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When
World War One broke out in 1914 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tried to
enlist in the military stating, "I am fifty-five but I am
very strong and hardy, and can make my voice audible at great
distances, which is useful at drill."
His offer was refused but that
didn't stop Sir Arthur from contributing to the war effort in
every way possible. In fact, he was active in defense of
his country even before war broke out.
Conan Doyle had a strong feeling that conflict was coming
after a 1911 automobile event. That year he took part
in the International Road Competition organized by Prince Henry
of Prussia. Known as the Prince Henry Tour, this contest
was designed to pit the quality of British automobiles
against German automobiles. The route took the
participants from Hamburg, Germany to
London.
Conan Doyle and his wife, Jean,
were one of the British driving teams. Each of the ninety
cars involved in the contest carried a military observer from
the opposite team. Conan Doyle was surprised at the
hostile attitudes of many of the German observers. He also
heard much talk about the inevitability of war.
The British won the competition,
but most of the participants came away with the conviction that
war was near.
Alarmed by what he'd seen in the Prince Henry Tour Conan
Doyle began to study German war literature. He saw that
the submarine and the airplane were going to be important
factors in the next war. He was particularly concerned
about the threat of submarines blockading food shipments to Britain.
Conan Doyle endorsed the Channel
Tunnel proposal as a way of safeguarding Britain from this
threat. The tunnel would run between France and
England. Conan Doyle argued that the tunnel would ensure
that Britain couldn't be cut off from the rest of Europe during
wartime and would provide increased tourism revenues during
peacetime.
Convinced that this was a vital
precaution Conan Doyle eventually took his idea to the public in
the form of a story. "Danger! Being the Log of
Captain John Sirius" appeared in the July, 1914 edition of
the Strand Magazine. The story dealt with a
conflict between Britain and a fictional country called Norland.
In the story, Norland is able to bring Britain to its knees by
the use of a small submarine fleet.
Sadly Conan Doyle's warnings were
ignored, at least by the British. German officials were
later quoted as saying that the idea of the submarine blockade
came to them after hearing Conan Doyle's warnings against such
an event. How much of that statement was truth and how
much was propaganda designed to cause conflict within
Britain is not known.
Private Conan
Doyle
When war finally did break out in 1914 Conan Doyle was fifty-five
years old. His age didn't stop him from trying to enlist
in the military.
In a letter to the war office he
stated, "I think I may say that my name is well known to
the younger men of this country and that if I were to take a
commission at my age it would set an example which might be of
help." He went on to list some of his qualifications,
"I am fifty-five but I am very strong and hardy, and can
make my voice audible at great distances, which is useful at
drill."
Despite his generous offer and
his loud voice Conan Doyle's application was denied.
However he was determined to help the war effort in any way
possible. He next set about to organize defense units
comprised of civilian volunteers. The War Office ordered
those units to be disbanded and replaced them with units that
were centrally administered through their office.
Conan Doyle's unit became the
Crowborough Company of the Sixth Royal Sussex Volunteer
Regiment. He was offered the command position in the new battalion,
but Conan Doyle refused. He wanted to show his countrymen
that all were equal in the defense of Britain. He entered
the group as Private Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Power of the Press
In the first few weeks of the war three British cruisers were
lost. The 1,400 men aboard the cruisers were lost as
well. Conan Doyle thought the loss of life was
preventable. He wrote to the War Office urging that each
sailor be given an "inflatable rubber belt" to assist
the sailors in case their ships went down.
Sir Arthur was never reluctant to
use his personal popularity when fighting for a just cause.
Therefore he also sent letters to the press proposing these very
same ideas. He knew that while the War Office might ignore
the voice of one man, it couldn't ignore the voice of public
opinion.
His plan worked. The
government soon ordered inflatable rubber collars, the
forerunner of today's lifejackets, for the country's
sailors.
Conan Doyle would use this same tactic
later when advocating that lifeboats be carried on military
vessels. He also urged that body armor be issued to
frontline soldiers.
The British Campaign in France
and Flanders
While World War One still raged on Conan Doyle began work on
The British Campaign in France and Flanders. It was
an extremely detailed history of the war. Conan Doyle was
very proud of it and went to great pains to make it as accurate
as possible.
He gathered material for the book
from any sources including the British military.
However the book wasn't as balanced as it could be. Conan
Doyle totally trusted the material he received from some of his
sources. The bias of these sources made its way into the
book.
The British Campaign in France
and Flanders was initially published in six
volumes. The first volumes didn't sell well because
they were published when the war was still being fought.
The public wanted to hear about the day's battles rather that
read a history of the early days of the war. After the war
ended the public, possibly wanting a break from death and destruction,
had little interest in reading about the conflict. Conan
Doyle said the book was, "an undeserved literary
disappointment".
From One War to the Next
Sir Arthur's suggestions on warfare were thought of as intrusive
by some members of the British government. However he had
some supporters as well. One of those, the First Sea Lord
of the Admiralty, would play an important role in World War
Two. The man's name was Winston Churchill.
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