Military Leaders From The United Kingdom

"Crucifixions, human sacrifices, and every horror the eye could get accustomed to, to a large extent, but the smells no white man's internal economy could stand...Blood was everywhere; smeared over bronzes, ivory, and even the walls."

"Every person who was able...indulged in a human sacrifice, and those who could not, sacrificed some animal and left the remains in front of his house. After a day or so the whole town seemed one huge pest-house."

"Altars covered with streams of dried human blood, the stench of which was awful...huge pits forty to fifty feet deep were found filled with human bodies dead and dying, and a few wretched captives were rescued alive...everywhere sacrificial trees on which were the corpses of the latest victims...everywhere, on each path, were newly sacrificed corpses. On the principal sacrificial tree facing the main gate of the king’s compound there were two crucified bodies and forty-three more in various stages of decomposition. On another tree a wretched woman was found crucified, while at its foot were four more decapitated bodies. To the westward of the king’s house was a large open space, about three hundred yards in length, simply covered with the remains of some hundreds of human sacrifices in all stages of decomposition. The same sights were met with all over the city."

"The size of a deterrent force must be related to the value to an enemy of the prize being protected. For example, suppose - I repeat, suppose - Russian leaders were prepared to sacrifice half their country in exchange for the removal of the USA from the competitive scene. Then, for the American deterrent to be usable, it would have to be demonstrably capable of destroying far more than half Russia in retaliation. But Russia would not be prepared to accept anything like the same damage in exchange for the removal of the United Kingdom. Therefore, a much smaller retaliatory force can give as much or greater security than the USA achieve with their vast nuclear capability."

"All this is going on under a rush mat shelter with a table where I write at 11.00 on Sunday morning with lots of cicadas grinding away and Joan's voice up above calling to her cats — two different sets of kittens, with their clans, who are not allowed to meet, so the house is sundered by a sort of cats' Berlin Wall, dividing the house into two mews flats, as Johnny C[raxton] (or I) might say."

"Many thanks for both letters, which arrived two days running, a tremendous treat for Kalamata, a town nobody writes to. I think people are subconsciously repelled by the letter K. It's the reverse of the letter X, which always goes to people's heads. Perhaps if sex were spelt seks or segs there wouldn't be half so much fuss about it: nothing very glamorous about segs kittens or seksual intercourse but write `sex killer slays six' and you're in business . . ."

"It was a time of anxiety and danger; and for our captive, of hardship and distress. During a lull in the pursuit, we woke up among the rocks just as a brilliant dawn was breaking over the crest of Mount Ida. We had been toiling over it, through snow and then rain, for the last two days. Looking across the valley at this flashing mountain-crest, the general [Kriepe] murmured to himself:Vides ut alta stet nive candidum, Soracte..."

"Germany! . . . I could hardly believe I was there. For someone born in the second year of World War I, those three syllables were heavily charged. Even as I trudged across it, early subconscious notions, when one first confused Germans with germs and knew that both were bad, still sent up fumes; fumes, moreover, which the ensuing years had expanded into clouds as dark and baleful as the Ruhr smoke along the horizon and still potent enough to unloose over the landscape a mood of - what? Something too evasive to be captured and broken down in a hurry."

"[the sale of his two trunks from the Harrods Depository] 'still aches sometimes, like an old wound in wet weather'"

"Oh, I did enjoy myself at Kardamyli. Of course that big room, as I've written to Paddy, is one of the rooms of the world."

"and so on, through the remaining five stanzas to the end. The general's blue eyes had swivelled away from the mountain-top to mine — and when I'd finished, after a long silence, he said: `Ach so, Herr Major!' It was very strange. As though, for a long moment, the war had ceased to exist. We had both drunk at the same fountains long before; and things were different between us for the rest of our time together."

"Meanwhile, the kittens - downholsterers and interior desecrators to a kitten - demolish all."

"Here's a riddle to change the subject: what English catch-phrase, indicating someone is better than he seems, would also apply to a yacht owner whose vessel is even more dangerous than the inlet in which she is anchored? - His barque is worse than his bight."

