THE JUTLAND STORY.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIV, Issue 201, 2 August 1924, Page 5

THE JUTLAND STORY.

ADMIRALTY’S PUBLISHED VERSION. ERRORS UNCORRECTED. (Per Press Association.) Wellington, Aug. 1. In connection with telegrams from London which have been published in the New Zealand press this week. His Excellency Viscount Jellicoe was asked whether he would have any objection to stating the circumstances which led to the Admiralty account of the Battle of Jutland. He replied that he had no objection as the main facts were already known from statements made in the British Parliament. These facts were as follows:—

Shortly after the termination of tlie war, requests were made in the British Parliament for the issue of an account of the battle of Jutland. It was realised by the Admiralty that some delay would necessarily be incurred in the production of a complete compilation of Sir Julian Corbett’s “Official History of the War” (then written by. him with the assistance of naval officers), which in one of its later volumes was to include an account of the Battle of Jutland. Under the circumstances mentioned the Board of Admiralty in 1919 appointed a committee of officers, presided over by Captain Harper, to draw up an account of this articular action. On (returning to England in H.M.S. Now Zealand early in 1920, Lord Jellicoe was informed of this. Later he heard that it was proposed by the Admiralty naval staff to make some alterations in this report, and Gji inquiring of the then First Lord as to the accuracy of this statement Lord Jellicoe was asked by him to read the report together with the proposed alterations. He demurred to this, expressing the opinion that lie was satisfied as to the competence of an independent committee, such as Captain Harper’s, to produce a correct account, and considered it best, in the interests ol historical accuracy, that the report should be published without amendment by any officer who was serving in the Jutland battle who, unless quoting from reports sent in at the time, could only speak of what came under his immediate observation and whose memory otherwise of the events at so great a distance of time, might not be reliable. Lord Jellicoe was, however pressed by the First Lord to read the report. He did so with reluctance and as a result objected to many of the proposed amendments and again expressed his original opinion as to the desirability of publishing this independent report unaltered. No decision on tins point was arrived at before Lord Jellicoe left England lor New Zealand, but the First Lord gave him an assurance that no alterations would be made ni the original report without the proposed amendments being first referred to

hmi. . The Admiralty, at a later date, decided not to publish the Harper report at all and in place of it the present account of the battle was drawn up under the aegis of the naval stall, being officers who had served in the battle cruisers during the action. This account has been twice sent to Lord Jellicoe for his comments. On the first occasion he brought to the notice of the Admiralty numerous inaccuracies and misstatements both in the narrative and diagrams, 111 which the latter differed in many respects ironi the Harper diagrams. Many of the inaccuracies in the narrative were corrected at the Admiralty and it.was returned for further comments with a request that these should be forwarded by cable. The Admiralty at the same time expressed thanks to Lord Jellicoe for having drawn attention to the errors. The whole of these errors were not. however corrected and it was iound-to be impossible to comment fully on them by cable. Lord Jellicoe informed the Admiralty in December 1923. confirming his cabled criticismsms to a lew of the more impoirtant passages, and stating that full remarks on the remaining points could be sent by mail if the delav was permissible. Uns suggestion was not adopted however, the publication having now taken place, together, apparently, with the cabled comments and the Admiralty remarks thereon, which latter have not as yet been communicated io Lord Jellicoe! The time taken in the p>riduction of the narrative at. the Admiralty has resulted in its issue some months after volume 111. of Sir Julian Corbett’s official history, in which the Jutland Battle is described this having been published at the end of last year. _