Field MarshalField Marshal is a military officer rank. Today, it is the highest rank in the armies in which it is used, one step above a general or colonel-general.-Usage and hierarchical position:...
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener,
KGThe Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry, or knighthood, originating in medieval England, and presently bestowed on recipients in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms; it is the pinnacle of the honours system in the United Kingdom...
,
KP,
GCBThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the medieval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
,
OMThe Order of Merit
is an order recognizing distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture...
,
GCSIThe Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:# Knight Grand Commander # Knight Commander # Companion...
,
GCMGThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent whilst he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III. It is named in honour of two military saints, St. Michael and St...
,
GCIEThe Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...
,
ADCAn aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
,
PCHer Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. Its members are largely senior politicians, who were or are members of either the House of Commons or House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.The Privy Council, the...
(24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a
British Field Marshal, a
diplomatA diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organisation. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, and a
statesmanA statesman or stateswoman or statesperson is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...
.
Early life
Kitchener was born in Ballylongford near
Listowel,
County KerryCounty Kerry is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Munster. Kerry is the fifth largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 14th largest in terms of population...
in
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
, son of Lt. Col. Henry Horatio Kitchener (1805 – 1894) and Frances Anne Chevallier-Cole (d. 1864; daughter of Rev John Chevallier and his third wife, Elizabeth,
née Cole). The family were English, not
Anglo-IrishAnglo-Irish was a term used historically to describe a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until 1871, or to a lesser...
: his father had only recently bought land in Ireland. The year his mother died of
tuberculosisTuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria...
, they had moved to
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
in an effort to improve her condition; the young Kitchener was educated there and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Pro-French and eager to see action, he joined a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
field ambulance unit in the
Franco-Prussian WarThe Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between France and Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria...
; his father took him back to England after he caught pneumonia after ascending in a balloon to see the French Army of the Loire in action. He was commissioned into the
Royal EngineersThe Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. It provides combat engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces...
on 4 January 1871. His service in France had violated British neutrality, and he was reprimanded by the
Duke of CambridgePrince George, Duke of Cambridge was a member of the British Royal Family, a male-line grandson of King George III. The Duke was an army officer and served as commander-in-chief of the British Army from 1856 to 1895...
, the commander-in-chief. He served in
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
,
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
, and
CyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon....
as a surveyor, learned
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
, and prepared detailed topographical maps of the areas.
Survey of Western Palestine
In 1874, at age 24, Kitchener was assigned by the
Palestine Exploration FundThe Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society, it is often simply known as the PEF. Founded to carry out surveys of the topography and ethnography of Palestine. The fund was launched with the assets of £300 with a remit that fell somewhere between an expeditionary survey and military...
to a mapping-survey of the
Holy LandThe Holy Land , generally refers to the geographical region of the Levant called Land of Canaan or Land of Israel in the Bible, and constitutes the Promised land...
, replacing Charles Tyrwhitt-Drake, who had died of malaria. Kitchener, then an officer in the
Royal EngineersThe Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. It provides combat engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces...
, joined fellow Royal Engineer Claude R. Conder and between 1874 and 1877, they surveyed what is today
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
, the
West BankThe West Bank is a landlocked territory and is the eastern part of the Palestinian territories; on the west bank of the River Jordan in the Middle East. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel, which maintains the security of this area. To the east,...
and
GazaGaza is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 410,000, making it the largest city under the control of the Palestinian National Authority....
, returning to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
only briefly in 1875 after an attack by locals in the
GalileeGalilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country...
, at
SafedSafed is a city in the Northern District of Israel. At an elevation of 800 meters above sea level, Safed is the highest city in the Galilee. Since the sixteenth century, Safad has been considered one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Hebron and Tiberias...
.
Conder and Kitchener’s expedition became known as the Survey of Western Palestine because it was largely confined to the area west of the
Jordan RiverThe Jordan River or River Jordan is a river in Southwest Asia which flows into the Dead Sea. It is considered to be one of the world's most sacred rivers...
(Hodson 1997). The survey collected data on the topography and toponymy of the area, as well as local flora and fauna. The results of the survey were published in an eight volume series, with Kitchener’s contribution in the first three tomes (Conder and Kitchener 1881-1885).
This survey has had a lasting effect on the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
for several reasons:
- The ordnance survey serves as the basis for the grid system used in the modern maps of Israel
Israel officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
and PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
.
- The collection of data compiled by Conder and Kitchener are still consulted by archaeologists and geographers working in the southern Levant
The Levant describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains, on the south by...
.
- The survey itself effectively delineated and defined the political borders of the southern Levant. For instance, the modern border between Israel
Israel officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
and LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon
[Republic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies...]
is established at the point in the upper GalileeGalilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country...
where Conder and Kitchener’s survey stopped.
Egypt, Sudan and Khartoum
Kitchener later served as a Vice-Consul in
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
, and in 1883, as a British captain but with the Turkish rank of
bimbashiBinbashi or Bimbashi is a major in the Turkish army. The title was also used, spelled Bimbashi, as a major in the Egyptian army in the era of Khedivial Egypt.-References:* *...
(major), in the occupation of Egypt (which was to be a British puppet state, its army led by British officers, from 1883 until the early 1950s), and the following year as an Aide de Camp during the failed
GordonMajor-General Charles George Gordon, CB , known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator...
relief expedition in the
SudanSudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest country in Africa and in the Arab World, and tenth largest in the world by area...
. At this time his fiancée, and possibly the only female love of his life, Hermione Baker, died of
typhoid feverTyphoid fever, also known as enteric fever, Salmonella typhi or commonly just typhoid, is an illness. Common worldwide, it is transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with feces from an infected person. The bacteria then perforate through the intestinal wall and are phagocytosed...
in Cairo; he subsequently had no issue. But he raised his young cousin Bertha Chevallier-Boutell, daughter of Kitchener's first-cousin, Sir Francis Hepburn de Chevallier-Boutell.
In the late 1880s he was Governor of the Red Sea Territories (which in practice consisted of little more than the Port of
SuakinSuakin or Sawakin is a port in north-eastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. In 1983 it had a population of 18,030 and the 2009 estimate is 43, 337.It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about 30 miles north. The old city built of coral is in ruins...
