Mud holes, heroes and homes that nurture

My grandfather was a brave character. He enlisted in World War I and when he gave his age of 16 years the enlisting officer told him to walk around the table and come back and say he was 17.  He was then accepted into the Irish Fusiliers and subsequently shipped via Folkestone to France and the killing fields of World War 1.  When he returned to his village after the war had ended he hardly ever spoke of what he had seen.  Perhaps, the horror could not be shared with family and friends, it had to just be endured.  He seemed to regard the world differently as if fear of death had been erased on those blood-soaked muddy fields.

He was mentioned in dispatches and his photograph and the message from Churchill are on the wall here in my parent’s home.  He was shot in the arm and badly wounded but was indomitable and even volunteered to go out on extra missions from the trenches. This was no small thing as often the commanding officer would a handgun ready to shoot those who wouldn’t go over the top, such was the fear felt in those wretched mud holes.  On emerging from the shelter of the trench, too often, young soldiers were simply walking into deadly machine-gun fire as this article describes.

“On 24 June 1916 1500 British guns began a week-long bombardment to smash German defences on the Somme before the infantry attacked.  Many of the shells they fired, however, were duds and when the infantry advanced it soon became clear that the artillery bombardment had failed.  German troops emerged and gunned down advancing British infantry, killing 20,000 on 1 July alone.”

20,000 in one day, no wonder soldiers didn’t want to go over the top into a hail of bullets! In the battle of the Somme, the loss was even higher with 60,000 British troops dying in one day.  Several awards are given to those who show exceptional bravery on the battlefield in the face of the enemy.  I just had no idea how many there were   It turns out that being mentioned in dispatches is one of the lowest awards given and at the other end of the scale is the Victoria Cross (VC) which is one of the rarest.  This medal was introduced in January 1856 during the Crimean war and has only been awarded 1358 times. You need to do something pretty spectacular in order to get the VC,

“The VC is awarded for most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or preeminent act of valour or self sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy.”

That degree of bravery can get you killed. For example, a quarter of all the Victoria crosses given during World War I were posthumously awarded.  Any VCs medals made since 1914 have come from two antique Chinese bronze cannons (captured during Opium Wars in the 1840s). At present, there are only 85 medals left. However, don’t worry, this supply will not run out soon as only 15 VCs have been awarded in the last 76 years. 

The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system.  Quite recently one VC has been sold for half a million pounds. So, it is startling to learn that Captain Noel Chavasse won two Victory crosses during World War 1.  This is a unique achievement even among the elite of VC holders.   Even before being awarded his VC he had already been previously mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Military Cross. It is surely worth knowing more about this unusually brave man and just why he received these awards.

He was awarded a VC for his actions on 9 August 1916, at Guillemont, France when he attended to the wounded all day under heavy fire. The full citation was published on 24 October 1916 and reads

"Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, M.C., M.B., Royal Army Medical Corps.

For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty.

During an attack he tended the wounded in the open all day, under heavy fire, frequently in view of the enemy. During the ensuing night he searched for wounded on the ground in front of the enemy's lines for four hours.

Next day he took one stretcher-bearer to the advanced trenches, and under heavy shell fire carried an urgent case for 500 yards into safety, being wounded in the side by a shell splinter during the journey. The same night he took up a party of twenty volunteers, rescued three wounded men from a shell hole twenty-five yards from the enemy's trench, buried the bodies of two officers, and collected many identity discs, although fired on by bombs and machine guns.

Altogether he saved the lives of some twenty badly wounded men, besides the ordinary cases which passed through his hands. His courage and self-sacrifice, were beyond praise."

 Chavasse's second award was made during the period 31 July to 2 August 1917, at Wieltje, Belgium; the full citation was published on 14 September 1917

"His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of a Bar to the Victoria Cross to Capt. Noel Godfrey Chavasse, V.C., M.C., late R.A.M.C.,

For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty when in action.

Though severely wounded early in the action whilst carrying a wounded soldier to the Dressing Station, Capt. Chavasse refused to leave his post, and for two days not only continued to perform his duties, but in addition went out repeatedly under heavy fire to search for and attend to the wounded who were lying out.

During these searches, although practically without food during this period, worn with fatigue and faint with his wound, he assisted to carry in a number of badly wounded men, over heavy and difficult ground.

By his extraordinary energy and inspiring example, he was instrumental in rescuing many wounded who would have otherwise undoubtedly succumbed under the bad weather conditions.

This devoted and gallant officer subsequently died of his wounds."