"I say, what gloomy tidings about the CRABS! Could it be me? I'll tell you why this odd doubt exists, instead of robust certainty one way or the other: just after arriving back in London from Athens, I was suddenly alerted by what felt like the beginnings of troop-movements in the fork, but on scrutiny, expecting an aerial view of general mobilisation, there was nothing to be seen, not even a scout, a spy, or a despatch rider. Puzzled, I watched and waited and soon even the preliminary tramplings died away, so I assumed, as the happy summer days of peace followed each other, that the incident, or the delusive shudder through the chancelleries, was over. While this faint scare was on, knowing that, thanks to lunar tyranny, it couldn't be from you, I assumed (and please spare my blushes here!) that the handover bid must have occurred by dint of a meeting with an old pal in Paris, which, I'm sorry to announce, ended in brief carnal knowledge, more for auld lang syne than any more pressing reason. On getting your letter, I made a dash for privacy and thrashed through the undergrowth, but found everything almost eerily calm: fragrant and silent glades that might never have known the invaders' tread. The whole thing makes me scratch my head, if I may so put it. But I bet your trouble does come from me, because the crabs of the world seem to fly to me, like the children of Israel to Abraham's bosom, a sort of ambulant Canaan. I've been a real martyr to them. What must have happened is this. A tiny, picked, cunning and well-camouflaged commando must have landed while I was in Paris and then lain up, seeing me merely as a stepping stone or a springboard to better things, and, when you came within striking distance, knowing the highest when they saw it, they struck (as who wouldn't?) and then deployed in force, leaving their first beachhead empty. Or so I think! (Security will be tightened up. They may have left an agent with a radio who is playing a waiting game . . . )........."

"In Greece just after the Second World War, Patrick Leigh Fermor was on a lecture tour for the British Council. The lecture was supposed to be on British culture, but he had been persuaded to talk about his wartime exploits on Crete. Leigh Fermor took sips from a large glass as he spoke and when it was nearly finished, he topped it up from a carafe of water. The liquid turned instantly cloudy: he had added water to a nearly empty tumbler of neat ouzo. A roar of appreciation went up from the audience at this impromptu display of leventeia. A quality prized in Greece, leventeia indicates high spirits, humour, quickness of mind and action, charm, generosity, the love of living dangerously and a readiness for anything. Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor had leventeia in spades."

"A propos of Dr Oblivion, did I ever send you my first hint of untimely forgetfulness? One is at sea, and at the same instant that one forgets something, a German submarine with a skull-and-crossbones flag surfaces, and fires a shot across one's bows. Then the lid of the conning-tower opens and the top of an admiral, with monocle and fencing scars, sticks out smiling, salutes and says, `Gut morning! That is just a sighting shot. I am Admiral von Alzheimer. Ve vill meet again!', salutes, and sinks ..."

"It was one of the ones I knew! I continued from where he had broken off:nec jam sustineant onus, Silvae laborantes, geluque, Flumina constiterint acuto"

"THE INTERNATIONAL PRIMATE PROTECTION LEAGUE. This came, usual thing asking for money. Poor Archbishops, I thought, feeling the pinch. But it turned out to be monkeys."

"When our President first telephoned to Greece and suggested that I should have the great honour of saying a ‘few words’ on this important anniversary, I was rather alarmed; and, for several nights afterwards, between sleeping and waking, I had some nightmarish visions, curiously entangled with the adjuncts and impedimenta of SOE. I saw myself sneaking into a Special Forces Club whose appearance and atmosphere had subtly but completely changed from the snug and welcoming haven we all know: it was entirely different, too from the Royal and Ducal precincts where we are feasting tonight. The place had become a daunting and shadowy Valhalla, a club only fit for primordial heroes to drink in, and it was guarded by ogreish janitors. I sneaked in with trepidation, almost forgetting the password as I did so, leaving my coat in a grim cloak-and-dagger room and, at last, with misgiving found my place at a very unusual dining table with a commando-knife on one side of my place, a gelignite plunger on the other and a stick of plastic instead of a roll. The menu was written on a one-time pad in disappearing ink and just as well perhaps; because, between dagger and plunger lay an unappetising Teller mine with limpets and clams to follow….. The cocktails were all Molotoff; the wine glasses were abrim with hair-dye and knock-out drops; and instead of polished wood or peerless napiery, the dolefully groaning board was partly laid with old and tattered parachute material and partly with the blown-up maps of enemy-occupied territory that used to be sewn into the pre-infiltration outfits of agents about to be dropped in the dark……But worse was to come. An intimidating assembly of nightmare veterans were gathered and, as they subsided into their chairs round the eerie banquet, all the cutlery, sinister enough already, started to shift and gravitate in a hair-raising, concerted and centrifugal movement: there was a clinking and clattering. What on earth was going on? Suddenly revelation descended: everything metallic on the table had come simultaneously under siege from the scores of escapecompasses transformed into magnetic trouser-buttons as the guests sat down…….And it is only now, gazing round at fellow-members and seeing that they are not nightmare veterans at all, but friendly contemporaries, a few of them a bit older and a great many very much young than I, that these early misgivings are exorcized. There was nothing to be alarmed about at all."

"I constantly find myself saying `I must write — or tell — that to Joan', then suddenly remember that one can't, and nothing seems to have any point."

