A version of this handkerchief (pictured) received the thumbs-up from The Army and Navy Gazette in 1895, in the days when the accessory now regarded as a cult relic was ubiquitous. But rather than a nose-wipe or decoration, the large handkerchief was designed to be an aide-mémoire.
“The notion is good and has been well carried out, both from an artistic and educational point of view,” the London-based gazette assessed, predicting the well-resolved item would become “an indispensable adjunct to every seaman’s kit.”
It’s chokka with information, useful to those involved with the ongoing and bloody expansion of Britain’s imperial holdings in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At its centre is a misquote of Admiral Horatio Nelson’s signal to the British fleet, flown as action commenced against the combined French and Spanish navies off the province of Cádiz, at 11.30 hours on October 21, 1805: “England Expects That Every Man This Day Will Do His Duty”.
Illustrations and descriptions surround Nelson’s Battle of Trafalgar gee-up of: the Lee-Metford Mark II bolt-action rifle; the Webly pistol Mark IV; exercises for developing sword-fighting proficiency.
Life-saving advice is given under the headline, SAVING DROWNING
PERSONS BY SWIMMING TO THEIR RELIEF: “When close to him do not attempt to catch hold of him if he shews any sign of struggling or of clutching at you but await your opportunity of catching him by the hair of his head from behind at the same time throwing yourself on your back.”
Sailors are similarly urged to take the initiative under the headline EXTEMPORE TOURNIQUET: “In the event of an artery being severed anywhere in the arm, at once take off your knife and black silk handkerchief, opening the former and tearing the latter in half.” In the event of a storm, “Always luff to a squall, and ease the sheet.”
• This is taken from the NZ Maritime Museum blog, A Fighting Handkerchief by Frances Walsh
Read the full article at:
www.maritimemuseum.co.nz/out-of-the-box-or-a-fighting-handkerchief
