Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE FIRST WORLD WAR THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1914-1918 PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF LIEUT.-GOL. G. A COURT REPINGTON G. M. G. COMMANDER OF THE ORDER OF LEOPOLD OFFICER OF THE LEGION OF HONOUR VOLUME I THIRD IMPRESSION LONDON CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LTD 1920 Printed in Great Britain S^neral Geddes on Army wastage — M. NabokoS on the Russian situation — An article on ' The Lost Legions ' — Lord Tullibardine on Egjrpt — A coming Conference in Paris — The Rumanian campaign — Our losses — Our numbers in different theatres of war — -The German reserves — Our inability to raise fresh divisions — Lieut. Pernot on events — The question of convoy 367-390 CHAPTER XV MR. LLOYD GEORGE PRIME MINISTER, DECEMBER 1916 The November Conferences in France — The old strategy to be con- tinued — General Robertson on the Cabinet and the Press — Mr. Balfour on naval affairs — Admiral JeUicoe First Sea Lord — Admiral Beatty gets the Grand Fleet — No change in naval strategy — Mr. Balfour's answers to criticisms of the Admiralty — The Q.M.G.'s difficulties — Captain Paget on the orders of the cavalry for July 1 — Count Benckendorff on Russian politics — The Rumanian defeats — Depression in London — Brig.-General Yarde- Buller on the French strengths and 1916 casualties— The political crisis of Dec. 1 — Mr. Lloyd George Prime Minister — Course of events in Rumania described by General Robertson — The first War Council of the new Government — General Joffre in diffi- culties — ^The Kaiser offers to negotiate for peace — General Nivelle replaces General Joffre — The Italian Day at the Ritz — Mr. Harry Cust on the war — A German raider loose in the Ocean — The Duke of Connaught on the new French attack drill — Sir Ernest Cassel thinks that we shall outstay the Gtermans — The Kaiser%^ offer refused — The strain of Salonika — The raider and submarines hold up our drafts for the East — ^The Dutch Minister on Holland's attitude 391-416 xiv THE FIRST WORLD WAR CHAPTER XVI THE QUESTION OF JAPANESE CO-OPERATION JANUARY 1917 PAGES General Robertson, Salonika, and the War Cabinet — A victory while you wait — The new military decrees in France — Transport losses in the Mediterranean — Generals Haldane and Hull on our troops in France — The Kaiser tells his Army that he will impose peace with the sword — Our position respecting drafts — The Daily Mail helps about Salonika — Lord Northcliffe opens fire — A talk with Lord Derby — He promises to support Robertson — M. Briand faUs to stampede us into more Salonika foUies — Joy among the anti-Salonikans — A dinner at the Dutch Legation — The question of Japanese co-operation — A talk with General Inagaki — Sir James WiUcocks's early history — Count Bencken- dorfE's death — Stories of MensdorfE and Lichnowsky — The German raider busy — I make a speech to the Unionist Agents — Mr. Balfour and Lord Robert Cecil on the freedom of the seas — The Russians to be consulted respecting Japanese co-operation — Mr. McKenna describes the German Peace Terms — M. NabokofE on Japanese aid — General Dessino's views — General de la Panouse on changes in France — Captain Norton's account of the loss of the Lawreniic ....... 417-447 CHAPTER XVII MR. LLOYD GEORGE AND MAN-POWER, 1917 The Grerman submarine threat — America breaks off relations with Germany — General Robertson on the French railways — The first Dardanelles Report — Lord Wimborne and Irish politics — The Household Cavalry battalion — A proposed Irish settlement — ^The men demanded by the Army Council not forthcoming — Mr. Lloyd George's views — His criticisms of the Admiralty — His attitude regarding men for the Army — A difference of opinion — His views on Ireland and the Wim- borne scheme — A quaint story of Lord Northcliffe — F.M. Sir D. Haig's assurances to French journalists — An indictment of the Allies from Greece — The proposed plan for unity of command on the Western front — Lord Derby on Man-Power — Lord French's Home Defence cripples — General Inagaki on Japanese co-operation — My speech to the Unionist War Committee at the House of Commons — ^My letter to the Prime Minister about Man-Power — ^Mr. Balfour thinks the price for Japanese co-opera- tion is too stiff 448-477 CONTENTS XV CHAPTER XVIII MR. LLOYD GEORGE REVIEWS THE SITUATION MARCH 1917 PAGES speech by Sir Edward Carson on the submarines — ^The first Dardanelles Report out — It creates amazement — ^The port of Southampton — Our wheat and flour supplies — General Maurice on the situation — General YermolofE's views — General Geddes on Man-Power — A talk with M. Albert Thomas — General Lyautey resigns — General Lawson's combing-out work in France — General Robertson on the Calais Agreement — His opinion of Greneral NiveUe — Lord French on the German voluntary retire- ment — Princess Clementine on journalists — A letter from Sir Archibald Murray from Egypt — The Scottish OflSce on the Army — ^The Russian Revolution — Lord Jellicoe and the War StafE — Lord Milner and the Russian Revolution — Mr. BaKour's views — Rumours of raids and invasions — My telephone keeps on ringing — A visit to the Russian Embassy — ^M. WolkofE's amusing repartee — German and British figures of submarine sinkings — The Haig-Nivelle trouble — A luncheon for the Prime Minister and the Russians — Mr. Lloyd George's severity — Our food supplies — The Prime Minister's doubts about German reserves and invasion — His views on the general situation — Our ration strengths — Greneral Robertson on Italy and Russia . . 