PAGE SIX THE WORKMAN, SATURDAY, JULY 5, 1919 British Generalship Before the Judgment Bar of History.
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Just in Stock a large Assortment of Under the above caption we reproduce another chapter of the Great European War contributed to the Montreal Cazette by the famous war correspondent PHILLIP GIBBS, who write. For many years after this war, per hereditary instinct, and conservative haps in every generation that follows the also in military ideas and methods.
men who fought in it, there will be criti. They distrusted the brilliant fellow cism and controversy about its general and ship. Mud will be thrown not in haude and were inclined to think him unsafe: and they were not to allow ful, but in bucket loads upon the French men to gain high command at the exand British Generals, perhaps also upon pense of their American Generals, by officers and men They were industrious, able. conscieny who believe that battalions were need. tious men, never sparing themselves long lessly sacrificed in certain actions, hours of work for a life of ease, and behorrible blunders were made from time cause they were willing to sacrifice their to time, and that victory might have own lives, if need be for their country been gained at less cost if the strategy, sake, they demanded equal willingness of and tactics of the High Command had sacrifice from every officer and man unbeen more scientifie, and quicker in under their authority, having no mercy derstanding the emy weakness or whatever for slacker the strength in in certain places on certain weakling.
days. There is no man at present who No General With Magnetism can give exact judicial decisions upon the particular conduct of the generals in the It is unfortunate that among these fields, whoever they may be, because a British generals there was not one whose.
888 of minute and technical evidence is personality had that mysterious but required before there can be summing essen essential quality of great generalship inup of defence or blame in even a small spiring large bodies of men with exalted action, still mora in a series of battles enthusiasm, devotion and faith It did like those fought on the British front, not seem to matter very much to the and that is hardly available. All that is men whether an army commander, a possible at the present time is to analyze corps commander or a divisional coma broad and general way the leading mander stood in the roadside to qualities of our command, and to touch wa ch them march past on their way upon some of the weaknesses and failures back. They saw one of these sturdy men of the system, character and actions of in his brass bat, with his ruddy face the commanders. In this article and white moustache, but no thrill pose to put down, not in in any dogmatic passed down their ranks, no hoarse spirit, some of the conclusions have cheers broke from them because he was reached about British generalship As for there. as when Wellington sat on his sana as was able to observe during the white horse in the Peninsular war, or as war. The official war correspondents when Napoleon saluted his Old Guard, with the British armies in the field, of or even as when Lord Roberts Our Bobs whom had the honor to be one, had came perched like a little old falcon on. considerable opportunity of gauging the his big charger. Nine men out of ten in quality of the generals in command, he ranks did not even know the name of cause we visited their headquarters con their army general or of the corps comstantly during the progress of battle, haul mander. It meant nothing to them.
knowledge of their staffs, and en They did not face death with more joyed personal friendship with many of assionate courage to win the approval them who came as guests to our own of a military idol. That was due partly mess or invited us to theirs.
to the conditions of modern warfare, which make it difficult for generals of From the point of view of personal high rank to get into direct personal character, no body of men could be touch with their troops, and to the more admirably, as great gentlemen of the old fashioned English type which masses of men engaged. But those difficulties could have been overcome by the is a very good type, too, in its own way. general of impressive personality, able to They had the easy dignity of men who stir the imaginations of men by words belonged to good English, Irish and Seot of fire spoken at the right time, by deep tish families, and who for the most part, human sympathy, and by the luck of had been dedicated from youth to the profession of arms, as a hereditary caste against great odds. No such man apthe victory seized by daring adventure Many of them had served in India, peared on the Western Front until Foch Beyot and South Africa, and had gained Erypt distinction obtained the supreme command. On all in their young the British front there was no general days by personal gallantry, and then by with the gift of administrative talent or prestige in their. a gift too much by The British our men or been abandoned during the South Afri could raise him to the service rank in Afri of wath character and prestige which can war, and certainly in this war no society favorites in our High treat from Mons, Sir John French had a popular imagination. During the reCommand owing their position to petti, touch of that personal power his precoat or aristocracy influence in exalted sence meant something to the men places. Instead, there was dannishness of command, due to the in but afterward, when trench warfare was certain because of his reputation in South Africa; Aluence of the cavalry as the premier began and the daily routine of slaughter branch of the army. This was noticeable unde under German gunfire, when by the number of cavalry generals artillery was weak, and when our inamong the military chiefs, Sir John fantry was reduced to attack fixed (afterward Lord) French and Sir Dour positions of terrible strength, without las Haig, both our commanders in chief, adequate support and not a dog chance being of the cavalry school of training of luck against such odds the prestige of and tradition. In a war which depended the commander in chief faded from less upon cavalry (as far as the Western men minds and he lost place in their Front was concerned) than any war in admiration It was washed out in blood history, this perhaps was unfortunate and mud.
