Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE MONDAY, MAY 25th., 1925. EARL YPRES

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 May 1925, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE MONDAY, MAY 25th., 1925. EARL YPRES

The death of Earl Ypres removes one of Britain’s" most *prominent soldiers, and one who controlled armies and faced foes, of a strength the much more, acclaimed Wellington or Marlborough would not have believed possible. Future historians can be left to argue over the respective military gifts of old and new commanders, but whether they rank Earl Ypres above or below his predecessors, it will have to be agreed that he did groat service for his country. The. recent war gave him an opportunity few commanders have to show ability, and though he proved to be . no super-man, he held his own fairly well, considering the abnormal circumstances. Ilis was an active career. He .joined the Navy in 1866, and served for four years.

He entered the Arniy jh 1874, in the Hussars, and took part in the .Soudan campaign. . Subsequently., he held important posts and Commands, but was little known to the general public until 1 ■ the South African War, where .his dash and Handling of>, mounted-, troops enabled him to add to his .reputation when several of his British colleagues, were, losing theirs. He commanded the force, which relieved Kimberley, and was largely instrii-l mental, in the victories obtained latey .by- Lord Roberts. He thus became popular with the man-in-the-street, and promotions and honours were numerous. He was promoted General in 1907, and Field Marshal in 1913. He became Chief of the General Staff, and when the Great War broke out, he was selected,. with popular approval, as the. British Comma ncler-in-Chief. The rest is too modern history to nded much recalling. So many new lessons were taught"in the war, and so many old theories j had to? be discarded, that it is doubtful if any. living soldjer 'was capable of looping; with .the new problems, particularly in the first two years of the war. Not having prepared for a great struggle, Britain had much to do before her troops could meet on anything like equal terms the better-equipped Germans,.- there- being, a shortage of men and munitions, as well as of experience. Moreover, adversity had not yet made Anglo-French military co-operation as effective as it should have' been, and it is doubtful if. many * realise even, to this day, how near a German victory was. The late EarL Ypres, therefore, had a tremendous task, and it was not surprising that failures mingled with successes. He had his critics as well as his admirers, and eventually,i the strain of the position proved too much for his health, and he gave place to his second in command, Sir D. Haig, (as he then was). /Ie was next' given command of the Home Forces, and a grateful country awarded' him honours and a large monetary grant. Subsequently, he acted as Viceroy in Ireland, retiring with an earldom in 1921, since when apart froin officiating-at unveiling ceremonies, he did not come much before the public. The whole Empire will share in the sympathy now extended to his relatives, as his work helped to knit the Empire together, and to prove to the outside world that Britons in the Homeland or in. the Overseas Dominions were worthy of their great military traditions.