Vegetius ca. 386AD
“Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.”
“They therefore who wish for peace, prepare for war.” From Epitoma Rei Militaris.
Machiavelli 1513
“Men avenge slight wounds, never mortal ones” A translated short version of a lengthier writing in “The Prince”.
Juan de Recalde 1588
Just before the Spanish Armada sailed, someone asked Juan de Recalde, an experienced seaman and second-in command of the fleet, what were the prospects of beating the English?. The reply was:-
“…we fight in God’s cause….God will surely…by depriving the English of their wits”…enable us to…“come to close quarters” when…”the great masses of soldiers we shall have on board…will make our victory certain…But unless God helps us by a miracle the English, who have…many more long-range guns…will never close…but…knock us to pieces..”
“So, we are sailing against England in the confident hope of a miracle!”
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada G. Mattingly Reprint Society 1961.
Lord Chancellor Jefferys 1688
When King James II refused to take Jeffreys’ advice and call Parliament to consider the imminent invasion of England by William of Orange, the Chancellor exclaimed “…the Virgin Mary is to do all!”
Memoirs of the life of Judge Jefferys.
Nelson 1801
In 1801 Great Britain sent a fleet to the Baltic to oppose a confederation of Denmark, Sweden and Russia which intended to prevent the Royal Navy from enforcing searches of their sea commerce for French goods, which would then be seized. As part of the operation Nelson, second-in-command, attacked Danish ships moored off Copenhagen with 12 battleships. His fleet commander guarded the rear with a reserve of 5 ships. When the result was still in the balance the admiral in command had the signal for recall hoisted. Informed of this by his signal lieutenant, Nelson said to his flag-captain:-
“…I have only one eye, I have a right to be blind sometimes.” He raised his telescope to his blind right eye and said “I really do not see the signal.”[d][2
Nelson and his times Beresford & Wilson Eyre & Spottiswoode 1897.
Wellington 1810
Referring to some of his officers in a despatch “As Lord Chesterfield said of the generals of his day ‘I only hope that when the enemy reads the list of their names he trembles as I do’”.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Wellesley,_1st_Duke_of_Wellington
Page 2 of 4
Lord Salisbury 1895
After a British fleet was assembled outside the Dardanelles which was intended to intimidate Turkey and then the problem of passing the Straits was explained to the Prime Minister, he lost his temper and declared “If British warships were made of porcelain he would, of course, pursue a different policy!”.
Winston Churchill and the Dardanelles T. Higgins Heinemann 1963.
General Lanrezac 1914
When Field Marshal French, commanding the British Expeditionary Force first met General Lanrezac commanding the neighbouring French army, he asked in very bad French: –
“Est-ce que les Allemands vont traverser la Meuse ἀ Hoy (mispronouncing Huy)?” This was a crucial question, because the Germans might out-flank the British.
After this question had been explained in a way which he understood, Lanrezac (who was oppressed with the massive force being deployed against him) exclaimed to his staff In French “Tell the Marshal that, in my opinion, the Germans have merely gone to the Meuse to fish!”
French caught the sarcastic tone of the reply, although it was altered in translation, and it affected the co-operation between the allies.
Under two Flags M. Egremont Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1997.
General Robertson 1917
General Robertson, after a suggestion of Prime Minister Lloyd George at a meeting which they had just left, said to the Grand Fleet commander Admiral David Beatty: –
“Ye see, Davy, Lloyd George is like a vurrgin – she thinks she knows and she does know – but she hasn’a had the expeerience!”
Robertson, by the way, although Chief of the Imperial General Staff, had no combat experience at all, having never commanded even the smallest unit in battle.
Quoted by Laurence Pomeroy in a Motor magazine article, primary source unknown.
Field Marshal Haig 1918.
In July 1918 relations between Field marshal Haig, commanding all the British and Empire troops in France, and Prime Minister Lloyd George were those of mutual distrust. At the height of an enormous attack by the Germans towards Paris the French Marshal Foch, now in position to co-ordinate all the allied armies opposing the Germans, planned a counter-stroke. He asked Haig to provide troops for this from his reserve held against an expected further offensive on the British front. Haig’s staff objected but Haig agreed the move and wrote a note which said “…he took the risk and fully realised that if the dispositions” (of Foch) “proved to be wrong, the blame will rest on me. On the other hand, if they prove right, the credit will lie with Foch. With this, the Government should be well satisfied!”. The Foch counter-attack succeeded.
