Richard Meinertzhagen
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
Richard Meinertzhagen, CBE, DSO (3 March 1878 – 17 June 1967) was a British
soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...
, intelligence officer, and ornithologist. He had a decorated military career spanning Africa and the Middle East. He was credited with creating and executing the Haversack Ruse in October 1917, during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War, but his participation in this matter has since been refuted. While early biographies lionized Meinertzhagen as a master of military strategy and
espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...
, later works such as ''The Meinertzhagen Mystery'' present him as a fraud for fabricating stories of his feats and speculated he murdered his wife, in addition to mass extrajudicial killings while in the colonial service. The discovery of stolen museum bird specimens resubmitted as original discoveries has raised serious doubts on the veracity of many of his ornithological records.


Background and youth

Meinertzhagen was born into a wealthy, socially connected British family. His father, Daniel Meinertzhagen, was head of the Frederick Huth & Co. merchant-banking dynasty, which had an international reputation, that one biographer claimed in the introduction to his book was second in importance only to the Rothschilds. His mother was Georgina Potter, sister of Beatrice Webb, a co-founder of the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
. Meinertzhagen's
surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
derives from Meinerzhagen in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, the home of an ancestor. On his mother's side (the wealthy Potter family), he was of English descent. Among his relations were "many of Britain's titled, rich, and influential personages." Although he had his doubts, he also claimed to be a distant descendant of Philip III of Spain.Garfield, p. 70 His nephew, Daniel Meinertzhagen (1915–1991), was a chairman of Lazard. His niece, Teresa Georgina Mayor (1915–1996), married the 3rd Baron Rothschild. Young Richard was sent as a boarding student to Aysgarth School in the north of England, then was enrolled at Fonthill in Sussex, and finally at
Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...
, where his stay overlapped with that of
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
. In 1895, at the age of 18, he reluctantly obeyed his father's wishes to join the family bank as a clerk. He was assigned to offices in Cologne and Bremen. There, he picked up the German language, but remained uninterested in banking. After he returned to the bank's home office in England in 1897, he received his father's approval to join the Hampshire Yeomanry. In 1911, he married Armorel, the daughter of Colonel Herman Le Roy-Lewis, who commanded the Hampshire Yeomanry.''Edinburgh Gazette''
25 February 1916, p. 329.
Meinertzhagen's passion for bird-watching began as a child. His brother Daniel and he were encouraged by a family friend, the
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
Herbert Spencer Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English polymath active as a philosopher, psychologist, biologist, sociologist, and anthropologist. Spencer originated the expression "survival of the fittest", which he coined in '' ...
, who, like another family friend,
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
, was an ardent empiricist. Spencer would take young Richard and Daniel on walks around the family home of Mottisfont Abbey, urging them to observe and enquire on the habits of birds. Around 1887, they kept a pet sparrowhawk, which was taken to Hyde Park to let it prey on sparrows. The first serious ornithologist whom Richard met was Brian Hodgson. Daniel took an interest in bird illustration, which brought them in contact with Archibald Thorburn and led to an introduction to Joseph Wolf and G.E. Lodge. They had first met
Richard Bowdler Sharpe Richard Bowdler Sharpe (22 November 1847 – 25 December 1909) was an English people, English zoologist and ornithology, ornithologist who worked as curator of the bird collection at the British Museum of natural history. In the course of his car ...
at the Natural History Museum in 1886 and noted that he was very fond of encouraging children, showing them around the bird collections.


Military career

Lacking the desire to make a career in merchant banking, Meinertzhagen took examinations for a commission in the British Army, and after training at
Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...
, was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers on 18 January 1899. He was sent to India to join a battalion of his regiment.Garfield, p. 50 Other than routine regimental soldiering, he participated in big-game hunting, was promoted, sent on sick leave to England, and after recovery posted to the relocated battalion at Mandalay in Burma. He was promoted
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
on 8 February 1900. He then started his "zealous campaign" for a transfer to Africa, and in April 1902, was seconded for service with the Foreign Office, which attached him to the 3rd (East African) Battalion of the King's African Rifles. The following month, he finally arrived at
Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...
in British East Africa.


