Naval Signal written by Sir George Warrender to Sir John Jellicoe August 1914

[Royal Navy, 11 August 1914.]; Warrender, Sir George, Admiral Commanding to Jellicoe, Sir John, Admiral and Commander in Chief.
 
Naval Signal from the Admiral Commanding, 2nd Battle Squadron, to the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet. Dated 11 August 1914, 12.20 p.m.
 
Printed naval signal form (S.3–1320 b., established May 1900; revised September 1904), completed in pencil:
 
“It is well known that Germans have ingratiated themselves with Shetlands. Reliable information from natives very doubtful.”
 
Single sheet (205 × 160 mm), torn with loss at head where detached from its pad, otherwise clean and legible. Very good.
 
A rare operational naval signal from the opening week of the First World War, sent by the Admiral Commanding 2nd Battle Squadron (Admiral Sir George Warrender) to the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet (Admiral Sir John Jellicoe), almost certainly from HMS Ajax at Scapa Flow. The message reflects the Admiralty’s early-war anxiety over German espionage and the reliability of local intelligence from the Shetland Islands. Within four months, such fears of northern infiltration and communication failures would culminate in the German naval raid on Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool.