THE AMERICAN NAVAL VISIT
The next big event of importance after Lord Kitchener’s tour of inspection was the arrival of the American Fleet. Whether the visit of this fleet, which comprised practically the full strength of the American Navy, had any connexion with the visit of the Japanese Fleet which I have already told you about, I do not know. Was it by way of a demonstration in force in the waters of the Pacific in answer to the display made by the Japanese? Had it a political aspect in other ways? Or was it purely a pleasure trip, arranged by the American Government to give their naval officers and men an extended tour for purposes of instruction and pleasure? Who can tell? I cannot. But I can testify to the pleasurable times they had during their lengthy stay at the several ports they visited.
Sydney woke up again. The occasion had arrived to remember the great days of the inauguration of the Commonwealth. Sydney wanted to decorate herself again and to look her best, and she certainly succeeded. Though somewhat different in detail, the decorations of the city and streets were as gorgeous as those of 1901, on the inauguration of the Commonwealth, and everyone was determined to give the Americans (and incidentally himself) a real good time. It is doubtful if the foreshores of the great harbour of Sydney will ever hold again so many thousands of spectators as they did on that glorious morning when, at 11 A.M., the leading warship of the American fleet entered the Heads, and, clearing the inner point of the South Heads, made direct for the anchorage up the harbour, followed by the remaining fifteen men-of-war.
Previous to the arrival of the fleet a question had arisen which had much exercised the Government and civic authorities of Sydney. It was understood that during the stay of the fleet in Sydney Harbour—about ten days—there would be, daily, visiting the city anywhere from six to ten thousand officers and men on liberty leave. The authorities thought that it would be advisable to make some provision for military picquets and extra police in case of disturbances, and they approached me with a view to our supplying the wished-for military assistance. I pointed out that there was positively no precedent for such action, especially in the case of visiting guests. It was the privilege of the guests to look after the behaviour of their own men and to land their own picquets if they considered them necessary. At the same time I ventured to suggest that it might be thought advisable to enrol a number of special constables—who, of course, would be in plain clothes and unknown—to assist the police if required. It is to the credit of the officers and men of the American Fleet that during their stay in Sydney, though thousands landed daily and many were allowed over-night leave, no disturbances of any kind occurred, and to see any one of them the worse for drink was the exception.
Naturally, throughout the whole of the State of New South Wales, right to the very backblocks, there was an earnest wish on the part of the members of the New South Wales military forces to be in Sydney at the time of the fleet’s visit. So I had arranged to hold the annual camp of Continuous Training at that period. The attendance in this camp almost beat the record of the one we had held at the time of Lord Kitchener’s visit.
As usual the public were very anxious for a review to be held, and the matter was freely aired in the Press. The Government of New South Wales was only too glad to meet their wishes, and requested me to make the necessary arrangements. Here then was a repetition of what had occurred in Melbourne at the time of the visit of the Japanese Fleet. The same difficulty was in the way—that no troops of a foreign country were permitted to land under arms on British soil. I pointed this out to the Government, but drew their attention to the fact that a precedent had been established in the case of the Japanese Fleet at the time of their visit to Melbourne, and that an application to the Imperial Government to permit the Americans to do so would doubtless receive a favourable answer. The application was sent and approval given. I then put the arrangements for the review in hand. I had an interview with the American Commander-in-Chief, who informed me that he would land a contingent, representing the fleet, of somewhere between six and seven thousand men. Our own fleet was, of course, in Sydney Harbour at the time, and our admiral told me that he would land somewhere over three thousand ratings. My own troops mustered about some twelve thousand, with the typical and favourite arm of the service in Australia, the Mounted Rifles, in full strength.
The morning of the review arrived. Once again it was a glorious day. On all occasions throughout my many years of command when “functions,” reviews, or camps of training took place, “Queen’s weather” had always been my good fortune. The crowd that gathered at Centennial Park to witness the review rivalled that which had witnessed the arrival of the fleet. It was put down at some three hundred and fifty thousand people. The actual number of troops on parade was over twenty-one thousand, of which some four thousand were mounted troops. It was no easy task to manœuvre this number of troops on the restricted space at Centennial Park, especially as I had arranged, much to the delight of the people, for the mounted troops to gallop past the saluting point as a final tour de force before the last advance in review order. However, with the assistance of an able staff and preliminary conferences with my commanding officers, the review passed off without the slightest hitch. Just as the presence of the Japanese sailors under arms at the review had established a record in Melbourne, so did that of the Americans establish one in Sydney, and, for the second time, I had the honour of commanding armed forces of a Foreign Nation on parade on British soil.
