Mud Sweat & Tears - Bear Grylls [2]
Riches and rank have no necessary connection with genuine gentlemanly qualities.
The poor man with a rich spirit is in all ways superior to the rich man with a poor spirit.
To borrow St Paul’s words, the former is as ‘having nothing, yet possessing all things’, while the other, though possessing all things, has nothing.
Only the poor in spirit are really poor. He who has lost all, but retains his courage, cheerfulness, hope, virtue and self-respect, is still rich.
These were revolutionary words to Victorian, aristocratic, class-ridden England. To drive the point home (and no doubt prick a few hereditary aristocratic egos along the way), Samuel made the point again, that being a gentleman is something that has to be earned: ‘There is no free pass to greatness.’
Samuel Smiles ends his book with the following moving story of the ‘gentleman’ general:
The gentleman is characterised by his sacrifice of self, and preference of others, in the little daily occurrences of life … we may cite the anecdote of the gallant Sir Ralph Abercromby, of whom it is related, that, when mortally wounded in the battle of Aboukir, and, to ease his pain, a soldier’s blanket was placed under his head, from which he experienced considerable relief.
He asked what it was.
‘It’s only a soldier’s blanket,’ was the reply.
‘Whose blanket is it?’ said he, half lifting himself up.
‘Only one of the men’s.’
‘I wish to know the name of the man whose blanket this is.’
‘It is Duncan Roy’s, of the 42nd, Sir Ralph.’
‘Then see that Duncan Roy gets his blanket this very night.’
Even to ease his dying agony the general would not deprive the private soldier of his blanket for one night.
As Samuel wrote: ‘True courage and gentleness go hand in hand.’
It was in this family, belief system and heritage that Walter, my great-grandfather, grew up and dared to dream.
CHAPTER 2
During the First World War, Great-grandpa Walter sought action wherever and whenever he could. He was noted as one of those ‘rare officers who found complete release in action’.
He obtained a pilot’s certificate but, realizing that action in the air was unlikely due to the lack of aircraft, he transferred as a sub-lieutenant to the Royal Naval Armoured Car Division, an early Special Forces organization formed by Winston Churchill.
Unlike the British officers on the Western Front, who were imprisoned in their trenches for months on end, he moved around many of the main theatres of war – and he was in his element. Even Walter’s CO noted in an official report: ‘The cheerful acceptance of danger and hardship by Lieutenant Smiles is very noteworthy.’
He was then seconded to the Czar’s Russian Imperial Army, to fight the Turks on the Caucasian front. And it was here that Walter was promoted swiftly: lieutenant in 1915, lieutenant commander in 1917 and commander in 1918. He was highly decorated during this time, receiving a DSO (1916) and Bar (1917), a ‘Mention in Despatches’ (1919), along with Russian and Romanian decorations.
The citation for his first DSO stated: ‘He was wounded on the 28th November, 1916, in Dobrudja. On coming out of hospital he volunteered to lead a flying squadron for special duty round Braila, and his gallantry on this occasion was the chief factor of success.’
On one occasion, when in action with a light armoured car, he got out twice to start it up under heavy fire. Being struck by a bullet he rolled into a ditch and fought on all day under attack. Despite the fact that Walter was wounded, within twenty-four hours he was back with his unit, chomping at the bit. As soon as he was