Of the many famous men who have been freemasons, 1st
Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome may be considered to have been the most
active to patronise our Society. In a quite remarkable and extraordinary life,
his onerous military commitment to his Country was intertwined with the Masonic
duties he pursued on behalf of our fraternity. He belonged to no fewer than
fifteen Lodges and Chapters whilst serving as District
Grand Master of Egypt and Sudan and of the Punjab in India. He was
simultaneously Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Army and later of the forces
in India, culminating in his appointment as Secretary of War before his untimely
death in 1916. At the time he was holding active Masonic office. Kitchener has
been immortalised in the First World War recruitment poster ‘Your Country
Needs You’. His striking portrait wearing Field Marshal’s uniform,
finger pointed, is an image familiar to us all.
Horatio Herbert Kitchener was born on 24 June 1850
near Ballylongford, Kerry, Ireland. His father had enjoyed a successful military career
and Kitchener decided at a young age to follow in his footsteps. Following on
his two-year education at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels and
on an
impulse of enthusiasm, he enlisted in the French Army in 1870 where he saw
action under the Tricolour flag for the best part of a year. In 1871, back home
he joined the Royal Engineers and three years later applied for a position in
Palestine where he was involved in the survey of uncharted land. On his move to
Egypt in 1882, after a four-year stint in Cyprus, he began to make a name for
himself. Egypt at this time was under the power of the Ottoman Empire and
incorporated a section of Northern Sudan. Kitchener’s brief was to train the
native people whilst establishing an essential rail network with the impending
nationalist revolt led by the Mahdi, Muhammad ibn Abdalla,
very much in mind.
By this time Freemasonry was well established in the
area. It had been brought into Egypt in 1798 by Napoleon’s conquering armies
and quickly spread through the region. From the start high-ranking French
Officers were active members, encouraged by Napoleon himself. They introduced
eminent and respected native soldiers and politicians that became the breeding
ground for Kitchener to become a freemason some 50 years later. The Masonic
legacy in Egypt was confused at best. French, Italian, English, Scottish and
Irish jurisdictions worked at times together and at times at loggerheads. The
formation of the National Grand Lodge of Egypt in 1864, warranted by the Grand
Orient of Italy, only gave temporary relief to the confusion. From England’s
point of view Egypt, as part of the Ottoman Empire, initially fell under the
jurisdiction of the Grand Master of Turkey RW Bro Sir Henry Bulwer. The National
Grand Lodge of Egypt was quickly recognised, particularly in the light of the
dignitaries who headed the newly formed Grand Lodge. Soon, however,
disillusioned with the many unrecognised degrees and orders being practiced by
the National Grand Lodge England decided to form, for a second time, it own
District Grand Lodge which brought some semblance of order and control.
Kitchener was well into his successful military career
and aged thirty-three when he was initiated, almost certainly, in the Italian
speaking La Concordia Lodge no. 1226 in Cairo in 1883. Some doubt as to
the Lodge at which he was initiated has arisen as a result of hand annotations
in the records of the listing of Grand Officers in Grand Lodge in England. The
annotation states ‘presumed to have been initiated in Star in the East
Lodge no. 1355 Egyptian Grand Lodge in 1883 OR if not there in La Concordia no.
1226’. This error may have been brought about by Kitchener’s details in
the petitioner’s warrant for the Drury Lane Lodge no. 2127 referred to
below. La Concordia Lodge no. 1226, consecrated with a group of other
Lodges by the United Grand Lodge of England in 1868, was sadly erased in 1890
and there are no surviving records.
His initiation coincided with the increasing unrest in
the Sudan. In 1881 Muhammad ibn Abdalla had proclaimed himself the Mahdi, ‘expected
one’ and led the religious anti-Ottoman nationalist revolt, which
culminated in the fall of Khartoum in 1885. The Mahdi died shortly thereafter,
but southern Sudan survived as rebel territory. In
1895 the British government authorized Kitchener to launch a campaign to
re-conquer Sudan. It was three years before the Anglo-Egyptian force under the
leadership of Lord Kitchener finally overwhelmed the rebels in 1898. Famously, Winston
Churchill was present at these battles serving under Kitchener.
It is quite extraordinary that during this period of
tension and military activity Kitchener found time to develop his Masonic
career. It can possibly be explained by the fact that every Lodge he joined and
took interest in, comprised of several members of great eminence with whom
closer association could only serve well. In
1885 he joined the most senior Lodge in Egypt Bulwer
Lodge, no. 1068. In the same year Major General Sir Henry MacLeod Leslie Rundle also became a member. There
are a number of questions raised about his membership, in 1886, of the first
English Lodge he is associated with. His name, as mentioned above, appears as a
petitioner for the Drury Lane Lodge no. 2127, consecrated on 25th
January 1886. There is no evidence, however, of his presence in England at this
time. His name is clearly not in his own handwriting and the letters N/R (not
registered) appear after the entry. The column headed ‘initiated in
Lodge No.’ has the entry 1355, the number of the Star
of the East Lodge, also not in his writing. This error
may have been the source for the confusion in the Grand Officers listing.