In another version of the same incident, it was recounted that Noel Chavasse received a blow to the head, from an exploding shell, fracturing his skull. He took off his helmet and bandaged his own wound and then carried on working as a medic treating the wounded.  He went on to experience two more head injuries as a result of additional shelling but continued to work arranging for other severely wounded soldiers to be stretchered to safer areas. Meanwhile, he continued to search for wounded soldiers still on the battlefield.  On the 2nd of August 1917 he was injured in the stomach by a Shell blast and died on the 4th of August aged only 32.

He is buried in Belgium in the military cemetery and is the only headstone in the world to have two VCs engraved on it.  

He did not have a promising beginning. Both he and his twin brother were so small and weak at birth that their baptism had to be delayed.  They were very ill with typhoid in their first year of life and as adults were below average height. Noel’s school report of 1897 was not complimentary and refers to him as an ‘Imp of mischief’.  

There were another pair of twins in the family May and Marjorie who were born in 1886 would live for over 100 years old.  Apart from these two sets of twins, there were three other siblings.  When Noel’s father, Francis James Chavasse, was a young man he felt he would never even find a wife because of his hunched back, bad stammer and state of poverty. He went on to marry have seven children and became an eloquent Anglican priest. Later, when the position of Bishop was suggested Francis wrote to a friend doubtfully, "A man with my feeble body, average ability and temperament can hardly be intended by God for such a diocese”.   Despite his own misgivings he was appointed as Bishop and served the community well. The family would start each morning with prayers in the chapel and although a fairly remote father Francis had a clear vision of how a home should shape a child’s character.  He wrote,

“Every moment which tend to make the home more bright, more orderly more clean and more healthy, above all more full of love … helps to ennoble the privilege and dignity of bringing up little children … and is the greatest factor in the formation of the character“

In fact, his wife must have contributed even more greatly to the atmosphere within the home.  It is recorded that,

“The kindness of the whole Chavasse family soon became legendary even among their servants who were taught to read and write by their mother.”

Noel himself described his parent’s home succinctly.

“There was an atmosphere of calmness and integrity in the house, which we took as a matter of course!”

Noel as a teenager provided sporting opportunities, Bible classes and singing lessons for boys in an Industrial School in one of the poorest areas of Liverpool.  Even when he subsequently went to Oxford University to study medicine Noel kept up his connection with the school giving up his vacations to help.  Noel’s attendance at Trinity College Oxford involved mixing almost exclusively with boys of a public school background but he clearly had the capacity to relate to people of quite different backgrounds.  As a qualified doctor, he was travelling in a poor area near the docks and saw a disabled child crawling on the road.  Noel stopped and gave the child his card and arranged for the boy to be treated by him at the Royal Southern Hospital.  After nine operations the boy was able to walk upright and went on to have a full and active life in the Merchant navy.   Both Noel and his twin represented Great Britain in the Olympic Games in the 400 metres.  When one reads of such a wonderful character from such a family the loss of such a life becomes even more painful.  That is what war does it steals from the world often the very best of us.

PS other siblings of Noel,

Aidan Chavasse served in World War 1 and died in Flanders 1917. “His Brigade-Major (Bernard Paget) considered him to be the bravest man in the Brigade due to his willingness to volunteer for dangerous missions. It was during such a mission to inspect German wire near Sanctuary Wood in July 1917 that he was wounded in the thigh. He sent his patrol back to safety and took cover in a shell hole. Subsequent attempts to find him, including three separate attempts by his brother, were unsuccessful and Aidan was never found.”

Chrstopher Chavasse, Noel’s twin became Bishop of Rochester, was awarded OBE and the Military Cross

Francis Chavasse, was awarded the Military Cross, and became an eye specialist

Marjorie and May (Noel’s twin sisters) volunteered at a convalescent hospital for soldiers.  Later May would travel out to France to work at a fully equipped mobile hospital during World War 1 and was mentioned in dispatches.  She qualified as a nurse and also served in WW2 as part of Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Service.  Marjorie worked for Barnardo’s for most of her life.

“Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.”

Baháʼu'lláh

 

Zombie apocalyptic, villains and a good clap

In these odd days of a pandemic, it feels as if after watching scores of the zombie apocalyptic movies we all woke to find ourselves in one. There are no aliens scouring the landscape to find human victims to enslave, torture, inhabit or exterminate but there are hundreds of thousands of us dying due to an invader nonetheless.  Those who have never had it dread catching it. Those who survive feel as if they have the mark of Job upon them. Many thousands and thousands more are alone and isolated wondering what terrible deed they’ve done to justify this dreadful visitation.

