Cemeteries -- Belgium; Cemeteries -- France; George V, King of Great Britain, 1865-1936; World War, 1914-1918 -- Cemeteries
It was at the close of a State visit to the King of the Belgians that the
King left Brussels on a special train early on the morning of May 11. The
King lived on the train (in his own carriage which had been in France
throughout the war) during the tour, motor-cars meeting it at fixed
halting-places for the visits to the cemeteries. He was accompanied by
Field-Marshal Earl Haig, whom His Majesty specially wished to be at his
side on this pilgrimage. The Royal Party was a small one; in addition to
Lord Haig, it consisted of Major-General Sir Fabian Ware (who, as
Vice-Chairman of the Imperial War Graves Commission, was in charge of all
the arrangements) and of three members of the suite, the Rt. Hon. Sir
Frederick Ponsonby, Colonel Clive Wigram, and Major R. Seymour. The first
visit paid was to Zeebrugge Churchyard, where rest some of those who fell
in the Zeebrugge Battle which marked St. George's Day, 1918. Many of the
graves are still unidentified, but, with the aid of enemy burial lists
recently secured, it is hoped that the identity of some, at any rate, will
be established. There was, by the King's express wish, no formal ceremony
at this nor any other cemetery before Terlincthun, but the school children
of Zeebrugge assembled and sang the British National Anthem and brought
flowers for the graves.
The King went on to examine the scene of the exploit of _Vindictive_ and
her supporting ships. The day was bright and breezy, and, by a happy
chance, a Belgian fishing fleet was making for harbour with the night's
harvest of the sea. To the eye of the sailor this gave clear indication of
the lay of the harbour approaches and of its entrance, and helped
materially to illustrate the way in which the Mole was approached and the
task with which the British naval forces were faced. The King took the
keenest interest in every detail of the exploit and of the tactics
employed. He stayed for some time at the point where the submarine, loaded
with high explosives, rammed the Mole to breach it, with the double object
of cutting off the enemy garrison on the Mole from reinforcements and of
helping the obstacles which were to be sunk in the fairway to silt up the
harbour by letting in the drifting sands. The positions where the ships
were sunk in the fairway were examined, and the King, with his
professional knowledge of the Service in which he spent his young manhood,
could reconstruct the whole battle. He made particular inspection of the
spot where the landing party from _Vindictive_ scaled the Mole--perhaps
the most astonishing "boarding" feat of naval history.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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