Letter from the President, Royal College of Physicians to Viscount French, 7 June 1918
PINKSTONE FRENCH, Viscount of YPRES and HIGH LAKE,
Lord Lieutenant General and General Governor of
Ireland. May it please Your Excellency, WE, the President and Fellows of the Royal College of
Physicians of Ireland, desire to approach Your Excellency
upon your arrival in this country as Representative of
His Most Gracious Majesty the King, with a cordial
welcome and an expression of our devoted attachment
to the Throne and Empire. At this moment when the forces of our King, drawn from
all parts of his Empire, are engaged in a deadly
struggle with our common foe for the defence of our
homes and liberty, we welcome the opportunity of
expressing to you our unwavering attachment to the
Empire and our confidence in the ultimate triumph of
the cause for which our People and our Allies are
fighting. In this great cause the Fellows, Members and Licentiates
of this College are willingly taking their part both 2 at home and abroad, endeavouring, as far as in them lies,
to bring health and healing to those who have suffered,
and to ward off those attacks of disease which have so
often proved the most dangerous enemies of armies in the
field. A considerable number of the Fellows and
Members of the College are serving with His Majesty's forces
and of those who have obtained the License of the College
since the outbreak of the war some ninety per cent have
entered either the Naval or Military service. In lending what aid they can in this the common danger the
President and Fellows feel that they are merely carrying
on the great tradition of their College handed down to
them by their predecessors since its foundation by King
Charles the second. We desire to assure Your Excellency of our readiness
to afford to His Majesty and to His Government our
hearty assistance in this time of the Empire's peril
and to express again our loyalty to His Throne. 7th June 1918. President
Registrar 3 To HIS EXCELLENCY Field Marshal Sir JOHN DENTON PINKSTONE FRENCH,
Viscount of YPRESS and HIGH LAKE, LORD LIEUTENANT GENERAL and
GENERAL GOVERNOR OF IRELAND, May it please Your Excellency We, the President and Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians
of Ireland, desire to approach Your Excellency upon your arrival
in this country as Representative of His Most Gracious Majesty the
King, with a cordial welcome and an expression of our devoted
attachment to the Throne and Empire. At this moment when the forces of our King, drawn from all parts
of his Empire, are engaged in a deadly struggle with our common
foe for the defence of our homes and our liberty, we welcome the
opportunity of expressing to you our unwavering attachment to the
Empire and our confidence in the ultimate triumph of the cause
for which our people and our allies are fighting. In this great cause the Fellows, Members and Licentiates of this
College are willingly taking their part both at home and abroad,
endeavouring, as far as in them lies, to bring health and healing
to those who have suffered, and to ward off those attacks of
which have so often proved the most dangerous enemies of
in the field. A considerable number of the Fellows and
Members of the College are serving with His Majesty's forces, and
who have obtained the License of the College since the
outbreak of the war some ninty per cent., have entered either the
Naval or Military service. In leading what this common danger the President
and Fellows are merely carrying on the great tradi—
tion of their College, handed down to them by their predecessors
since its foundation by King Charles the second. We desire to assure Your Excellency of our readiness to afford to
His Majesty and to His Government our hearty assistance in this
time of the Empire's peril, and to express again our loyalty to
His Throne.
Sir John Denton Pinkstone French, first Earl of Ypres, was a British officer. Upon the outbreak of war, French was appointed Field Marshal of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Although popular with his men, the failure of his offensives, Neuve-Chapelle and Loos, to break the German lines and his criticism of the home government led to his replacement as Field Marshal by sir Douglas Haig (1861-1928) in late 1915. French was appointed Commander in Chief of the Home forces in January 1916. In 1918 he was appointed the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He served in this position until his resignation in 1921.
- John French
- 1918-06-07
- Industry and Public Administration
How to cite
Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__4564.html)
- Mentioned in
-
- Letter from John French to John Redmond, 15 April 1916
- Letter from the President, Royal College of Physicians to Viscount French, 7 June 1918
- Letter from Thomas Kirkpatrick to Sir John French, 7 June 1918
- Letter from the President and Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians to Sir John French, 7 June 1918