World War, 1914-1918 -- Naval operations -- Submarine; World War, 1914-1918 -- United States
I have already given my first impressions of Their Majesties the King
and Queen, and time only confirmed them. Neither ever missed an
opportunity to show their appreciation of the part that we were playing.
The zeal with which the King entered into the celebration of our Fourth
of July made him very popular with all our men. He even cultivated a
taste for our national game. Certain of our early contingents of
soldiers encamped near Windsor; here they immediately laid out a
baseball diamond and daily engaged in their favourite sport. The Royal
Family used to watch our men at their play, became interested in the
game, and soon learned to follow it. The Duke of Connaught and the
Princess Patricia, his daughter, had learned baseball through their
several years' residence in Canada, and could watch a match with all the
understanding and enthusiasm of an American "fan." As our sailors and
soldiers arrived in greater numbers, the interest and friendliness of
the Royal Family increased. One of the King's most delightful traits is
his sense of humour. The Queen also showed a great fondness for stories,
and I particularly remember her amusement at the famous remark of the
Australians--perhaps the most ferocious combatants on the Western
Front--about the American soldier, "a good fighter, but a little rough."
Of all the anecdotes connected with our men, none delighted King George
so much as those concerning our coloured troops. A whole literature of
negro yarns spread rapidly over Europe; most of them, I find, have long
since reached the United States. The most lasting impression which I
retain of the head of the British Empire is that he is very much of a
human being. He loved just about the same things as the normal American
or Englishman loves--his family, his friends, his country, a good story,
a pleasant evening with congenial associates. And he had precisely the
same earnestness about the war which one found in every properly
constituted Briton or American; the victories of the Allies exhilarated
King George just as they exhilarated the man in the street, and their
defeats saddened him just as they saddened the humblest citizen. I found
in His Majesty that same solemn sense of comradeship with America which
I found in the English civilians who saluted the American uniform in the
street.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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