Richard Meinertzhagen
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military 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 colonel was typically in charge of ...
Richard Meinertzhagen,
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
, 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 conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...
,
intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way a ...
, and
ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
. He had a decorated military career spanning Africa and the Middle East. He was credited with creating and executing the
Haversack Ruse Colonel (United Kingdom), Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Distinguished Service Order, DSO (3 March 1878 – 17 June 1967) was a British soldier, intelligence officer, and ornithologist. He had a decorated milit ...
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 is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
, 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 extra-judicial 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 Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
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 The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family originally from Frankfurt that rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of F ...
. His mother was Georgina Potter, sister of
Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer. It was Webb who coined the term ''collective bargaining''. She ...
, a co-founder of the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...
. Meinertzhagen's
surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
derives from
Meinerzhagen Meinerzhagen (sometimes spelled Meinertzhagen; ) is a town in the Märkischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Meinerzhagen is located in the hills of the Sauerland. The highest elevation is the Nordhelle with 652 m above sea le ...
in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, 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 Philip III ( es, Felipe III; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain. As Philip II, he was also King of Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan from 1598 until his death in 1621. A member of the House of Habsburg, Phi ...
.Garfield, p. 70 His nephew, Daniel Meinertzhagen (1915-1991), was a chairman of
Lazard Lazard Ltd (formerly known as Lazard Frères & Co.) is a financial advisory and asset management firm that engages in investment banking, asset management and other financial services, primarily with institutional clients. It is the world's lar ...
. His niece, Teresa Georgina Mayor (1915-1996), married
Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild (31 October 1910 – 20 March 1990) was a British banker, scientist, intelligence officer during World War II, and later a senior executive with Royal Dutch Shell and N M Rothschild & Son ...
. Young Richard was sent as a boarding student to
Aysgarth School , established = 1877 , type = Preparatory independent day and boarding school , trust = , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = , head = Rob Morse , r_head_label ...
in the north of England, then was enrolled at Fonthill in Sussex, and finally at
Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...
, where his stay overlapped with that of
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
. 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 The Hampshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry cavalry regiment formed by amalgamating older units raised between 1794 and 1803 during the French Revolutionary Wars. It served in a mounted role in the Second Boer War and World War I, and in the air defenc ...
. 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 Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...
began as a child. His brother Daniel and he were encouraged by a family friend, the
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
Herbert Spencer Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher, psychologist, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist famous for his hypothesis of social Darwinism. Spencer originated the expression "survival of the fittest" ...
, who, like another family friend,
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
, was an ardent
empiricist In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological theory that holds that knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience. It is one of several views within epistemology, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empir ...
. Spencer would take young Richard and Daniel on walks around the family home of
Mottisfont Abbey Mottisfont Abbey is a historical priory and country estate in Hampshire, England. Sheltered in the valley of the River Test, the property is now operated by the National Trust. 393,250 people visited the site in 2019. The site includes the histo ...
, urging them to observe and enquire on the habits of birds. Around 1887, they kept a pet
sparrowhawk Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the genus ''Accipiter''. "Sparrow-hawk" or sparhawk originally referred to ''Accipiter nisus'', now called "Eurasian" or "northern" sparrowhawk to distinguish it f ...
, which was taken to Hyde Park to let it prey on sparrows. The first serious ornithologist whom Richard met was
Brian Hodgson Brian Hodgson (born 1938) is a British television composer and sound technician. Born in Liverpool in 1938, Hodgson joined the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1962 where he became the original sound effects creator for the science fiction program ...
. Daniel took an interest in bird illustration, which brought them in contact with
Archibald Thorburn Archibald Thorburn FZS (31 May 1860, Lasswade, Midlothian – 9 October 1935, Hascombe, Surrey) was a Scottish artist who specialised in wildlife, painting mostly in watercolour. He regularly visited Scotland to sketch birds in the wild, his fa ...
and led to an introduction to
Joseph Wolf Joseph Wolf (22 January 1820 – 20 April 1899) was a German artist who specialized in natural history illustration. He moved to the British Museum in 1848 and became the preferred illustrator for explorers and naturalists including David Livi ...
and G.E. Lodge. They had first met
Richard Bowdler Sharpe Richard Bowdler Sharpe (22 November 1847 – 25 December 1909) was an English zoologist and ornithologist who worked as curator of the bird collection at the British Museum of natural history. In the course of his career he published several mono ...
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 Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
, was commissioned as a
second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
in the
Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...
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 Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fo ...
in Burma. He was promoted
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
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 King's African Rifles (KAR) was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from Britain's various possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions within ...
. 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 the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...
in
British East Africa East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was an area in the African Great Lakes occupying roughly the same terrain as present-day Kenya from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Controlled by Britai ...
.


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 The Serengeti ( ) ecosystem is a geographical region in Africa, spanning northern Tanzania. The protected area within the region includes approximately of land, including the Serengeti National Park and several game reserves. 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." One such
punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavio ...
was commanded by a Captain F.A. 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 Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: * Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya *Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cent ...
and Embu tribes. In the Kenya Highlands in 1905, Meinertzhagen ended the anti-colonial Nandi Resistance, by killing its leader, the
Nandi Nandi may refer to: People * Nandy (surname), Indian surname * Nandi (mother of Shaka) (1760–1827), daughter of Bhebe of the Langeni tribe * Onandi Lowe (born 1974), Jamaican footballer nicknamed Nandi * Nandi Bushell (born 2010), South Afri ...
Orkoiyot The Orkoiyot occupied a sacred and special role within the Nandi and Kipsigis people of Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capit ...
(spiritual leader)
Koitalel Arap Samoei Koitaleel Arap Samoei (c.1870 - 19 October 1905) was an Orkoiyot who led the Nandi people from 1890 until his death in 1905. The Orkoiyot occupied a sacred and special role within the Nandi and Kipsigis people of Kenya. He held the dual roles ...
. 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 black 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 usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...
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 southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, arriving at
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
on 3 February 1907. He served there in 1908 and 1909, then on
Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
. By 1913, he was again in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. At the beginning of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he was posted to the intelligence staff of the British
Indian Expeditionary Force The Indian Army during World War I was involved World War I. Over one million Indian troops served overseas, of whom 62,000 died and another 67,000 were wounded. In total at least 74,187 Indian soldiers died during the war. In World War I the ...
. His map-making skills were much valued and recognized, though his assessments of the strength of the German
Schutztruppe (, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned ...
and other contributions to the conduct of the
Battle of Tanga The Battle of Tanga, sometimes also known as the Battle of the Bees, was the unsuccessful attack by the British Indian Expeditionary Force "B" under Major General A. E. Aitken to capture German East Africa (the mainland portion of present-day T ...
and the
Battle of Kilimanjaro The Battle of Kilimanjaro at Longido took place in German East Africa in November 1914 and was an early skirmish during the East African Campaign (World War I), East African Campaign of the World War I, First World War. Background The British co ...
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 and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...
. 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 decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...
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 NILI was a Jewish espionage network which assisted the United Kingdom in its fight against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine between 1915 and 1917, during World War I. NILI is an acronym which stands for the Hebrew phrase "Netzah Yisrael Lo Yesha ...
, a Jewish spy network headed by the agronomist
Aaron Aaronsohn Aaron Aaronsohn ( he, אהרון אהרנסון) (21 May 1876 – 15 May 1919) was a Jewish agronomist, botanist, and Zionist activist, who was born in Romania and lived most of his life in the Land of Israel, then part of the Ottom ...
. 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 Sarah Aaronsohn ( he, שרה אהרונסון; 5 January 1890 – 9 October 1917) was a member of Nili, a ring of Jewish spies working for the British in World War I, and a sister of agronomist Aaron Aaronsohn. She is often referred to as the ...
, (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 A haversack, musette bag or small pack is a bag with a single shoulder strap. Although similar to a backpack, the single shoulder strap differentiates this type from other backpacks. There are exceptions to this general rule. Origins The word ...
containing false British battle plans fall into
Ottoman military The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...
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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. 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. The ruse inspired Winston Churchill to create the London Controlling Section, which planned countless Allied deception campaigns during the war, and such operations as
Mincemeat Mincemeat is a mixture of chopped dried fruit, distilled spirits and spices, and often beef suet, usually used as a pie or pastry filling. Mincemeat formerly contained meat, notably beef or venison. Many modern recipes replace the suet with v ...
and diversions covering
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
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 Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army officer and Imperial Governor. He fought in the Second Boer War and also in the First World War, in which he led th ...
's chief political officer, involved in the creation of the Palestine Mandate, which eventually led to the creation of the state of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. 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 Tatiana (or Tatianna, also romanized as Tatyana, Tatjana, Tatijana, etc.) is a female name of Sabine-Roman origin that became widespread in Eastern Europe. Variations * be, Тацця́на, Tatsiana * bg, Татяна, Tatyana * germ ...
(see ''The Romanov Conspiracies'' by Michael Occleshaw). In the August 1920 Report of the
Palin Commission The Palin Commission or Palin Commission of Inquiry or Palin Court of Inquiry was the first British Commission of Inquiry on the question of Palestine. It was sent to the region in May 1920 by the British authorities, to examine the reasons for ...
, Meinertzhagen was attacked for an alleged bias: Israeli historian
Tom Segev Tom Segev ( he, תום שגב; born March 1, 1945) is an Israeli historian, author and journalist. He is associated with Israel's New Historians, a group challenging many of the country's traditional narratives. Biography Segev was born in Jerus ...
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 Aharon Amir ( he, אהרן אמיר, January 5, 1923 – February 28, 2008) was an Israelis, Israeli Hebrew poet, a literary translator and a writer. Biography Aharon Amir was born in Kaunas, Lithuania. He moved to Palestine with his family in ...
.