478-604 CHAPTER XIX OPENING OF THE 1917 CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE Explanation of forces at home — Our need of drafts — Every Depart- ment against the Army — Commander Grenfell harangues the Baltic Fleet — I address the 1900 Club on Man-Power and the War — General Geddes supports me — M. Sevastopoido on Russian a£Eairs — General Count de Jonghe on the coming attack — The American Women's Hospital — A letter from Sir Archibald Murray on his operations round Gaza — Success of the British attack of April 9 round Arras — General Robertson on the Russians — A talk with Greneral Smuts — ^My objections to the Flanders operation — Smuts on German E. and S.-W. Africa — His ideas about the Teutonic race — ^A visit to Brentwood — Dispositions of our Southern Army in England — Miss Wilmot's gardens — Lord Derby's requests to me — Greneral NiveUe takes the German first-line trenches in Champagne . . 505-51! VOL. I. 6 xvi THE FIRST WORLD WAR CHAPTER XX ARRAS AND CHAMPAGNE, APRIL 1917 PAGKS Journey to the British front in Prance — Montreuil — Order of Battle of our Armies in France — Distribution of the German Armies — With Rawlinson's 4th Army — The devastated area — The question of guns and fuses — Visits to Gtenerals Du Cane and Pulteney — German booby traps — Visit to Generals Gough and Birdwood — The 5th Army Trench Mortar School — Visit to General Allenby at Bryas — State of his 3rd Army — We visit the battlefield — ^Feat of arms of the 3rd Army on April 9 — Bad condition of our horses — Plan of attack for April 23 — General Allenby comes with me round his gas laboratory, survey com- pany, and signal service — Description of these services — ^Visit to Greneral Home's H.Q. 1st Army — A visit to Vimy Ridge — Pine view from Hill 145 — ^A call on General Byng — His capture of German guns and their use — Opening of the attack of April 23 — ^The mechanism of the command at General Allenby's Head- quarters — Visit to G.H.Q. at Bavincourt — Talks with Generals Kiggell and Sir Douglas Haig — Grerman divisions, the new series — Greneral Trenchard and the R.F.C. Headquarters at St. Andr6 — Trenchard's opinions — Major Cornwall's views of the German forces — Arrival in Paris — A talk with M. Painlev6, the new French War Minister — Motor to Chalons — Meet Generals P6tain and NiveUe — I give General P6tain my views at his request — He describes what happened before Nivelle's attack — A discussion of the present position — General P^tain at work — Studies of his Staff — A reconnaissance of Moron viUers — General P6tain's plans — ^M. Citroen's Munition Works — Renault's factory — A visit to General NiveUe at Compifegne — His explanatory note on his battle of April 16 — General Foch unemployed — I visit him at Senlis — His views — French G.Q.G.'s estimate of present and future German strengths — A lunch with M. Loucheiir — Another talk with Sir D. Haig and General P6tain — A successful Con- ference — Admirals JeUicoe and Sims on the submarine war 519-562 CHAPTER XXI THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME General Murray's situation — Our horses — A recruiting talk with General Geddcs — Where the 3^ million men of military age in civil life now are — Austrian and Italian strengths on Italian front — The Italian Isonzo oiiensive of May 12 — Mr. Lloyd CONTENTS xvii PAOBS George suggests a defensive in the West — Low Country warfare — Lord Bumham and the Calais Conference — I address the Man- chester Chamber of Commerce — A northern business audience — Some plain speaking — Foch says that la grande guerre estfinie — Lord Hardinge of Penshurst on Riissia — Plumer's victory at the Messines Ridge, June 7 — Admiral Hall at the Admiralty — Sir John Cowans's advice for the Americans — Allenby replaces Murray in Egypt — Sir Edward Carson on naval afiairs — The present nulitary position in France — Lord Crewe's opinion of Lord Kitchener — General Tom Bridges on his mission to the United States — Probable course of American arrivals — ^Lieut. Pemot on French opinions and events — On Marshal JoflEre in America — The Grand Duke Michael and the revolutionaries — A talk with F.M. Sir Douglas Haig at Eastcott — His view of the Flanders position — We agree about the War Cabinet's illusions — General Robertson's opinions — An amusing cartoon — The position at home 56^-592 CHAPTER XXII MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT, 1917 General Maude's letter describing events of the past six months in Mesopotamia — Angry conunents on the Mesopotamia Report — A visit to Glynde Place — Indian poUtics — Gteneral Harington on Messines — The Russian Southern Armies attack — A great relief — Lord French and Sir D. Haig reconciled — Reasons for the early failure in Mesopotamia — A German daylight aeroplane raid on London — Captain Charles Fox on his escape from Germany — Sir Archibald Murray's return — His account of the situation and of his organisation of the advance and conquest of the desert — We lose the Dunes sector at Nieuport — More details from General Murray about his campaign — A talk with General Smuts — His view of the War Cabinet system — His strategy for Palestine — Why it was negatived — His opinion about Man-Power — He thinks that the defeat of Turkey wiU end the war — New political appointments — Russian news bad again — The Southern Armies retreat without cause . . . 593-621 CHAPTER I OUR MILITARY UNDERSTANDING WITH FRANCE 1906-1914 Russia's defeat in 1904-5 — Danger of a German attack on France — Discussions with the French Military Attache — Sir Edward Grey's view — Opinions of Admiral Sir John Fisher, Lord Esher, Sir George Clarke, and General Grierson — Unofficial submission of questions to the French Grovernment and their replies — The French plan of con- centration — DiflEerences of opinion on strategical questions — Meeting of Sir Edward Grey and Mr. Haldane — Sir Henry Campbell- Banner- man's attitude — Official relations opened between the French and British General Staffs — The French Press divxilges the truth — Co- operation of the two Staffs, 1906-14. The origin of our military understanding with France is a page of history which has not yet been written. I happened to be concerned with it, and as it explains much that followed I cannot better preface this account of my personal experiences in the First World War than by describing how our most fruitful military co-operation with France was first brought about. The story dates back to the end of 1905 when Germany showed an evident disposition to pick a quarrel with France over the Morocco question, and to profit by the temporary eclipse of Russian power which had been caused by Russia's defeats by Japan in the Far East in 1904-5, and by the internal troubles within Russia which followed. This menace to France drew to a head in December 1905 at the moment when Mr. Balfour's Government had fallen, and the General Election which placed the Liberal Party in power had just opened. VOL. I. A 2 MILITARY UNDERSTANDING WITH FRANCE Russia was hors de combat for the time, and of little service to France as an Ally. She was France's only Ally, and though our entente with France had happily been effected by Lord Lansdowne in 1904, we had done nothing what- soever to prepare joint mihtary action and to gain close touch with French military circles. It was Germany's chance. I had been watching her closely ever since she had begun to display hostiUty towards us, and I knew enough of her doctrines and preparations to reahse how serious the danger for France was. Germany at that time had permeated England with her influence in social, pohtical, financial, and commercial circles. Her tentacles reached everywhere, and not the least symptom of her intentions was the endeavour which she made at this time to attract us to her side by every kind of insidious propaganda. I have described in a little volume of pre-war memories * how on Dec. 27, 1905, I wrote in the Times an article dealing with the growing hostility of Germany towards France, and how I ended it with a warning to Germany that she would endanger her vital interest if she staked upon a doubtful hazard the results achieved by the great founders of German unity. I warned her that a war might unchain animosities in unexpected quarters, and I did not pretend a friendliness which I did not feel. This article had considerable effect and was widely quoted, but on the following day, Dec, 28, Major Huguet, afterwards General, the French Military Attache in London, a close friend of mine for many years, dined with me, and I found that we were both exceedingly anxious about the situation. He told me that his Embassy people were worried because Sir Edward Grey, who had just taken over the Foreign Office, had not renewed the assurances given by Lord Lansdowne. Major Huguet regretted Lord Lansdowne's departure because M. Cambon, the French Ambassador, could not speak English well, and the Em- bassy beheved that Sir E. Grey could not speak French. M. Cambon was very reserved, and feared that he might not * Veatigia. Constahlo, 1919. 