) with the rank of
ColonelColonel is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country in the world. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
. Having become
SirdarSirdar was a rank assigned to the British Commander-in-Chief of the 19th Century Egyptian Army. The Sirdar resided at Sirdaria, a three block long property in Zamalek which was the home of British military intelligence in Egypt.
...
of the Egyptian Army in 1892, with the rank of major-general in the British Army, in 1896 he led his British and Egyptian forces up the
NileThe Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world....
, building a
railwayNorthern Africa Railroad Development started in the 1850s. In Egypt, a rail line between Alexandria and Cairo had been completed in 1856, three years before work began on the Suez Canal. On May 14, 1858, a rail carriage ferry on this line played a decisive role in Egyptian history...
to supply arms and reinforcements, and defeating the Sudanese at the
Battle of OmdurmanAt the Battle of Omdurman , an army commanded by the British General Sir Herbert Kitchener defeated the army of Abdullah al-Taashi, the successor to the self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad...
on 2 September 1898, near Khartoum.
Kitchener's second tour in the Sudan (1886–1899) won him national fame, and he was made Aide de Camp to
Queen VictoriaVictoria was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death...
and appointed a Knight Commander of the Bath (KCB). However, this campaign also made his brutality infamous, an aspect of his tactics that became well known after the Boer War. After victory in the
Battle of OmdurmanAt the Battle of Omdurman , an army commanded by the British General Sir Herbert Kitchener defeated the army of Abdullah al-Taashi, the successor to the self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad...
the remains of the
MahdiAccording to the Shia and Sunni versions of the Islamic eschatology the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on earth seven, nine, or nineteen years before the coming of the day, Yawm al-Qiyamah...
were exhumed and scattered.
Kitchener quite possibly prevented war between
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
when he dealt firmly but non-violently with the French military expedition under Captain Marchand to claim Fashoda, in what became known as the
Fashoda IncidentThe Fashoda Incident was the climax of imperial territorial disputes between the United Kingdom and France in Eastern Africa. It brought the United Kingdom and France to the verge of war but ended in a diplomatic victory for the UK...
.
He was created
Baron Kitchener, of
KhartoumKhartoum is the capital of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
and of
Aspall in the County of SuffolkAspall is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 52. The village is about 15 miles north of Ipswich, and 12 miles south of Diss....
, on 31 October 1898 as a
victory titleA victory title is an honorific title adopted by a successful military commander to commemorate his defeat of an enemy nation. This practice was first used by Ancient Rome and is still most commonly associated with the Romans, but it has also been adopted as a practice by many modern empires,...
commemorating his successes, and began a programme restoring good governance to the Sudan. The programme had a strong foundation based on education,
Gordon Memorial CollegeGordon Memorial College is an educational institution in Sudan. It was built between 1899 and 1902 as part of Lord Kitchener's wide-ranging educational reforms....
being its centrepiece, and not simply for the children of the local elites - children from anywhere could apply to study.
He ordered the
mosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid, —...
s of Khartoum rebuilt and instituted reforms which recognised Friday - the Muslim holy day - as the official day of rest, and guaranteed freedom of religion to all citizens of the Sudan. He attempted to prevent evangelical Christian missionaries from attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity.
Kitchener rescued a substantial charitable fund which had been diverted into the pockets of the
KhediveThe term Khedive is a title largely equivalent to the English word viceroy. It was first used, without official recognition, by Muhammad Ali Pasha , the Ottoman Wali of Egypt and Sudan...
of
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
, and put it to use improving the lives of the ordinary Sudanese.
He also reformed the debt laws, preventing rapacious moneylenders from stripping away all assets of impoverished farmers, guaranteeing them of land to farm for themselves and the tools to farm with. In 1899 Kitchener was presented with a small island in the
NileThe Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world....
at
AswanAswan, formerly spelled Assuan, is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan Governorate....
as in gratitude for his services; the island was renamed
Kitchener's IslandKitchener's Island is a small, oval-shaped island in the Nile at Aswan, Egypt.- History :...
in his honour.
The Boer War
During the
Second Boer WarThe Second Boer War , commonly referred to as The Boer War and also known as the South African War , the Anglo-Boer War and in Afrikaans as the Anglo-Boereoorlog or Tweede Vryheidsoorlog , or the Engelse oorlog was fought...
(1899–1902), Kitchener arrived with Lord Roberts on the RMS
Dunottar CastleThe RMS Dunottar Castle was built at Govan Shipyards in 1889 by the Fairfield Ship Building & Engineering Co. for the Castle Line, passing to the Union Castle Line in 1900. This steam ship became famous in the 1890s for reducing the voyage time from Southampton, England, to Cape Town, South Africa,...
and the massive British reinforcements of December 1899. Officially holding the title of chief of staff, he was in practice a second-in-command, and commanded a much-criticised frontal assault at the
Battle of PaardebergThe Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near Paardeberg Drift on the banks of the Modderrivier in the Orange Free State near Kimberley....
in February 1900.
Following the defeat of the conventional Boer forces, Kitchener succeeded Roberts as overall commander in November 1900, and after the failure of a reconciliatory peace treaty in February 1901 (due to British cabinet veto) which Kitchener had negotiated with the
BoerBoer is the Dutch word for farmer which came to denote the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking pastoralists of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
leaders, Kitchener inherited and expanded the successful strategies devised by Roberts to crush the Boer guerrillas.
In a brutal campaign, these strategies removed civilian support from the Boers with a
scorched earthA scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
policy of destroying Boer farms, slaughtering livestock, building blockhouses, and moving women, children and the elderly into concentration camps. Conditions in these camps, which had been conceived by Roberts as a form of controlling the families whose farms he had destroyed, began to degenerate rapidly as the large influx of Boers outstripped the minuscule ability of the British to cope. The camps lacked space, food, sanitation, medicine, and medical care, leading to rampant disease and a staggering 34.4% death rate for those Boers who entered. The biggest critic of the camps was the Englishwoman, humanitarian and welfare worker
Emily HobhouseEmily Hobhouse was a British welfare campaigner, who is primarily remembered for bringing to the attention of the British public, and working to change, the appalling conditions inside the British concentration camps in South Africa built for Boer women and children during the Second Boer...
