Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien and Sir John French could not have been more different. Smith-Dorrien, an infantryman, was the epitome of the ‘Soldier of Empire’. His life covers a remarkable period of history. He met survivors of Waterloo and one of his subalterns at Le Cateau was Bernard Montgomery. His life thus encompasses the extraordinary rise of Victorian England to global superpower and its mortal wounding in the Great War. Having fought alongside French, a cavalryman, in South Africa, Smith-Dorrien’s approach to military training when he became GOC Aldershot put the two men increasingly at odds. Their relationship came to a head when Smith-Dorrien took the decision to stand and fight at Le Cateau in 1914. As the BEF faced the German onslaught French came under increasing pressure. He could not blame Kitchener, under whose orders he had to operate, and so his ire fell on Smith-Dorrien who he saw as a potential rival. The second battle of Ypres was the catalyst that lead to Smith-Dorrien’s sacking. He was a man who understood his troops, however, in a way that few of his contemporaries did. If there is to be merit in re-telling his story, it is to show that by his leadership and example he was not a ‘donkey’ leading lions, but, if anything, he was a lion among lions. Charles Barrington’s first book was about his maternal grandfather, Guy Meade, who was in ‘J’ Battery, RHA, with the BEF in 1914. In the course of his research, Charles became interested in the life of Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien who commanded II Corps in the BEF. The story of Smith-Dorrien’s stand at Le Cateau is one of great generalship and was one of history’s pivotal moments. That it lead some months later to Smith-Dorrien being sacked is little short of a tragedy. Among Charles’s earliest recollections is going to the Royal Tournament and sitting at the ringside as the King’s Troop thundered past. On his mantelpiece stands one of the shell cases fired by his father – then himself in command of ‘J’ Battery – at the Victory Parade in Berlin in 1945 in the presence of Winston Churchill. Charles has lived in the same house in Suffolk for the last 50 years, surrounded by dogs, cats, donkeys, and a few wayward bantams. His wife of 55 years, Ann, has done the picture editing that has brought his books to life. Charles went to Wellington but has never been a soldier despite having a father, godfather, and both grandfathers in the gunners. Somewhere along the line he qualified as an accountant followed by a career in shipping and banking before becoming a consultant on a number of MoD projects culminating in the successful reconstruction of Colchester Garrison. As his grandmother used to say, there is only one muscle you need to keep fit – the one between your ears.
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