Rosher, Grace - portrait of Edward VIII

Although there are many photographic portraits of Edward VIII, especially as Prince of Wales, painted miniature portraits of him are believed to be very uncommon. He succeeded his father George V and abdicated in favour of his brother George VI.

It is coincidental that the miniature was acquired for this collection just at the time Madonna released a new movie W.E (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia based upon the romance between Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson.

The film features Andrea Riseborough as Wallis Simpson and James D’Arcy as Edward. Bafta winner James Fox plays King George V, Natalie Dormer is the young Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon while Laurence Fox plays Bertie, Edward’s younger brother and the future King George VI.

This miniature was painted by Grace Rosher (?-1980) and is signed "GR 1919". The vendor commented;
This is a miniature painted by my great aunt Grace Rosher, who exhibited some of her work at the Royal Academy, London possibly from early 1920's-1960s. [showing here is Mrs Edward Compton, née Virginia Frances Bateman (1853–1940) by Grace Rosher, Victoria and Albert Museum, painted in 1935.] She wrote two books, 'Beyond the Horizon' and 'The Travellers Return' both were published in the 1960s. You can also see a larger painting by my great aunt Grace in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

The miniature is dated 1919, and signed GR. I believe it is painted on parchment, I don't think it is ivory, and from what I can see it is painted in oils. This was my great aunts usual medium, and there is a slight sheen to the painting. Measures 2 1/2 inches x 2 inches.

She was a great royalist, and whilst Prince Edward VIII was making a public appearance, she approached him to show the Prince this miniature she had been working on. He was apparently impressed, and with my great aunt being rather bold asked if he would sign the back, which he was happy to do for her.

The address of Blomfield Road is where my great aunt resided at that time. The miniature is in excellent condition.

The vendor was a little mistaken, as the miniature is on ivory and is painted in watercolour, not oil.

Apart from being an interesting addition to the collection, I had a personal reason for seeking to acquire the portrait.

Three generations of my ancestors worked at HM Stationery Office over a period of 100 years. I understand that a Grampy Green was the first and was the caretaker at HMSO for many years. My great-grandfather lived in a poorhouse, (about the time of Oliver Twist!) as his parents died when he was very young. I also understand he attended the Blue Coat charity school whose students wore blue coats and yellow stockings as showing here. Grampy Green then arranged employment for him at HMSO and over his career he rose to be Chief Inspector of Waste (the auditor of paper and ink waste!).

His son was my grandfather who also worked for HMSO and, in 1936, was required to go secretly from HMSO to Buckingham Palace on a bicycle, to collect two copies of the signature of King Edward VIII on the day of his abdication, to be used in preparing the formal printed document of the abdication, as depicted here.

One signature was for use, and one as a spare.The spare was not needed and was kept by my grandfather for many years, but after he died, my grandmother destroyed it as she was afraid she would get into trouble!

Hence, the opportunity to acquire a miniature portrait and the signature of Edward VIII, even though as Prince of Wales, and not as King Edward VIII, was impossible to pass up.

Grace Rosher was also a noted British exponent of automatic writing. She was an artist who exhibited miniature paintings in the Royal Academy, London. Her psychic talent became manifest after the loss of her fiancé Gordon E. Burdick, whom she had known for many years. In June 1956, he was serving in the Canadian Navy, stationed at Vancouver, and intended to come to London to marry Rosher. A week before sailing, he died.

Fifteen months later, Grace Rosher had written a letter concerning an aunt and was wondering if she had time to write another letter before tea-time when she had a strong urge to keep her hand on the writing pad. The pen began to move without her conscious volition, and she discovered to her astonishment that it had written a letter in the handwriting of her dead fiancé.

In the course of time, many other such automatic letters followed, stating that this phenomenon would be the means of bringing other people to realize that life continues after death.

Grace Rosher was not a Spiritualist, and sought guidance from the Rev. G. Maurice Elliot, then secretary of the Churches' Fellowshipof Psychic and Spiritual Studies. Elliot enlisted the aid of handwriting expert F. T. Hilliger who studied the automatic scripts and compared them to the handwriting of Burdick when alive.

