ENGLAND INVADED.

Timaru Herald, Volume CI, Issue 15444, 5 September 1914, Page 3

ENGLAND INVADED.

(From the "Spectator.") I t

'• Since the year 17CU, when England seethed with excitement through fear of a French Pupublieau invasion, iu> l»ook has been produced dealing with the invasions of England," vvr ' to _J' l< ; joint-authors in their preface. Iruy therefore claim to fulfil a long-telt want. They daiiu. moreover, to have taken full advantage l of the wealth ot new material collet ted during the last hundred and twenty years, to have studied every available shred of historica' evidence, and to have visited all the main Kittle sites and campaign areas mentioned in their text. The result is a record of events which will always be tt-'eful, and especially so to those who •wish to study or discuss our evcrprtsent prob'em or home defence. Kxact!v cue-half of the book is devoted to> very early times —to the struggles between Britons, Romans, Saxons, Viking*. Dane-, etc. The general render is more likely to appreciate the second half of the book, which starts with the Norman Conquest and emU with the Napoleonic project of 1801. The account of the Nornian Conquest ?» logical and clear, and shows tfiat \Vit(iatri".> success was title to his own filat'k and determination and to a remarkable combination of favourable circumstances rather than to an oversuper to my of force. No attempt was made by the English fleet to stop the siulinj; of the hostile flotilla; and at the erne".it moment the former had withdrawn from the Channel to revk'tuat in the Thames, which in those days w>, even with favourable winds, further from Pevensoy than Rosyth is tr.-day from Portsmouth. A»;aiu, Harold's army was, as is well known, at the moment when invasion seemed imminent, callid to the defence of the North, ,m» tliat the actual ]andiu£ of the Nurmaos was wholly unopptsod. 'The extraordinary rapidity with which Harold's regular troops marched back again south resulted in h's levies being left far in the rear, and Be was eventually surprised into giving battle wlien he" would probably have preferred to await support. Even in these circumstances the issue at Hastings appears to have iiuntx in the balance. The account of the battle itself differs considerably from more generally accepted vtrsions. but, bearing in m>nd the d'fii-cutty-with which an accurate record can be formed of even peace-manoeuvro tmtttes of the present day, w e should bo rash to ace- pc any account of any ancient battle :ls much more than a series of carefully reasoned guesses. Sini> onfv on two occasions hpve relatively targe hostile forces landed on these shores, and in both cases they liave had the support of a considerable part of the nation. The first of these occasions was in 1216, when Louis of France landed in Thanet to help tho men of London to put an end to t!u> tyrannies of King John. The second was in 16S.>, when William of orange laadetl at Bnxltam in response to a somewhat similar invitation from the opponent* of King James. The former --the French—invasion was foltowed by three months of desultory and rather aimless fighting, and ended in Hubert de Rnrgh's tire at victory off the coast of Kent, whLdi cut the lines of comrv'.ttnieatioH of the French and sent their reinforcem'.nts. to the bottom of the sea. In the latter, excepting the sfctrmssfe at Wtitcanton between soma Irishmen and some Scots, theve was no fichtmg at all, ao that from neither of these invasions are lessons of much rara! or military va T tte to be 'e->rn'. All other invasions of the British Isles are better, perharts. descrilved as raids Dttrii:!: the " Hundred Years.' War ' with Frarce the Lsle of AVight w:ts wasted, arid Dartmouth, Plymouth, Yarmouth, Rve. Hastings, and Portsmonth one after another were sack d. Penzance was burnt bv the Spaniarils in l.'M. _ Teisno'otrth by the Comte do Tmrv'l'e in On several occasions small Frencti forces have landed to join either the Welsh or the SVots or tho Iri'h during the various dynastic strn?gl»; which took place between the fourteenth and stvente-'iith centuries. Fn IG6T the famous Dutchman. De Rnrter. entered the Medway. bomfiarded SheernPss into ruins, captured or bttrnt a nttmlver of Hrit : sh m-w-of-war. and for six wveks dominated tho • se:is. And lastly, on February s?nd. 1797. the •• R'af k Legion" of French cunvitts, led by the Irish- • Ap»riean Tate, effected a landing m Fishgtiard Ray, but surrendered the following day to '• 2.000 fnriutts Welshrnen arnu-tl with anything jsossetsing etfher an edge or a point." That c'rsfs the !i>t of partial or cimp:e;c successes: but the authors deal ais > with the taflur«. Of these latter the most important are, first, the attempt made- bv Kramtiis I. of Franco in l-l-t-", wEien Admiral d'Annibault pi'la'.'ed several ftshing villages on the SiL-.-'ex coast arid landefl raiding parties in the l-le of "Wight, but effected nathtng s;T:oti'S ( and was finally defeated by !.nrd Lwte «>{F Shorehntrt Harlwur; s. ciind r v, the attack by the Span : sh Armada in : and. 1.-rstlv. attempted invasion of Ire'aiid in 1700. All these ar ß tfevscribetl >n .-ome d'tail. but special credit is dite for the chanter the Armada—probably the best short account yet written." Inc:dtntaflv the ant'tors contest the ponular that the Armada was b ; at«n by trie Ertg't<-b privateers. •• Wvnter sa : d bluntly that the private viiifs uer.; Ot hardly any n.-e at all. Aik) the real troth *s that the F*nglish ivon b--"a:* tlfv had a property 'organised Royal N":i*. y compo~etl of excellent sa : ling shiiw. w-11 armed with artitVry, not cTjrnbere'! with use'ess soldiers, and diwtefl not by m.dfaevally minded soldiers but bv scientific seamen." Thefr care:it! historical studi'is lead the authors to three n.ain conclusions namely: H > That so 'oner a- an island holds the curitmand of th,-> sea, and exercisfts that command with rea-onab'e skill and nrud'-mu, State will be praetical'y invulnerable: <■2* tb.-.t in jj naval war the ooerations mwst be VL'orous a"d dr.i;-i,- ' ;trs .| lIO t f'a'ted Uiv it Frtere destni' ti»»n of ,-oin-it-err-e; arid i'X) that h »'s »<«-es.sary to have (a) a retro'ar m : b>arv force strong enoifdi to as-r A t tit - F!"et in irs f"era~ t?<:'•< on an wp-n/i _ce-r-t. a"d Oil an «,i-,rnn'-«d tore ' t i dea' w r th - Th»>>e are rr.nt-i»s : r>n* tnve often nfc | (A . f bet not ei.-«rvt»rie «•:>» .-fki-ei- -»'_r -.irw—ts p? i>r-s'nt-dav r>riibVriis n~ flr tnh Irrperial defence. "