LAND AND WATER. 
January 20, igi6. 
operations all over the world must exist, and asirfthe 
case of the land dispatches, these must have been 
accompanied by very full lists of the officers* whose 
services have been conspicuously meritorious both 
in naval actions, in amphibious operations, and 
what is certainly not less important than either, 
in the maintenance of the efficiency and readiness 
of their squadrons, their ships and of special 
departments of their ships.- Now in the case of 
land operations, not only are the dispatches 
published, but also the full list of those so men- 
tioned. We have had either three or four such 
lists from Lord French and Sir Ian Hamilton, 
and the numbers of officers and men already 
selected for the distinction of " mentioned " runs 
to a great man}' thousands. Is there any reason 
\\ hy the much smaller lists of naval officers and 
men selected for praise by their Commanders 
should not be published ? Large as is the number 
of naval honours conferred, it is exceedingly un- 
likely that once you have got past the highest 
ranks, one honour is given for every ten officers 
recommended. When you are dealing with pro- 
motions from Commander to Captain' and from 
Lieutenants to Commander, it is again probable 
that at ' least three officers are recommended 
for every one that is fortunate enough to meet 
with selection. Is not the reputation these officers 
and men would get by the publication of their 
praise, theirs by right ? If it is why should it be 
withheld? Such pubHcation involves no evasion of 
the secrecy which we all admit to be necessarv to 
naval operations. 
That Torty-four naval names should be in- 
cluded in one honours' list is, as I have said, un- 
precedented, and the comment has been made 
that it is a large crop of honours for a relatively 
small amount of actual fighting. It is pointed 
out that, if military officers are to be rewarded 
on the same scale the number of knights would 
be legion. But this is surely a very illogical way 
of looking at things. Naval actions have a way 
of being decisive ; in all wars the proportion of sea 
to land fighting is and must be small. In normal 
times the Army necessarily sees more actual service 
than the Navy, and for generations has had ten 
knight companionships to the Navy's one. The 
Navy's service must be looked on as a whole, and 
it must be realised that the number of naval 
officers eligible for the highest decorations is ex- 
ceedingly small. Note also that these are the 
first titles conferred on naval officers since the war 
began. There is indeed one exception. Rear 
Admiral Sir Archibald Moore was gazetted to 
K.C.B. in August, 1914. But the honour was 
conferred not for his work as second in command 
to Sir David Beatty, but for long service at the 
Admiralty. Here- except for six months as flag 
captain in the Dreadnought , and another six months 
as Captain of the Fleet — he served, I believe, con- 
tinuously from i()07 to T014, successively as naval 
assistant to the First Sea Lord, as Director of Naval 
Ordnance, as Controller and as Third Sea Lord. 
Indeed, far from the Navy's receiving too 
many honours, it is obvious that it receives far too 
few. and partly because the flow of honours is 
arbitrarily restricted by the rule that no officer 
of the rank of post captain can receive a knight 
companionship. Now there are only 94 officers 
on the active list above the rank of captain, and 
of these, the three Admirals of the Fleet are seldom 
if ever employed, and even in time of war a large 
proportion of the full, Vice, and Rear Admirals 
have to ,bt without posts. For obvious reasons 
many coni^mands which are of equal importance 
to many Rear Admirals' commands, are given 
to Officers of junior rank because of their proved 
ability and genius for leadership. The greater 
part of the operations of the Heligoland Bight 
for instance, were under the personal command 
of Captain Reginald Tyrwhitt serving as Com- 
modore in command of light cruisers and des- 
troyers. In the fifth and last of his engagements 
on that historic day he was relieved of the atten- 
tions of the German cruiser Mainz by another light 
cruiser squadron commanded by another post 
captain, Commodore (ioodenough. Again keep- 
ing to this operation only, remember that it was 
only made possible by the extensive and very 
astonishing reconnaissance which the submarines 
had carried' but, and they too had been under the 
command of a third post Captain, Commodore 
Roger Keyes. It would be easy to multiply th-o 
instances in which captains have acted on their own 
as senior naval officers, either of considerable 
bodies of ships or in command of extensive opera- 
tions. The case of Captain Cyril Fuller on the 
African Coast is an obvious instance. Nor should 
the vast^y responsible staff work at Whitehall, 
now carried on by Captains be forgotten. What- 
ever the' table of relative military and naval 
precedeirce may say, not only is work of this kind 
far more comparable to that which in the Army 
is discharged by men whose rank entitles them to 
knight companionships, but it is really open to 
question whether the colossal multiplication. , of 
responsibility which the increase in size and 
power of 'the modern battleship has brought 
about does not, rightly considered, put the Captains 
of all the latest capital ships on a level at whicb it 
is absurd to deny them the right to a title for q^ip- 
spicuously. meritorious service. And this sugg^sJfs 
a further refiection. ' ..- 
A man who serves his country 20 years, io 
the volunteer force is entitled to a long service 
decoration, a distinction which is no doubt 
thoroughly earned. But a man may serve 40 years 
with credit, in the Navy and letire as Captain or 
Rear Admiral with no honorr of any kind what- 
ever. The honours fall to those who by good 
fortune or superior merit have exceptional oppor- 
tunities, and to those whose agreeable personal 
qualities make them acceptable to the distinguished 
civilians who from time to time govern the Navy. 
But remember that no man can be prom.oted from 
lieutenant to commander and from commander to 
Captain and serve his due time at sea, without 
rendering to his country a service with w hich 
20 years in the volunteer force cannot be com- 
pared at all. RejTiember that he has carried his 
own life^ and the life of hundreds in his hands 'ji 
years. He has been responsible for ships whose 
value may come to n;illions. It is true he may 
retire with the title of Captain, but a few years 
service in. the Army has entitled thousands ol 
young men to" such distinction as this title gives 
Is it not time to recognise that, merely to read 
captain's rank argues a debt from the country that 
should be recognised by some mark that will dis- 
tinguish a man from 'his neighbours on public 
occasions ? The Imperial Service Order is already 
conferred for years of meritorious work in the 
different civilian services. Service in the Navy is 
conspicuously imperial. Wh\' should not every 
Captain receive this order on retirement ? 
ARTHUR POLLEN 
