LORD JELLICOE.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1919, Page 10

LORD JELLICOE.

DISTINGUISHED STRATEGIST.. NARROW ESCAPES FROM DEATH. The name of Admiral Viscount Jellieoe of Scapa, >• a household word in New Zealand, tie took charge of the great British fleet at the outbreak of war and he directed it successfully during the only great naval engagement of the war — the battle of Jutland. Lord Jellieoe was born with a, hereditary lovo of the sea. His father was a captain, who survived long enough to see his son appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Urand Fleet. Captain Jellieoe, who served in tiie Royal Mail Steamship Company for many years, passed away in 1914, and in 191(i the aged mother of Lord Jellieoe died. Destined to sea life almost from the cradle, the only question was whether Lord Jellieoe should follow his father into the merchant service. Fortunately the navy won. He entered the navy wiien he was 13 years okl, and mastered hia profession so thoroughly that, he won the special prize of £BO for gunnery at the Royal Naval College, and passed for lieutenant with three first-class certificates. He was promoted to the rank of' lieutenant in 1880, when not quite 21 years of age) and first saw active service two years later in the Egyptian war, when he won distinction. Soon afterwards he was awarded a silver m«dal for saving life at sea. He was ill on board tnc Victoria, under Sir George Tryoh, when the fatal collision occurred with the Camperdown in 1893. Luckily, he was picked up clinging to a raft, and soon recovered from his terrible experience. On two other occasions he had remarkably narrow escapes from death, one near Gibraltar, when a cutter on which he went to the aid of the crew Errackdale 'Was captured, and the other •during the fighting in China, when he was so severely wounded that his life was despaired of, In IS9B ho went to China when the Boxer riots threatened the lives of the Europeans in the Legations at Peking. Admiral Seymour took him as his flagcaptain on the Centurion, and he afterwards commanded the British Naval Brigade which rendered such splendid service. He received the honor of the Companion of the Bath, and it is interesting to record also that the Kaiser conferred .on him the order of the Red Eagle. Little did the head of the Hohenzollerns think then that the brave young English captain whom he decorated was to be the human form of the Nemesis who would one day bring to him his punishment. Two years of quieter work followed as Director of Naval Ordnance, in which position he dij much to help on the work of Admiral Sir Percy Scott in regard to gunnery. The fitting of guns and gunnery appliances were greatly improved. In 1907 he served in the Atlantic Fleet, and was knighted. His remarkable powers as a naval strategist were specially shown during manoeuvres at sea in 1913, when he commanded the Red Fleet. Two years as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty were succeeded by the command of the Atlantic Fleet in 1910-11. Next year he coramanc}ed the second squadron of the Home Fleeft. The Admiralty claimed him as Seeonil .Sea Lord, and he 1 had an opportunity of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the Resources of the navy. He had "much to do with the evolution of the super-Dreadnoughts and other developments that were soon exposed to tho fiery te&t of war on a gigantic scale. It is as commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet from 1914, to 1910 that Lord Jellieoe has come chiefly under public notice. The acceptance of the supreme command of the Grand Fleet, that "sure shielil" of great Britain, carried with it probably the greatest responsibility that ever rested upon the shoulders of one man. It is not , too much to say that the safety of the whole Empire depended upon him then. The events in which he played so important- a part during, the first two year a' of the war are familiar to all. In its long vigil the spirit of the Grand Fleet was inspired by the cheerful courage of its Commander-in-Chief. After the Jutland battle ho was promoted Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victoria Order, and not long afterwards received the Order of Merit, one of the richest distinctions the Crown can confer on a subject. From the command of the Grand Fleet Lord Jellieoe became First Sea Lord, and later was appointed Chief of the Naval Staff. When last year he was raised to the peerage as a reward for his distinguished service, it was unanimously agreed that never had such an honor been more richly deserved. Early this year, before starting on his tour of the Dominions, Lord Jellieoe was made an Admiral of the Fleet.

In 1902 Lord Jellicoe married Florence Gwendoline, daughter of Sir Charles Cayzer, first baronet, a well-kno*n shipowner. They have one son—born in 1918—and four daughters. Lady Jellicoe accompanies her husband on his tour.