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 Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
and a bit of absurd slapstick concerning
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
. 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 Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. Ribbentrop first came to Adolf Hitler's not ...
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 Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* on ...
(the
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
), Oxford, and contain differences in the paper used for certain entries as well as in the
typewriter ribbon A typewriter ribbon or ink ribbon is an expendable module serving the function of transferring pigment to paper in various devices for impact printing. Such ribbons are part of standard designs for hand- or motor-driven typewriters, teleprinters, ...
used, and oddities exist in the page numbering.


Dates of promotions

*
Second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
on 18 January 1899 *
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
on 8 February 1900 *
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in February 1905Garfield, p. 60 *
Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
in September 1915 *
brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...
lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
in March 1918Garfield, p. 212 * brevet
colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military 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 colonel was typically in charge of ...
in August 1918, but he was a major when he retired from the Army in 1925. Upon retirement, British officers are granted title and pension of the highest rank held while on active duty, thus he had the right to call himself "Colonel". He was reinstated as a lieutenant colonel in 1939 in Military Intelligence, G.S.O.-3 (General Staff Officer, 3rd grade); the nature of his duties was 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 Sadism may refer to: * Sadomasochism, the giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation * Sadistic personality disorder, an obsolete term proposed for individuals who derive pleasure from the s ...
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. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
in
Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
:
Gavin Maxwell Gavin Maxwell FRSL FZS FRGS (15 July 19147 September 1969) was a British naturalist and author, best known for his non-fiction writing and his work with otters. He wrote the book ''Ring of Bright Water'' (1960) about how he brought an otter ...
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 Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987) was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Sometimes referred to as the "''Birdman of India''", Salim Ali was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across Indi ...
noted Meinertzhagen's special hatred for
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
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 In the military and in shooting, target practice are exercises in which weapons are shot at a target. The purpose of such exercises is to improve the aim or the weapons handling expertise of the person firing the weapon. Targets being shot at ...
alone with Richard, but Garfield argues Meinertzhagen shot her out of fear that she would expose him and his fraudulent activities.
Storrs L. Olson Storrs Lovejoy Olson (April 3, 1944 – January 20, 2021) was an American biologist and ornithologist who spent his career at the Smithsonian Institution, retiring in 2008. One of the world's foremost avian paleontologists, he was best known ...
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 The British Ornithologists' Club (BOC) aims to promote discussion between members and others interested in ornithology, and to facilitate the dissemination of scientific information concerned with ornithology. The BOC has a special interest in avi ...
and a recipient in 1951 of the
Godman-Salvin Medal The Godman-Salvin Medal is a medal of the British Ornithologists' Union awarded "to an individual as a signal honour for distinguished ornithological work." It was instituted in 1919 in the memory of Frederick DuCane Godman and Osbert Salvin. M ...
; 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 The Afghan snowfinch (''Pyrgilauda theresae'') or the Afghan ground-sparrow, bar-tailed snowfinch, Meinertzhagen's snowfinch, or Theresa's snowfinch, is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, endemic to the northern parts of the Hind ...
or ''Montifringilla theresae'', and the Moroccan '' Riparia rupestris theresae'' and named them, and ten others, after
Theresa Clay Theresa Rachel "Tess" Clay (7 February 1911 – 17 March 1995) was an English entomologist. She was introduced to zoology by her older relative, the ornithologist and adventurer Richard Meinertzhagen, with whom she had an unusually close relati ...
.