Although initially skeptical, Hilliger reported that the automatic scripts bore a close resemblance to the genuine writing of Burdick in a large number of different ways, and were so consistent that "the writing reproduced by Grace Rosher was, if it were humanly possible, genuinely inspired by the personality of Gordon E. Burdick."

Rosher subsequently produced many other scripts, including messages from her mother, father, and three sisters, and a relative who had died in 1752.

On one occasion, she produced a communication claimed to be from the famous scientist Sir William Crookes, in handwriting remarkably similar to that of Crookes in his lifetime. For more see: http://www.answers.com/topic/grace-rosher#ixzz1WvkLTBao

The miniature of Edward dates to about the time of his August to November 1919 visit to Canada, as depicted in this cigarette card, where the number of medal ribbons he is wearing appears to be similar.

As this collection of miniature portraits grows, in terms of the range of identified sitters, there are increasing numbers of cross links.

For example appearing here are miniature portraits of some of the Prince of Wales distant cousins from the German and Russian royal families, who were on opposing sides during World War I, despite knowing each other very well.

Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany (View) and Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana of Russia (View).

All four cousins were descended from Queen Victoria and it is to be regretted that what was effectively a falling out between the various branches of the families descended from Queen Victoria led to millions of deaths during World War I.

A lot more could be written about the lives of both Edward VIII and Grace Rosher, and may be added here later. 1442

Artist "B H" - portrait of Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer

Added to the collection is a fine miniature portrait (110mm x 80mm) by an artist only identified as "B. H." The sitter was unidentified when purchased, but by interpretation of his medals and decorations, his identity has become clear as being Field Marshal Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE (13 March 1857 – 16 July 1932), a British colonial official and soldier from Torquay who commanded the British Second Army in World War I and later served as High Commissioner of the British Mandate for Palestine. He also held an unusual post as Hon. Colonel of the 4th (Waikato) New Zealand Rifles.

Confirmation of his identity has been kindly confirmed by members of www.westernfrontassociation.com/ who also advise there is a statue of him at one of the barracks in Plymouth in Devon. The location of his birthplace in Torquay is currently unclear. The portrait can also be compared to two other portraits of Plumer.

Plumer was born 13 Mar 1857, at Sussex Place, London, Middlesex, and died on 16 Jul 1932, at Ennismore Gardens, Westminster, London. He was the son of Mr Hall Plumer of Malpas Lodge, Torquay and married Annie Constance Goss, daughter of George Goss, on 22 July 1884.

They had three daughters and a son, Thomas Hall Rokeby Plumer (1890-1944), who inherited the peerage, but as 2nd Viscount Plumer he had two daughters and no son, so the title became extinct on his death on 24 February 1944.

Educated at Eton. Herbert Plumer was commissioned into the York and Lancaster Regiment in 1876. From 1879 to 1886, an unusually long period, he was Adjutant of his battalion, and in that capacity accompanied it to the Soudan in 1884 in the expedition under Sir Gerald Graham. Captain Plumer was present at the battles of El Teb and Tamai, and was mentioned in Despatches. In 1887 he passed through the Staff College, and from 1890 to 1893 was Deputy-Assistant Adjutant-General in Jersey.

In 1896 he served in the operations in South Africa under Sir Frederick Carrington, when he organized and commanded a corps of Mounted Rifles, subsequently obtaining another mention in Despatches and a brevet Lieutenant-Colonelcy. Colonel Plumer's experiences in this arduous campaign are described in a very interesting manner in his book "With an Irregular Corps in Matabeleland."

After service in South Africa he was appointed Commander of the 4th Brigade within I Army Corps in 1902 before moving on to be General Officer Commanding 10th Division within IV Army Corps in 1903. In 1904 he became Quartermaster-General to the Forces and in 1906 he became GOC 5th Division within Irish Command. Then in 1911 he was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Northern Command. In October 1915 he was created a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. Early in 1916 his services were rewarded with the GCMG, he was made a Grand Officer of the Belgian Order of Leopold, and promoted to the rank of general.

As a senior officer in the British Army Plumer would have known well two other Field Marshalls in the British Army who are represented by miniature portraits on ivory in this collection.