Kitchener did in fact become a joining member of the Star
of the East Chapter, no 1355,
in 1892 (which, founded in 1891 was only erased in 1966). His address is given
as the Junior United Officers Club. Finally, at a meeting of the Lodge in
1898, Gerald Maxwell WM welcomes Lord Kitchener as ‘The Victor of
Omdurman’. Kitchener replies’ It gives me the greatest pleasure to
meet the Brethren of the Lodge which is the first one I have joined in
England’.
All this evidence, in addition to the political unrest in Egypt at the time,
point to his participation at the consecration of the Drury Lane Lodge in
absentia.
A
possible explanation for his membership of this Lodge becomes apparent when the
list of the founders of the Lodge is read. They include William
Henry, Earl of Londesborough, first Worshipful Master, Sir John Eldon Gorst, the
Solicitor General, Admiral Sir Edward Inglefield, A M Broadley PDDGM Malta. The
Lodge also boasts the initiation of Capt. Robert Falcon Scott (of the Antarctic)
who was raised to the Third Degree in 1904 in Christchurch, New Zealand whilst
on a voyage with the ‘Discovery’.
On 2 September 1898, General Horatio Kitchener led the
British and Egyptian troops to victory over Sudanese tribesmen led by Khalifa
Abdullah al-Taashi. This was the decisive battle of Omdurman, reoccupying
Khartoum and establishing British control over the Sudan. During
the five-hour battle, about 11,000 Mahdists died whereas Anglo Egyptian losses
amounted to 48 dead and fewer than 400 wounded. A two-year campaign had come to an
end and
Kitchener had achieved something which had eluded
many before him. It is here that he acquired the title of ‘Kitchener of
Khartoum’.
Meanwhile Kitchener continued with his vigorous
Masonic activities, In 1890 he joined the Greek-speaking Hellas Lodge
no. 1105, later named Grecia Lodge, and was instrumental in its
revival when it began to work in English. In 1892 he served the Lodge as
Worshipful Master. It was also at this time that his interest in the
Orders beyond the Craft began. His standing as a national hero and
his enthusiasm for the Craft ensured his rapid rise through the Masonic ranks in
all the orders. In 1895 he was appointed Past District
Senior Grand Warden for Egypt & the Sudan and in this capacity he was
instrumental in the Foundation of the Fatieh Lodge under the National
Grand Lodge of Egypt and was made Honorary Worshipful Master. The
Royal Arch has already been mentioned, attaining the MEZ
Chair of Star of the East Chapter in 1896.
In the same year he was appointed Third Grand Principal of the Grand
Chapter Egypt and received the Past rank of Grand
Scribe Nehemiah,
from
the Supreme Grand Chapter of England in 1897, the year of his appointment as a
Past Grand Warden of the United Grand Lodge of England. In
the Mark degree, he was advanced and became Master of the Nubia
Mark Lodge no. 511 in 1898.
The Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of England also appointed him Grand Junior
Warden of the District of North Africa in the same year. To embellish, so to
speak, the many Masonic achievements, Kitchener was also made an honorary member
of Lodge of Edinburgh, St Mary's Chapel no. 1 Scottish Constitution.
In
January 1899 an agreement was reached between Britain and Egypt restoring
Egyptian rule in Sudan as part of a condominium, namely a joint
Anglo-Egyptian administration. In practice, however, Britain was in control,
formulating the policies and deciding on the appointment of the senior
administrators. In November, Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum
was almost simultaneously appointed Governor General of the Sudan
and the first Right Worshipful District Grand Master of Egypt & the Sudan.
Under the new re-established jurisdiction all previous
agreements with local Grand Lodges were cancelled and four new Lodges founded. Three lodges were active in Cairo (Bulwer; Grecia and Star of
the East) and one in Alexandria (Zetland). Kitchener ensured his involvement in
all three Cairo Lodges, where he resided.
On 16 December 1899 the British
Cabinet appointing Field-Marshall Lord Roberts as Commander-in-Chief of the
British Forces in South Africa and Major-General Lord Kitchener as chief of
staff. Roberts happened to be an active freemason. Kitchener left Egypt for good
and was replaced as District Grand Master by General Sir Reginald Wingate. On 10th
January 1900 Roberts and Kitchener arrived in Cape Town with large troop
reinforcements. On 18 February 1900, during Roberts's temporary absence
because of illness, Kitchener launched a reckless frontal attack on Boer
positions at Paardeberg that resulted in heavy British casualties. On 13 March
1900, Roberts's army occupied Bloemfontein. On 1st September 1900 the
British annexation of the Transvaal was announced and Roberts handed over his
command to Kitchener and returned to Britain at the end of November 1900.