. Despite being largely rectified by late 1901, they led to wide opprobrium in Britain and Europe, and especially amongst South Africans. He is in fact the first 'modern' war criminal as he targeted non-combatants long before the Nazi's.
The
Treaty of VereenigingThe Treaty of Vereeniging was the peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the South African War between the alliance of the South African Republic and the Republic of the Orange Free State and the British Empire on the other.- Terms of the settlement :This settlement entailed the end of...
was signed in 1902 following a tense six months. During this period Kitchener struggled against Sir Alfred Milner, the Governor of the
Cape ColonyThe Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
and the British government. Milner was a hardline conservative and wanted forcibly to anglicise the Afrikaans people (the Boers) , and Milner and the British government wanted to assert victory by forcing the Boers to sign a humiliating peace treaty, while Kitchener wanted a more generous compromise peace treaty that would recognise certain rights for the Afrikaners and promise future self-government. Eventually the British government decided the war had gone on long enough and sided with Kitchener against Milner. (
Louis BothaLouis Botha was an Afrikaner and first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa—the forerunner of the modern South African state...
, the Boer leader with whom Kitchener negotiated his aborted peace treaty in 1901, became the first Prime Minister of the self-governing Union of South Africa in 1910.) The Treaty also agreed to pay for reconstruction following the end of hostilities. Six days later Kitchener, who had risen in rank from major-general to full
generalA general officer is an officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is simply called general.-All general officer...
during the war, was created
Viscount Kitchener, of Khartoum and of
the VaalThe Vaal River is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source in the Drakensberg mountains in Mpumalanga, east of Johannesburg and about 30 km north of Clarens in the Free State )at a source known as the Ash River...
in the Colony of Transvaal and of Aspall in the County of Suffolk.
Court martial of Breaker Morant
The Boer "commando" (i.e. militia) members generally had no uniforms, as they were civilians. On long service, as the state of their clothing became progressively worse, many resorted to taking the clothes of captured troops. This was widely perceived by British commanders as an attempt to masquerade as British soldiers in order to gain a tactical advantage in battle; in response, Kitchener ordered that Boers found wearing British uniforms were to be tried on the spot and the sentence, death, confirmed by the commanding officer.
However it was claimed during the famous Breaker Morant case that Kitchener had issued a
take no prisoners order, although he later denied issuing such an order.
In the "Breaker Morant" case several soldiers from Australia were arrested and
court-martialA court-martial is a military court. These military courts can determine punishments for members of the military subject to military law who are found guilty or may dismiss the charges based on the evidence and the case presented. Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in...
led for summarily executing Boer prisoners and also for the murder of a German missionary believed to be a Boer sympathiser. The celebrated horseman and bush poet
Lt. Harry "Breaker" MorantHarry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant was an Anglo-Australian drover, horseman, poet, and soldier whose renowned skill with horses earned him the nickname "The Breaker"...
and Lt.
Peter HandcockPeter Joseph Handcock was a Veterinary Lieutenant in the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Boer War in South Africa. Handcock and Harry "Breaker" Morant were court martialed and executed by firing squad on 27 February 1902 on murder charges for shooting Boer prisoners and a German missionary, Daniel...
were found guilty, sentenced to death and shot by firing squad at Pietersburg (now also called Polokwane) on 27 February 1902. Their death warrants were personally signed by Kitchener. He reprieved a third soldier, Lt. George Witton.
India and Egypt
Following this, Kitchener was made
Commander-in-Chief, IndiaThe British Commander-in-Chief in India was the chief military commander for the British administration in India and liaisoned with the civilian Governor-General of India...
(1902–1909) - his term of office was extended by two years - where he reorganized the
Indian ArmyThe Indian Army , now sometimes called the British Indian Army to distinguish it from the modern army of the Republic of India, was the principal army of the British Raj in India during the last half-century before the partition of India in 1947.The Indian Army served both in India and,...
. While many of his reforms were supported by the Viceroy Lord Curzon of Kedleston, who had originally lobbied for Kitchener's appointment, the two men eventually came into conflict over the question of military administration. While later events would ultimately prove Curzon was right in opposing Kitchener's attempts to concentrate all military decision-making power in his own office, the Commander-in-Chief's intrigues won him the crucial support of the government in London and the Viceroy in turn chose to resign.
He presided over the
Rawalpindi Parade 1905The Rawalpindi Parade 1905 was a parade by the British Indian Army, held in Rawalpindi, India on 8 December, 1905 to honour the Prince and Princess of Wales. The troops under the Command of Horatio Herbert, Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum, .G.C.B., O.M.,G.C.M.G.., Commander-in-Chief India...
to honour the Prince and Princess of Wales visit to India. Later in India Kitchener broke his leg badly in a horse riding accident, leaving him with a slight limp for the rest of his life. Kitchener was promoted to the highest Army rank, Field Marshal, in 1910 and went on a tour of the world. He aspired to be Viceroy of India, but the Secretary of State for India, John Morley, was not keen and hoped to send him instead to Malta as Commander-in-Chief of British forces in the Mediterranean, even to the point of announcing the appointment in the newspapers. Kitchener pushed hard for the Viceroyalty, returning to London to lobby Cabinet ministers and the dying King Edward VII, from whom, whilst collecting his Field-Marshal's baton, Kitchener obtained permission to refuse the Malta job. However, perhaps in part because he was thought to be a Tory (the Liberals were in office at the time) and perhaps due to a Curzon-inspired whispering campaign, but most importantly because Morley, who was a Gladstonian and thus suspicious of imperialism, felt it inappropriate, after the recent grant of limited self-government under the 1909 Indian Councils Act, for a serving soldier to be Viceroy (in the event no serving soldier was appointed Viceroy until Archibald Wavell in 1943), Morley could not be moved. The Prime Minister,
H. H. AsquithHerbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
, was sympathetic but was unwilling to overule Morley, who threatened resignation, so Kitchener was finally turned down for the post of Viceroy of India in 1911.
Kitchener then returned to Egypt as British Agent and Consul-General in Egypt (the job formerly held by
Lord CromerEvelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer, GCB, OM, GCMG, KCSI, CIE, PC, FRS , was a British statesman, diplomat and colonial administrator....
) and of the so-called
Anglo-Egyptian SudanAnglo-Egyptian Sudan referred to the manner by which Sudan was administered between 1899 and 1956, when it was a condominium of Egypt and the United Kingdom.-Union with Egypt:...
(1911–1914, during the formal reign of Abbas Hilmi II as
KhediveThe term Khedive is a title largely equivalent to the English word viceroy. It was first used, without official recognition, by Muhammad Ali Pasha , the Ottoman Wali of Egypt and Sudan...
(nominally Ottoman Viceroy) of Egypt, Sovereign of Nubia, of the Sudan, of Kordofan and of Darfur). Whatever the legal niceties, Egypt was in reality a British puppet state and the Sudan a directly-administered British colony, making Kitchener Viceroy of the region in all but name.
Kitchener was created
Earl Kitchener, of Khartoum and of
Broome in the County of KentLocations named Broome:*Broome, Western Australia - a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.*Broome County, New York - a county in the USA*Broome, New York - a town in Schoharie County, New YorkIn England:*Broome, Norfolk*Broome, Shropshire...
, on 29 June 1914. Unusually, provision was made for the title to be passed on to his brother or nephew, since Kitchener was not married and had no children. He was succeeded by his older brother, Colonel
Henry Kitchener, 2nd Earl KitchenerColonel Henry Elliott Chevallier Kitchener, 2nd Earl Kitchener , was a British soldier and peer.-Early life and career:...
, see
Earl KitchenerEarl Kitchener, of Khartoum and of Broome in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1914 for the famous soldier Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener, 1st Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum...
.
World War I
At the outset of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, the Prime Minister,
H. H. AsquithHerbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
, quickly had Lord Kitchener appointed
Secretary of State for WarThe position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first applied to Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
; Asquith had been filling the job himself as a stopgap following the resignation of
Colonel SeeleyJohn Edward Bernard Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone CB, CMG, DSO, PC, TD was a British soldier and politician. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1900 to 1904 and a Liberal MP from 1904 to 1922 and from 1923 to 1924...
over the
Curragh IncidentThe Curragh Incident of 20 March 1914, also known as the Curragh Mutiny, occurred in the Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. The Curragh Camp was then the main base for the British Army in Ireland.-Background:...
earlier in 1914, and Kitchener was by chance briefly in Britain on leave when war was declared. Against cabinet opinion, Kitchener correctly predicted a long war that would last at least three years, require huge new armies to defeat Germany, and suffer huge casualties before the end would come. Kitchener stated that the conflict would plumb the depths of manpower "to the last million."
A massive
recruitment campaignAt the start of 1914 the British Army had a reported strength of 710,000 men including reserves, of which around 80,000 were regular troops ready for war...
began, which soon featured a
distinctive poster of himselfA 1914 recruitment poster depicting Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener above the words "WANTS YOU" was the most famous image used in the British Army recruitment campaign of World War I. The poster was designed by Alfred Leete. A similar poster used the words "YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU"....
, taken from a magazine front cover. It may have encouraged large numbers of volunteers and has proven to be one of the most enduring images of the war, having been copied and parodied many times since.
In an effort to find a way to relieve pressure on the Western front, Lord Kitchener proposed an invasion of
Alexandrettaİskenderun , is a city and district in the province of Hatay on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.-Geography:...
with
Australian and New Zealand Army CorpsThe term ANZAC originated as an acronym for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, an army corps of Australian and New Zealand troops who fought against the Turks in 1915 at the Battle of Gallipoli during World War I...
(ANZAC), New Army, and
IndianThe Indian Army , now sometimes called the British Indian Army to distinguish it from the modern army of the Republic of India, was the principal army of the British Raj in India during the last half-century before the partition of India in 1947.The Indian Army served both in India and,...
troops. Alexandretta was an area with a large Christian population and was the strategic centre of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
's railway network - its capture would have cut the empire in two. Yet he was instead eventually persuaded to support
Winston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer...
's disastrous
GallipoliThe Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east...
campaign in 1915–1916. That failure, combined with the
Shell Crisis of 1915The Shell Crisis of 1915 largely contributed to weakening public appreciation of government of the United Kingdom during World War I because it was widely perceived that the production of artillery shells for use by the British Army was inadequate...
, was to deal Kitchener's political reputation a heavy blow; Kitchener was popular with the public, so Asquith retained him in office in the new coalition government, but responsibility for munitions was moved to a new ministry headed by
David Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British statesman and the only Welsh Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; he is also the only one to have spoken English as a second language, Welsh having been his first.During a long tenure of office, mainly as Chancellor of the...
. Later in 1915 Kitchener was sent on a tour of inspection of Gallipoli and the Near East, in the hope that he could be persuaded to remain in the region as commander-in-chief.
At the end of 1915, the new
Chief of the Imperial General StaffChief of the Imperial General Staff was the title of the professional commander of the British Army from 1908 until 1964.From the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the Sovereign was able to wrest considerable control of the armed forces from Parliament with the appointment of a "General in...
, Sir William Robertson, took office only on condition that he was granted the right to speak for the Army to the Cabinet in matters of strategy, leaving Kitchener solely with responsibility for manpower and recruitment. Whereas Kitchener had hoped to hold his armies in reserve to administer the coup de grace to Germany after the other warring nations had exhausted themselves, Robertson was suspicious of efforts in the Balkans and Near East, and was instead committed to major British offensives against Germany on the Western Front - the first of these was to be the Somme in 1916.
In May 1916, preparations were made for Kitchener and Lloyd George to visit Russia on a diplomatic mission. Lloyd George was otherwise engaged with his new Ministry and so it was decided to send Kitchener alone.
A week before his death, Kitchener confided to
Lord DerbyEdward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby KG, GCB, GCVO, TD, PC, KGStJ, JP , known as Lord Stanley from 1893 to 1908, was a British soldier, Conservative politician, diplomat and racehorse owner. He was twice Secretary of State for War and also served as British Ambassador to...
that he intended to press relentlessly for a peace of reconciliation, regardless of his position, when the war was over, as he feared that the politicians would make a bad peace.
On 4 June 1916, Lord Kitchener personally answered questions asked by politicians about his running of the war effort; at the start of hostilities Kitchener had ordered two million rifles with various US arms manufacturers. Only 480 of these rifles had arrived in the UK by 4 June 1916. The numbers of shells supplied were no less paltry.
Kitchener explained the efforts he had made in order to secure alternative supplies.
He received a resounding vote of thanks from the 200+
Members of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
who had arrived to question him, both for his candour and for his efforts to keep the troops armed; Sir Ivor Herbert, who, a week before, had introduced the failed vote of censure in the
House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 646 members, who are known as "Members...
against Kitchener's running of the War Department, personally seconded the motion.
In addition to his military work, Lord Kitchener contributed to efforts on the home front. The knitted sock patterns of the day used a seam up the toe, that could rub uncomfortably against the toes. Kitchener encouraged British and American women to knit for the war effort, and contributed a sock pattern featuring a new technique for a seamless join of the toe, still known as
Kitchener stitchIn knitting, grafting is the joining of two knitted fabrics using yarn and a needle in one of three types of seams:# selvage-to-selvage seam,# selvage-to-end seam, or# end-to-end seam...
.
Death
Lord Kitchener sailed from Scrabster to
Scapa Flowright|thumb|250px|Scapa Flow, viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy...
on 5 June 1916 aboard
HMS OakHMS Oak was a modified Acheron-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1912, she saw extensive service during World War I as a tender to the Flagship of the Grand Fleet, and for this purpose she was painted white, instead of the usual warship grey. She was sold in 1921 to be scrapped...
before transferring to the armoured cruiser
HMS HampshireHMS Hampshire was a Devonshire-class armoured cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was constructed at the Chatham Dockyard, Kent and commissioned in 1905 at a cost of around £900,000....
for his diplomatic mission to Russia. Shortly before 1930 hrs the same day, while en route to the Russian port of
ArkhangelskArkhangelsk , formerly called Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina river near its exit into the White Sea in the far north of European Russia. City districts spread for over along the banks of the...
,
Hampshire struck a mine laid by the newly-launched German U-boat
U-75 (commanded by Curt Beitzen) during a
Force 9The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure for describing wind speed based mainly on observed sea conditions. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale.-History:...
galeA gale is a very strong wind. There are conflicting definitions of how strong. The U.S. Government's National Weather Service defines a gale as 34 to 47 knots of sustained surface winds...
and sank west of the
Orkney IslandsOrkney, also known as the Orkney Islands, , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated 10 miles north of the coast of Caithness...
. Kitchener, his staff, and 643 of the crew of 655 were drowned or died of exposure. His body was never found. The survivors who caught sight of him in those last moments testified to his outward calm and resolution.
Not everyone mourned Kitchener's loss.
C. P. ScottCharles Prestwich Scott was a British journalist, publisher and politician. Born in Bath, Somerset, he was the editor of the Manchester Guardian from 1872 until 1929 and its owner from 1907 until his death...
, editor of the
Manchester Guardian is said to have remarked that "as for the old man, he could not have done better than to have gone down, as he was a great impediment lately."
Conspiracy theories
The suddenness of Kitchener's death, combined with his great fame and the fact that his body was never recovered, almost immediately gave rise to conspiracy theories that have continued almost to this day.
Fritz Joubert Duquesne was an Afrikaner (a
BoerBoer is the Dutch word for farmer which came to denote the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking pastoralists of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
) whose family had, in the Second Anglo-Boer War, been affected by the scorched-earth policy. He had been a prisoner-of-war of the British for a time. In the First World War he spied for Germany. He claimed to have sabotaged and sunk HMS
Hampshire, killing Kitchener and most of the crew. According to German records, Duquesne assumed the identity of Russian Duke Boris Zakrevsky and joined Kitchener in Scotland. En route to Russia, Duquesne signalled a German U-boat to alert them that Kitchener’s ship was approaching. He then escaped on a raft just before HMS
Hampshire was destroyed. Duquesne was awarded the
Iron CrossThe Iron Cross was a military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia, and later of Germany, which was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and first awarded on 10 March 1813 in Breslau...
for this act. In the 1930s and 1940s, he ran the famous
Duquesne Spy RingThe Duquesne Spy Ring is the largest espionage case in United States history that ended in convictions. On January 2, 1942, 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Frederick or Fritz Joubert Duquesne were sentenced to serve a total of over 300 years in prison. They were brought to justice after a...
and was captured by the FBI along with 32 other Nazi spies in the largest espionage conviction in U.S. history.
The fact that newly-appointed Minister of Munitions (and future prime minister)
David Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British statesman and the only Welsh Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; he is also the only one to have spoken English as a second language, Welsh having been his first.During a long tenure of office, mainly as Chancellor of the...
was supposed to accompany Kitchener on the fatal journey, but cancelled at the last moment, has been given great significance by some. This fact, along with the alleged lethargy of the rescue efforts, has led some to claim that Kitchener was assassinated, or, somewhat more plausibly, that his death would have been convenient for a British establishment that had come to see him as a figure from the past who was incompetent to wage modern war. Given that Kitchener's death hit Britain like a thunderclap and was widely perceived as a disaster for the war effort, this interpretation seems far-fetched, to say the least.
After the war, there were a number of conspiracy theories put forward, one by
Lord Alfred DouglasLord Alfred Bruce Douglas was an English author, poet and translator, better known as the intimate friend and lover of the writer Oscar Wilde...
, positing a connection between Kitchener's death, the recent naval
Battle of JutlandThe Battle of Jutland ; informally known by participants as Der Tag , was the largest naval battle of World War I, and the only full-scale clash of battleships in that war...
,
Winston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer...
and a Jewish conspiracy. (Churchill successfully sued Douglas for criminal libel and the latter spent six months in prison.) Another claimed that the
Hampshire did not strike a mine at all, but was sunk by explosives secreted in the vessel by Irish Republicans.
Probably the most spectacular Kitchener-related conspiracy was the effort in 1926 by a hoaxer named Frank Power to actually recover and bury Kitchener's body, which he claimed had been found by a Norwegian fisherman. He brought a coffin back from Norway and prepared it for burial in St. Paul's. At this point, however, the authorities intervened and the coffin was opened in the presence of police and a distinguished pathologist. The box was found to contain only tar for weight. There was widespread public outrage at Power, but he was ultimately never prosecuted.
The role of Fritz Joubert Duquesne in Kitchener's death has been hypothesised/documented in several books and movies:
- The Man Who Killed Kitchener; the Life of Fritz Joubert Duquesne, 1879-, by Clement Wood. New York, W. Faro, inc., 1932.
- Sabotage! The Secret War Against America, by Michael Sayers & Albert E. Kahn. Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1942.
- The House on 92nd Street, won screenwriter Charles G. Booth
Charles G. Booth was a British-born writer who settled in America and wrote several classic Hollywood stories, including The General Died at Dawn and Sundown...
an Academy Award for the best original motion picture storyThe Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1957, when it was eliminated in favor of the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, which had been introduced in 1940.-1920s:...
in 1945.
- Counterfeit Hero: Fritz Duquesne, Adventurer and Spy, by Art Ronnie. Naval Institute Press, 1995 ISBN 1-55750-733-3
- Fräulein Doktor
Fräulein Doktor is a First World War drama filmed in 1968 and released in 1969. It was a European co-production, starring Suzy Kendall, Kenneth More, Capucine, James Booth, Giancarlo Giannini and Nigel Green. It was produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by Alberto Lattuada, with a music...
, a Dino DeLaurentis film, 1969.
- The Man Who Would Kill Kitchener, by François Verster
François Verster is a South African film director and documentary maker.He has a wide background in writing, music, academia and film. After completing an MA degree with distinction under literature Nobel Prize laureate JM Coetzee at the University of Cape Town, he worked with Barenholtz...
, a documentary film on the life of Fritz Joubert Duquesne that won six Stone awards, 1999.
Memorials
- The NW chapel of All Souls at St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is the Anglican cathedral on Ludgate Hill in the City of London and the seat of the Bishop of London. The present building dates from the 17th century and is generally reckoned to be London's fifth St Paul's Cathedral, not counting every major medieval reconstruction as a new...
London, not normally open to visitors, was rededicated the Kitchener memorial in 1925. It contains a white marble memoria with effigyl to Kitchener and is also the last resting place of his aide de camp.
- Following his death the town of Berlin
Through the latter half of the 19th century and into the first decade of the 20th, the City of Berlin, Ontario was a bustling industrial centre celebrating its German heritage...
, OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
, Canada, was renamed KitchenerThe City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...
in his honour. Mount KitchenerMount Kitchener is a mountain located within the Columbia Icefield of Jasper National Park, which is part of the Canadian Rockies. The mountain can be seen from the Icefields Parkway near Sunwapta Pass....
in the Canadian RockiesThe Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
was also named in his honour. A memorial to him was erected on the nearby cliffs.
- A popular music-hall song "Kitchener - Gone but not forgotten!" was sung by F V St Clair shortly after his death.
- Earl Kitchener, Elementary School, is a dual-track (English and French) school of approximately 500 students. It is located in the west end of Hamilton, Ontario (Canada) below the Niagara Escarpment. A letter from Lord Kitchener suggests that the motto of this elementary school be "thoroughness."
- Lord Kitchener Elementary School is located on a 2.7–hectare site on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). A frame building was constructed in 1914, and a main building in 1924. Both are still in use in 2007, but likely to be replaced after 2008 as they are not suitable for seismic upgrading.
- In the City of Geelong, Victoria
Geelong is the second largest city in the state of Victoria, Australia and is the largest regional centre in the state. It is a port city with an urban population of 160,991 people, and one of the largest provincial cities in Australia...
, AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, the Kitchener Memorial Hospital was named in his honour. It is now known as Geelong HospitalThe Geelong Hospital is an Australian public hospital located in Ryrie Street, Geelong, Victoria. The hospital is part of Barwon Health, Victoria's largest regional health care provider. It is the largest hospital in regional Victoria and the only tertiary hospital outside of the Melbourne...
. The original building is still in use although it no longer houses patients.
- A month after his death, the Lord Kitchener National Memorial Fund was set up by the Lord Mayor of [the City of] London to honour his memory. It was used to aid casualties of the war, both practically and financially; following the war's end, the fund was used to enable university educations for soldiers, ex-soldiers and their sons, a function it continues to perform today.
- The Lord Kitchener Memorial Homes in Chatham were built with funds from public subscription following Kitchener's death. A small terrace of cottages, they are used to provide affordable rented accommodation for servicemen and women who have seen active service or their widows and widowers.
- The Kitchener Memorial on Mainland, Orkney is on the cliff edge at Marwick Head, near the spot where Kitchener died at sea. It is a square crenellated stone tower and bears the inscription: "This tower was raised by the people of Orkney in memory of Field Marshal Earl Kitchener of Khartoum on that corner of his country which he had served so faithfully nearest to the place where he died on duty. He and his staff perished along with the officers and nearly all the men of HMS Hampshire on 5 June, 1916."
Debate on Kitchener's sexuality
Some biographers have concluded that Kitchener was a latent or active
homosexualHomosexuality is the romantic or sexual attraction or behavior among members of the same sex, situationally or as an enduring disposition. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is considered to lie within the heterosexual-homosexual continuum of human sexuality, and refers to an individual’s...
, though this is not universally accepted. Writers that make the case for his homosexuality include Montgomery Hyde, Ronald Hyam, Dennis Judd and Richardson. Biographers who make the case against include Cassar, Pollock, and Warner. Pakenham, Magnus and Royle hint at homosexuality, though Magnus is said to have later recanted.
The proponents of the case point to Kitchener's friend Captain Oswald Fitzgerald, his "constant and inseparable companion," whom he appointed his aide-de-camp. They remained close until they met a common death on their voyage to Russia. From his time in Egypt in 1892, he gathered around him a cadre of eager young and unmarried officers nicknamed "Kitchener's band of boys." He also avoided interviews with women, took a great deal of interest in the Boy Scout movement, and decorated his rose garden with four pairs of sculptured bronze boys. According to Hyam, "there is no evidence that he ever loved a woman".