The first of these is an unsigned, but the sitter wearing a red jacket is Field Marshal Sir John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres (1852-1925) who was an important British military commander during World War I and Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force. He was succeeded in December 1915 by his then deputy Sir Douglas Haig. French subsequently held the position of Commander of the British Home Forces. View

Although another miniature portrait on ivory is also unsigned and not of high artistic quality, the identity of the sitter makes it an interesting portrait. The sitter wearing a blue jacket is Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC (24 Jun 1850-5 Jun 1916). View

Later in the war, Plumer was sought by Lloyd George for the position of Chief of the Imperial General Staff as a replacement for William Robertson. Plumer declined the position and leaving no private papers and never having expressed a recorded opinion of the conduct of the war, the lengthy debate over the Generalship in World War I largely passed him by.

He became Commander of the British Army of the Rhine in 1918, Governor of Malta in 1919 and then High Commissioner of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1925 and resisted Arab pressure to reverse commitments made by the British in the Balfour Declaration. His three-year term as High Commissioner is generally noted as the calmest period during the British Mandate. He was replaced by Sir John Chancellor in 1928. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

He had served in the Second Army in Flanders during World War I, during which he won an overwhelming victory over the German Army at the Battle of Messines in 1917, started with what was described as the loudest explosion in human history, created by the simultaneous explosion of 19 mines by the Royal Engineer tunneling companies. He reportedly said that before the battle commenced; 'Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography.'

Plumer is generally regarded as one of the finest army commanders serving in France during World War I. Like the majority of generals on the Western Front he was from an infantry, as opposed to a cavalry background and deprecated the insistence on the value of the "breakthrough" and the effectiveness of cavalry to exploit the opening and reach the open country beyond the front line. 773, 1405

Unknown - portrait of Fanny Goschen

Unfortunately, this miniature is unsigned, but the sitter is clearly identified on the reverse as "Fanny Goschen - sister of Charles Hermann Goschen".

The Goschen family was a very wealthy British family in the late 19C and early 20C. They were prominent in banking, politics, and diplomacy,

Two ladies named Fanny Goschen have been located. Fanny Eliza Goschen (26 Aug 1843 - JFM 1869) at Saint John, Eltham, Kent, England. She was the daughter of William Henry Goschen (3 Jul Jan 1793 - 28 Jul 1866) and Henrietta Ohmann (c1805 - 14 Mar 1895).

The second Fanny was her niece, Fanny Evelyn Goschen born in 1875 at Hawkhurst, Kent. It seems that Fanny junior was therefore named for her aunt who had died seven years earlier.

The choice between the two is not as clear cut as might be expected, as there were two men named Charles Hermann Goschen. The first born in 1839 and brother to Fanny Eliza.

The second Charles Hermann Goschen was born in June 1867, but seems to have been a cousin of Fanny Evelyn.

Women's hair styles were also sometimes similar in the 1860's and around 1900, so that is not a clear guide either.

After considering the various clues, Fanny Eliza seems more likely and if so her apparent age in the miniature means it dates from around her death in 1869.

But then again, given the colour palette, which is later than 1869, and more from the 20C, it seems likely that the family must have arranged for a miniature portrait to be painted around 1910, as a copy from a photograph. Quite likely from a photograph which was deteriorating in condition.

The reference to Charles Hermann Goschen, rather than his more famous brother, Viscount George Goschen (1831-1907) was puzzling at first. After considering this for a while, a possible reason emerged. Viscount Goschen died in 1907 and Charles in 1915. Thus, if the supposition that the miniature was painted in the 20C, and were painted, say in 1912, it would be logical to refer to a surviving brother, rather than a deceased brother.

Another complication in being certain as to which Fanny is the sitter, is that some branches of the Goschen family lived outside Britain for various periods and so are difficult to trace through BMD and census records.

Although unsigned, the miniature is by one of the best British artists of the Edwardian era as the artistic quality is so high, as can be seen in the close up images.

Fanny was one of a large family of five girls and five boys, including Charles Hermann Goschen (21 Jan 1839 - 22 Mar 1915), the third boy who became a Director of the Bank of England. The eldest boy George Joachim Goschen (10 Aug 1831 - 7 Feb 1907) became 1st Viscount Goschen and was a well known politician, as Member of Parliament, Vice-President of the Board of Trade, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, President of the Poor Law Board, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and First Lord of the Admiralty.

The youngest son, William Edward Goschen (18 July 1847 - 20 May 1924) was also created a Baronet.

