The sporting approach to war was not altogether harmless. Officer candidates were sometimes chosen on this narrow criterion while men from the working middle class with no games experience were passed over. Because there is no necessary correlation between athleticism and leadership in war, Britain got some officers of questionable ability. Hervey de Montmorency, a captain in the Dublin Fusileers, at first thought the regiment lucky to have rugby players for officers: I regard an Irish gentleman as the salt of the earth, and when he is a Rugby football player he is the supreme type of what a man should be. But the stereotype didnt hold up: The three greatest cowards in battle whom I ever met were men who, gauged by their peace-time pastimes, might have been expected to be heroes: one was an international polo-player and the other two had been public school and country cricketers. On the other hand some of the bravest I have ever known were youths who had never possessed the leisure or means to be sportsmen. Michael C. C. Adams, The Great Adventure
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 03:05:29 +0000
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