It
will not be a surprise to hear that Kitchener found time to visit a Masonic
Lodge during the Boer War. He was present at the
English Constitution Rising Star Lodge no. 1022 meeting in Bloemfontein
in the Orange Free State. The
first meeting of the Lodge during the war took place on the 5th of
April 1900 following the British occupation of the town. The Cape Argus newspaper
reported the meeting in their 18th April 1900 issue:
a communication was received from R W Bro Lord
Kitchener.
. expressing his regret at not being able to attend
the
meeting. . Intimating that it was (his) intention to visit
the
lodge in the near future.
Lord Kitchener did attend the meeting on 23rd
April 1900 and signed a document, still in possession of the Lodge, proposing
that a Royal resolution be sent to the Prince of Wales concerning the
health of Queen Victoria. Lord Roberts is also a signatory to this document.
Kitchener’s overlapping popularity, so to speak, as a national hero and a
dedicated freemason is reflected on the occasion of his visit to Ipswich in
Suffolk of 22nd September 1902, just before his posting from South
Africa to the Punjab in India. Invited to receive the freedom of the Borough,
Kitchener also accepted honorary membership in the British Union Lodge no.
114 Province of Suffolk, at an emergency meeting called by the enterprising
Master G W Horsfield. The Brethren of the Lodge, confident of Lord Kitchener’s
enthusiasm commissioned an 18 carat gold version of their Past Master’s jewel,
adding a diamond five pointed star mounted to the centre of the square and had
it inscribed ‘Presented to the Right Hon. The Viscount Kitchener GCB, GCMG,
Past District Grand Master of Egypt and the Sudan, by the Worshipful Master,
Wardens and Brethren of ‘British Union’ Lodge no. 114 September 22nd,
1902’. At the meeting in the
Town Hall, in the presence of some two hundred Brethren, headed by the
Provincial Grand Master Rt W Bro the Earl of Stradbroke and Sir Charles
Dalrymple Bart MP Past Grand Master of Scotland and many more prominent masons,
Lord Kitchener graciously accepted honorary membership of the Lodge and the
Jewel ending his speech:
‘I
thank you all very sincerely for this jewel, which I shall
certainly
wear – probably in India shortly, when I go there. I
thank
you all very much for the gift.’
In October 1902
Kitchener was posted to India and appointed Commander
in Chief of the Army, where he remained from 1902 to 1909.
Now well experienced as a Mason, he was almost
immediately appointed District Grand Master of the Punjab. He began to practise
what was by now a familiar pattern of active interest in Masonic affairs. In
1903 he joined Himalayan Brotherhood Lodge, no. 459 in Simla. In the same
year he become the Senior Founder Member of Kitchener Lodge no. 2998, the
first of the many Lodges to which he was to give his name. In 1907 he
attended a meeting of the namesake of his mother Lodge Concordia no. 3102 in
Calcutta and assisted at the initiation, passing and raising on the same day of
His Majesty Habibullah Khan, Amir of Afghanistan.
With the outbreak of the First World War, Kitchener
was called back home and the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, appointed
Kitchener Secretary of State for War. This was an historic appointment as it was
the first time that a military man was invited to hold the post. Notwithstanding
apparent failure in the Gallipoli campaign in February 1915, Kitchener’s
vision of the development and consequence of the war proved to be realistic. In
the spring of 1916, Asquith posted Kitchener to Russia, in an attempt to
encourage the country to maintain the fight against Germany. On the 5th June HMS
Hampshire, on which Horatio Kitchener was sailing to Russia, struck a
mine off the Orkneys. The British cruiser sank and Kitchener lost his life. It
was a sad end to an amazing life. In
a tribute by the R W Deputy Grand Master Sir Thomas Halsey at the Quarterly
Communication of the United Grand Lodge of England on 7 June 1916 he stated inter
alia:
Brethren, we were all taken aback yesterday when the news arrived of
the loss of our distinguished Brother and that great Englishman, Lord Kitchener
. . . as Englishmen we owe him a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid;
and England will hold his name in honour from now onwards, after all of us have
passed away, into the remotest generations in the future history of our Country
. . .Lord Kitchener sleeps in the proudest grave in which he could have been
laid: in the sea, in one of our English ships, surrounded and supported by those
who have so nobly upheld the name of England. . .
Grand Lodge expresses its profound sorrow at the tragic and untimely
death of R W Bro Field Marshall Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and Aspall . . . The
Craft mourns the loss of a distinguished Masonic administrator. . . (and) will
ever hold in grateful regard and admiring reverence the fearless soldier and
tireless organiser..
Fitting words to a great soldier and a great
Freemason.