He held various political posts and was the British Ambassador to Germany at the outbreak of World War I. He noted in his diary playing violin duets with the Crown Prince of Germany in 1910.

(Coincidentally, a miniature of the Crown Prince has just been added to this collection, seen here, but also seen with more detail at Artist "J T A" - portrait of Crown Prince Willhelm of Germany



Thus Fanny had three famous brothers.

Being such a well known politician, the eldest, Viscount George Joachim Goschen featured in the news and cartoons of the day. Here is a selection of them.

Charles Hermann Goschen, the brother mentioned on the reverse of the miniature was also prominent. In 1872, Charles Hermann Goschen, then Lord Lieutenant of the City of London, purchased the Ballards estate near Coombe, Croydon and built a new mansion, demolishing the old building. In the 1920s, the estate was donated to the trustees of the Warehousemen, Drapers, and Haberdashers Company, as a school.

The new school, built to the side of the mansion, was designed by Sir Aston Webb, architect of Imperial College. The school is now known as Royal Russell School.

Heathfield House was also bought by Goschen in 1872, who rebuilt the former farmhouse and leased it to his brother Henry, one of the last serving members of the East India Company. In 1927 Raymond Riesco bought the property, creating banks of rhododendrons and a walled garden. Riesco arranged for the house, gardens and farmland to be bought by Croydon Council upon his death and donated his collection of oriental ceramics. The house is now the Council's training centre, with the gardens open to the public. The farm is still cultivated, with part used as horse pasture and the Monks Hill estate built on the eastern end. 1362

Bryant, M - portrait of a lady

This miniature is by an apparently unrecorded British artist named M Bryant who must have been an accomplished amateur.

However, M Bryant does display considerable talent, as can be seen in the close up image. The lace-work on the dress is also well painted.

The miniature is dated on the reverse of the black ebonised frame "March 1908" and so is useful for dating both the artist and the clothing.

The miniature appears to be signed at the lower left "M Bryant", although it is possible that it may read differently.

Sight size is 80mm x 60mm.

Unfortunately the sitter who is wearing a blue dress and a gold locket on a chain is unidentified. 1347

Helzel, Adolf - portrait of Prince Ernst August, Duke of Cumberland

Note - This miniature has been in the European section of the collection as an unidentified German officer. However, as a kind visitor has now identified him for me, and as he was a British Prince, British Peer, and British Army General, he has now also been included in the British section. He must have been perhaps the only British Army General who was on the German side in World War I !!

This miniature is signed "A Helzel Berlin" for Adolf Helzel who owned a Berlin porcelain painting works. He was active around 1894.

The portrait is painted in enamel on copper. This is a very demanding technique, as the colours have to be put on separately as they need to be fired at different temperatures and also they change colour when they are fired. (Apologies for the scanner glare.)

When first listed here, the sitter was unknown, but I am now very grateful to the kind visitor who has provided the following information.

"The sitter is H.R.H. Ernst August, Duke of Cumberland (1845 - 1923), formerly the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Hanover. He was a great grandson of King George III of England. He wears the uniform of the Austrian Infantry regiment of which he was honorary Colonel."

This has enabled me to expand the description and provide a link to more about him at Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover - Wikipedia, the free ...

History records Crown Prince Ernst August II of Hanover, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, (Ernest Augustus William Adolphus George Frederick; 21 September 1845–14 November 1923), was the eldest child and only son of George V of Hanover and his wife, Marie of Saxe-Altenburg.

His title at birth was His Royal Highness Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

When his father King George V of Hanover died in Paris on 12 June 1878, Prince Ernst August succeeded him as Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale in the Peerage of Great Britain and Earl of Armagh in the Peerage of Ireland. Queen Victoria created him a Knight of the Garter on 1 August 1878.

Ernst August had the misfortune of being deprived of the thrones of Hanover upon its annexation by Prussia in 1866 and later the Duchy of Brunswick in 1884.

Queen Victoria appointed the Duke of Cumberland a major general in the British Army in 1886 and promoted him to lieutenant general in 1892 and general in 1898. Although he was a British peer and a prince of Great Britain and Ireland, he continued to consider himself an exiled monarch of a German Principality, making his home in Gmunden, Upper Austria.

The similarity of the British and Hanover royal standards can be seen here in these two flags.