Kenya and South Africa

Meinertzhagen was assigned as a staff officer with the King's African Rifles (KAR). Again, he participated in big-game hunting, but "regarded himself as scientist-explorer first, and only incidentally as a soldier." His maps, landscapes, and wildlife drawings proved him an artist of exceptional talent. In 1903, he was delegated to conduct a wild animal census in the Serengeti and Athi plains. In 1902 and 1903 when Meinertzhagen travelled through Northern Gikuyuland, it is believed on British imperial missions, he is credited to have given the name Nyeri to the place where modern day Nyeri Town stands today. The name is from the local name of nearby Nyeri Hill. He later on, after establishing relations with local chiefs, got into an altercation because of the government taxes he imposed, and harassment. Meinertzhagen ordered his soldiers to burn Gikuyu villages in the night, without warning. This resulted in the death of more than a hundred people. During Meinertzhagen's assignment to Africa, frequent native "risings and rebellions" occurred. By 1903 KAR's retaliatory ventures focused on confiscation of livestock, a highly effective form of punishment, and "the KAR had become accomplished cattle-rustlers." In 1904, one such punitive expedition was commanded by a Captain Francis Arthur Dickinson of the 3rd KAR with participation by Meinertzhagen, where more than 11,000 cattle were captured at the cost of 3 men killed and 33 wounded. The body count on the African side was estimated at 1,500 from the Kikuyu and
Embu Embu may refer to: Places ; in Brazil * Embu das Artes * Embu-Guaçu ; in Kenya * Embu, Kenya * Embu County Other

*Embu people of Kenya *Embu language, the Bantu language spoken by them {{Disamb, geo ...
tribes. In the Kenya Highlands in 1905, Meinertzhagen ended the anti-colonial Nandi Resistance, by killing its leader, the Nandi Orkoiyot (spiritual leader) Koitalel Arap Samoei. He arranged a meeting to negotiate by Koitalel's home on 19 October 1905, at which he planned to kill him. Meinertzhagen shot Koitalel at point-blank range while shaking his hand and his men killed Koitatlel's accompanying entourage, including most of his advisors. It is claimed that he also decapitated Koitalel and sent some of Koitalel's body parts to England. Initially, he had been able to orchestrate a cover-up and was commended for the incident. However, after news of what had actually happened became known, Meinertzhagen claimed self-defense and eventually, after a third court of inquiry, he was cleared by the presiding officer, Brig. William Manning. Meinertzhagen collected
tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
artefacts after this revolt. Some of these items, including a walking stick and baton belonging to Koitalel, were returned to Kenya in 2006. Pressure from the Colonial Department on the War Office eventually brought about Meinertzhagen's removal from Africa, as "he had become a negative symbol" and on 28 May 1906 "he found himself on a ship being trundled back to England in disgrace and in disgust." Meinertzhagen spent 1902 to 1906 in East Africa with a pay of £400 but returned from Africa with £4000, the rest being earnings from hunting, largely from the sale of ivory. Captain Meinertzhagen then spent the latter part of 1906 at "dreary administrative War Office desk jobs pushing papers." However, "... by making full use of his wide network of contacts in high places" he was able to rehabilitate himself and was assigned to the Fusiliers' Third Battalion in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, arriving at
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
on 3 February 1907. He served there in 1908 and 1909, then on
Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
. By 1913, he was again in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. At the beginning of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he was posted to the intelligence staff of the British Indian Expeditionary Force. His map-making skills were much valued and recognized, though his assessments of the strength of the German Schutztruppe and other contributions to the conduct of the Battle of Tanga and the Battle of Kilimanjaro were a complete miss. From January 1915 through August 1916, Meinertzhagen served as chief of British military intelligence for the East Africa theatre at
Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
. His diary record of this campaign contain harsh assessments of senior officers, of the role played by the Royal Navy, and of the quality of the Indian units sent to East Africa. He was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...
in February 1916. In November of that year General J.C. Smuts ordered him invalided to England.


Palestine campaign

During 1917, Meinertzhagen was transferred from East Africa to be put in place at Deir el-Belah. He made contact with Nili, a Jewish spy network headed by the agronomist Aaron Aaronsohn. Meinertzhagen later asserted that he respected Aaronsohn more than anyone else he ever met. They were instrumental in contacting Jewish officers in the Ottoman army, amongst many other sources, for information, and attempted their defection to the allies. A German Jewish doctor stationed at el-Afulah railway junction gave valuable reconnaissance reports on troop movements south. Meinertzhagen's department produced regular maps from the data showing the dispositions of enemy forces in the desert. In October 1917, the Turks broke up the network by intercepting a carrier pigeon and subjecting the Jews to hideous torture. Sarah Aaronsohn, (Aaron's sister), age 27, a key figure, committed suicide in her home after torture. Meinertzhagen's sources of information dwindled to the occasional prisoner caught out by patrols and deserters.


The 'Haversack Ruse'

He is frequently credited with a surprise attack known as the Haversack Ruse in October 1917; during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War, according to his diary, he let a haversack containing false British battle plans fall into Ottoman military hands, thereby bringing about the British victory in the Battle of Beersheba and Gaza. The documents were taken to Kress von Kressenstein, who examined them and doubted their authenticity. According to an account by Turkish Colonel Hussein Husni, Chief of Staff of 7th Army, Meinertzhagen's German-sounding name caused confusion in the German and Turkish staff as to why a British officer would have a German name and added to the suspicion of the inauthenticity of the documents. Von Kressenstein later wrote that he did not believe the documents were real: No changes in German-Turkish positions took place in the weeks leading up to the British operations at Beersheba or Gaza, indicating that the ruse had no effect on the decision-making of the Turkish-German leadership. To the fault of von Kressenstein, no significant reinforcements were sent to Beersheba even though the deception was uncovered. Although Meinertzhagen's participation in this ruse has been refuted (he neither planned nor executed it), his stories of the ruse themselves would have a major impact on events in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Research conducted by Brian Garfield, author of ''The Meinertzhagen Mystery'', has proven that the idea was actually that of Lieutenant Colonel J.D. Belgrave, a member of Allenby's general staff, and the rider who dropped the satchel was Arthur Neate. Arthur Neate was an active military intelligence officer at the time when a ''Times'' article was printed in 1927 describing the Haversack Ruse and Meinertzhagen's (fraudulent) role in it. Neate, therefore, could not publicly refute the false claims without violating security norms, though he did finally correct the record in 1956. The true author of the ruse, Lt Col Belgrave, had never contradicted Meinertzhagen's account because he was killed in action on 13 June 1918. In the Second World War, the ruse inspired Winston Churchill to create the
London Controlling Section The London Controlling Section (LCS) was a British secret department established in September 1941, under Oliver Stanley, with a mandate to coordinate Allied strategic military deception during World War II. The LCS was formed within the Joint ...
, which planned countless Allied deception campaigns during the war, and such operations as Mincemeat and diversions covering D-Day were influenced by the Haversack Ruse.


Military intelligence reservations

Another story from 1917 refers to a number of Arab spies suspected of wandering through British lines in disguise. Meinertzhagen caught a couple of Arabs and extracted the identity of their Ottoman paymaster, a merchant who lived in Beersheba. He sent him money with an Arab he knew would talk. The merchant was executed by the Turks. "Near the end of 1917, having participated in no battles, he was ordered back to England for reassignment ndfound office duty as dreary as ever." Meinertzhagen was outraged by the continual sorties to bomb the enemy camp, given the bombs always missed their target and invaluable reconnaissance planes were shot down with lives lost. On one such raid, as many as eight planes went down. From an intelligence viewpoint, it was pointless, as the Germans gave as good as they got in return to no overall gain. He hated the notion that the Holy City of Jerusalem would be bombed from the air, and expressed outrage when this occurred, for example, the bombing of the enemy's HQ at Mount of Olives. Allenby told him that the Turks had to be induced to escape Jerusalem, northwards if possible, so a boundary was set at , a no-fighting zone to facilitate their flight.


Mandate Palestine and Israel

From the spring of 1918 until August, he commuted between England and France, delivering lectures on intelligence to groups of officers – then was assigned full-time to France at GHQ. After the armistice, he attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and was Edmund Allenby's chief political officer, involved in the creation of the Palestine Mandate, which eventually led to the creation of the state of
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. In the film '' A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia'' (1990), which depicted the Paris Peace Conference, Meinertzhagen was a major character and was played by Jim Carter. His unpublished diaries hint, among other exploits, at a successful rescue attempt of one of the Czarist-Russian Grand Duchesses, possibly Tatiana (see ''The Romanov Conspiracies'' by Michael Occleshaw). In the August 1920 Report of the Palin Commission, Meinertzhagen was attacked for an alleged bias: Israeli historian Tom Segev considers Meinertzhagen both a "great antisemite and a great Zionist," quoting from his ''Middle East Diary'': "I am imbued with antisemitic feelings. It was indeed an accursed day that allowed Jews and not Christians to introduce to the world the principles of Zionism and that allowed Jewish brains and Jewish money to carry them out, almost unhelped by Christians save a handful of enthusiasts in England." In Weizmann's biography, he wrote of Meinertzhagen,
At our first meeting, he told me the following story of himself: he had been an anti-Semite, though all he had known about Jews had been what he picked up in a few casual, anti-Semitic books. But he had also met some of the rich Jews, who had not been particularly attractive. But then, in the Near East, he had come across Aaron Aaronsohn, a Palestinian Jew, also a man of great courage and superior intelligence, devoted to Palestine. Aaronson was a botanist, and the discoverer of wild wheat. With Aaronson, Meinertzhagen had many talks about Palestine, and was so impressed by him that he completely changed his mind and became an ardent Zionist – which he has remained till this day. And that not merely in words. Whenever he can perform a service for the Jews or Palestine he will go out of his way to do so.
In 1973 ''Middle East Diary'' was published in Hebrew, translated by Aharon Amir.


Diaries

Meinertzhagen was a prolific diarist and published four books based on these diaries. However, his ''Middle East Diary'' contains entries that are in all probability fictional, including those on T. E. Lawrence and a bit of absurd slapstick concerning
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
. In October 1934, Meinertzhagen claimed to have mocked Hitler in response to being "baffled when Hitler raised his arm in the Nazi salute and said, 'Heil Hitler.' After a moment's thought, Meinertzhagen says he raised his own arm in an identical salute and proclaimed, 'Heil Meinertzhagen'." He claimed to have carried a loaded pistol in his coat pocket at a meeting with Hitler and Ribbentrop in July 1939 and was "seriously troubled" about not shooting when he had the chance, adding "... this war breaks out, as I feel sure it will, then I shall feel very much to blame for not killing these two." Authors Lockman and Garfield show that Meinertzhagen later falsified his entries. The original diaries are kept at Rhodes House (the Bodleian Library), Oxford, and contain differences in the paper used for certain entries as well as in the typewriter ribbon used, and oddities exist in the page numbering.


Dates of promotions

* Second lieutenant on 18 January 1899 *
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
on 8 February 1900 * Captain in February 1905Garfield, p. 60 * Major in September 1915 * Brevet lieutenant colonel in March 1918Garfield, p. 212 * Brevet
colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
in August 1918. Meinertzhagen retired with a major's pension in 1925. Upon retirement, British officers are allowed to use the title of the highest rank held on active duty, thus he continued to be addressed as "Colonel". In 1939, Meinertzhagen was reinstated as a lieutenant colonel for service during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Appointed as a Military Intelligence officer, G.S.O.-3 (General Staff Officer, 3rd grade), his duties were confined mainly to public relations work.


Character

Meinertzhagen has inspired three biographies since his death in 1967. Early biographers largely lionized him as a grand elder statesman of espionage and ornithology. T. E. Lawrence, a sometime colleague in 1919 and again 1921, described him more ambiguously and with due attention to his violence: Meinertzhagen himself traced the "evil" side of his personality to a period during his childhood when he was subjected to severe physical abuse at the hands of a sadistic schoolmaster when he was at Fonthill
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...
in
Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
: Gavin Maxwell wrote about how his parents would scare him and other children to behave themselves when Meinertzhagen visited with "... remember ... he has killed people with his bare hands..." Salim Ali noted Meinertzhagen's special hatred for
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
and his refusal to believe that Indians could govern themselves. In ''The Meinertzhagen Mystery'', Garfield presents a fuller perspective of Meinertzhagen as not only a fraud, but also a murderer. The book argues many of Meinertzhagen's accomplishments were myths, including the famous haversack incident, which Garfield claims Meinertzhagen neither came up with nor carried out. In another example, Garfield researched Meinertzhagen diary records, noting three meetings on separate dates with Adolf Hitler. Although Meinertzhagen was in Berlin on these dates in 1934, 1935, and 1939, Garfield found no record of any of these alleged meetings in surviving German chancellory records, British embassy files, British intelligence reports, or newspapers of the day. Garfield's research leads him to speculate that Richard also killed his second wife, Annie (born Anne Constance Jackson daughter of Major Randle Jackson of Swordale, married Meinertzhagen in 1921), an ornithologist, and that her death was not an accident as claimed and ruled in court.Garfield, p. 172 She died in 1928 at age 40 in a remote Scottish village in an incident that was officially ruled a shooting accident. The finding was that she accidentally shot herself in the head with a revolver during
target practice Target practice is a key part of both military training and shooting sports. It involves exercises where people shoot weapons at specific targets. The main goal is to improve the shooter's accuracy and skill with firearms. Through repeated pra ...
alone with Richard, but Garfield argues Meinertzhagen shot her out of fear that she would expose him and his fraudulent activities. Storrs L. Olson has pointed out some errors in Garfield's research, while confirming the validity of its overall negative tone. Meinertzhagen has been referred to as a "serial psychopath" in relation to his acts in Kenya.


