May 31, 1916
Compiled by ' Taffrail'
(Captain Taprell Dorling , D.S.O.,
F.R. Hist.S., R.N.)
Produced by John Cheatle
Once more ' Taffrail ' presents an aspect of war in terms of radio. You have recently heard his dramatic impressions of the work of the convoys and the mine-sweepers-now comes his radio reconstruction of the greatest naval engagement ever fought. ' Jutland ' has been broadcast before, but it is an epic well worth repeating on this the eve of its twenty-fourth anniversary.
From contemporary accounts of both sides ' Taffrail ' has reconstructed "the story of the great naval engagement of 1916 in which the Grand Fleet under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe fought the German High Seas Fleet under Vice-Admiral Scheer. The Battle of Trafalgar lost the British Navy 1,663 men killed and wounded ; at Jutland the figure was over 6,000. Jutland was a mighty framework in which was set on both sides all the bravery and traditional honour of the sea.