A contemporary journalist remarked that Kitchener "has the failing acquired by most of the Egyptian officers, a taste for buggery".
According to another writer, his interests were not exclusively homosexual. "When the great field marshal stayed in aristocratic houses, the well informed young would ask servants to sleep across their bedroom threshold to impede his entrance". His compulsive objective was sodomy, regardless of their gender.
J. B. PriestleyJohn Boynton Priestley, OM was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster.-Early years:Priestley was born in what he described as an "ultra-respectable" suburb of Bradford...
noted in his book on
The Edwardians that one of Lord Kitchener's personal interests in life included planning and decorating his residences. He was also known to collect delicate china with a passion (such allusions to an 'artistic temperament' were a common code for implying homosexuality at that time).
However, he was apparently in love with, and may have been engaged to, Hermione Baker, the beautiful young daughter of
Valentine BakerValentine Baker , British soldier, was a younger brother of Sir Samuel Baker. He was educated in Gloucester and in Ceylon, and in 1848 entered the Ceylon Rifles as an ensign. Soon transferred to the 12th Lancers, he saw active service with that regiment in the 8th Cape Frontier War of 1852—1853...
, commander of the Egyptian gendarmerie, but she died from typhoid in January 1885, aged eighteen. In 1902 he unsuccessfully courted
Lord LondonderryCharles Stewart Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry KG, GCVO, CB, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician who served in various capacities in the Conservative administrations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known as The Hon...
's daughter, Helen Mary Theresa; she married
Lord StavordaleGiles Stephen Holland Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester, GBE was a British peer and philanthropist.Fox-Strangways was the eldest child of the 5th Earl of Ilchester and was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford...
instead. He was friendly, in her old age, with the courtesan
Catherine WaltersCatherine "Skittles" Walters was a fashion trendsetter and, along with Alice Keppel, was one of the last of the great courtesans of Victorian London....
.
Kitchener in historical films
- In the film Khartoum
Khartoum is a 1966 film written by Robert Ardrey and directed by Basil Dearden. It stars Charlton Heston as General Gordon and Laurence Olivier as the Mahdi and is based on Gordon's defence of the Sudanese city of Khartoum from the forces of the Mahdist army during the Siege of Khartoum.Khartoum...
, mention is made of "Major Kitchener"'s involvement in the Gordon Relief Expedition of 1884-5.
- In the film Young Winston
Young Winston is a 1972 British film based on the early years of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.The film was based on the book My Early Life: A Roving Commission by Winston Churchill. The first part of the film covers Churchill's unhappy schooldays, up to the death of his father...
, Kitchener, portrayed by Sir John Mills, is shown disapproving of the young Winston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer...
's attempts to see action in Sudan. He disdainfully sweeps a book by Churchill into the bin, and is astonished when, during the battle of Omdurman, it is Lieutenant Churchill who brings him a message about the speed with which the enemy are approaching. Kitchener is incorrectly shown as wearing the insignia of a full general, a higher rank than he in fact held at that time.
- In the film Breaker Morant
Breaker Morant is a 1980 Australian feature film about the court martial of Breaker Morant, directed by Bruce Beresford and starring British actor Edward Woodward as Harry "Breaker" Morant...
, he is portrayed by Australian actor Alan CassellAlan Cassell is an Australian actor, born in the UK and best known for his roles in film and television.Alan was one of the actors who worked in Bruce Beresford's early Australian films....
.
Kitchener in fiction
- In the British sitcom Dad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard in the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
, Lance Corporal Jones repeatedly tells tales of when he served under General Kitchener against the "Fuzzy WuzziesFuzzy-Wuzzy is a poem by the English author and poet Rudyard Kipling, published in 1892 as part of Barrack Room Ballads."Fuzzy-Wuzzy" was the term used by British colonial soldiers for the nineteenth century Hadendoa warriors supporting the Sudanese Mahdi in the Mahdist War...
" and mentions his involvement in the Battle of OmdurmanAt the Battle of Omdurman , an army commanded by the British General Sir Herbert Kitchener defeated the army of Abdullah al-Taashi, the successor to the self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad...
in the episode, The Two and a Half FeathersThe Two and a Half Feathers is the eighth episode of the fourth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army that was originally transmitted on Friday 13 November 1970.-Synopsis:...
. The rumours about Kitchener's sexuality are briefly touched upon in the episode Number EngagedNumber Engaged is the fifth episode of the ninth series of the British comedy series Dad's Army that was originally transmitted on 6 November 1977.-Synopsis:...
, when Pike asks why Jones always puts his hand on his hip in a somewhat flamboyant manner when imitating Kitchener. Jones replies that he does not want to go into it.
- Kitchener was referred to in the novel Rilla of Ingleside
Rilla of Ingleside is the final book in the Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery, but was the sixth of the eight "Anne" novels she wrote. This book draws the focus back onto a single character, Anne and Gilbert's youngest daughter Bertha Marilla "Rilla" Blythe...
of Lucy Maud MontgomeryLucy Maud Montgomery CBE, and publicly known as L.M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author, best known for a series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908....
.
- The sinking of the HMS Hampshire is portrayed in the 1969 film Fräulein Doktor
Fräulein Doktor is a First World War drama filmed in 1968 and released in 1969. It was a European co-production, starring Suzy Kendall, Kenneth More, Capucine, James Booth, Giancarlo Giannini and Nigel Green. It was produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by Alberto Lattuada, with a music...
, where Suzy Kendall'sSuzy Kendall is a British actress best known for her film roles in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Her blonde attractive looks got her leading roles in some fairly prestigious productions...
character relays information which leads to a U-Boat sinking the ship and killing Kitchener.
- Kitchener makes two brief appearances as a character in the 2008 novel After Omdurman by John Ferry.
- Kitchener makes appearances in The Measure of Days, Volume 30 of The Morland Dynasty
The Morland Dynasty is a series of historical novels by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. There are currently thirty books in the series. The first book begins in 1434 and features the Wars of the Roses; the most recent book begins in 1916 and deals with the Battle of the Somme...