The elderly, who have lived through a World war and brought up children to adulthood, perhaps lost a partner and already cope with deteriorating health now have a new foe to face. They must isolate from the remaining ones they love. Already outcast because of the lack of access to social media connections they must feel that the curtain has fallen on any resemblance of quality of life in their final days, months or years. Elderly relatives used to put into words the challenges by pointing out “this getting old is not for quitters!” But this present landscape was never dreamt of. The newspapers, radio and TV are like sirens of disaster breeding fear and anxiety. Everything and everyone is felt at fault. Even family out of love put the fear of God in their elderly relatives instructing them to see no one and stay indoors. Everyone knows the reasons; this virus kills the elderly in abundance but I wonder for some of those frail figures hiding behind curtains in their own home or in nursing home bedrooms this present condition must seem a fate worse than death. To be isolated, alone and safe but passing one’s last hours far from all you love feels like living an unspoken tragedy. However, there is the cruel possibility that the one you love and who has loved you deeply and consistently over decades could end up alone in a hospital dying with no loving hand to hold them and that quite freezes the heart. 

There are many lessons we are all learning as we endure this present situation. Perhaps the most foul is the extremes of wealth and poverty that blight mankind. Meaning that those with money can afford PPE, clean water, soap and are able to socially isolate and have shelter, food and resources. Those who don’t find suddenly that they are uniquely vulnerable to disease, hunger and worsening conditions. Wealthier nations buy up medicine and stockpile vaccines for their own population and can view others as inconvenient or even invaders. If it was a movie we would now have identified the villains of the piece. We would loathe their selfish agenda, “Me, Me, save me!” at all costs. The mean-spirited coward who throws others at the feet of the approaching alien to enable their own escape. But we are not watching a movie we are in it and part of the cast. As usual, there are very few heroes, many villains and a huge crew of extras standing around.

So today, when the news is full of how international businesses are suing governments around the world because they have lost income during the pandemic, I suspect that some of the biggest villains have now entered stage left. No matter what the loss of life, the economic collapse, the social instability these bloodsucking entities can focus only on their bottom-line, money. While many countries are facing debt burdens that will take decades or more to diminish these selfish corporations plan to line their pockets and those of their lawyers. Their agenda is clear. It has ever been so. But in these days of a pandemic, they may have overplayed their hand. 

Do you not feel, like me, sick to the stomach that while lives are ending, families are devastated, jobs lost and recession strikes these people care not one jot? Making money is their very reason for existence and every opportunity to do so whatever the cost to humanity is justified. In the 2008 economic crash, selfish reckless behaviour in terms of investment almost brought the world to its knees. Mostly, those responsible as usual strutted away with considerable financial gain and little consequence for their actions. The world is struggling, burying its dead, while fighting to maintain health care systems around the world besieged by the numbers needing assistance. Do these corporations really think they will again be allowed to milk this nightmare for their own greedy ends? There comes a point in every movie where suddenly you see clearly everyone’s intent. You’ve grasped the storyline.  You recognise the total lack of integrity or empathy in the darkness of the villain compared to the heroic brightness of the actions of those trying to save the day. For me, today’s news made that crystal clear. The despicable selfish actions of such entities are now blindingly evident and clear.

This week 600 civil society groups in over 90 countries have written an open letter calling attention to what is now happening. Oxfam, Friends of the Earth, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), SumOfUs and Global Justice Now and many others have warned, at a

 “time when government resources are stretched to the limit in responding to the crisis, public money should not be diverted from saving lives, jobs and livelihoods into paying ISDS awards or legal fees to fight a claim”.

Others have pointed out that

“Public money should go towards protecting public health and people’s livelihoods, not towards lining the pockets of greedy multinational corporations and their lawyers.”

“Use of investor-state lawsuits is an attack on democracy in any circumstance. But the fact that corporations are considering suing governments over measures taken to protect human health, in the midst of a pandemic, is truly appalling.”

In case you are wondering exactly what ISDS is, The Economist in 2014 put it in a nutshell,

“If you wanted to convince the public that international trade agreements are a way to let multinational companies get rich at the expense of ordinary people, this is what you would do: give foreign firms a special right to apply to a secretive tribunal of highly paid corporate lawyers for compensation whenever a government passes a law to, say, discourage smoking, protect the environment or prevent a nuclear catastrophe. Yet that is precisely what thousands of trade and investment treaties over the past half-century have done, through a process known as ‘investor-state dispute settlement,’ or ISDS.”

