victusinveritas:

theoddmentemporium:

The Dreadnought Hoax

The Dreadnaught Hoax was an elaborate prank orchestrated by members of the Bloomsbury Group. The plan was set in motion on February 7th 1910 when Horace de Vere Cole, who is described as an ‘eccentric prankster’, had a telegram, apparently signed by the Foreign Office, sent to the naval ship HMS Dreadnought notifying the captain of the imminent arrival onboard of a group of Abyssinian princes. 

Under the pseudonym Herbert Cholmondeley, Cole then escorted his entourage, who, including Virginia Woolf (far left in photo), had disguised themselves by darkening their skin and dressing in turbans with false beards, to Paddington Station where he demanded a special train to Weymouth where the Dreadnought was moored. The stationmaster duly arranged a VIP carriage for them.

Upon their arrival in Weymouth the group was met with an honour guard. Unfortunately, no Abyssinian flag could be found so, oddly, the flag of Zanzibar was hoisted instead and Zanzibar’s national anthem played for the esteemed guests. The ‘princes’ then inspected the fleet and attempted to bestow fake military honours on the officers, speaking all the while in gibberish - frequently showing amazement or appreciation with cries of “Bunga! Bunga!”. An officer friend of both Cole and Woolf failed to recognise either of them.

When the hoax was eventually discovered the Royal Navy became a object of ridicule due to the Bloomsbury Group’s pacifist views. The Navy first called for Cole’s arrest, however, he had not broken the law. They then sent two officers to cane him but Cole countered this by arguing it was they who should be caned for allowing themselves to be fooled in the first place.

[Sources: Image | Dreadnought Hoax | Horace de Vere Cole]

Old timey hijinks win.

I’m sure a portion of the tumblr Social Justice wing is livid, too…
because oh no blackface.
Virginia Woolf in blackface…hell, most of the Bloomsbury Group…
so they can f*ck with the Royal Navy…however…if you don’t find that funny…I’m done with associating with you.
Also:
The Navy couldn’t arrest Cole, so they just sent two officers to cane him…officers Cole managed to leave convinced that they should be caned instead…
Because if you can’t arrest them legally, beat them with canes, or at least try to and then go home and just try to forget about it.

emir-dynamite:

my-ear-trumpet:

Cartoon relating to the “Dreadnought hoax” of 7 February 1910.

Originally published in Daily Mirror, February 1910

From the wikipedia entry:

“During the visit to Dreadnought, the visitors had repeatedly shown amazement or appreciation by exclaiming, “Bunga! Bunga!” […]  In 1915 during the First World War, HMS Dreadnought rammed and sank a German submarine. Among the telegrams of congratulation was one that read “BUNGA BUNGA”“

I really, really, really want to use that as an expression of congratulations…  unfortunately, due to the most recent meaning I’m afraid it would come over, ah, rather differently.  (Also, if anyone doubts that Wikipedia has an entry for everything, Wikipedia has an entry for bunga bunga).

Cartoon relating to the “Dreadnought hoax” of 7 February 1910.

Originally published in Daily Mirror, February 1910