, a series of historical novels by author Cynthia Harrod-EaglesCynthia Harrod-Eagles is a prolific and successful British novelist, best known for her Morland Dynasty series.Cynthia Harrod-Eagles was born in Shepherd's Bush, London and educated at Burlington School. Her first successful novel was The Waiting Game , and she became a full-time writer in 1979....
. This novel includes a fictional account of the sinking of HMS Hampshire.
Styles
- 1850-1871: Horatio Herbert Kitchener
- 1871-1883: Lieutenant
Lieutenant is a military, naval, paramilitary, fire service, emergency medical services or police officer rank....
Horatio Herbert Kitchener
- 1883-1884: Captain
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
Horatio Herbert Kitchener
- 1884-1885: Captain (Bvt. Major) Horatio Herbert Kitchener
- 1885-1886: Captain (Bvt. Lieutenant-Colonel) Horatio Herbert Kitchener
- 1886-1888: Captain (Bvt. Lieutenant-Colonel) Horatio Herbert Kitchener, CMG
- 1888-20 July 1889: Captain & Lieutenant-Colonel (Bvt. Colonel) Horatio Herbert Kitchener, CMG
- 20 July-8 November 1889: Major (Bvt. Colonel) Horatio Herbert Kitchener, CMG
- 8 November 1889-1894: Major (Bvt. Colonel) Horatio Herbert Kitchener, CB
-Architectural/engineering:* Block coefficient , determining fullness of ship's hull* Chrysler Building, a skyscraper in New York City, New York...
, CMG
- 1894-1896: Major (Bvt Colonel and Local Brigadier-General
Brigadier is a military rank, the meaning of which has a considerable variation.-Officer rank:In many countries, especially those formerly part of the former British Empire, a Brigadier is either the highest field rank or most junior General appointment, nominally commanding a brigade...
) SirSir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in most English speaking cultures...
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, KCMG, CB
- 1896-1 November 1898: Major-General
Major General is a senior rank in the British Army. Since 1996 the highest position within The Royal Marines is the Commandant General Royal Marines who holds the rank of Major General....
Sir Horatio Herbert Kitchener, KCBKCB is a Three-letter acronym that may stand for:* Kekchi Council of Belize* Kenya Commercial Bank Group** Kenya Commercial Bank** Kenya Commercial Bank ** Kenya Commercial Bank * Klezmer Conservatory Band...
, KCMG
- 1-15 November 1898: Major-General the Right Honourable
The Right Honourable is an honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain people in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Anglophone Caribbean and other Commonwealth Realms, and occasionally elsewhere...
the Lord KitchenerLord Kitchener may refer to:* Earl Kitchener, for the title* Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener , prominent British soldier in the Sudan, the Second Boer War, and World War I...
, KCB, KCMG
- 15 November 1898-4 December 1900: Major-General (Bvt. Lieutenant-General and Local General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is simply called general.-All general officer...
) the Right Honourable the Lord Kitchener, GCB, KCMG
- 19 April 1901-26 June 1902: Lieutenant-General (dated to 23 December 1899) (Local General) the Right Honourable the Lord Kitchener, GCB, GCMG
- 26 June-28 July 1902: Lieutenant-General (Local General) the Right Honourable the Lord Kitchener, GCB, OM
The Order of Merit
is an order recognizing distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture...
, GCMG
- 28 July 1902-1907: His Excellency Lieutenant-General (Local General) the Right Honourable the Viscount Kitchener, GCB, OM, GCMG
- 1907-1908: His Excellency General the Right Honourable the Viscount Kitchener, GCB, OM, GCMG
- 1908-January 1909: His Excellency General the Right Honourable the Viscount Kitchener, GCB, OM, GCMG, GCIE
- January-10 September 1909: General the Right Honourable the Viscount Kitchener, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE
- 10 September 1909-1911: Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military officer rank. Today, it is the highest rank in the armies in which it is used, one step above a general or colonel-general.-Usage and hierarchical position:...
the Right Honourable the Viscount Kitchener, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE
- 1911-27 July 1914: Field Marshal the Right Honourable the Viscount Kitchener, KP
-People:* Kinthup, code name of a nineteenth-century Sikkimese pundit.* Kumaran Pathmanadan, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebel group.* Kevin Pietersen, an English cricketer.* Karl Pilkington, podcast and radio producer....
, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE
- 27 July-6 August 1914: Field Marshal the Right Honourable the Earl Kitchener
Earl Kitchener, of Khartoum and of Broome in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1914 for the famous soldier Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener, 1st Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum...
, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE
- 6 August 1914-1915: Field Marshal the Right Honourable the Earl Kitchener, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. Its members are largely senior politicians, who were or are members of either the House of Commons or House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.The Privy Council, the...
- 1915-1916: Field Marshal the Right Honourable the Earl Kitchener, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC
See also
- Kitchener's Army
The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, Kitchener's Mob , was an all-volunteer army formed in the United Kingdom following the outbreak of hostilities in World War I...
- Kitchener, Ontario
The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...
- Canadian city named after Horatio Kitchener, with a population of about 205,000 people
- Scapegoats of the Empire
George Ramsdale Witton was a Lieutenant in the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Boer War in South Africa. He was sentenced to death for murder after the shooting of Boer prisoners...
- Kitchener bun
A Kitchener bun is a sweet pastry, found in South Australia.It consists of a split bun made from a sweet yeasted dough similar to a doughnut, filled with Raspberry or Strawbery jam and cream, most often with a dusting of sugar on the top....
Other
Kitchener is a Senior Boys house at the
Duke of York's Royal Military SchoolThe Duke of York’s Royal Military School is a co-educational secondary school in Dover, Kent, open to pupils whose parents are serving or have served in any branch of the armed services at any rank...
where, like
Welbeck collegeWelbeck Defence Sixth Form College is a sixth form college in Woodhouse, Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom, providing A-Level education for candidates to the technical branches of the British Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence civil service.Welbeck is located near Loughborough and is...
, all houses are named after prominent military figures. An officers' mess at the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham, Wiltshire, is also named after him. The other mess on the site is named after Lord Roberts, and are known to the students as either "Kitch" or "Bob's Cafe".
External links
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-