The New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1926. MORE ABOUT JUTLAND

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12370, 13 February 1926, Page 4

The New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1926. MORE ABOUT JUTLAND

According to some German statements Jutland was a great victory for the German High Sea Fleet. The chorus of these triumphant pleaders was led by the Kaiser the . day after the battered High bea Fleet got back to port and safety. Some critics other than German have joined this Gerrtian chorus, and others, among them some distinguished admirals, including Lord Kerr and Sir Reginald Bacon, have strenuously contended that the battle: ended by a decisive victory for the British Grand 'Fleet. Not so complete as it would have been had the light conditions been better, but, nevertneless, a decisive victory. The main sustaining fact of these is the complete absence betweeh Jutland and the Armistice of the German Fleet on the high seas. They have received corroboration recently from a German high naval authority. The German Admiral von Trotha, giving evidence before a German Commission of Inquiry into various matters of tne war, supplied this corroboration jn a remarkably convincing manner. &

? estl £ that as soon l as the terms of the Armistice were realised by the naval leaders they determined to stop the course of negotiarion by striking a blow at sea. For that purpose the fleet was ordered out. But to the disgust of the High Command and its officers the men of the fleet flatly refused, and on the High Command insisting, openly mutinied. N °w, why did these men prefer to face the terrible German Mutiny Law rather than the British Fleet? We must remember the German chorus, led by the Kaiser immediately after Jutland, of victory, great, unexpected, and decisive. The mutiny of the Admiral s evidence proves that the men who had fought the action on the German side—and let us at <mce admit that they fought it very well indeed—did not believe they had won any victory at all. I. heir refusal to put to sea shows that they considered they had been very lucky to escape out of the hands of the British at Jutland, and were determined never to give the British Fleet another chance to destroy them. Even the High Command must have thought this, for after all the boasting of Kaiser and Co., they never ventured to send the fleet to sea. Of course, when the Armistice came into view, the' natural course for high-minded, patriotic German Admirals was to prefer acounsel of despair to the humiliation of surrender without a blow. Ine losses would clearly have been tremendous, but there was some hope that out of the uncertainties' of, a great naval battle better terms might have come, even if the more sanguine spirits should be disappointed of the victory they hoped might reward their rashness. 1 But the men knew what facing the great fleet of England meant. They knew they could not depend on help from the weather. It was, in fact, a case of “now or never,” and they mutinied Fatherland And thlS ’ tho Ugh lt: was the last chanc e for the The Chancellor of the day corroborated with admission of participating m the policy of cutting across the Armistice negotiation by a great naval assault. He seems to have been under the ' impression- that the assault was made because, by some means he had lost touch with the preparations. But the real reason was given by the Admiral, who declared that the assault was abandoned because the men of the fleet mutinied, rather than go into action a second time against the Grand Fleet. , ought to settle the question of the victory definitely. As to the degree of victory, there is no question of that. It was far from complete, but it kept the German ships off the sea for the rest of the war. As to the question of whether the British Admiral ought to have done something else than he did do—that has ceased to be profitable. The fact that he won is proof that his tactics, under the circumstances, were masterly. And that is all that matters now. It proves, at least, that the Lloyd George Government treated him very badly. y B