The World Crisis Vol IV W S Churchill Odhams ed. 1939.
Marshal Joffre post-1918
Someone asked the retired Marshal Joffre (French Commander-in-Chief 1911-1916) the tactless question “Which General really won the Battle of the Marne?” (a 1914 turning point of WW1 in favour of the French, the conception of which was much disputed).
His reply was “I do not know who won that battle but, had it been lost, I know who would have been blamed!”.
The Campaign of the Marne S. Tyng Longmans, Green 1935.
Page 3 of 4
Von Schlieben 1944
With 20% of his troops foreigners serving in the German army to avoid starvation, when von Schlieben, the commander of Cherbourg, was captured on 26th June 1944 he remarked :-
“You can’t expect Russians and Poles to fight for Germany against Americans in France!”.
The Struggle for Europe C. Wilmot Collins 1952.
Bayerlein 1944
After receipt of orders to hold his position following the heavy aerial bombardment preceding the US Operation Cobra on 25th August 1944, Major General Bayerlein commanding the Panzer Lehr division reported:-
“Out in front everyone is holding out…for they are dead!”.
Overlord M. Hastings Book Club ed 1984.
Patton 1944
On 12th August 1944 elements of Lt. General Patton’s 3rd US army, part of the wide out-flanking exploitation of the break-out from the Allied Normandy beach-head begun by Cobra, against thin opposition, reported that they were in Argentan. This was about 13 miles South-East of Falaise to which the 1st Canadian army was battering its way with about 9 miles to go. Through the 22 mile gap ran the lines of communication of remnants of 19 German divisions on the West. Patton telephoned his Army Group commander, Lt. General Bradley, to beg permission to have his troops advance further to trap the Germans, saying:-
“Let me go on to Falaise and we’ll drive the British back into the sea for another Dunkirk!”
A Soldier’s Story O. Bradley Eyre & Spottiswoode 1951.
Ignoring Patton’s unhelpful sarcasm, Bradley refused his request, writing afterwards in his auto-biography:-
“I much preferred a solid shoulder at Argentan to the possibility of a broken neck at Falaise”.
Montgomery 1944
The Germans counter-attacked in the Ardennes on 16th December 1944, taking the 1st US army by surprise and creating much confusion. The enemy intention was to cross the R. Meuse and drive to capture the allied supply port of Antwerp. Field Marshal Montgomery (BLM) in command of the British and Canadian forces North of the Meuse, although left without orders by the Supreme Allied Commander, General Eisenhower (DDE), took action to see that the Germans could not cross the Meuse if they did reach it, placing troops to guard the bridges and assembling a corps of 3 divisions behind it. DDE eventually saw the wisdom of giving command of all US forces on the North of the breakthrough to BLM on the 20th December.
Reporting this in his nightly telegram to Field Marshal Brooke in the War Office, after describing his first actions to get control of the situation, BLM ended his message with the remark:-
“We can not come out by DUNKIRK this time as the Germans hold that place!!!”.
Monty Vol. 3 N.Hamilton Sceptre ed 1987.
Before passing this message on to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Brooke deleted this ending!
The Germans were besieged in Dunkirk but it was not thought worthwhile to storm it and they stayed there until the overall German surrender in May 1945.
Page 4 of 4
Emperor Hirohito 1945
Emperor Hirohito broadcast to his nation on 15th August 1945, this being the first time that the great majority of Japanese had ever heard an emperor’s voice. With practically all Japanese cities devastated by fire-bombing, with Hiroshima and Nagasaki totally ruined by atomic bombs, with the home islands effectively isolated by US submarines from vital sea-borne supplies, with a Soviet invasion sweeping through Manchuko and with an American invasion of the home islands being prepared on Okinawa Hirohito included this sentence in his speech:-
“…The war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage…”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirohito_surrender_broadcast
.