The Grenfell Letter

[michaeldr]

If you have ever wondered if senior officers had their letters censored, just like Tommy Atkins

then the answer is yes, and with consequences.

from my reading of 'Allenby in Palestine - The Middle East Correspondence of Field Marshal Vicount Allenby' selected and edited by Matthew Huges

Allenby's handwritten letter addressed to Captain Cecil William Battine, Military Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, 1911-21

General Headquarters

Egyptian Expeditionary Force

20th November 1917

I have your letters of 22nd and 25th October. You take a wrong view of Grenfell. The destination of the letter mattered nothing. I have absolute confidence in Lord Burnham, and I would trust him with my secret; therefore, I was quite sure that he would make no use of the letter. The letter was brought officially to my notice, and I had no course open to me but to take the necessary disciplinary action. I know Grenfell, and I like him; but, whatever my personal feelings might be, I could not retain as commanding a Regiment in my Army an officer who could write such a letter. The whole letter was improper; but I could have condoned all of it except for the writer's criticism of his Brigadier, and his reference to future operations in the Beersheba area. I have no ill will towards Grenfell. He has had his lesson; and I should have no hesitation in recommending him for further employment. As to what people think of my action; I care nothing. I must maintain discipline; and I shall always take whatever measures I think necessary, for the purpose...........................

[Allenby then briefs Battine on recent events in the field, before concluding with some references to mutual acquaintances and the following post-script]

PS:

I wonder how you saw Grenfell's letter. It was stopped by me, as containing information which might be of use to the enemy - re Beersheba -. Now, on the 25th Oct. it is shewn (sic) in London; six days before my attack. If the W.O. have published it, they are culpable. If Grenfell is shewing (sic) it, he is repeating the offence for which he was rightly punished."

In his notes Matthew Hughes identifies the writer of the offending letter as

Lieutenant-Colonel J. P. Grenfell, commanding the 1/1st Buckinghamshire Hussars, part of the 6th Mounted Brigade

Grenfell's letter was addressed to the regiment's Hon Colonel, Vicount Burnham,

who was also the manager-proprietor of The Daily Telegraph

Can anyone add to this story?

regards

Michael

[PhilB]

I can understand his discussion of forthcoming operations being censored. Was criticism of another officer unlawful?

[michaeldr]

quote: "Was criticism of another officer unlawful?"

It was certainly unwise! and may also have come under the rule 'as containing information which might be of use to the enemy'

[michaeldr]

Per the LG, it does not look as if Grenfell was out of favour for too long,

or that his career suffered unduly

THE LONDON GAZETTE, 22 AUGUST, 1916.

TERRITORIAL FORCE RESERVE.

YEOMANRY.

Maj. (temp. Lt.-Col.) J. P. Grenfell, from

the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry, to be Maj.

23rd Aug. 1916.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 2 MARCH, 1918.

War Office,

2nd March, 1918

TERRITORIAL FORCE.

YEOMANRY.

Lt.-Col. J. P. Grenfell, Yeo., temporarily

to command. 4th Feb. 1918.

Third Supplement to The London Gazette

Of TUESDAY, the 11th of MARCH, 1919.

THURSDAY, 13 MARCH, 1919.

War Office,

13th March, 1919.

The KING has been graciously pleased to

confer the Territorial Decoration upon the

undermentioned Officers of the Territorial

Force who have been duly recommended for the

same under the terms of the Royal Warrant

dated 17th August, 1908, as modified by the

Royal Warrant dated the llth November,

1918: —

Yeomanry..

Royal Bucks Hussars.—Lieut.-Colonel John

P. Grenfell.

Supplement to The London Gazette, 10 February, 1920

War Office,

I0th February, 1920.

TERRITORIAL FORGE.

YEOMANRY.

Norfolk.-Lt-Col. J. P. Grenfell, T.D., Royal

Bucks Hussars, ceases to command the Regt.

21st Dec. 1919.

In his introduction to the collection of letters, Matthew Hughes writes of Allenby

"His sharp temper was a result of having to cope with the strains of high command and war – he was, after all, a general and not a counselor – yet he was still capable of great kindness, (and) did not bear grudges……………."

Grenfell seems to have benefited from the latter characteristic

regards

Michael

[AndrewFrench]

I came across this topic while searching for things "6th Mounted Brigade" and Am glad to be able to add the following for the autobrigrahpy of FH Cripp DSO. Fed Cripp suceeded to command the Royal Buck Hussars after John Grenfell. He wrote

.... Allenby arrived in June, when I at once realized what one first-class man at the head of affairs can do. He took up forward battle headquarters at Rafa, and was to be seen everywhere along the front. The men's spirits rose; they soon became ready for the signal to "Go". As T. E. Lawrence wrote in Revolt in the Desert:

"Allenby's confidence was like a wall. Before the attack he went to see his troops massed in secrecy, waiting the signal, and told them he was sure, with their good help, of thirty-thousand prisoners; this, when the whole game turned on a chance!"