1905] RISKS OF GERMAN AGGRESSION 3 catch the exact meaning of a conversation on such a deHcate subject in another language. Moreover, M. Cambon was now on leave till Jan. 12, and the Algeciras Conference was due to meet on the 16th. I asked why the Councillor of the Embassy did not go to the Foreign Office at once to clear the air. Major Huguet replied that he could not, in the absence of the Ambassador, open such a grave conversation without precise instructions, but that if Sir E. Grey would broach the subject at the next diplomatic reception, the French Embassy would be much relieved. They knew that our sympathies were with them, but they wanted to know what we should do in case Germany suddenly confronted them with a crisis. Major Huguet thought that the situation was delicate, and that no one knew what the Kaiser really wanted. He told me that the French Navy had already taken certain precautions and was prepared. He knew that our Navy was ready, and trusted it, but did not know what it would do to co-operate in case of trouble. The French Army, he said, was ready, and reservists were already coming to barracks to ask for orders. Major Huguet thought that the Germans might attack suddenly, and probably through Belgium. I urged him strongly to advise his people at once not to dream of violating Belgium, since the violator would stand fatally condemned in the eyes of our pubHc. He wanted us to stiffen the Belgians if war came, and beheved that the Germans could not break through on the French frontier. We walked back together to his rooms and talked till 12.30 A.M. I communicated the purport of the conversation on the morning of the 29th by express letter to Sir Edward Grey. The Greneral Election, which eventually replaced the Balfour by the Campbell-Bannerman Administration, was in full swing, and Sir Edward Grey was away, but the letter was sent after him to Northumberland. On Saturday, Dec. 30, Lord Esher and I lunched together and discussed the whole situation. In the afternoon I saw the First Naval Lord, Admiral Sir John Fisher, at the Admiralty. We 4 MILITAEY UNDERSTANDING WITH FRANCE talked of many things, but in relation to the Franco-German crisis he told me that he was forming a new Western Fleet with Headquarters at Berehaven. He was taking two battleships each from the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Channel Fleets, and was adding six armoured cruisers, and destroyers recalled from China and the Mediterranean, in order to create the new fleet, and the destroyers were, at that moment, on their way home, touching at French ports in North Africa en route. As I knew that this would soon become known to the Germans and would alarm them, I thought it good news. The Admiral thought that the Germans would beat the French. The latter had discussed co-operation with him, but all that he wanted from them was submarines at Dunkirk. He assured me that Admiral Wilson's Channel Fleet was alone strong enough to smash the whole German Fleet, and said that he, Fisher, was prepared, on his own responsibihty, to order our fleets to go wherever they might be required. He told me that he had seen on paper Lord Lansdowne's assurances to M. Cambon, and that they were quite distinct in their tenor. He had shown them to Sir Edward Grey, and declared that they were part of the engagements taken over from the last Government, and would hold good until denounced. On Monday, Jan. 1, 1906, came Sir Edward Grey's reply from Fallodon, dated Dec. 30. He said, ' I am interested to hear of your conversation with the French Military Attach^. I can only say that I have not receded from anything which Lord Lansdowne said to the French, and have no hesitation in affirming it.' I had asked Lord Esher to communicate with Sir George Clarke, Secretary of the Defence Committee, and this Monday morning there came a letter from the latter from Bournemouth suggesting that I should take certain steps at the French Embassy. Sir George disapproved of the idea of our joining the French Army in case of war, and also of our supporting the Belgian Army unless Grermany violated Belgium, Clarke and Fisher were for a certain course of action, Admiral Wilson 1906] GENERAL ELECTION DANGERS 5 for another, and the soldiers, I expected, would be for a tliu'd. General Grierson, then head of the Operations Branch, Major Gorton, head of my old section of the Intelligence Branch, and I dined together at ' The Rag ' on Wednesday, Jan. 3, when Grierson opposed all the Eisher-Clarke ideas of a serious military attack on the Grerman coasts in case of war, and I quite agreed with him. He said that, on the assumption that Germany violated Belgium, we could put two divisions into Namur by the thirteenth day of mobihsation, and all our field army of that period into Antwerp by the thirty-second day. Major Huguet came to my house on Friday, Jan. 6, and stayed to lunch. I walked back to the Embassy with him, and we discussed Sir G. Clarke's letter and alternative operations. He assured me definitely, as his personal opinion, that France would not violate Belgian neutrahty, but he said that the French did not realise, and had nothing to go on to make them realise, that a German violation of Belgium would automatically bring us into the field, as I believed it would. Huguet was as much opposed as I was to the Fisher-Clarke plan of attack on the German coast in case of war. He preferred that our help, in case of need, should come either in Belgium if Germany violated her neutrality, or on the left of the French line of deployment between Verdun and Mezieres if she did not. That same evening I saw Lord Esher and Sir G. Clarke