On 13 Nov 1914 the New York Times reported from Copenhagen; "Prince Ernst August, Duke of Cumberland, father of the Duke of Brunswick, the son-in-law of the Kaiser, has been discovered wandering about in a demented condition. It is reported that the horror's of the war have affected the Prince's brain and he is now confined in an asylum. The Duke of Brunswick has been reported missing for several weeks." However, it seems that the Duke was later found and lived until 1953.

Although he was the senior male-line great grandson of George III, the Duke of Cumberland was deprived of his British peerages and honours for having sided with Germany in World War I. 1185

Mist, H - portrait of a lady

This very well painted miniature portrait is a little frustrating as, although well signed on front and rear, the artist's signature is very hard to decipher.

It appears to read on the front "H Mist 1905", but no artist of that name has been found.

On the rear, it may read "H C Mist - Overden (Ovenden?) 1905" but that place reading may be incorrect. Thus any visitor opinions of the artist's correct name and location would be welcome.

Subsequently, a kind visitor has suggested "Dresden" as an alternative interpretation of "Overden". Dresden is a German city where there were many expert miniature painters who also painted on porcelain.

Any biographical information on the artist would be welcome, as the reference books do not seem to include her/him.

The case has a silver hallmark for Birmingham with a "y" dating the frame to 1898/99, with a maker's mark "C S * F" or "C S * E".

Thus the Birmingham mark suggests the artist was not from London.

However, it is a little surprising that the frame is several years earlier than the portrait.

This could perhaps be explained by a Birmingham frame being exported to Germany, and later used by an artist based in Dresden.

It is very competently painted and does not appear to be on a photographic base.

Unknown - portrait of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge

This miniature portrait was described by the seller only as "Victorian miniature portrait of a military gentleman", but it has been possible to determine the identity of the sitter as Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (26 Mar 1819 – 17 Mar 1904).

The miniature is unsigned and unfortunately it seems the artist used a fugitive red colour for the jacket, which has changed to a dark red-brown over time, with traces of bright red only apparent at the extreme edges where the frame covered the paint.

To try and identify the sitter, it was noted that the sitter is wearing the blue sash of the Order of the Garter. Therefore a search of holders of the order was the first step.

There is a list of all holders of this decoration at List of the Knights of the Garter (1348-present) It looks a dauntingly long list to work through, but by taking a stab at 19C holders who appeared to be soldiers, the first guess turned out to be correct and was confirmed by comparison with other images of the Duke of Cambridge, including the photo here taken in 1890 of him in full dress uniform.

A kind fellow researcher has indicated they agree with the attribution. It seems unlikely the miniature was painted from life, but no source has been located to date. Nevertheless, given his apparent age it must have been painted at the end of the 19C. Perhaps for Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1897 or the coronation of Edward VII in 1902.

Prince George was born at Cambridge House in Hanover, Germany. His father was Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, the 10th child and 7th son of King George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Like his father, he embarked upon a military career. In November 1837, after he had served for a short time in the Hanoverian army, he received the rank of colonel in the British Army. He was attached to the staff at Gibraltar from October 1838 to April 1839. After serving in Ireland with the 12th Royal Lancers (the Prince of Wales's), he was appointed colonel of the 17th Light Dragoons (now Lancers), in April 1842. From 1842 to 1845, he served as a colonel on the staff in the Ionian islands.

The Duke of Cambridge became Inspector of the Cavalry in 1852. He held that post until 1854, when, upon the outbreak of the Crimean War, he received command of the 1st Division (Guards and Highland brigades) of the British army in the East. In June 1854, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General. He was present at the battles of the Alma, Balaclava and Inkerman, and at the siege of Sevastopol.

On 5 July 1856, the Duke was appointed general commanding-in-chief of the British Army; a post that was retitled commander-in-chief of the forces by Letters Patent in 1887. In that capacity he served as the chief military advisor to the Secretary of State for War, with responsibility for the administration of the army and the command of forces in the field. He was promoted to the rank of field marshal on 9 November 1862.

The Duke of Cambridge was the longest serving head of the British Army, serving as commander-in-chief for 39 years. He was forthright in his reluctance to adopt change: "There is a time for everything, and the time for change is when you can no longer help it."

