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MEMORIES
OF FORTY-EIGHT YEARS SERVICE
GENERAL HORACE
SMITH-DORRIEN
British General Sir Horace Lockwood
Smith-Dorrien is famous for his part in two famous events; the Battle of
Isandhlwana in 1879, and the Battle of Le Cateau in 1914. At Isandhlwana, he
was one of only five soldiers to survive the Zulu Army's envelopment of an
invading column of British troops. At Le Cateau, he successfully guided the
Second Corps of the British Expeditionary Force in France through one of the
most difficult operations possible, that of a fighting withdrawal.
As
the vicious trench fighting of the western front heated up in 1915, he was one
of the first senior Allied officers to request a change of methods in order to
reduce the high casualties. Instead of being encouraged in these efforts he was
removed from command by his less than imaginative superior. It will never be
known how differently the trench war might have developed had Smith-Dorrien
remained on the scene. But the loss of such a capable commander of long
experience most likely caused more hardship than otherwise might have
occurred.
The excerpts below are from Smith-Dorrien's 1925 book
Memories of Forty-Eight Years Service. This 500 page memoir begins with
his service as a young man in Africa during the Zulu War, moves on to Egypt,
India, Malta, further African service during the Boer War, and finally his
famous tour of duty in Belgium and France during World War One. |
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