(5i9) 
WITH THE INTERNATIONAL FIELD FORCE IN CRETE, 1897 
BY 
MAJOR H. C. C. D. SIMPSON, R.A 
(A Lecture delivered at the Royal Artillery Institution, Woolwich, Thursday, 2nd March, 1899,) 
Major-Gbnbeal J. F. Maurice, c.b. K.A., in thb Chair. 
G ENERAL MAURICE, Officers and Gentlemen:—After the re¬ 
cent lectures in this Institution on the stirring incidents of the 
Soudan Campaign, I feel great diffidence in appearing before you to¬ 
day to recount my experiences with the International Forces in Crete, 
as the long and monotonous occupation was not varied by any con¬ 
tinuous series of operations, nor marked by any circumstance of other 
than local interest. To many officers of this force, the political and 
naval, rather than the military aspect of the situation;, was the most 
interesting. But these will not form the subject of my discussion to¬ 
day, as the political circumstances have been freely detailed in the news¬ 
papers, and the naval operations in the February number of the 
“ United Service Magazine.” I may however perhaps be allowed to 
state that our country played the most important role,—the first violin 
of the European concert. By making ourselves responsible for Candia 
the centre of Cretan Mahommedism, our troops had the most difficult 
task assigned to them, and it was by events at that town last September, 
that a rapid solution of the Cretan problem was arrived at, though alas 
over the dead bodies of our brave soldiers and sailors. 
For years Crete had been the hot-bed of insurrections and disturb¬ 
ances, but the immediate events which led to the military occupation 
of Crete by the Powers are doubtless well known to you. They follow¬ 
ed in quick succession in the first 2^ months of 1897. Massacres of 
the Christians by Moslems at Candia and elsewhere, had been followed 
by the same occurrences at Sitia, where the Christians retaliated on the 
Moslems. The Gendarmery revolted at Canea, the capital of the Is¬ 
land, and the greater part of that town was burnt. The Admirals of 
the six great Powers, Russia, France, Germany, Austria, Italy and our¬ 
selves, accordingly assumed the general direction of affairs, but Greek 
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