However, over time, there were increasing calls for change and in 1890 a royal commission led by Lord Hartington (later the 8th Duke of Devonshire) criticized the administration of the War Office.

The Duke of Cambridge was forced to resign his post on 1 November 1895, when he was succeeded by Lord Garnet Wolseley (1833-1913) , whose duties were considerably modified, see View and as seen in this miniature in this collection.

The Duke of Cambridge made no secret of his view that "arranged marriages were doomed to failure." He married privately and in contravention of the 1772 Royal Marriages Act at St. John's Church, Clerkenwell, London on 8 January 1847 to Sarah Fairbrother (1816-12 January 1890), the ninth child and fifth daughter of John Fairbrother, a partner in a family printing firm in Bow Street.

Sarah Fairbrother became an actress in 1830, performing at Drury Lane, the Lyceum, and Covent Garden Theatre. She is shown here as Abdullah in 1848. As can be imagined it was highly unusual to see a woman's legs in the middle of the 19C.

As the marriage did not exist in British law, the Duke's wife was never titled Duchess of Cambridge nor accorded the style Her Royal Highness. Instead, she was known as "Mrs. FitzGeorge." She was not regarded as a member of the British Royal Family.

The Duke was distraught by her death, leading the mourning at her burial in Kensal Green Cemetery, and regularly marking the anniversary of her death. The Duke of Cambridge and Mrs. FitzGeorge had three sons, two of whom were born before their marriage, invalid as a result of the Royal Marriages Act 1772, and all of whom pursued military careers.

Like many members of royalty, the Duke possessed an important collection of snuff boxes. After the Duke's death a Louis XV gold snuff box from his collection was sold at auction for £ 2000. 1315

Unknown - portrait of Lord Kitchener

Although this miniature portrait on ivory is unsigned and not of high artistic quality, the identity of the sitter makes it an interesting portrait.

The sitter is thought to be Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC (24 Jun 1850-5 Jun 1916).

However there is some slight reservation over this, as the sitter is wearing a blue uniform jacket, whereas images of Kitchener normally show him in a red or khaki army uniform jacket.

Perhaps a kind visitor to this site will help me by identifying the uniform and the medals and thus confirming or otherwise the sitter as Kitchener.

Kitchener was born in Ballylongford, County Kerry in Ireland, 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-Irish as his father had only recently bought land in Ireland.

His military career commenced when he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers on 4 January 1871.

Kitchener attained the rank of Field Marshal and held several commands including;
- Mahdist War (1884-1899)
- Second Boer War (1900–1902)
- Commander-in-Chief, India (1902–1909)

By chance Kitchener was in Britain on leave at the outset of World War I.

Taking advanatge of this, the Prime Minister, Herbert H. Asquith, quickly had Kitchener appointed Secretary of State for War; as Asquith himself had been filling the role on a temporary basis.

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.

It is doubtful that even he realised how devastating it would become, culminating in the rise of Communism, and later the Nazi Party.

Kitchener also stated that the conflict would plumb the depths of manpower "to the last million." Tragically, he was correct with his predictions and millions of soldiers lost their lives fighting a new kind of war for which they were poorly trained and ill equipped.

His view was the opposite of that held by a large number of people who embarked upon the war believing "the war would be over by Christmas."

In the early part of World War I, the three most important members of the British armed forces were Kitchener, Admiral Jellicoe, and Sir John French shown together here.

There is also a miniature portrait of Sir John French in this collection, see View.

A massive recruitment campaign was began in 1914, which soon featured a distinctive poster of Kitchener himself, taken from a magazine front cover.

There were several versions of the poster and it is one of the most famous posters of all time. The basic format has been used for many other posters and advertising campaigns since then.



At the end of 1915, the new Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 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.

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.

At Scapa Flow, Lord Kitchener embarked aboard the armoured cruiser HMS Hampshire for his diplomatic mission to Russia. On 5 June 1916, while en route to the Russian port of Arkhangelsk, Hampshire struck a mine laid by the newly-launched German U-boat U-75 (commanded by Curt Beitzen) during a Force 9 gale and sank west of the Orkney Islands. Kitchener, his staff, and 643 of the crew of 655 were drowned or died of exposure. His body was never found.

For much more about him, see Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener - Wikipedia, the free ... 1314