A WEEKLY REVIEW SUPPLEMENT TO “ THE GREAT WAR, PART 241.
THE MERCANTILE MARINE
University of London O.T.C.
The tenth annual report of the Military Education
Committee of the University of London refers with
gratification to the letter from the King, in which
his Majesty sent an assurance of the interest with
which he had learnt that the University of London
Officers Training Corps continued “ to uphold the
record of splendid services which it has rendered in
the past.”
The number of commissions granted to cadets
and ex-cadets of the University of London O.T.C.
and to other graduates and students recommended
by the committee increased during the year from
4,040 to 4,413. First commissions in the Army,
Navy, or Air Force have been granted to 4,101
former cadets. Of these officers 584 have fallen in
the war.
The num ber of distinctions gained by former
cadets up to the end of 1918 is 1,176, including:
V.C., 4 ; D.S.O., 39 (including three w ith a bar) ;
Military Cross, 442 (including three with two bars
and 29 with one bar) ; Croix do Guerre, 21 ; M6daille
Militaire, 1 ; mentioned in despatches, 480 (m en
tioned four times, 3 ; thrice, 16 ; twice, 56).
Turkey’s War Losses
According to Turkish official returns, the total
losses of the Ottoman Army from the beginning of
the war to the end of 1918 are as follows :
Officers. Men.
Killed and died . . ... 5,500 .. 431,424
W o u n d e d ............................. 407,772
Prisoners and missing .. 3,030 .. 100,701
In reference to the above, the “ Times ” points
out, the “ underestimation is obvious from one
figure. In General AUenby’s last offensive alone, in
conjunction with the Hedjaz army’s operations,
over 83,000 prisoners were taken. Very largo
numbers were also captured in Mesopotamia.
Egypt, Armenia, and Gallipoli.”
Heroic Services Rendered in the War.
A wonderful story is contained in the twenty-
sixth annual report of the Imperial Merchant
Service Guild. It recounts the heroic services
rendered during the war by members of the Mer
cantile Marine.
Practically every single member, states the report,
played an active part, in the war, and 14,661 repre
sentatives of this “ purely peaceful occupation ” laid
down their lives. The 1,519 honours include six
V.C.’s, 80 D.S.O.’s, 410 D.S.C.’s, 18 bars to the
D.S.C., and 38 French decorations. Further, in the
words of the Shipping Controller, “ it was the
Merchant Marine which settled the food question-
nothing else.”
During the war, a t a rough calculation, some
13.000 officers of the Merchant Service have been
engaged as officers of the N avy and carrying on
purely naval duties, not to m ention several hundreds
who have joined the Army, being given commissions
in the Royal Engineers (Inland W ater Transport
Section).
In November last there were employed in the
N avy alone 80,000 officers and men of the Mer
chant Service; 20,000 Royal Naval Reserve
‘ ratin gs; 36,000 Trawler Reserve men, and 20,000
mercantile seamen and firemen on Government
transport agreements.
Of the 4,500 officers and men of the N avy and
Mercantile Marine who were taken prisoners of war,
the great m ajority belonged to the M erchant Service.
Over 3,200 m erchant soafarers, states the report,
lingered for years under insufferable conditions at
Ruhleben. H ad it not been for the supplies of food
they received from their homes, from the Guild,
from owners, and others, none would have survived.
The irony of the position of m any of them was the
more acute, for both they and their ships were
actually detained by the Germans several days before
war was officially declared.
The strongest pressure is being brought to bear
in impressing upon the representatives of this
country at the Peace Conference the necessity of a
stern demand for full reparation for the men of the
Merchant Service who have suffered at tho hands
of the enemy. ______
Foch and Winterfeldt
The Paris “ Figaro ” publishes the following
anecdote concerning General W interfeldt:
I t will be romembered th a t this Germ an officer
received the French decoration of tho Cross of the
Legion of H onour on the day following his au to
mobile accident, in which he was injured a t tho time
of the manoeuvres in the South-W est of France before
tho war.
On N ovem ber 11th last W interfeldt appeared
before Marshal Foch wearing this decoration on hie
tunic.
After the personal courtesies following the presenta
tion of the Germ an delegates, Marshal Foch, fixing
his eyes on W interfeldt, and especially on the
decoration, rem arked quietly, “ I authorise you, sir,
to remove it.” ______
The “ Pershing Stadium ’
The American Y.M.C.A. has begun the con
struction of the “ Pershing Stadium ,” where the
inter-allied military games will be held in June
next.
The stadium will be situated at Joinvillc, near
Paris, and will have a seating accommodation of
22.000 and a standing capacity of 40,000 more.
After the inter allied games General Pershing
will present the amphitheatre to the French Govern
m ent as a permanent souvenir of the American
Army’s presence in France.
General Fournier, who was Governor of Mau-
beuge when it capitulated to tho Germans in
September, 1914, and who was taken prisoner
along with the garrison, has returned to France.
In accordance with custom, he will be tried by
court-martial for the capitulation.
Commodore Aemilius Jarvis, president of the
N avy League of Canada, has arrived in England
w ith a cheque for £200,000, which was subscribed
during the sailors’ week campaign held throughout
Canada for the relief of dependents of merchant
seamen who perished during the Great War and of
maimed and disabled sailors of the Empire.
Historic Cartoons o f the G reat W ar
IN HONOUR OF THE BRITISH N A V Y
To Commemor te the Surrend r of tne German Fleet.
(R°prodce& from “ P u n c h , ” No'ember 2 7 , 1 9 1 8 , by perm'ssion of the. Proqmctors.)
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