Zoology

As Garfield writes, "From boyhood on, einertzhagenhad been in tune with nature; he took photographs, made drawings, and provided armchair tourists with keen descriptions of rain forests and snowy mountains ... and discovered new (previously unrecorded) species of bats, birds, and ''mallophaga'' (bird lice)". In 1940, a genus of bird lice, ''Meinertzhageniella'', was named after him by the German zoologist Wolfdietrich Eichler. He became a chairman of the British Ornithologists' Club and a recipient in 1951 of the Godman-Salvin Medal; the British Museum (Natural History) named a room after him.


Discoveries

Meinertzhagen "first achieved a sliver of international fame when he discovered, killed, stuffed, and shipped back to London the first known to Europeans giant African forest hog, soon dubbed ''Hylochoerus meinertzhageni'', and attributed to Richard Meinertzhagen". At that time, while on active duty in 1903, he was "fearlessly exploring and mapping areas no European had seen before." He later also discovered the Afghan snowfinch or ''Montifringilla theresae'', and the Moroccan '' Riparia rupestris theresae'' and named them, and ten others, after Theresa Clay.


''Nicoll's Birds of Egypt'' (1930)

He edited ''Nicoll's Birds of Egypt'' in 1930. Michael J. Nicoll was a friend and assistant director of the Zoological Gardens at Giza; Nicoll attempted to write a comprehensive guide to the ornithology of
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, but died in 1925 before it could be published. The work was finished by Meinertzhagen with contributions of his own independent research and illustrations. It was printed with the title "that seems appropriate," "''Nicoll's Birds of Egypt'' by Col. R. Meinertzhagen."


''Birds of Arabia'' (1954); controversy

In 1948–49, he was accompanied by Dr. Phillip Clancey on an ornithological expedition to
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
,
Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
,
Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...
,
Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...
,
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
,
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. As the author of numerous taxonomic and other works on birds, and possessing a vast collection of bird and bird lice specimens, he was long considered one of Britain's greatest ornithologists. Meinhertzhagen's '' magnum opus'', ''Birds of Arabia'' (1954), however made extensive use of the unpublished manuscript of another
naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
, George Bates, who has been insufficiently credited in the work.


Fraud and theft

In the 1990s, an analysis of Meinertzhagen's bird collection at the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum in Tring, Hertfordshire, revealed large-scale
fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...
involving theft and falsification. The birds claimed as specimens collected by Meinertzhagen matched with the ones that had been reported missing and the examination of the style of specimen preparation and the
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
sequences of the cotton used inside them matched the cotton used in other specimens prepared by the collectors of the stolen specimens. This also corroborated hear-say and other evidence on the specimen fraud. Many of the specimens that he submitted as his own were found to be missing samples belonging to the Natural History Museum and collected by others, such as Hugh Whistler. A species of owl, the forest owlet, thought to have gone extinct, was rediscovered in 1997 based on searches made in the locality where the original specimens were collected. Searches for the bird had failed before as these were made in a locality falsely claimed by Meinertzhagen. More research by Pamela C. Rasmussen and Robert Prŷs-Jones indicates the fraud was even more extensive than first thought.


Personal life


First marriage

In 1911, Meinertzhagen married Armorel, the daughter of Colonel Herman Le Roy-Lewis, who commanded the Hampshire Yeomanry. This marriage was dissolved in 1919.


Second marriage

In 1921, Meinertzhagen married Anne Constance Jackson, a fellow ornithologist and the daughter of Major Randle Jackson of Swordale, Ross-shire in Scotland. They had three children: Anne (born 1921), Daniel (born 1925), and Randle (born 1928).Garfield, The Meinertzhagen Mystery From about 1926, Meinertzhagen started to have a cold relationship with his wife and became increasingly close with his cousin Tess Clay, then aged 15, spending much time with her sisters and her. In 1928, three months after the birth of Randle, Anne was killed, aged 40, at her birth village of Swordale. The finding, ruled in court, was that she accidentally shot herself in the head with a revolver during
target practice Target practice is a key part of both military training and shooting sports. It involves exercises where people shoot weapons at specific targets. The main goal is to improve the shooter's accuracy and skill with firearms. Through repeated pra ...
alone with Richard. As noted above, Brian Garfield's research led him to speculate that in fact she was murdered by Meinertzhagen, out of fear that she would expose him and his fraudulent activities. This idea was never conclusively proved or disproved. Annie Constance Meinertzhagen left £113,466 (net personalty £18,733) in her will to her husband if he remained her widower, while if he remarried, he was to get an annuity of £1200 and interest in their London home for life.


