HONOURS FOR WAR SERVICES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 248, 14 July 1919, Page 6

HONOURS FOR WAR SERVICES

"GREAT SAILORS AND SOLDIERS OF THE PAST HANDSOME GIFTS FROM THE NATION Now that the bestowal of Peace honours in connection with the Great War is imminent, it may be interesting to recall a few outstanding names of those who in the past were the recipients ot special distinction and awards in recognition of meritorious naval or military services. In this retrospect it may at tho outset be said broadly that large sums of money for siish services were rarely given until the eighteenth century. In 1684 Legge, Earl of Dartmouth, received .£IO,OOO and authority ' to hold a fair twice a vear and a market twice a week upon Bl'nckheath." This whs lor what ho had done 'at the evacuation m Tangier, but a grant of that kind stands at the period practically alone. Peerages were generally given, but sometimes quite I as much on political grounds ns for exploits on sea or land. Marlborough, Ligonier,- Anson, snd Hawke. The victories of Marlborough, iii the War of Succession caused mucn vejoicin" in Great Britain, and for Ins services he was made a duke in 1702, receiving at the same time an annuity of £5000 for the Queen's life. Two years later came hi--, triumph at Blenheim, which broke the spell attaching to France under Louis XIV, who gloried in calling himself the Invincible. As a reward the manor of Woodstock was tians. ferred to Marlbornujjh by Act of Parliament. The gift was enhanced by iter Majestr, who directed Vanbrugh to erect a palace in the park, and, £240,000 of public money was expended on the buildings. After Blenheim the great commander continued his achievements leading up to t'he Treaty of Utrecht, which gave to 'Europe thirty years of peace. Ligonier, who had participated with distinction in nearly all Marlborough s. fights; took part in the Rhine campaign under Lord Stair, in 1742-43, when 'he was made a Knight of the Bath on the held ; of Dettingen by George 11, the last oc- ; tasion on which the Sovereign led troops • in battle. He was created Viscount Lig-i onier of Clonmell, with an annuity of <■ 31500. and elevated ultimately to an Lng-' lish Earldom. For his important sue- . cess off Cape Finisterre in 1747 Admiral ; Anson, the circumnavigator of the globe, , was created a baron of the United King- [ dom, his second in command, Rear-; Sdmiral Warren,' received the K. 8., and • the senior cantain, tho Hon. Edward j Bojcawen, was specially included in the | next promotion to flag rank. The victory j "at Ouiberon Bay in November, 1759, so-1 cured for AdmiraL Sir Edward Hawko j a pension of .£2OOO a year, while his Hag ; [ captain, who brought the news to Eng-; land, was presented with .£SOO, Hawke ! reaching the peerage at ala lor date. ; Amherst, Clive, and Rodney. j Amhorst, who had served with much j credit on the staff of. Ligonier at Eon-1 coux, Dettingen, and* Fontenoy, did his j best work not in Europe but in Canada, ; and was, after acting as chief adviser I at Headquarters' during the American i War of Independence, raised to the Peer- | age in appreciation of his services. In i 17G0 Clive returned from his successes I in India to be bailed by Pitt "as ai hoaven-born general," and created Baron j Clive of Plassev, the scene of his victory, j which laid the foundation of British-sit- j premacy in the East. The Battle of The j Saints in 1782 brought a Barony of the United Kingdom to Admiral Rodney, who was awarded a pension of .£2OOO, and his second in command, Sir Samuel Hood, obtained an Irish Barony, while *five years later Eliott was ennobled as Lord Heathfield for his memorable -defence of Gibraltar against tho forces of Franco and Spain. Howe, Bridport, and Duncan, ,In 1782, in belated recognition .evidently of his services during the earlier part 'of the American War of Independence, Lord Howe was created a V iscount of Great Britain, and afterwards promoted to an Earldom. In connection with the conflict known as that of the Glorious First of June, 1791, he was presented willi a diamond-hilted sword, and his sccond'in command, Admiral Graves, was made an Irish Baron, with an annuity of .€IOOO, while the third m rank, Admiral Sir Alexander Hood, likewise obtained an Irish Barony. Following his victory off Belle Isle in June, 1795. Lord 'Bridport (Samuel Hood), an Irish Baron, became an English Peer, and was the year after appointed to the substantial sinecure post of Vice-Admiral of Lngland. Admiral Sir John Jervis was the recipient of an Earldom, with a .£3OOO annuity, for the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1797. Commodore Nelson, who had been promoted Rear-Admiral before the news of'the action reached England, was made a K. 8., and in the same year Admiral Duncan was elevated to a Viscounty, with a .£3OOO pension, for the victory of Camperdown. Nelson and Wellington, In August, 1798, Nelson became a Baron of Great Britain, and was voted a pension of £2000 by the Britisn and ,£IOOOI by the Irish Parliament for the Battle of tho Nile, while following his success at Copenhagen m 1801 he was elevated to a Viscounty. But for lrafalgar, where Nelson fell in the hour of triumph, an Earldom with liberal endowments was conferred on his brother, and other grants and pensions were made to his family. His second m command, Collingwood. was made a Baron of the United Kingdom. Hardy, of the Victory, who had been noting practically ns Captain of the Fleet, was knighted, and gold medals were presented to flag officers as well as to captains commanding lino of battleships. A peerage with the title of Viscount Wellington and Baron Douro was conferred on Sir Arthur Wollesley for TaU v«ra and an Earldom after the fall of Ciudad Kodrigo. For Salamanca his reward was a marquessate and a grant of .£IOO,OOO for the purchase,of an estate. When in 1814 peace was proclaimed after the abdication of Napoleon, Wellington returned to England, where he was hailed with extraordinary enthusiasm, created a duke, and given a 'fresh grant of £100,000, with the thanks of Parliament. Next year Napoleon escaped fiorn Elba, and niado his last throw for empire at Waterloo, "Wellington receiving for the final defeat there of the disturber of the peace of Europe a gift from Parliament of ,£200,000. The estate of Ptrathfieldsave, in Hampshire, purchased from Lord Rivers for ,£263,000, was also given to him by the nation. Lynodoch, Combermere, Clyde, and Napier. For their parts played under Wellington in the Peninsular War, Sir John Hope became Baron Niddry, General Graham was created Baron Lynedoch, revising a pension of ,£2OOO, LieutenantGeneral Stapleton-Cotton was made Baron Combermero, and Rowland Hill was dignified with the title of Baron Hill. The bombardment of Algiers in August, 1816, brought Lord Exmouth a viscounty. On the outbreak of the Crimean' War in 1851 Sir Colin Campbell was appointed lo the command of the Highland Brigade, and was rewarded with a G.C.I). In July, 1857, when the news reached England of tho Mutiny, Palmerston gave him command of the forces in India, where he arrived in November. He effected the final relief of Luckuow, and in December, 1858, announced that the rebellion was ended In appreciation of his services he wa3 elevated to the peerage as Lord Clyde, was made a field-marshal, and was given a nension of .£2OOO. The expedition to Mngdala, in Aby.s>inia. in IBGB brought Napier the thanks of Parliament am] a baroi.y, with an annuity of £2000. Wolseley, Roberts, and Kitchener, The great services of Wolseley, Roberts, and Kitchener are still fresh in the public mind. The Ashanti expedition of 1874 evoked for Wolseley the thanks of Parliament and a gift of .£25,000; while on his return, from the Egyptinn operations of 18S2 the thanks of both Houses wore again accorded, with a grant of ,£30,000. He was then raised to the rank of a Baron, his elevation to a Viscounty following the Nile campaign of 1885.

