amusing, George once said to U. S. President Theodore Roosevelt that all children obedient, except John—apparently because John alone, among Georges children, escaped punishment from their father. Though a large and handsome baby, by his fourth birthday John had become winsome and that same year he suffered his first epileptic seizure and showed signs of a disability, probably autism. When his father succeeded as George V upon Edward VIIs death in 1910, although John was deemed not presentable to the outside world, George nonetheless showed an interest in him, offering him kindness and affection. During his time at Sandringham, John exhibited some repetitive behaviors as well as regular misbehaviours and insubordination, nonetheless there was hope his seizures might lessen with time—. In 1912 Prince George, who was nearest in age to John and his closest sibling, the following summer, The Times reported that John would not attend Broadstairs the following term, and that George and Mary had not decided whether to send John to school at all
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The National Archives (United Kingdom)
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The National Archives is a non-ministerial government department. Its parent department is the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom and it is the official archive of the UK government and for England and Wales, and guardian of some of the nations most iconic documents, dating back more than 1,000 years. There are separate national archives for Scotland and Northern Ireland, TNA was formerly four separate organisations, the Public Record Office, the Historical Manuscripts Commission, the Office of Public Sector Information and Her Majestys Stationery Office. It is institutional policy to include the article, with an initial capital letter, in its name. The National Archives is based in Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south-west London, the building was opened in 1977 as an additional home for the public records, which were held in a building on Chancery Lane. The site was originally a World War I hospital, which was used by several government departments. It is near to Kew Gardens Underground station, until its closure in March 2008, the Family Records Centre in Islington was run jointly by The National Archives and the General Register Office. The National Archives has an office in Norwich, which is primarily for former OPSI staff. There is also a record storage facility in the worked-out parts of Winsford Rock Salt Mine, Winsford. For earlier history, see Public Record Office, the name remained The National Archives. This work helps inform todays decisions and ensure that they become tomorrows permanent record, the National Archives has long had a role of oversight and leadership for the entire archives sector and archives profession in the UK, including local government and non-governmental archives. Under the Public Records Act 1958 it is responsible for overseeing the appropriate custody of certain non-governmental public records in England, under the 2003 Historical Manuscripts Commission Warrant it has responsibility for investigating and reporting on non-governmental records and archives of all kinds throughout the United Kingdom. The National Archives now sees part of its role as being to enhance the archival health of the nation. The collections held by the National Archives can be searched using their online catalogue, entrance to The National Archives is free. Anybody aged 16 or over can access the documents at the Kew site. The reading room has terminals from which documents can be ordered up from secure storage areas by their reference number, Documents can also be ordered in advance. Once a document has been ordered, The National Archives aims to get it to the reader within 45 minutes, special arrangements are in place for readers wishing to retrieve large groups of files. A readers ticket is not needed to access records on microform or online, frequently accessed documents such as the Abdication Papers have been put on microfilm, as have records for two million First World War soldiers
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Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra
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The coronation of Edward VII and his wife Alexandra as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Empire took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 9 August 1902. Originally scheduled for 26 June of that year, the ceremony had been postponed at short notice. The success of Victorias Golden and Diamond Jubilees had created the expectation that Edwards coronation would be an expression of the status as a great imperial power. In December 1901, an Executive Coronation Committee was formed, whose leading member, Viscount Esher, Esher had been responsible for organising the Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and was one of the driving forces behind the renewed enthusiasm for royal ceremonial. The position of Director of Music was given to Sir Frederick Bridge, the organist and choirmaster at Westminster Abbey, the first Abbey organist since Henry Purcell to be given that role. Bridge had successfully transformed the quality of music at the Abbey and had directed the music at the Golden Jubilee, by the time of his accession, the 59-year-old Edward was overweight and fond of large meals and cigars. He launched himself into his new role, but his first busy months on the throne were bedevilled by a succession of illnesses and injuries. On 23 June, three days before the set for the coronation, the King and Queen returned from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace in preparation. Foreign journalists noted that he appeared worn and pale and was leaning heavily on his cane and that evening, the King and Queen hosted a formal dinner for seventy British and overseas royal guests. On the following day at 12 noon, a telegram marked OFFICIAL was dispatched around the Empire, with the news that the coronation was postponed, shortly afterwards, a bulletin was released from Edwards medical team, stating that The King is suffering from perityphlitis. The condition on Saturday was so satisfactory that it was hoped that with care His Majesty would be able to go through the Coronation ceremonies, on Monday evening a recrudescence became manifest, rendering a surgical operation necessary today. It was undersigned by, among others, Lord Lister and Sir Frederick Treves, on 26 June itself, a solemn service of intercession was held at St Pauls Cathedral, which was attended by many of the British and foreign dignitaries who were in London for the coronation. Organised by Sir Thomas Lipton,500,000 dinners were served to Londoners on 5 July at 800 locations around the capital, the King personally contributed £30,000 towards the cost and there were donations by commercial companies and wealthy individuals. Many people had intended to watch the procession, and rooms along the planned route had been rented out at high rates for the expected day of the coronation. The postponement of the led to many demands for refunds on the rental contracts, giving rise to the Coronation cases. One unintended effect of the postponement was the departure of the delegations, they didnt return for the rescheduled ceremony. This made the coronation a celebration of the British race united by the influence of the Imperial Crown according to J E C Bodley. Among the 8,000 guests at the Abbey were the ministers of the British Dominions, thirty one rulers of the Indian Princely States, the Sultan of Perak
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The London Gazette
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The London Gazette claims to be the oldest surviving English newspaper and the oldest continuously published newspaper in the UK, having been first published on 7 November 1665 as The Oxford Gazette. This claim is made by the Stamford Mercury and Berrows Worcester Journal. It does not have a large circulation, in turn, The London Gazette carries not only notices of UK-wide interest, but also those relating specifically to entities or people in England and Wales. However, certain notices that are only of specific interest to Scotland or Northern Ireland are also required to be published in The London Gazette, the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes are published by TSO on behalf of Her Majestys Stationery Office. They are subject to Crown Copyright, the London Gazette is published each weekday, except for Bank Holidays. The official Gazettes are published by The Stationery Office, the content, apart from insolvency notices, is available in a number of machine-readable formats, including XML and XML/RDFa via Atom feed. The London Gazette was first published as The Oxford Gazette on 7 November 1665. Charles II and the Royal Court had moved to Oxford to escape the Great Plague of London, the Gazette was Published by Authority by Henry Muddiman, and its first publication is noted by Samuel Pepys in his diary. The King returned to London as the plague dissipated, and the Gazette moved too, the Gazette was not a newspaper in the modern sense, it was sent by post to subscribers, not printed for sale to the general public. Her Majestys Stationery Office took over the publication of the Gazette in 1889, publication of the Gazette was transferred to the private sector, under government supervision, in the 1990s, when HMSO was sold and renamed The Stationery Office. In time of war, dispatches from the conflicts are published in The London Gazette. People referred to are said to have mentioned in dispatches. When members of the forces are promoted, and these promotions are published here. Man tally-ho, Miss piano, Wife silk and satin, Boy Greek and Latin, the phrase gazetted fortune hunter is also probably derived from this. Notices of engagement and marriage were also published in the Gazette. Gazettes, modelled on The London Gazette, were issued for most British colonial possessions
