THE IRON DUKE

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23387, 19 December 1945, Page 4

THE IRON DUKE

Historic Letter (N.Z.P.A.) WELLINGTON, Dec. 18. An original letter, hitherto unpublished, from the hand of the Duke of Wellington, written on the field a few hours before the Battle of Waterloo began, was produced and read by M. Armand Gazel, the new Minister for France, at a civic reception tendered him to-day. M. Gazel was speaking of the great virtue of perseverance. “Your noble city,” he said, “has a younger history and has been spared the horrors of war and enemy occupation, but she has something in common with Paris and that is the perseverance of its citizens.” To illustrate his point, M. Gazel showed to the Mayor (Mr W. Appleton) the letter which, written in. French, was dated “at Waterloo, this 18th day of June, 3 o’clock in the morning”—just two hours before the beginning of the battle. After speaking of the fighting of the previous days Wellington wrote: “The enemy may outflank us through Hall (a small town not far from the farm of Hougoumont on Wellington’s right flank) * * * ♦ if this happens I pray your Royal Highness to go back to Antwerp, to take quarters there and to tell his Majesty Louis the Eighteenth that 1 pray him to cross from Ghent to Antwerp. I also pray your Royal Highnes to send to Antwerp all the magazines which are not absolutely necessary for “ou at the moment.”

Wellington knew that an outflanking attack on his right would be most dangerous for him, commented M. Gazel. Napoleon thought the same for a while, but did not persevere and lost everything