Churchill Wanted Dead or Alive

3. Cruising to a Catastrophe

T H R E E Cruising to a Catastrophe 'I thought it very sporting of the Boers to take on the whole British Empire . .. Let us learn our lessons . . . Always remember , however sure you are that you can easily win, that there would not be a war if the other man did not think he also had a chance.' WINSTON CHURCHILL, My Early Life S U C H WERE W I N S T O N C H U R C H I L L ' S S E N T I M E N T S as he set sail for the Boer War, and his reflections, set down thirty years later, arising from the illusions that war was to shatter. As the Dunnotar Castle cast off from Southampton Docks on the evening of Saturday, 14 October 1899, an impressive array of military passengers lined the ship's rails. Rubbing shoulders among them were a few civilian war correspondents, none more at home in the uniformed throng and more impatient to get going than Churchill. On the dockside a large crowd sang 'Rule Britannia'. Then, seeing the tall, imposing figure of General Sir Redvers Buller on the bridge, they struck up T o r he's a Jolly Good Fellow.' As the ship steamed out into the Solent they ended with 'God Save the Queen', the singing led, according to The Times, by Lady Buller. Britain's huge confidence in the Commander-in-Chief was reflected in a contemporary ditty, though its subtle comment on his taciturn nature was probably lost on the general public. Redvers Buller has gone away In charge of a job at Table Bay; 21 Churchill Wanted Dead or Alive In what direction Redvers goes Is a matter that only Buller knows . . . If he's right, he'll pull us through. If he's wrong, he's better than you. Buller himself had no illusions about the task ahead. As the ship steamed southwards he paced the deck each day, his ADC Captain Algy Trotter constantly at his side. Buller had commanded Boer troops in the Zulu War of 1878-79, defending white settlers buffeted by the tide of Bantu people migrating southward from Central Africa, and knew their stubborn character. Recognising the threat they posed in Natal, he had urged caution on the Secretary of State for War, Lord Lansdowne. He had advised that it might prove disastrous if the generals then controlling operations in South Africa, Lieutenant-General Sir George White and Major-General Sir Penn Symons, risked their forces north of the Tugela River. His words had gone unheeded, and he foresaw trouble. Churchill lost no time in making the most of Buller's presence aboard. A thumbnail sketch by one of the other correspondents on the Dunnotar Castle, J.B. Atkins of the Manchester Guardian, noted that Churchill had 'acquired no reverence for seniors as such, and talked to them as if they were his own age, or younger . . . He stood alone and confident, and his natural power to be himself had yielded to no man.' Atkins described his subject as 'slim, slightly reddish-haired, lively, frequently plunging along the deck with neck out-thrust . . . I had not encountered this sort of ambition, unabashed, frankly egotistical, communicating its excitement.' Churchill's first letter home was posted when the ship called at Madeira, four days after sailing. My dearest Mamma, We have had a nasty rough passage & I have been grievously sick. The roll of the vessel still very pronounced prevents my writing much, and besides there is nothing to say. Sir R. Buller is vy amiable and I do not doubt that he is well disposed towards me. There are a good many people on board - military or journalistic - whom I know and all are vy civil - but I cannot say that I am greatly interested in any of them . . . 22 Cruising to a Catastrophe I won't write more - but please fire off weekly letter and stimulate everyone else to write too . . . Ever your loving son Winston. Churchill was a notoriously bad sailor, which no doubt explains the perfunctory nature of his letter. Otherwise the mere roll of a ship would hardly deter such an avid correspondent, who had never before allowed uncongenial surroundings to inhibit his pen. Events would show that Buller was, indeed, well disposed towards the young man. Churchill's sentiments towards the Commander-inChief were presumably...