''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 Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...
; Nicoll attempted to write a comprehensive guide to the ornithology of
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, 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 Phillip Alexander Clancey (26 September 1917 – 18 July 2001) was a leading authority on the ornithology of South Africa. Background and education Phillip Clancey was born, brought up and educated in Glasgow, Scotland. He studied at the Gl ...
on an ornithological expedition to
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
,
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
,
Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
,
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
,
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
,
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
, and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. As the author of numerous
taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
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 __NOTOC__ This is a list of ornithologists who have articles, in alphabetical order by surname. See also :Ornithologists. A * John Abbot – US * Clinton Gilbert Abbott – US * William Louis Abbott – US * Joseph H. Acklen – US *Humayun Ab ...
. Meinhertzhagen's ''
magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
'', ''Birds of Arabia'' (1954), however made extensive use of the unpublished manuscript of another naturalist, 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 The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
in
Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...
,
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, revealed large-scale
fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
involving
theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
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 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 A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
and collected by others, such as
Hugh Whistler Hugh Whistler (28 September 1889 – 7 July 1943), F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. was an English police officer and ornithologist who worked in India. He wrote one of the first field guides to Indian birds and documented the distributions of birds in notes in ...
. A species of
owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
, 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 The Hampshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry cavalry regiment formed by amalgamating older units raised between 1794 and 1803 during the French Revolutionary Wars. It served in a mounted role in the Second Boer War and World War I, and in the air defenc ...
. 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 In the military and in shooting, target practice are exercises in which weapons are shot at a target. The purpose of such exercises is to improve the aim or the weapons handling expertise of the person firing the weapon. Targets being shot at ...
alone with Richard. As noted above,
Brian Garfield Brian Francis Wynne Garfield (January 26, 1939 – December 29, 2018) was an Edgar Award-winning American novelist, historian and screenwriter. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, he wrote his first published book at the age of eighteen. Garfield went on ...
'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 a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, 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 b ...
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 Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild (31 October 1910 – 20 March 1990) was a British banker, scientist, intelligence officer during World War II, and later a senior executive with Royal Dutch Shell and N M Rothschild & So ...
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).


Published works

Meinertzhagen wrote numerous papers for scientific journals such as the ''
Ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...
'', 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: Harper Collins. 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 British Christian Zionists British colonial army officers British intelligence operatives British Militia officers English naturalists English ornithologists Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Hampshire Yeomanry soldiers Intelligence Corps officers King's African Rifles officers People educated at Aysgarth School People educated at Harrow School People involved in scientific misconduct incidents Royal Fusiliers officers West Yorkshire Regiment officers Zoological collectors British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War II English people of German descent Military personnel from London Scientists from London