Roberts's "Forty-one Years iff'lndia" is an. excellent record of his splendid service there. In 1892 Sir Frederick Roberts, as lie was at the time, was raised to the Peerage as Baron Roberts, and in April, 1893, after having held the post of Commander-in-Chief in India for nearly eight years, he returned to England, where ho found himself the most popular General since Wellington. After the disastrous events in the Doer War of December,' 1.881), fit ilagerstontein, Storniberg, and Onenso, where his son lost his lite, Roberts was dispatched to South Africa. When the power of the enemy had been broken "Bobs," as he was familmi ly called, handed over the command to Kitchener and came back to England to succeed Wolseley as Com-mander-in-Chief of the Army. He was invested with a Knighthood of the Garter, and received an Earldom, with the thanks of both Houses of Parliament, as well as a grant of ,£IOO,OOO. Kitchener was made a Baron for his Niio Expedition of 1838-98, with a giit of .£30,000 and the thanks of Parliament. On returning from the South African War he was elevated to a Viscounty, with a grant of £50,000, and became nn Earl in 1914.

Politicians and Fighting Men'. For the Armageddon just ended Admiral Sir John Jellicoe was raised to the Peerage. Wliat is in store for others who have taken part in bringing to n successful issue the greatest war of all time remains to be seen. It was recently shown in the "Morning Post" t'nut between December 6,'1916, and April 29, 1919, there had been created fifty-six new Peers or' promotions in the Peerage and ninety-nine new Baronets. Out of these 155 hereditary honours no fewe.r than 134 were conferred on politicians, party servers, and other 1 civilians, while only one was bestowed on the fighting services, namely, the solitary Peerage of Admiral Jelhcoe. Lord French's elevation for war services was anterior to December,-1916. The balance, therefore, on April 29, 1919, for the period just indicated (nearly three years and a half) stood at 155* to one against the fighting men.