I had a personal talk with Allenby, as Harry Dalmeny, my old friend, was his Military Secretary. I found him grim and determined and his toughness inspired me with complete confidence.

Now came an unexpected and startling event. In August I was given leave to go home to England, just before the Russian Revolution. I went to Alexandria to join the steamer, but as we were about to leave, a staff officer came aboard, sent for me, and I was ordered ashore. He told me he knew nothing about the reason for this order, but instructed me to return to my regiment immediately.

I could not imagine what had happened, but when I rejoined my regiment, after a long and arduous journey, our Adjutant told me that Colonel John Grenfell was under arrest. Astonished and very distressed, I rushed to find him. He said: "I'm terribly sorry that you should have been recalled. It will be quite all right; you will be able to get your leave in a few days' time. I am under arrest simply because I wrote a rather injudicious letter home. Unfortunately it was opened by the censor. But," he added, reassuringly, "there was nothing of any real importance in it."

Grenfell asked me to be his prisoner's friend at the court-martial. He handed me a copy of a long communication addressed to our old Colonel—Lord Burnham—at that time owner of the Daily Telegraph—and also to his uncle, Field-Marshal Lord Grenfell. I read the letter carefully, but, despite Grenfell's assurance, found there was scarcely a line in it that was not, in my opinion, actionable. At the court-martial I did my best in his defence, making an earnest plea on his behalf. Grenfell was reprimanded and sent home, while I was appointed to command the regiment. Much later he congratulated me on my acquittal at the Old Bailey, when I told him I had then 'the great advantage of a first-class lawyer to defend me. About this time Brigadier-General Pitt also left for home. General Godwin, a fine cavalry soldier, succeeded him. Beersheba fell, and the whole Turkish line was withdrawn.

LIFE S A GAMBLE

pp114-115

by FH Cripps

I feel it is telling that he mention Brigadier Pitt left for home ane was replaced by "A FINE CAVALRY SOLDIER"

Andrew French

[michaeldr]

Andrew,

Many thanks for posting the above

[and for the personal notification, for which I am obliged]

I am still looking around this subject

But my first reaction is that perhaps we now know from where Battine heard of the letter

quote Allenby's PS - "I wonder how you saw Grenfell's letter. It was stopped by me, as containing information which might be of use to the enemy - re Beersheba -. Now, on the 25th Oct. it is shewn (sic) in London; six days before my attack. If the W.O. have published it, they are culpable. If Grenfell is shewing (sic) it, he is repeating the offence for which he was rightly punished."

It seems from your post above that while one copy of the letter was apprehended and fell into the GOC's hands,

there was another copy sent by Grenfell to "his uncle, Field-Marshal Lord Grenfell"

Was the FM, in Allenby's word, 'culpable'?

regards

Michael

[AndrewFrench]

Andrew,

Many thanks for posting the above

[and for the personal notification, for which I am obliged]

I am still looking around this subject

But my first reaction is that perhaps we now know from where Battine heard of the letter

quote Allenby's PS - "I wonder how you saw Grenfell's letter. It was stopped by me, as containing information which might be of use to the enemy - re Beersheba -. Now, on the 25th Oct. it is shewn (sic) in London; six days before my attack. If the W.O. have published it, they are culpable. If Grenfell is shewing (sic) it, he is repeating the offence for which he was rightly punished."

It seems from your post above that while one copy of the letter was apprehended and fell into the GOC's hands,

there was another copy sent by Grenfell to "his uncle, Field-Marshal Lord Grenfell"

Was the FM, in Allenby's word, 'culpable'?

regards

Michael

Hi Michael

I think you're quite right regarding FM Grenfell.

here is another eye witness of the events which precipitated events by Lt Cyrus Perkins of the Royal Bucks Hussars

" CO was Lieut. Colonel John Grenfell when he arrived [from 3rd line at Tidworth]. Very impressed with Grenfell's cool handling of his men. It was practice to cool horses down after a recce by regimental drill at trot or gallop. On one occasion Perkins' was last troop into line and Grenfell placed him under arrest for not being quick enough to reach others. However when he got back that night Grenfell simply dismissed him with some kind words and apologised.

