BY ARTHUR APPLIN   LONDON C. ARTHUR PEARSON LTD. Henrietta Street, W.C. 1915...

In trying to chronicle the events in Admiral Sir John Jellicoe’s life one is faced with many difficulties, the greatest of which is that hitherto his most important battles have been fought on land, behind closed doors and, as far as the public is concerned, in the dark. Although Sir John Jellicoe has seen active service in Egypt and in China, has sailed his ships on many seas and gone down into the Valley of the Shadow on no fewer than three occasions, he has nevertheless managed to give valuab

If Admiral Sir John Jellicoe had been born in 1858 instead of a year later, he would have first opened his eyes on this now sorely troubled world on the Centenary of Nelson’s natal day. But the gods timed his arrival exactly one hundred and one years later, and it was on the cold and blustering dawn of December the 5th, 1859, that Captain John H. Jellicoe was informed of the happy event. How happy for the Empire, as well as for himself and his wife, the gallant Captain little dreamed at the time

Jellicoe commenced his education at a small school at Rottingdean. near Brighton, and though he was considered a bright little lad, he did not attract any more attention than the other boys. In holiday-time he loved nothing better than to be left alone in the company of his father and to hear from him the wonders of the Deep, and tales of the distant lands of Romance and Mystery which he had visited. One can picture the big bronzed sailor and his little son walking about the lovely Isle of Wight

Jellicoe’s life on H.M.S. Britannia was an interesting and varied one. Probably he looks back on the years spent in what has been aptly called “The Cradle of our Sea Kings” as the best years of his life. He joined at a very interesting period, too, just when the Franco-Prussian War was raging most fiercely. For a healthy lad life on the Britannia must have been an ideal existence. Of course there were hardships, doubtless greater ones forty years ago than there are now. Hardships find out the we

For a short time Jellicoe served as Gunnery-Lieutenant on the Colossus , and then he was appointed Junior Staff Officer of the Excellent gunnery establishment, under the command of Lord Fisher—then Captain. This meeting between the two men was fortunate for the Junior Officer. Fisher at once marked down Jellicoe as useful, and so, a few years later, when he was Director of Naval Ordnance at the Admiralty, it came to pass that Jellicoe joined Fisher there as his Assistant. It was just subsequent

After the loss of the Victoria Jellicoe served as Commander on H.M.S. Ramillies , flagship in the Mediterranean. Early in January, 1897, he joined the Ordnance Committee, and received his promotion, attaining the rank of Captain. But valuable as his services were now, as they had been when assistant to Fisher, he was again not allowed to remain at the Admiralty for long. Admiral Sir C. H. Seymour chose him as Flag Captain on the Centurion . It is hardly necessary to point out that the Centurion

In a recent issue of the Pall Mall Gazette Mr. Whittall paints a very good pen portrait of Captain Jellicoe at this time. “It was to him that I was referred for permission to accompany the relieving force, and I can see him now as he put a few terse, direct questions to me before granting the required permit. A man below middle height, alert, with that in the calm, grey eyes which spoke of decision and a serene confidence in himself, not the confidence of the over-sure, but that of the real lead

In 1905 Captain Jellicoe went to the Admiralty as Director of Naval Ordnance. Having been Fisher’s assistant late in the ’eighties he knew his department and the men connected with it. He knew better than any other man of his age what the Navy wanted, and he evidently made up his mind that she should have it. He was heart and soul a “Fisher man” and a great admirer of the splendid work Sir Percy Scott had performed. Indeed, much of Scott’s genius might have been lost or wasted without Jellicoe’s

Sir John Jellicoe hoisted his flag as Vice-Admiral commanding the Atlantic Fleet, in succession to His Serene Highness, Prince Louis of Battenberg, on December 27th, 1911, and on the tenth of January, 1912, the Fleet assembled at Dover for the first time under its new Commander-in-Chief. There was a suggestion about this time that the Atlantic Fleet and the Home Fleet were to be amalgamated. The change that had already been made in the Atlantic Fleet in linking it to the Home Fleet for purposes

In December of 1911 Vice-Admiral Jellicoe was back in Gibraltar, which thanks to the presence of the Fleet and its Commander’s popularity experienced quite the most successful season it had ever known. The American cruiser Chester was in port and did her share in the round of balls, dinners and sports which were held. The Gibraltar Jockey Club held its winter meeting on the picturesque North Front racecourse and attracted a remarkable and cosmopolitan gathering. It was on December 13th that the

Nineteen hundred and thirteen was a very busy year for Sir John Jellicoe. On May 16th he left England for Germany to attend the wedding festivities of the Emperor’s only daughter, Princess Victoria Louise, who was to be married to Prince Ernest of Cumberland. Sir John and Lady Jellicoe were, curiously enough, the first English guests to reach Berlin. The King and Queen of England left Sheerness on the 20th on board the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert , the Duchess of Devonshire accompanying Her