KITCHENER’S DEATH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 June 1939, Page 8

KITCHENER’S DEATH

ARRANGEMENTS FOR HIS LAST VOYAGE. The arrangements for the voyage of that 'great soldier, Earl Kitchener, to Russia in 1916 will always be open to question, for it is certain that an unswept channel, where mines were known to exist, was chosen for the passage of H.M.S. Hampshire, on which Kitchener' was a passenger. That is not all. Under stress' of bad weather, the destroyers which were to escort the Hampshire turned back, leaving the vessel to steam, to her doom. Kitchener, who left England on the Hampshire on June 5,. was to visit Russia on a mission vitally important to the Allied cause in the Great War. The visit was planned at the urgent request of the Tsar, who promised that Kitchener’s counsel as to Russia’s conduct of the war would be taken to the full, even if he recommended certain transfers of control into British hands. Entering the army in 1871, Kitchenerhad a brilliant career, doing memorable work in Cyprus, Egypt, India and South Africa. From 1902 to 1909 he was Commander-in-Chief in India. In 1911 he became Consul-General in Egypt, and on the outbreak of the Great War was appointed Secretary for Wai’, and his splendid work-in building up the Army won widespread admiration.