September 1917 the replacement took place of Grenfell by Cripps as commanding officer, for breech of the censorship regulations. The Royal Bucks Hussars were in [brigade] H.Q. reserve under Brigadier Pitt, and having been sent on a recce having been assured the Turks were nowhere near, Grenfell off saddled and placed his horses in picquet line when suddenly shells landed amongst them. The cable wagon of the Signal troop was hit among others, and Pitt and his staff simply disappeared, leaving Grenfell calmly walking up and down the line with his fly whisk asking if the men were O.K. etc. And while officers sorted out the horses and so on. He then managed to extricate his men troop by troop. It was this behaviour by Pitt that Grenfell complained to in a letter to Lord Burnham (proprietor of the Daily Telegraph), and Field Marshall Lord Grenfell. This was the letter that was opened and Grenfell court-martialled for breech of censorship regulations."

[Grenfell was reprimanded and sent home, but so about this time was Pitt.]

The action Perkins described was one of the regular fortnightly 'stunts,' when the entire Division in the line, covered a reconnaissance of Beersheba by a 'galaxy of brass hats,' from the Corps Commander downwards. The Turkish communiqués invariably reported these as attacks, but the Desert Mounted Corps knew them as "Royal Tours." On this occasion the royalty was General Chauval and the officers of XX Corps on or about 23rd or 24th August 1917.

regards

Andrew

[AndrewFrench]

Hi Michael

I think you're quite right regarding FM Grenfell.

here is another eye witness of the events which precipitated events by Lt Cyrus Perkins of the Royal Bucks Hussars

" CO was Lieut. Colonel John Grenfell when he arrived [from 3rd line at Tidworth]. Very impressed with Grenfell's cool handling of his men. It was practice to cool horses down after a recce by regimental drill at trot or gallop. On one occasion Perkins' was last troop into line and Grenfell placed him under arrest for not being quick enough to reach others. However when he got back that night Grenfell simply dismissed him with some kind words and apologised.

September 1917 the replacement took place of Grenfell by Cripps as commanding officer, for breech of the censorship regulations. The Royal Bucks Hussars were in [brigade] H.Q. reserve under Brigadier Pitt, and having been sent on a recce having been assured the Turks were nowhere near, Grenfell off saddled and placed his horses in picquet line when suddenly shells landed amongst them. The cable wagon of the Signal troop was hit among others, and Pitt and his staff simply disappeared, leaving Grenfell calmly walking up and down the line with his fly whisk asking if the men were O.K. etc. And while officers sorted out the horses and so on. He then managed to extricate his men troop by troop. It was this behaviour by Pitt that Grenfell complained to in a letter to Lord Burnham (proprietor of the Daily Telegraph), and Field Marshall Lord Grenfell. This was the letter that was opened and Grenfell court-martialled for breech of censorship regulations."

[Grenfell was reprimanded and sent home, but so about this time was Pitt.]

The action Perkins described was one of the regular fortnightly 'stunts,' when the entire Division in the line, covered a reconnaissance of Beersheba by a 'galaxy of brass hats,' from the Corps Commander downwards. The Turkish communiqués invariably reported these as attacks, but the Desert Mounted Corps knew them as "Royal Tours." On this occasion the royalty was General Chauval and the officers of XX Corps on or about 23rd or 24th August 1917.

regards

Andrew

Attached image is of MAjor JP Grenfell RBH taken circa 1913

[Martin Bennitt]

I came across this topic while searching for things "6th Mounted Brigade" and Am glad to be able to add the following for the autobrigrahpy of FH Cripp DSO. Fed Cripp suceeded to command the Royal Buck Hussars after John Grenfell. He wrote

Grenfell was reprimanded and sent home, while I was appointed to command the regiment. Much later he congratulated me on my acquittal at the Old Bailey, when I told him I had then 'the great advantage of a first-class lawyer to defend me.

Andrew French

Just wondering why Cripp subsequently ended up in the Old Bailey

cheers Martin B

[michaeldr]

Andrew

Many thanks for those further details & for the photograph

There's not much in the histories which I have, except to say that

at this time numerous reconnaissances were carried out by Allenby, Chetwode & Chauvel

invariably covered by large bodies of mounted troops

As you point out these were reported by the Turks as 'attacks'

one such even making its way into Ludendorrf's memoirs

I cannot find any further refs to Pitt

except that 'The Advance of the EEF...etc...' has him as

Col. (temp Brig-Gen) T. M. S. Pitt, 2nd County of London Yeomanry

[they have mistakenly given his date of relinquishment as July 1918

not Aug(?) 1917]

re your 'General Godwin, a fine cavalry soldier, succeeded him'

his successor is given as Bt. Lieut-Col. (temp Brig-Gen) C. A. C. Godwin, DSO., 23rd Cavalry, I.A

in the summer (July?) of 1918 he swapped posts with Howard-Vyse to become BGGS, Dessert Mounted Corps

Like Martin, I wonder why Lieut-Col the Hon. F. H. Cripps ended up in the Old Bailey?