One more incident of the review. There had been thousands of the inhabitants of Sydney who were naturally unable to witness it but were most anxious to see the foreign sailors. I had arranged with their naval Commander-in-Chief that he should land at different landing-stages on the several quays of the harbour. By this means residents in many parts of Sydney would see them marching past their homes. The distances from these landing-stages to Centennial Park were somewhat long, and as the review was a rather trying one, occupying close upon four hours, I had arranged to transport the whole of the Americans back from the review ground to their different quays by tram, utilizing the tram system attached to the Sydney Show Ground, which lies adjacent to Centennial Park, and, further, to give them a good feed previous to boarding the trams on the return home. My Quartermaster-General’s Department quite surpassed themselves in their efforts in this direction. They arranged for the units of the American Fleet, on completion of the review, to march in succession straight on to the Royal Agricultural Society’s Grounds, and in doing so to pass through some of the big buildings used for purposes of exhibits at the show time. Long, narrow tables were set up in these buildings, parallel to each other. On these tables, right down each side, were placed packets containing each four healthy sandwiches, a large piece of cake, an apple and an orange, a big bun and cheese. On passing through the building the men of each company marched in two files, dividing on each side of the table, and each man picked up his parcel and moved on to the open Oval. As the tables were cleared they were immediately replenished by a large staff of assistants, ready for the succeeding companies. In this manner the six thousand Americans received their rations within half an hour.
Once reaching the Oval and other open spaces of the society’s grounds each company was directed to what my Quartermaster-General called “a fountain” (which meant that piled up around a small beer barrel were plenty of bottles of all kinds of aerated waters), on reaching which each company sat down around it, ate the contents of their packets and drank to their hearts’ content. The return journey to the ships was accomplished without any accident, and a day never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it was past and gone. The enthusiasm of the immense crowd was raised to the highest pitch when squadron after squadron of Light Horse galloped past the saluting point at fairly close intervals, riding hard, as only Australians can ride, forty squadrons, some 100 strong each.
Previous to my leaving Sydney I held another great review at Centennial Park. I had promised that I would give the parents and relations and friends of the lads serving under the universal service system an opportunity of seeing for themselves how well the youngsters were doing, how keen they were, and also the state of efficiency that they had reached. So I decided to hold a review of those from 16 to 18 years of age serving in the Metropolitan area. The day of the review arrived. Over twenty-two thousand lads were on parade. The Governor-General, Lord Denman, took the salute. The crowd was certainly not so large as that which was present at the time of the visit of the American Fleet, but still it was enormous. At a certain stage of the review the order was given for “Hats off. Three cheers for the King.” The rule is on such ceremonial occasions to take the time for the three cheers from the general officer commanding the parade, who, riding in front of the line of troops, faces the saluting point. The three cheers were duly given when, to my surprise, I heard a shrill cry of “Tiger!” and, following it, “One more cheer.” I looked round just in time to see some thousands of hats in the air. The lads provided this extra entertainment on their own.
The way the boys marched, their soldierly bearing, their smart appearance and their enthusiasm were the best answer that the Government, Parliament and the people of Australia could have had as to the success of the universal service system which they had brought into force. Many, indeed, were the proud fathers and mothers on that day.
One last record. I had commanded the first review of trainees.
In 1912, on General Hoad’s death, I was appointed Chief of the General Staff and First Member of the Military Board, the highest position in the military forces of the Commonwealth.
For the constant and willing co-operation of the Australian officers and men who served under me with such zeal for so many years I give my sincerest thanks. They have since proved themselves heroic soldiers in the field.
To Gordon of Khartoum for his three golden rules of life; to General Downes for the excellent example he gave of what an upright soldier should be; and to Sergeant Charles Cameron Kingston for his appreciation of my work and ever-ready assistance I owe the deepest debt of gratitude.