"There exists a real danger that our friend Rommel is becoming a kind of magician or bogey-man to our troops, who are talking far too much about him. He is by no means a superman, although he is undoubtedly very energetic and able. Even if he were a superman it would still be highly undesirable that our men should credit him with supernatural powers. I wish you to dispel by all possible means the idea that Rommel represents something more than an ordinary German general. The important thing now is to see that we do not always talk of Rommel when we mean the enemy in Libya. We must refer to ‘the Germans’ or ‘the Axis powers’ or ‘the enemy’ and not always keep harping on Rommel. Please ensure that this order is put into immediate effect, and impress upon all Commanders that, from a psychological point of view, it is a matter of the highest importance."

"Be pleased to inform their Lordships that the Italian Battle Fleet now lies at anchor under the guns of the fortress at Malta."

"You cannot conduct military operations in modern warfare without airfields which will allow you to at least establish temporary air supremacy."

"We are so outnumbered there’s only one thing to do. We must attack."

"Lord Dawson of Penn Has killed lots of men. So that's why we sing God save the King."

"Now, gentlemen, let us do something today which the world may talk of hereafter."

"Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife, Throughout the sensual world proclaim, One crouded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name."

"You're a good chap, Barker," said the magistrate. "No, I won't do it again. Who's the fellow who talks of 'one crowded hour of glorious life'? By George! it's too fascinating. I had the time of my life! Talk of fox-hunting! No, I'll never touch it again, for it might get a grip of me."

"In the course of a long residence in India, I have had numerous occasions of contemplating the Hindoo character; have mixed much in their society; have been present at their festivals; have endeavoured to conciliate their affections and, I believe, not without effect: and I must do them the justice to declare, that I have never met with a people, exhibiting more suavity of manners, or more mildness of character; or a happier race of beings, when left to the undisturbed performance of the rites of their religion. And it may be truly said, that if Arcadian happiness ever had existence, it must have been rivalled in Hindostan. In order to shield this eulogim from the possible imputation of partiality, I shall interpose the decision of Abulfazel, whose situation and pursuits furnished him with more ample means of appreciating the Hindoo character. Summarily, says he,"the Hindoos are religious, affable, courteous to strangers, cheerful, enamoured of knowledge, fond of inflicting austerities upon themselves; lovers of justice; given to retirement; able in business; grateful, admirers of truth;and of unbounded fidelity in all their dealings. Their character shines brightest in adversity:-they have great respect for their tutors:-they make no account of their lives, when they can devote them to the service of God." Cease, then, worthy Missionaries, to disturb that repose that forms the happiness of so many millions of the human race; a procedure that can only tend to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law...>>"

"Whenever I look around me, in the vast region of Hindoo Mythology, I discover piety in the garb of allegory: and I see Morality, at every turn, blended with every tale; and, as far as I can rely on my own judgment, it appears the most complete and ample system of Moral Allegory that the world has ever produced.""

"King on the other hand is a shrewd and somewhat swollen headed individual. His vision is mainly limited to the Pacific, and any operation calculated to distract from the force available in the Pacific does not meet with his support or approval. He does not approach the problems from a worldwide war point of view, but instead with one biased entirely in favour of the Pacific. Although he pays lip service to the fundamental policy that we must defeat Germany and then turn on Japan, he fails to apply it in any problems connected with the war."

"The quality of British strategic decision-making was also vital. As is his due, Churchill is still remembered on both sides of the Atlantic as the saviour of his nation and the architect of the Allied victory. But if Churchill had enjoyed the same untrammelled power as Hitler, he might well have lost the war, so erratic were his strategic judgements. It was the limitation of Churchill's power that was Britain's greatest strength - the fact that the other members of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee, notably Brooke, were able not merely to disagree with 'the old man', but frequently to dissuade him."

"Britain waged war by committee. No individual's will was supreme. The armed services were forced to hammer out their differences and subscribe to a coherent strategy. The result was no doubt sometimes ponderous, but the chances of a catastrophic error were thereby much reduced. The same could also be said of the unwieldy but nevertheless vital Anglo- American Combined Chiefs of Staff meetings. Indeed, it may be that it was Brooke's caution and tenacity in argument that restrained the Americans from a premature attempt to open a Second Front in Western Europe, in the face of intense pressure from Stalin as well as from sections of the British public. Hitler, by contrast, could and did sack any commander whose obedience he so much as doubted. There was nothing to prevent him from issuing counter-productive orders that merely wasted German lives - nothing to prevent him descending eventually into the realm of fantasy, moving non-existent divisions into what were in any case untenable positions."