at Whitehall Gardens, when we fully discussed the situa- tion together. It was becoming uncommonly serious. The Morocco crisis was coming to a head, and there might have been an explosion at any houi'. All our new Ministers were away electioneering, and as at that time a General Election lasted many weeks, there was almost a complete separation between responsibility and the executive. We were well aware that the Germans knew how to profit from such a situation. We thought it indispensable that something should be done, and as both Lord Esher and Sir G. Clarke were serving in an official capacity and I was a free lance, it was eventually agreed between us that I should sound 6 MILITARY UNDERSTANDING WITH FRANCE the French Government through Major Huguet, and that when the French views were thus privately and unofficially ascertained we should pass the matter on to our Government, which would be completely uncommitted and able to con- tinue the conversations or to drop them as they pleased. Huguet then arranged to leave for Paris on the 7th, and to see General Brugere the Generalissimo, and General Brun, Chief of Sta£f, on Monday, Jan. 8. Before he left I gave him a short list of questions upon which I desired a good French opinion. Huguet returned from Paris on the evening of Jan. 11, and came to my house at 11 a.m. on Jan. 12, remaining till 1 P.M. He had submitted my questions, dated Jan. 5, to M. Rouvier, Prime Minister, and to M. Etienne, Minister of War, on Saturday evening, Jan. 7. They were then placed before M. Thomson, Minister of Marine, and his naval staff, and before Generals Brun and Brugere. My questions and the French rephes to them were as follows : My Questions, 1. Have the Conseil Su- p6rieur de la Guerre considered British co-operation in case of war with Germany ? In what manner do they consider this co-operation can best be carried out : (a) by sea, (6) by land ? The French Replies. 1, La question de la co- operation de I'armee britan- nique sur terre a 6td( etudi^e — on estime que, pour etre le plus efficace, son action devra : — (a) etre Hee h, celle de I'armee frangaise, c'est-^-dire, etre placee sous la meme direction, soit que les deux armees agissent sur le meme theatre d'operations, ou sur des the- atres diff6rents. (6) se faire sentir dds le d6but des hos- tilites, en raison de I'effet moral considerable qui en r^sultera. II serait h d^sirer qu'un certain nombre de corps anglais, quels que soient leur nombre et leur effectif (1 ou 2 1906] QUESTIONS TO FEANCE AND REPLIES 7 My Questions {continued) The French Replies {continued) divisions si possible), puissent etre debarques vers le 5""' ou gme jour, de maniere k etre transportes sur le lieu de leurs operations, en meme temps quo le seront les corps fran9ais. lis pourraient partir h leur effectif de paix en doublant les unites ; les reservistes rejoindraient en- suite pour porter les unites k leur effectif normal de guerre. Le reste de I'armee executerait sa mobilisation regulierement, et partiraitquand il seraitachevee. Sur mer, la situation par- ticuHere de I'Angleterre, la grande superiorite de sa flotte, la possibilite qu'eUe a de prendre a I'avance toutes les mesures preparatoires qu'elle juge utiles, la mettent a meme d'etablir un plan mieux que la France, qui ne jouit pas de la meme Hberte d'action parce que : — (1) Elle ignore quelle serait 1' attitude de F Italic. (2) EUe ne peut, pour cette raison et aussi pour eviter des recriminations, prendre a I'avance les memes mesures que I'Angleterre. 2. May we take it as a 2. Oui, d'une maniere ab- principle that France will not solue. violate Belgian territory un- less compelled to do so by previous violation of Belgian territory by Germany ? 8 MILITARY UNDERSTANDING WITH FRANCE My Questions (continued) The French Replies {continued) 3. Do the French reahse 3. La France I'a toujours that any violation of Belgian suppose, mais n'en a jamais neutrality brings us into the eu I'assurance officielle, field automatically in defence of our Treaty obligations ? 4. Assuming that Germany violates Belgian territory, what plan of operations do the French propose for co-opera- tion between the French, Eng- lish, and Belgian forces ? 6. What is the French opinion concerning landings on the German coasts ? If we could send 100,000 men for such operation and assisted France with transports, could she supply another 100,000 men, and in what time and from what ports ? 4. On compte peu sur une action de I'armee Beige qui, croit-on, se contenterait de se retirer a Anvers en protestant contro la violation de son territoire. Dans le cas ou elle serait decidee a defendre son sol, on proposerait une action commune immediate, sous une direction unique, action qui ne peut etre d^finie a I'avance, parce qu'elle de- pendra des circonstances. 5, Vu la superiorite nume- rique probable des Allemands, une operation de ce genre au debut de la campagne parait tres delicate, et ne semble pouvoir etre tentee que dans des circonstances excejstion- nelles. 6. Do the French look to 6. Voir reponse a la pre- U8 to propose a plan of joint miere question, action by sea ? Have they any plan ready to suggest to us ? 7. Would it be possible for 7. Au point de vue mih- France to capture Togoland taire, i'operation sera facile a and the Cameroons, if we executer et notre intention captured German E. and S.W. est de I'executer. Africa and German posses- eions in the Pacific 7 1906] QUESTIONS TO FRANCE AND REPLIES 9 My Questions {continued) 8. Would it be agreeable to France that all captures of German ships and colonial possessions by France and England during the war should be pooled and held as a set-off against any possible German successes in Europe ? The French Beplies {continued) 8. Cette question est sur- tout d'ordre diplomatique et devra etre traitee diploma- tiquement au moment voulu. Toutefois, a priori, il semble probable que — I'Angleterre devant avoir a ce point de Tue le role le plus brillant — la France s'en remettra en- tierement a ce que decidera I'Angleterre. 9. Should we establish it 9, Oui ; I'unite de direction as a principle, except for the 6tant absolument indispen- operations described under 7, sable, soit sur terre, soit sur that the Enghsh shall com- mer. mand at sea and the French on land ? 10. What share should the 10. On n'est pas fixe a cet Netherlands be asked and ex- egard. Si les Pays-Bas veuil- pected to take in the war, or lent resister on leur conseillera what precautionary measures de s'opposer par tons les should she be asked to take ? moyens possibles a la viola- tion de leur territoire ; de re- sister pied-a-pied, et de se retirer sur le gros des forces fran9aises, en detruisant les voies ferrees et tons les ou- vrages d'art. Defense passive, s'ils n'osent, comme il est pro- bable, opj)oser une defense active. 11. In general terms, what 11. D'une maniere generale, line of action do the French on estime que I'effectif pro- expect the Germans wiU adopt bable de I'armee allemande in case of war ? How soon sera de 1,300,000 a 1,400,000 will they be concentrated, and hommes. Le gros des com- upon what lines are they ex- battants aura aohev6 la con- 10 MILITARY UNDERSTANDING WITH FRANCE My Questions {continued) The French Replies (continued) pected to advance, in what centration vers le 11™" ou numbers and in what time ? 12""' jour, les convois vers le 15™% ou le 16™% Le reseau ferre allemand semble indiquer que la con- centration se fera entre Metz et Thionville. Une offensive immediate tres 6nergique dans la direction de Paris est en- suite a prevoir. Jan. 5, 1906. Major Huguet's account of the profound astonishment of the 2'"® Bureau of the French General Staff, when he announced to them the mission on which he had come, was most amusing. He found them deeply engaged upon the elaboration of an academic plan for the invasion of England, and when he told them of the friendly British invasion which some of us contemplated, their jaws dropped, their pens fell from their hands, and they were positively transfixed with surprise. All went well. The French Ministers, soldiers, and sailors did everything possible to faciUtate his mission. He was sure that everything possible would be done officially to prolong the conversations and make the necessary arrangements for co-operation the instant that we, on our side, gave our consent. Meanwhile Major Huguet told me that M. Cambon, who had returned earlier than he had intended, had seen Sir E. Grey on Jan. 10, when the latter had said that he could not speak for the Government who were all scattered on electioneering work, but that his private opinion was that we should not be able to keep out of a war if Germany attacked France. M. Cambon had then suggested official intercommunications by the respective Staffs, but Sir E. Grey had said that they were impracticable at present, and that we must wait until the elections were over and the Government installed. M. Cambon had judged that Grey 1906] STKATEGY AND TACTICS ii was privy to the private and unofficial conversations in progress. Major Hugiiet next explained to me, to my amazement, that the French plan of concentration was an adaptation of the Napoleonic lozenge ; an armee d'avant-garde of the 6th, 7th, and 20th Army Corps, and the rest of the armies on a front of only forty kilometres, echeloned in depth with reserve divisions in third line. I could not stand this at all, protested vehemently, and pointed out that the Grerman tactics of envelopment would destroy the lozenge speedily ; that the French would be unable to use their arms, and that I saw no more certain means of ruining their army. Subsequently I elaborated my objections in detail ^ at Major Huguet's request, and fortunately this terribly dangerous plan was given up, to my great relief. It alarmed me more than anything else at this time, and made me suspicious of the French strategists and tacticians. I took my questions, the French repHes, and some ex- planatory notes to the Defence Committee the same day, and discussed them at length with Lord Esher and Sir G. Clarke, who shared my views of the lozenge concentration. Clarke agreed to see Sir John Fisher on the subject of naval plans, and on the following day, Jan. 13, telephoned to me that his talk had been very unsatisfactory, and that Fisher was not prepared to meet the French half-way. I wrote my opinion of Sir John Fisher's attitude to Lord Esher, and saw Clarke at his house on the 14th. Admiral Fisher, said Sir G. Clarke, would not let the French into any plans of ours ; he was not prepared to guarantee the passage of our Army across the Channel, and he was opposed to the employment of our troops on the continent of Europe. He wanted to fight his own war his own way. It would not have mattered to me had he confined himself to naval operations. But he wished to impound our Army and to use it for naval ends. He was all for scratching in the My criticism of the French tactics appeared in the Times of January and February 1911. It was reprinted in Essays and Criticisms (Constable and Co.), chapter xvi. 12 MILITARY UNDERSTANDING WITH FRANCE Baltic, and wished the Army to help him and not the French. Pour comble de malheur I learnt that Sir John French was for the Fisher plan, and at this time opposed union with the French on French soil. This was very exasperating, and I objected that nothing counted in comparison with weight at the decisive point, and that fooling in the Baltic was the sort of stuff amateurs were teaching the Navy, whose leaders seemed to be completely ignorant of strategy and of the necessity of making as sure as our means allowed the victory of France in the first great shock of battle. Things were not looking so well, and I could not give Major Huguet the answer which he desired about the shift- ing of the conversations to an official basis. But meanwhile Sir E. Grey and Mr. Haldane had news of what was going on, and determined to meet in spite of their electioneering. They did so, at the greatest personal inconvenience, and to their everlasting credit agreed to take upon themselves the responsibility for continuing the conversations in a semi- official manner. They met at Berwick. Sir E. Grey's concurrence was largely due to the fact that, owing to the growth of foreign Navies, we were no longer able to remain isolated and aloof. Mr, Haldane then came on to London to see Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman during the week- end of Sunday, Jan. 14. He obtained the new Prime Minister's approval, and then gave Sir Neville Lyttelton and General Grierson permission to carry on. On Jan. 17 Major Huguet informed me that Grierson had opened relations with him that morning, and that he felt himself entitled to consider that Grierson would not have done so without authority from the Minister for War and the Government. I thought that he was perfectly justified in arriving at this conclusion, and informed Huguet that my share in the conversations was now at an end, and that it remained for the French Staff and ours to get to work and go ahead. The matter was not fully en train, of course, until the approval of the new Prime Minister, Sir Hemy Campbell- Bannerman, had been secured. I had some doubt about the manner in which he would view it, but in his talk with Mr. 1906] OFFICIAL RELATIONS BEGIN 13 Haldane he was very firm and clear on the point that we should be prepared for all emergencies, and that conversa- tions between the two Staffs, without any binding agreement between the Governments, were permissible measures of prudence. It was arranged that a paper should be signed by Grierson and Huguet stipulating that the conversations should not commit either Government, and this was done. C.-B. was a fine old Tory in Army matters. He was also a warm friend of the French, and quickly realised the whole position. How he explained matters to certain members of the new Cabinet I did not ask, and it did not matter. I believe that he considered it a departmental affair, and did not bring it before the Cabinet at all at the time. I was quite well aware that the secrecy of conversations of this character could not be long preserved, and I was therefore not astonished when a French paper — the Figaro, I think it was — revealed the truth one fine day in a veiled but perfectly patent manner. I saw no harm in the in- discretion for which the French were solely responsible. Except in keeping my editor, Mr. Buckle, informed of the trend of affairs, I never mentioned the matter to a soul. Perhaps the Germans scented danger even before the Figaro article. They were very well informed, and Paris was always very leaky. But, obviously, the greatest good for peace could only be derived by German knowledge of the fact that the Anglo-French Entente, which Lord Lansdowne had effected in 1904, had been supplemented by a plan of naval and mihtary co-operation in the event of German aggression. It was bound to give the Grermans pause, and to make them dread the consequences of finding England across their path if they ventured on a war of aggression against France. I have no doubt that it did so, and that a revision of the war plans of the German Admiralty and Great General Staff necessarily