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A great soldier who was not a great enough man

By Brian Holden - posted Thursday, 21 April 2011


Anzac Day can be a time for reflection on the human condition which goes beyond the usual rhetoric of politicians and clergy. What was in his footloose background which drove John Simpson to be so courageous at Gallipoli? How did a Jew, John Monash, rise to the top of the First AIF?

There are millions of lifelines associated with the Great War - most of them fascinating in their own way. But, there was one man in the millions who could have made a decision on one particular day of the war which would have made him the most valuable person who has ever lived.

The story begins on January 22, 1879

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A British force of about 1400 was encamped in an exposed area below Isandlwana Hill in Natal. The soldiers of the queen wore red jackets and white pith helmets. About 12,000 (some say 20,000) Zulu warriors attacked them. The attackers rhythmically rattled their short iron spears against their cowhide shields. It sounded like an oncoming train. The low murmuring of their war chants sounded like a swarm of bees. On foot over level ground they could charge at a speed of a fifth of a mile a minute.

The British felt fear in their bowels - bowels that might be exposed to the sunlight if the victorious Zulu did not want his victim's vengeful spirit to haunt him. A redcoat had good reason to panic and run - except that in his sweaty hands was a Martini-Henry MKII breach-loading rifle which, at a rate of 12 per minute, could fire projectiles which could put a big hole in a cowhide shield and in the man behind it.

But "the Henry" was not enough. The near-annihilation of the British force at the hands of "savages" shocked, not only the British people, but all of Europe. Nevertheless, it become one of the most romanticised battle in British history. It was the British equivalent of Custer's Last Stand. What career soldier in the British army would not have given his right arm to be able to say: " I was at Isandlwana".

As the trap was about to be snapped shut, there was a careerist in the few who escaped. He was subaltern Horace Smith-Dorrien - and he escaped with all body parts intact.

The path to glory

In the sunset years of Queen Victoria's reign, the masters at Harrow and Eton were able to enthuse their boys with stories of the exploits of British arms. Notable was the campaign led by the charismatic Lord Kitchener in the Sudan and the fighting with the cruel Afghan at the Khyber Pass. Careerist Smith-Dorrien was in the thick of both of them. These engagements of men below a fluttering Union Jack and holding the line against hoards of primitive heathens provided enough material to generate several imaginative movies in the following century.

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Then came the Boer War of 1899-1901. It was the empire versus farmers of Dutch extraction who simply wanted their independence. Smith-Dorrien was in the thick of that one too. He emerged with a rank only one below that of field marshal. Then came the Great War in which the highest ranking officers were in command of hundreds of thousands of men.

Few Australians today have heard of Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien. But, his illustrious military career has a dimension to it which is profound when one looks into the details. On December 26, 1914, fate dropped an opportunity into is lap for him to become the most valuable person who has ever lived.

The time we needed a truly great man

Was all the madness which unfolded in the First World War directly due to two shots fired by an undernourished nobody in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914? Not really. Nothing could have stopped Europe plunging into war in 1914 as the political situation was so complex, nobody was in a position to see any big picture. In retrospect, a very long list of "what ifs" could be drawn up.

But once the fighting began, there was one window of opportunity to initiate a general and permanent cease-fire. It has been so well publicised that many reading this article would know what that missed opportunity was. It occurred on Christmas Eve 1914 when British soldiers heard the enemy singing Silent Night. The outcome was that on Christmas Day, Britains and Germans dropped their weapons and exchanged gifts. About 100,000 men along the front line were involved in the fraternising.

There has never been more stark an example of the way ordinary people are moved around like pawns on a chessboard by the powerful. On that day the men on both sides would have wondered why they were there and not back with their families. They would have wondered why governments attempt to settle their international disputes by each pitting their young men up against the other.

Neither side wanted to recommence the fighting the next day. Tragically, when the commander of the British sector heard the news of the unofficial cease-fire, he ordered the killing to recommence immediately. It was Smith-Dorrien who gave the order. For the duration of the four years of horrific carnage, there would never again be such an opportunity to bring the conflict to a swift end.

What if?

What if Smith-Dorrien supported a sector cease-fire that the many thousands of men under his command desperately desired? There were humane journalists attached to the troops. With them on his side, events may have moved too rapidly before his inevitable sacking, to prevent a permanent cease-fire spreading throughout the ranks of the British, French and German armies.

There would not have been a Second World War if the First World War had not left defeated Germany in such social and economic plight that the conditions were just right for an egomaniac to grab power. There would not have been a Cold War without a Second World War which, in only five years, galvanised the USSR and converted it from a part-feudal and part-struggling industrial nation into a mighty military power.

So, how close was Smith-Dorrien to preventing;

  • the Cold War which threatened the existence every human on the planet, and

  • the Second World War which killed 50 million, and

  • saving the 20 million yet to be killed in the war he was fighting?

How close was he to making a decision which would have made him the most valuable person who has ever lived? From his record, it appears that he was not close at all. On December 26, 1914, humanity needed a much bigger man than Horace Smith-Dorrien.

But, in his defense, humanity always seems to need a bigger person than the one making the decisions.

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About the Author

Brian Holden has been retired since 1988. He advises that if you can keep physically and mentally active, retirement can be the best time of your life.

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