COLLARD BLAMEWORTHY, ADMIRALTY DECIDES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18442, 18 April 1928, Page 9

COLLARD BLAMEWORTHY, ADMIRALTY DECIDES.

NAVAL HEAD RELIEVED OF COMMAND AND PLACED ON THE RETIRED LIST—DEWAR AND DANIEL TO BE RE-EMPLOYED. (United Press Association.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (Received April 18, 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, April 17. IN the House of Commons, the Admiralty, in a statement, considered (hat Rear-Admiral Collard was initially blameworthy in the Royal Oak case. Mr W. C. Bridgeman, First Sea Lord, said that Captain Dewar and Commander Daniel would be suitably re-employed as vacancies occur. Admiral Collard had already been relieved of his command and would be placed on the retired list Australian Press Association.

UNFITTED FOR HIGH COMMAND.

COLLARD DEALT WITH TRIVIAL MATTERS IN .UNBECOMING WAY. (United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (Received April 18, 11.30 a.m.) RUGBY, April 17. After reviewing the proceedings in the Courts-martial on Captain Dewar and Commander Daniel, at which RearAdmiral Collard gave evidence Mr Bridgeman said that the Board of the Admiralty were of the opinion that the initial blame for what happened lay with Admiral Collard, in dealing with trivial causes of dissatisfaction in a manner unbecoming his position and showing himself unfitted for a high command.

In the case of the other two officers, who -were sentenced to be severely reprimanded and dismissed from their ships, the Board had decided to confirm their sentences, though they were of the opinion that in Commander Daniel’s case no offence against the King's Regulations was proved under the second charge. As it had been suggested that the offences committed by these officers were more or less technical in character, the Board thought it necessary to say that they had taken a grave view of their conduct. Commander Daniel, having been ordered to give a report to Captain Dewar on

certain events connected with the departure of the Rear-Admiral from his ship, supplemented it by an additional paragraph partly containing an un-, necessary comment on the Rear-Ad-miral based on hearsay, and partly making criticisms of an improper nature. The Board were of the opinion that officers of their experience must have been aware of the procedure for making a complaint, and that the making of a cmpolaint must not be used for the subversion of the discipline of a superior officer. Captain Dewar should have deterred his junior officer from going beyond a formal report of the facts, which he had been ordered to prepare. He did not discourage Commander Daniel, but accepted his report, which was contrary to tradition,and prejudicial to naval discipline, and the Board had therefore confirmed the sentences on these two officers, but had decided that these sentences should not preclude them from further employment. Mr Bridgeman added that the Board of the Admiralty were making a careful review of the Regulations in order to ascertain whether there were any grounds for the suggestion that officers and men might be uncertain how to act if they had any complaint to make against any officer of superior rank. Commander Ken worthy (Labour) asked whether further employment in the case of Captain Dewar and Commander Daniel meant further employment at sea. Mr Bridgeman said he could not give an undertaking that they would be employed at sea because the number of vacancies was dimited, and they must wait until a suitable vacancy occurred. —British Official Wireless. NAVAL MAN GIVES SKETCH OF COLLARD. Referring to the recent occurrences on H.M.S. Royal Oak, in which RearAdmiral Collard and the captain and commander were involved, J.J.R.

writes in the Sydney “ Morning Herald ” as follows: In those far-away days of the "on the knee ” riots in Portsmouth, England, I was a member of Collard’s gunnery class, and I remember that while the Press of England was trying him for that famous order his sense of humour did not desert him for a single moment. He was, in his physical aspect, as much like a cherub as it was possible for a man to be, and, apropos of this cherubic charm, he made three drawings of himself while he awaited his trial. Drawing No. 1 represented a cherub, wing-bedecked, with Collard’s face and the caption, “As my Mother Sees Ale.” No. 2 showed the same cherub with a mouth as wide as a barn door, from which issued the famous order, or, as some thought, infamous order, “on the knee.” This was labelled, “As the Sailors See Me.” Drawing No. 3 showed Mr Cherub, wearing heavy sea boots, and with them kicking sailor-men all round the decks of a Dreadnought. This last he called. “As the Public See Me."

Will you permit me to add a fourth verbal sketch of Collard as I and many others saw him? The general public should know that the “on the knee” order was a very ordinary one, well understood of sailors, and it was given usually w'hen men, standing ten deep perhaps, were listening to instructions from any officer. The men in the front rows were ordered on the knee to make it possible for those behind to see and hear the instructor plainly. It had no other significance. On the day of Collard’s fiasco, in the front rank of the squad was a great drunken lout named Moody, and he it was who caused all the trouble when he declared that “ he wouldn’t bend his knee to the Virgin Mary, much less would he do so to any gunnery instructor,” and the riot was on. The order was insisted upon, and later the squad was dismissed. That night, after much beer and inflammatory oratory, the boys proceeded to tear things up by the roots. I was among the bluejackets sent on the double to help quell the resulting disorder, and I shall never forget seeing Collard, a very small man, walking through that bunch of fighting mad heroes utterly unafraid, and, what is more, utterly unmolested. He showed that night that he was a real captain of men. He was untouched, as I say, but a warrant officer named Green got a clout on the side of the head with a bottle that put him out of commission for a few days. Collard was sent to Whale Island to await his court-martial, and any man who knew the rights of the affair was allowed to sec him there, and so aid him in preparing his defence. I watched hundreds of men form a line ar long as the city block, who were all anxious to save him from being made the victim of a blasphemous rowdy. Well, truth prevailed, as it has a'habit of doing, and Collard was freed to become an admiral of the greatest navy in the world. The consensus of opinion among those who knew and served under Collard was that he was the fairest, squarest and hardest of officers; he played no favourites. “ Cook’s son, duke’s son,” were all one to him, and his record as a gunnery instructor was a particularly fine one. He turned out great gunners, sparing them nothing of hard, grilling work; he took them into a hell of endeavour after perfection, but he went with them into this hell like the game little fighting cock he was, and apparently still is. I, of course, know nothing of the merits of the present case, but I’d swear that Collard is still as just, as hard and as fair as in those old days in Portsmouth. Maybe he will dig out those old sketches, and over them grin sardonically while he is being “ tried ” once more in the Press of the country he has served so long and well.