Later relationship

Meinertzhagen never remarried; however he had a lasting relationship with Tess Clay, more than three decades his junior. The unmarried couple lived in
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
in adjacent buildings originally constructed with an internal passage connecting the foyers of the two houses. Clay was his housekeeper, secretary, "confidante", and later scientific partner who studied and eventually documented the vast collections of bird lice that Meinertzhagen had gathered. When they travelled, they sometimes took separate rooms. He introduced her as his housekeeper or cousin or sometimes, inaccurately, as his niece.Garfield, p. 193 If Meinertzhagen and Clay's relationship was physical is unknown; Meinertzhagen's friend Victor Rothschild asked Meinertzhagen this outright, but was told "in no uncertain terms to shut up"; and a 1951 article in ''Time'' referred to their relationship with "wink-wink, nudge-nudge innuendo".


Legacy

He was played by Anthony Andrews in the film '' The Lighthorsemen'' (1987). Meinertzhagen's haversack ruse is referenced in an
episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption. Etymology The noun ''episode'' is ...
of the TV series ''Silicon Valley''.


Published works

Meinertzhagen wrote numerous papers for scientific journals such as the '' Ibis'', as well as reports on intelligence work while in the army. Books authored or edited by him include: * 1930 – ''Nicoll's Birds of Egypt''. (Ed), (2 vols). London: Hugh Rees. * 1947 – ''The Life of a Boy: Daniel Meinertzhagen, 1925–1944''. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd. * 1954 – ''Birds of Arabia''. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd. * 1957 – ''Kenya Diary 1902–1906''. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd. * 1959 – ''Middle East Diary, 1917–1956''. London: Cresset Press. * 1959 – ''Pirates and Predators. The piratical and predatory habits of birds''. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd. * 1960 – ''Army Diary 1899–1926''. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd. * 1964 – ''Diary of a Black Sheep''. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.


References


Bibliography


Own writings

* Middle East Diary, 1917–1956, London, 1959 * Army Diary, 1899–1926, Edinburgh, 1960


Primary and secondary sources

* Ali, Salim. ''The Fall of a Sparrow''. Delhi: Oxford University Press. 1985. xv, 265 pp., * Boxall, Peter. "The legendary Richard Meinertzhagen." ''The Army Quarterly and Defence Journal'', ctober 1990120(4): pp. 459–462 * Capstick, P.H. ''Warrior: The Legend of Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen''. 1998, * Cocker, Mark. ''Richard Meinertzhagen. Soldier, Scientist and Spy''. London: Secker & Warburg. 1989. 292 pp., * Dalton, R. "Ornithologists stunned by bird collector's deceit." ''Nature'' eptember 2005437(7057): pp. 302–3 * Fortey, Richard. ''Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum''. New York: HarperCollins. 2008, * * * * Judd, Alan. "Eccentric hero." ''New Statesman and Society'' 3 June 19892(55): pp. 37–38 * * Lockman, J. N. ''Meinertzhagen's Diary Ruse''. 1995, p. 114, * Lord, John. ''Duty, Honour, Empire''. New York: Random House. 1970, * * Occleshaw, Michael. ''The Romanov Conspiracies''. London: Chapman Publishers. 1993, ASIN: B000M6DS1A * * *


External links


Seabrook, J. "Ruffled Feathers"
''The New Yorker'' 9 May 2006 p. 59
Natural history museum, London



Meet the Meinertzhagens at Mottisfont (National Trust)

Meinertzhagen family photo
(image and names of sitters) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meinertzhagen, Richard 1878 births 1967 deaths Antisemitism in England British Christian Zionists British colonial army officers British intelligence operatives British war criminals English mass murderers English naturalists English ornithologists Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Hampshire Yeomanry soldiers History of mental health in the United Kingdom Intelligence Corps officers King's African Rifles officers People educated at Aysgarth School People educated at Harrow School People involved in scientific misconduct incidents People with antisocial personality disorder Royal Fusiliers officers West Yorkshire Regiment officers Zoological collectors British Army personnel of World War I British white supremacists English people of German descent Military personnel from London Scientists from London Ornithological fraud 19th-century British Army personnel War Office personnel in World War II Zionism and antisemitism