though no commander in chief needs deep technical knowledge of engineer Haig Shyness His Weak Point, ing, chemistry and other subjects Sir Douglas Haig, who followed French, which enter largely into modern had the disadvantage of inheriting the welfare, has the greater quality of generalship, including personal that war on the Western Front was to be as an influence over the over the a long and protracted struggle, with enorimagination of his troops, rapidity and mous slaughter, and no visible sign of the sureness of judgment, and the intuitive end beyond a vista of dreadful years sense of action which belongs alone to Sir Douglas Haig, in his general headquarsenius. Physically many of our generals ters at St. Omer, and afterward at Monwere were curiously alike. They were men trevil, near the coast, had the affection turned fifty, with square jaws, tan, ruddy and loyalty the staff officers. man faces, searching and rather stern grey of remarkably good looks, with fine ders. man eyes, closely cropped hair growing white, delicate features strengthened by the with little white moustache neatly firm line of his jaw, and singular sweettrimmed on the upper lip.
ness, courtesy and simplicity his manGeneral Horne, of the First Army; had qualities which might have raised ner towards who approached him, he General Byng, of the Third Army; Gen him to the supreme beight of personal eral Rawlinson, of the Fourth Army, influence among his armies, but for one General Haldane, of the Sixth Army; defect in his character and the tragie General Haiken; of the Eleventh Corps condition of his command. He was in General Snow, of the Seventh Corps, tensely shy and reserved, shrinking from with many divisional generals like De Lisle, Nugent, Braithwaite, Ferguson, publicity in an almost morbid way, and Congreve and Pinnie, could all be holding himself aloof from the human described in that way, in spite of marked side of war. He was constitutionally unindividual differences. as all mothers multitude, or to say to make a dramatic gesture before a sons differ from one another.
stirring things to officers and men whom he reviewed.
Mentally they had similar qualities. His shyness and reserve prevented him They had unfailing physical courage. also, think, from knowing as though courage is not put to the test he ought to have known about the much in modern generalship, which, opinions of officers and men and getting above the rank of brigadier, works far direct information from them. Unforfrom the actual line of battle, unless it tunately, too, he held the supreme com alipa in the wrong direction. They mand of the British armies on the Westwere stern disciplinarians, and tested the ern Front when, in the battle fieldsof the quality of troops by their smartness in Somme and Flanders, of Picardy and saluting and on parade, which did not Artois, there was not much chance for account for the fighting merit of the daring strategy, but only for hammer Australians. Most of them were con strokes by the flesh and blood of men servative by polititical tradition and against fortress positions the German trench system, twenty five miles deep in of the Second army, commanded by Geotunnelled earthworks and machine guneral Sir Herbert Plumer, was as near perdug outs when the inmensity of causal fertion any human organization may ties among British troops was out of all be, and all the British officers who proportion to their gains of ground, so served in that army will agree. Sir that our men spirits revolted against bert Plumer did. think, more near these massacres of their youth and be approach the position of a leader of na came tubittered against the generalship by personality, than any other commandand staff work which directed these sacrifier can mention, except perhaps Groer cial actions Birdwood known to all his men There were times when the sense of Birdie because of his dapper figure bitterness became intense, to the point Plumer old bull dog face and blue eyes who commanded the Australian corpo of fury, so that a vung staff officer, in were known to his men, and the last his red tabs, with a jaunty manner, was like a red ray to a bull among battalion Tim and had faith in him, chiefly been officers and men. they desired bis he was anxious for their comfort and death exceedingly. exalting his little per, work that must be done to insure sue never let them down in all the spade sonality, fressed in a a well cut tunie and fawn colored riding breeches and highly in battle. The battle of Wytschsete atit polished top boot into the supretne folly Mexines. on June 1917, was the most of the Staffs which made men attack perfeetly organized battle of which Desitions sent down conflict know anything, and was a great an ing orders issued a litter of documents complete victory, owing entirely to proim liminary preparations of all details. Sir called by an ugly name containing or Herbert Plumer had the advantage of impracticable instruction, to the torment her Staff who had This prejudice against being advised by a chief the staff was stacked high by the fire, real genius, and was, in my humble of person and despair. good deal of opinion, the one sustaining brain of the British armies in the field, though unit was utterly unjust, and even the price jaunty young staff officer with red tabs known to popular fame. This was and polished bonuts, was often not quite sharp sword, an immense grasp of detail, John Harrington, who had a brain likes such a fool as he looked but a gallant sharp fellow who had proved his pluck in the and a fine nobility of character which early days of the war and was now Colonel Mitchell. directing the intellwas like a flame of burning endeavour.
doing his duty about equal to the work or a boy clerk with real industry as a man of understand. ng ability, and gence branch of the Second Army, was and an exagerated sense of its importance. Personally and with utter hones, many other staff officers in that stay can pay high tribute to many of were brilliant and able men.
our staff officers at divisional, corps and The effect of such staff work was apps army headquarters, because of their in rent throughout the army, and there was dustry, efficiency and devotion to duty, very little of that hostility btween batAnd during the progress of battle Italion officers and the staff which was have seen them hundreds of times, violent in expression elsewhere on the working desperately for long hours, with front.
out much rest or sleep, so that the fighting men should get their food and Unfortunately, by regie irony, the munitions, so that the artillery should staff of the Soud Army had to direct support their actions, and the troops in ita enpy the argento the reserve move up to their relie! at the cries of battle in Flanders during 1917 proper time and place lin in eo oneration with the Fifth Army, in All the administrative side of the der General Gough its lett war was quite marvellous in its method owing to the state of the of the ground. in chaos by artillery with and organization, and the armies were dreds of brooks overflowing their worked like clock work machines. The banks and with incesant runs for transport was good beyond all words of banks praise, and there was one thing which months, those attacks were murders never failed to reach poor old Tommy to our men. And there was the mit Atkins, unless he was cut off by well. horrible mess of blood and mud on the frs, and that was his foot way from Ypres to assenendaele which upply columns and ammunition dumps has never been seen in the histors were organized to the last item of war. The enemy was slaughtered in efficiency. Our map department was immense numbers, and the battle of magnificent, and won the admiration of Flanders were part of the frightful prothe French Our intelligence branch. cess of breaking the German spirit, but was, as rule, excellent and often the cost to the youth of the British Em.
almost uncanny in the accuracy of its pire was appalli The Second Army information about the enemy disposi organized each battle with masterly attion and plans So that the staff was tention to detail startling in its connot altogether hopeless in its effect. astrast to the handling of other troops the young battallion officers with sharp but it was an organisation of martyrdone tongues and a sense of injustice in their to English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Aus hearts, made out with pardonable blas 500, 000 casualties in that black year of tralian and Canadian boys, who suffered phemy, in their dugouts.
Nevertheless, there was a good deal to criticize justly enough, and there is no In a previous article have already doubt that British Generalship and staff dealt with the episode of the British rework made many mistakes, some of them treat in March and April of 1918, no doubt unavoidable, because it is hu pointed out certain weaknesses and misman to err, and some of them due to fortunes of the Fifth sheer, simple, regrettable stupidity.
command General Gough the taking Early Desire to Gain Worthless the French at a time when our of a longer time in order to satisfy Ground armies had been previously weakened In the early days the out standing by those losses, the absence of fault of our generals it seems to me, was men of our best fighting divisions their desire to gain ground which was sent to the relief of Italy, and the utterly worthless when gained. They or lack of defeneive lines strong enough to kanized small attacks against strong posi check the onrush of such overwhelming tions, dreadfully costly to take, and af odds as the enemy launched against us ter the desperate valor of men had seized when he attacked with one hundred and a few yards of mangled earth, found that fourteen divisions to our forty eight.
they had made another small salient, During these bad days staff work was jutting out of their front in a shaped strained and broken for a time, owing to wedge, so that it was a death trap for the break down of communications te the men who had to hold it. This was tween the fighting units and headquar.
done again and again, and remember ters, and what orders were given one distinguished Officer paying with bit. were often late, contradictory and ter irony, remembering how many of his impossible of fulfillment owing to men had died, our generals must have situation which changed from hoir to their little s at any price, to justify hour, But in due time in the inst themselves at nick of time the enemy was checked, In the battles of the Somme they at putation by the wonderlul sweep baek, and Brirish generalship redeemed its retacked isolated objectives on narrow fronts, so that the enemy swept our men Foch had struck his deadly blow on the August of last year, after with fire by artillery concentrated from all points, instead of having to disperse British troops the whole British line. with French, American and his fire during a general attack on a wide moved forward and gained a series of front. In the days of treneh warfare, when the enemy artillery was much victories by repeated hammer strokes stronger than ours and when his infantry which, as Marshal Foch declared, breke fantry the enemy to bits.
strength was enormously greater our generals insisted upon the British troops Those last battles lasting from August adopting an aggressive attitude, with to November 11, were fine in generalthe result that they were shot to pieces, ship and for the first time Sir Douglas instead of adopting, like the French, a Haig and his army staff were able to get quiet and waiting attitude until the time the enemy on the run by a series of came for a sharp and terrible blow. strategical and technical operations well The battles of Neuve, Chapelle and devised, and carried out to success with Loos, in 1915, cost us thousands of causc the help of the valor of 300. 000 young ualties, and gave us no gain of any s6 boys who had come out to fill up the gaps count, and both generalship and staff in the old ranks, and with the gallant work were in the opinion of most officers aid of two American Divisions the who know any thing of those battles, Twenty seventh and the Thirtieth.
greviously at fault.
They were justified Men Had to Die That They So, after all, in spite of all criticism Might Learn.
British Generalship was justified, and After all, our generals had to learn they gained the last victories over the their lessons, like the private soldier and German generals those professsonal war the young staff officer in conditions of chiefs, who made more blunders than curs warfare which had never been seen before in spite of all their power, In spite of and it was bad for the private soldier and what have said in criticism rather the young battallion officer, who died so sweeping in its scope must not be they might learn. As time went on staff thought to deny the solid ability of many work improved, and British generalship corps and divisonal generals, though in was less rash in optimism and less rigid my opinion they did not possess great in ideas. am certain from what know genius, of war that the generalship and staff work! Continued on page Brook Powdered Barley first of 1917, of speechof actionSMALL AND LARGE TINS BROOK GROAT Specially recommended for children and persons Convalessing.
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