Best regards

Michael

[AndrewFrench]

Andrew

Many thanks for those further details & for the photograph

There's not much in the histories which I have, except to say that

at this time numerous reconnaissances were carried out by Allenby, Chetwode & Chauvel

invariably covered by large bodies of mounted troops

As you point out these were reported by the Turks as 'attacks'

one such even making its way into Ludendorrf's memoirs

I cannot find any further refs to Pitt

except that 'The Advance of the EEF...etc...' has him as

Col. (temp Brig-Gen) T. M. S. Pitt, 2nd County of London Yeomanry

[they have mistakenly given his date of relinquishment as July 1918

not Aug(?) 1917]

re your 'General Godwin, a fine cavalry soldier, succeeded him'

his successor is given as Bt. Lieut-Col. (temp Brig-Gen) C. A. C. Godwin, DSO., 23rd Cavalry, I.A

in the summer (July?) of 1918 he swapped posts with Howard-Vyse to become BGGS, Dessert Mounted Corps

Like Martin, I wonder why Lieut-Col the Hon. F. H. Cripps ended up in the Old Bailey?

Best regards

Michael

Hi Both

It was an alleged banking fraud of which Cripps was found not guilty. This the estracr from his autobiography

"Throughout the case Sir Travers [Cripps' Barrister] never swerved in his belief that I was innocent of complicity in the fraud charged against me. I have received permission to quote from Sir Travers's volume of Recollections and Reflections, published in 1947 by Hodder & Stoughton.

He wrote:

"The case was one in which Robert Boulton, Mr. Moncrieff and my client were charged with the fraudulent conversion of stocks and shares to the value of more than £250,000 entrusted by the Alliance Bank of Simla to Boulton's Bank, their agents in London, of which bank Mr. Robert Boulton was the senior partner and virtual proprietor. My client and Mr. Moncrieff were the other partners. Robert Boulton had been a director and, for three years, chairman of the Alliance Bank of Simla.

"The case against Boulton was one of considerable complexity, involving points of banking and partnership law. The defence of Moncrieff and of my client was that they had nothing to do with the transactions complained of, and it was proved that when Moncrieff, who had been in India or on holiday at the material times, learned of the use by Boultons of the stocks and shares in question, he had at once protested. As to my client, I was assured that every witness for the prosecution would agree that he looked after the Russian side of Boulton's business, having been in Russia as representative of the Bank for some time before the war, and did not meddle with the Indian business at all.

"The truth was that my client was the.son of a peer and had been taken into partnership by Boulton on the strength of his name and his record in the war—he was a Colonel, and awarded the D.S.O. and bar—who could be trusted to look after the not very extensive Russian business and to make himself generally affable and as useful as he could. It was in that capacity, as the witnesses for the prosecution agreed, that he had signed, in the temporary absence of his senior partners and without consulting them, some of the documents of the case. That was the whole case against him.

"Civilly he may well have been responsible as a partner, but to include him in a charge of criminal conspiracy upon such evidence was cruel. ... At Guildhall, where the preliminary hearings took place, Curtis-Bennett led for the prosecution and won the first round, inducing the Alderman, recently appointed, to commit the three defendants for trial in spite of my submission that there was not a rag of evidence against my client. At the C.C.C., as soon as it was known that Swift J. was the Judge who would try the case, my worries ceased. I confess that up to that time I had been very troubled at the possibility of a miscarriage of justice. All I asked for or desired on behalf of my client was a strong Judge, and Rigby Swift was essentially a strong Judge, as well as a thoroughly sound lawyer."

And so I made my first—and I sincerely hope—my last appearance in the dock of Court No. i at the Old Bailey. When I surrendered to my bail, I was told curtly by one of the warders to go below. He gave me a push to assist my more rapid descent of the stairs. Then he said: "Turn out your pockets". "Ah, I thought so," he said, sourly, when I produced a phial of aspirin, snatching it away from me.

Back up the steps brought me into the spacious dock where I sat with my fellow-prisoners. Directly I saw the faces of the jury I told my solicitor that I objected to them all. They looked a very unintelligent lot, and I thought that if I, with my average intelligence, found it difficult to follow the convolutions of the case against us,"

I will post the mnext page when I have transcribed it

regards

Andrew

[squirrel]

Excellent post chaps -superb info.