Talk:Doveton Sturdee

Untitled
The French article says Sturdee received the 'Gold Medal' and the 'Bronze' Star in 1883, but I have left this out as I can find out no information about these decorations. William Avery 20:02, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

I am trying to source his nickname, "Dooey." Anybody? Eschoir 21:04, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Scapegoat for Coronel
The article said that Churchill didn't want to make Sturdee a scapegoat for Cradock's defeat and martyrdom at Coronel. Why should he have been? He had a desk job in London and I don't see how he could have been blamed.

My understanding is that Cradock had ignored advice from London to wait for his old slow battleship HMS Canopus, and had sailed to his doom at Graf Spee's hands. Churchill was detested by the Tories and despite the party truce was being subjected to consistent strong attack by the Tory press, notably HA Gwynne in the Morning Post, over such matters as the loss of the three cruisers (Aboukir Cressy and the other one), Coronel, Antwerp. Much of the criticism was unfair and it played into his desire for a naval victory at the Dardanelles - which in turn led to him being comprehensively scapegoated once and for all. But as far as Coronel was concerned, Churchill was happy for Cradock to be praised in public as a brave fighting admiral rather than being criticised for ignoring good advice. Paulturtle (talk) 01:24, 26 March 2023 (UTC)

OK, I've fixed this now. Seems he was a little to blame for Coronel, but much more so for the loss of the three cruisers.Paulturtle (talk) 05:41, 1 April 2023 (UTC)