SOLDIER SPORTS

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 74, 29 March 1919, Page 10

SOLDIER SPORTS

GREAT GENERALS AS ATHLETES

POLO AND RACING,

What part sport has played in the development of the British leaders in the i war is the subject of an article in an English sporting periodical, and it makes interesting reading, though it has the tendency to prove rather too .much. The English-speaking people are undoubted.ly the 'greatest sporting races on the earth, the greatest devotees of outdoor sports and games. What they have done in tbe war need not be dwelt on, but it might be going too far to explain their wonderful achievements on the ground that they were sportsmen. Otherwise how should we explain the grandeur of the poilus, the genius of their leaders ? The French are nob a sporting nation, and what development they have made in the cultivation of athletic sports is a matter of only a few years. ' Similarly the Italians are not great devotees of athletic games; yet their feats of endurance and enterprise have not been surpassed. The national sport of the Belgians is'-pigeon racing, a vicarious sort of athletic training. SIR DOUGLAS HAIG. However, sensible people will not deride the benefits that have accrued to our race through physical exercise, and nobody with experience will deny that there is no sort of exercise that cloes so much good as that which is unconsciously acquired through the playing of games. Sir Douglas Haig, the; greatest of British soldiers, was a devotee of sport. He was not only a highly gifted exponent in more branches than one, but a profound believer in its use for military purposes. On one occasion be said that he "attributed great importance to young officers being, encouraged to hunt and play polo, and would urge that they be helped to do so in every way possible. These pursuits have a very real value as training for war, and it is particularly desirable that officers with private means should be encouraged to spend tKeir money iii this way, rather than in buying expensive motor-cars and Mmilar luxuries which have a precisely opposite tendency." For many years Sir Douglas Haig was one of the best polo players in England, and built up a. team that won the championship of India, where the game was developed. He was also in his school days a fine cricketer. There is probably no bettor horseman in the British army to-day than its Commander-in-chief. .SOLDIER FOX HUNTERS. General Allenby is also a fine polo player and horseman. He has always been a keen supporter of outdoor sports, used to be a steeplechase rider of note, and in the 'nineties .owned a small but select stable of cross-country performers. General the Earl of Cavan, commander of the British army in Italy, is a noted sportsman. He was master of tho Hertfordshire foxhounds when war broke out, and is a fisherman, a shot, and a golfer of parts. When a member of the Grenadier Guards he rode in point-to-point races seventeen times and was placed eleven times. General Sir H. S. Home was also a brilliant performer in the saddle. He was a hunting man, a polo player, and a steeplechase rider. . General Birdwood, who won fame as the commander of the', army at Gallipoli, played in his regimental polo team and never missed a meet of hounds when he could, help it. He was also a big-game Bhot, and is known 'as an all-round, sportsman. General Sir H. S. Rawlinson was for years an active member of the Household Brigade Racing Club, and played polo for his regiment. He was a skilful, racquet player, and as a cricketer was firstclass, having made centuries on several occasions. Lieutenant-General Sir W. P Pnlteney is a typical all-round army sportsman. He was a cricketer, too, but shone particularly in soccer. For several years he was tho secretary and treasurer of the Army Football Association,, and under him the game showed a remarkable growth He has also had considerable experience as a big-game hunter in Africa, and is an ardent fisherman. NATIONAL CHARACTERISTIC. ' The late General Sir F N. Maude was a first-class athlete at Eton, and latex, at Sandhurst. He played cricket and soccer, and was a noted half-mile and mile runner at college. These are only a few of the outstanding British army leaders who have beeu strong believers in the value of outdoor sports for military training. It is only to be expected, of course, that cavalrymen should be keen on horses, riding and racing, and other games in which horses figure. No doubt in the navy we should find the officers devotees of other sports. There the officers and men do not get the opportunity of much cricket, soccer, and hunting, and sailormen are notoriously'bad horsemen. Boxing and athletic contests that do not require much space would naturally attract them. Moreover, life on the sea in itself devolops those qualities that on shore are only acquired by indulgence in some form of athletics. ; But whether afloat or ashore, the British officer is fond of sport, and loses no oppoi'tunity to engage hi it. This is a part of our national character, and one that is never likely to decay.