"Sir,—I have to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of your letter of this date, addressed to Captain Sayer, giving an account of the capture of five, and destruction of one, of the enemy's gun-boats, off the mouth of Indramayo river, in the boats of H.M. sloop Procris, under your command.I cannot too highly applaud the meritorious conduct of yourself, the officers, petty officers, seamen, and soldiers, employed in this gallant attack; and I beg you will express to them the sense I entertain of their zeal and meritorious conduct, so well displayed on this occasion. I shall have great pleasure in laying the same before the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, by the earliest opportunity; and I request you will accept my best thanks for the skill and ability you have so fully evinced, in leading your boats to the attack in person. I am, &c."

"H.M. sloop Procris, off the mouth of Indramayo river, July 31, 1811.Sir,—I have the honor to inform you, that, in obedience to your orders, I proceeded in shore, and, at day-light this morning, discovered six gun-boats, with a convoy of forty or fifty proas, close in with the mouth of Indramayo river, upon which we immediately weighed, and ran into a quarter-less-three fathoms water, and were then scarcely within gun-shot of the enemy: finding our fire made very little impression on them, and conceiving the destruction of this force to be an object of considerable importance, I proceeded to the attack of them with the boats of H.M. sloop under my command, together with two flat boats, an officer, and 20 men of H.M. 14th regiment, and an officer and the same number of men from H.M. 89th regiment, and succeeded in boarding and carrying five of them successively, under a heavy fire of grape and musketry, their crews jumping overboard, after having thrown their spears into the boats; the sixth blew up before we got alongside of her. The whole of the convoy, on their first seeing us, hauled through the mud up the river, or they must also have fallen into our hands. The gun-boats carry each of them one brass 32-pounder carronade forward, and one 18-pounder aft, with (as appears by the papers found on board) upwards of 60 men each; they are excellent vessels, and, in my opinion, might be found of considerable service to the expedition.In performing this service, I am happy to observe, that our loss has been comparatively small, when it is considered that the boats, during the whole time of their advancing, were exposed, in the open day, to the fire of 12 guns of the calibre I have mentioned, and a constant fire of musketry; the gun-boat which blew up being of equal force with the rest.I cannot conclude without performing the pleasing duty of noticing the very steady and determined bravery of every officer and man employed on this service. From Mr. George Majoribanks, my first lieutenant, I received that able support I had reason to expect, from his general good conduct whilst under my command; and I cannot too strongly mark the high sense I entertain of the gallantry of Lieutenants H. J. Heyland and Oliver Brush, of H.M. 14th and 89th regiments; their keeping up a steady well-directed fire of musketry from the men under their respective commands, must have proved considerably destructive to the enemy. I have also to express the satisfaction I felt in the steady behaviour of Messrs. George Cunningham, William Randall, and Charles Davies, masters-mates, super-numeraries on board the Procris, for a passage to join the commander-in-chief, and the other petty officers, non-commissioned officers, seamen, and soldiers; in short the conduct of the whole was such as to make me feel confident, that had the force opposed been considerably greater, it would have met the same fate. Enclosed I transmit a list of the wounded on this occasion. I have the honor to be, &c."

"But in all these matters I want to remain behind the screen and this move should come from you. You are aware, how anxious I am for the good of the Musalmans, and I would, therefore, render all help with the greatest pleasure. I can prepare and draft the address for you. If it be prepared in Bombay then I can revise it because I know the art of drawing up petitions in good language. But Nawabsaheb, please remember that if within a short time any great and effective action has to be taken, then you should act quickly."

"Even a man's faults may reflect his virtues."

""Tact" is insulting a man without his knowing it."

"I thought it would be a good thing to be a missionary, but I thought it would be better to be First Sea Lord."

"We left our element, the sea, to make ourselves into a conscript nation fighting on the Continent with four million soldiers out of a population of forty millions."

"...Jellicoe had all the Nelsonic attributes except one - he is totally wanting in the great gift of Insubordination. Nelson's greatest achievements were all solely due to his disobeying orders!..... Any fool can obey orders! But it required a Nelson to disobey Sir John Jervis at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, to disregard the order to retire at Copenhagen, to go into the Battle of the Nile by night with no charts against orders, and, to crown all, to enter into the Battle of Trafalgar in a battle formation contrary to all the Sea orders of the time! BLESS HIM! Alas! Jellicoe is saturated with Discipline!"

"We are an Island. Every soldier that wants to go anywhere out of England - a sailor has got to carry him there on his back."

"Hit first! Hit hard! Keep on hitting!! (The 3 H's)"

"If any subordinate opposes me, I will make his wife a widow, his children fatherless and his home a dunghill."

"O.M.G. - Oh! My God!"

"Length of course depends on the stupidity of the class..."

"thumb|O.M.G. (Oh! My God) - Letter to Winston Churchill|Churchill, 9 Sept 1917We want brave men! ANY BLOODY FOOL CAN OBEY ORDERS!"

"Can the Army win the war before the Navy loses it?"

"D-mn the Dardanelles! they'll be our grave!"

"I went the whole hog, totus porcus."