This is nothing new and here are a few past examples of this process in action. The Swedish energy giant Vattenfall sued Germany for €6.1 billion in damages when the country decided to phase out nuclear power following the Fukushima disaster, and tobacco company Philip Morris sued both Uruguay and Australia over government health warnings on cigarette packs and other measures to reduce smoking.  Yes, you read that right a cigarette company sued whole nations for attempting to reducing smoking! 

And who exactly benefits from these ISDS payouts? That would be large corporations and rich individuals: 94.5 per cent of these awards went to companies with annual revenue of at least US$1 billion or to individuals with over US$100 million in net wealth. No wonder then that the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz described ISDS as “litigation terrorism”.

There are other ways to handle injustice. If we look at the 2008 global financial crisis there was a nation that reacted differently to what happened.  Iceland was hit particularly hard its currency crashed, unemployment soared and the stock market was more or less wiped out.   However, unlike other Western economies, the Icelandic government let its three major banks - Kaupthing, Glitnir and Landsbankinn fail.  There was no buy out to support these banks. Instead, Iceland went after reckless bankers and many senior executives were jailed. 

Nasty History - learning from the shadows

I always hated history in school. There were several reasons.

1. I have long suffered from the blackboard memory. In order to learn a date or name or event something else has to be erased. The actual content in memory banks does not seem accumulative but substitution in nature.  I cite for evidence, the fact that I studied French for seven years without any success. Spent 10 years in Greece and remain bereft of the Greek language. In fact despite my love of writing the reason I chose science as a profession was largely due to my atrocious spelling in English.  Anything requiring memorisation, I have always sought to avoid.        

                                                               

                                                                        

2.  For some reason history syllabus’ all around the world have a ‘cockeyed’ view of history. So, for example, in the UK thousands of years of history is almost ignored in favour of modern world wars. Which always struck me as a wasteful direction of human intellect. If we studied war history with a view of avoiding future conflicts and their associated catastrophic loss of life then perhaps it would be beneficial. Future generations could learn from past mistakes. Instead history, wherever it is taught, seems to focus on the glorification of battles and nobility of killing fields. Stirring up nationalistic fervour in the younger generation so they will be willing fodder for the warfare of the future.

Or as in the words of George S McGovern

“I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.”

More impressive still when you know the background of George S McGovern.

• He was a pilot of World War II 
• Holder of the Distinguished Flying Cross 
• On one his missions as a pilot, his plane had 110 holes in the fuselage on its return
• Was a history professor
• Sought to end the Vietnam war
• Was instrumental in the creation of the United Nations World Food Bank program
• Was the First UN Global Ambassador of World Hunger 

Not bad for someone who once was known as an average student, painfully shy and afraid to speak a word in school when young.  On to my third reason to dislike history.

3.   My history teacher was a vindictive woman who really should not have been left in charge of children or indeed sentient animals of any kind. In future, I think we should look at teachers and “ask would I trust this person with an ill hamster”. That sensitivity to see to the needs of vulnerable dependents, nurturing their well-being and their growth and well-being, free of any hurtful tendencies to those under their care should be the basic benchmark.

Having said all that I am a voracious reader even at school loved Edward Gibbon’s ‘The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire’. It covers the period from 98 to 1590. In particular, I liked one of his lines of bitting comment,

“As long as mankind shall continue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than on their benefactors, the thirst of military glory will ever be the voice of the most exalted characters.”

or rather more pessimistically still,

“history is indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.”

If you ever despair of today's morals and standards. Feel that they have reached levels of degradation beyond that ever encountered before. Read Gibbon’s book and be reassured that humanity has ever had the ability to sink to levels almost beyond our imagination  in their grotesqueness and cruelty. In fact, it is our ability to sink to levels  far below those of wild animals that almost defines us as a human species. Don't get me wrong. I believe humanity can rise to heights we cannot see in the shadows of the present valleys. But if we are to attain future summits we must never lose sight of the very real gorges and chasms that make up our historical landscape. We need to recognise the dark places and hateful deeds that make this world hell like. Register them for the decline they represent and turn away from such darkness.

Then, when we hear the hateful prejudices that have ever blighted mankind’s history we can make wiser choices. Or when nations flee from war or starvation to our borders we would realise our response is a test of our very humanity.  When cities of civilians are bombed into oblivion does our silent acquiescence not speak volumes?  For history always judges on what was actually done to our fellow humans and our role for better or worse in response to that. These heroes or villains are made, today and in history, by how are they responded to what went on around them. Hard choices in difficult days by heroic individuals, down through the ages, create lights that lead to better days for us all.