{"id":9620,"date":"2014-10-05T07:11:22","date_gmt":"2014-10-05T11:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.royalmontrealregiment.com\/?p=9620"},"modified":"2014-10-05T07:11:22","modified_gmt":"2014-10-05T11:11:22","slug":"convoy-security-or-the-lack-of-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/convoy-security-or-the-lack-of-security\/","title":{"rendered":"CONVOY SECURITY \u2013 OR THE LACK OF SECURITY?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"05<\/a>THIS DAY IN RMR HISTORY, 05 October 1914 – \u201cBy order of the Minister of Militia, the Department of Marine and Fisheries and the Department of the Naval Service had been requested to ensure \u201cthat every possible precaution may be taken to detect and prevent the laying of mines in the St. Lawrence, or elsewhere on the route to England\u201d: neither had equipment for mine-sweeping, but both issued warnings that careful watch should be kept for mines or suspicious vessels in the river \u2013 they did not accept responsibility for the remainder of the route.<\/p>\n

Before leaving Quebec strict injunctions had been issued in secret orders to captains of vessels from Rear-Admiral R.E. Wemyss, C.M.G., M.V.O., – the British Naval Officer appointed to command the trans-Atlantic escort – for the covering of lights, which were observed, and for the closing down of ships\u2019 wireless, which were not always observed at first. Strict regulations forbidding the publication, without lawful authority, of any naval or military information, although passed by Privy Council ten days earlier (P.C. 2358 of 12.ix.1914) were not made public until three months later; as an immediate precautionary measure, however, the press had been warned, before the first transport arrived at Quebec, against giving the names of the ships or making mention of the embarkation of the force.\u00a0 This was complied with by almost all Canadian newspapers, but soon the information was broadcast to the world at large.\u00a0 On 28 September, in the very midst of the embarkation, the Governor-General was reported in the press to have stated at a public meeting in Ottawa: – \u201cRecently I have had the pleasure several times to visit Valcartier, and also to be present at what is perhaps no longer a secret, the embarkation of the Canadian troops.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

On the same occasion the Prime Minister is reported to have said: – \u201cTwice I have visited Valcartier Camp.\u00a0 Those of you who have not had that opportunity may be assured that the expeditionary force which has just embarked comprises as splendid a body of men as will be found among the armies of the Empire.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

These pronouncements were calculated to deceive the enemy and, to further the deception, Admiral Wemyss let the press understand that the transports were sailing independently.\u00a0 The War Office was scrupulous to encipher all cables, and had pressed for details of personnel, horses and material in each transport; the list was so extensive that the department warned the War Office that it would be sent in clear, and so dispatched it.\u00a0 The warning cable drew remonstrances from the War Office, and the reply given was: \u00a0\u201cYour telegram received too late,\u201d and on the same day: \u00a0\u201cUnlikely to do harm \u2026 Names of transport and strength of Contingent had already been published.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 As it happened no harm was done, and although even newspapers with ample information undoubtedly reached Germany before the convoy made port, no effectual interceptive action was taken by the German Admiralty; it is now known that Admiral von Tirpitz believed 20,000 Canadians to be in Le Havre on 8th<\/sup> October.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOn October 5th<\/sup>, a supposed German collier was encountered by the convoy and two days later the H.M.S. Glory <\/em>stopped a Scandinavian tramp with several shots across the bow.\u00a0 These vessels were suspected of supporting the German cruiser Karlsruhe<\/em>, which was at large in the Atlantic, but so far as the troops could gather, no proof was forthcoming.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [4]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]\u00a0 \u201cCanadians Are Now On Way To Field Of War,\u201d Special to The Gazette from Staff Correspondent, The Gazette<\/em>, Montreal, Quebec, Friday, September 25, pg. 1, col. 3<\/pre>\n
[2] \u00a0\u201cThe Greatest Movement On The Atlantic,\u201d Special Staff Correspondent, The Montreal Daily Mail<\/em>, Montreal, Friday, October, 2, 1914, pg. 3, col. 1.<\/pre>\n
[3]<\/a>\u00a0 Col. A.F. Duguid, \u201cOfficial History of the Canadian Forces in The Great War 1914-1919, Vol. 1<\/em>, Part 1,<\/em> King\u2019s Printer, Ottawa, 1938, pp. 94-96.<\/pre>\n
[4]<\/a>\u00a0 R.C. Featherstonhaugh, The Royal Montreal Regiment 14th<\/sup> Battalion C.E.F. 1914-1925<\/em>, Montreal, The Gazette, Printing Co., Ltd., 1927, pg. 14.<\/pre>\n
 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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