followed. In any case, the menace to peace was removed, and gradually the storm-cloud passed away for the time. That we did not profit fully from the respite of seven years which preceded the break with Grer- 14 MILITARY UNDERSTANDING WITH FRANCE many was a cardinal error for which the whole responsibility must be assigned to the statesmanship of the time. The Anglo -French military conversations, officially begun in January 1906, continued uninterruptedly till the outbreak of war in 1914. They led to close co-operation of the British and French Staffs, and to the gradual working out of all the naval, miUtary, and railway projects for the delivery of our Expeditionary Force in France. I believe that I suggested the name of the Expeditionary Force. It was ifirst called the Striking Force, and I thought that this would alarm the Radicals unduly. As the improvements in our military affairs at home went on, the plans were constantly changed to take account of them, and this entailed much hard work in the days of General Grierson and of General Ewart who succeeded him. I was kept informed of the general plan of the arrangements, and was mainly concerned to watch that the principle of our military co-operation at the decisive point should be maintained intact. Our General Staff never deviated from this principle, which ultimately led us to make our main effort in the right quarter when war came. Why the principle of unity of command by sea and land dropped out^ I have never heard. We fortunately found in Prince Louis of Battenberg a sailor to guarantee the safe passage of the Channel by our Army, and the Fisher Baltic plan was ultimately ruled out. Colonel Huguet's co-operation was perfect. He remained with us till the outbreak of war, and then accompanied our G.H.Q. in the field. With the Staff reconnaissance-rides and other arrange- ments between the French and English Staffs, which followed after the definite settlement of the character of our military intervention, I had nothing to do. My im- pression is that in the years immediately preceding the war some of our soldiers and the French came to false conclusions ^ ' I wish you distinctly to understand that your command is an entirely independent one, and that you will in no case come in any sense under the orders of any Allied general.' — Instruction of the Government to Sir John French : see 1914, Ist edition, p. 15. 1915] THE INITIAL GEEMAN EFFOET 15 on the subject of a German attack, gravely underestimated the enemy's strength, misunderstood his strategy, and never took sufficiently into account the danger that the Germans would make their main effort through Belgium, often though I alluded to it in the Times. ^ We were within an ace of being ruined by the poverty of our strategic inteUigence. In the year 1895, when in charge of the French Section of the Intelhgence Division, I had estimated that Germany could at that time place over 3,000,000 men in the field, and that the blow against France would be deUvered by 1,250,000 to 1,500,000 Germans. Eleven years later no higher estimate was placed by the French upon the German figures, despite the continuous growth of the German Army in the interval. There followed a series of German military laws up to the outbreak of war, all of which increased the German power and were fully recorded by me year by year in the Times. The reasons why the German effort was underestimated have to be explained by those responsible for the miscalculations. To the best of my present knowledge, Germany placed in the field, on both fronts, 61 Aimy Corps, besides Line of Communication troops and Landsturm formations. In October there appeared 6| new Army Corps and a division of Marines, to be shortly followed by a second. By January 1915 the number of fighting formations placed in fine was 69 1 Army Corps, composed as follows : Army Corpa Active Army Corps . 25^- Reserve Corps . 2U Ersatz Brigades 6| Reserve Corps of new formation 71 Landwehr Corps 8i Total 69* It was supposed by the French G.Q.G. at this time, January 1915, that about half, or 4,000,000 men, of the * Thfso allusions can be found in Essays and Criticisms, chapter xvi , and in Vestigia, chapter xxii. (Constable and Co.). i6 MILITARY UNDERSTANDING WITH FRANCE German still-existing recruiting resources were in the field, and that 3,500,000 men were still available, excluding 500,000 exempted as indispensable, and allowing 1,000,000 for the German casualties up to date. These resources were in- creased, year by year, by the annual contingents, and by anticipating coming contingents, each contingent being 550,000 gross, and giving an average net figure of under 400,000. The weight of the initial effort made by Germany should increase our respect for the valour of those, mainly French- men, but also British and Belgians, who checked the first onsets and won the victory of the Marne. Not until the whole of the available manhood of Germany had been thrown into the field, and had been well beaten, did Ger- many give up. The character of this war of attrition must always remain in our minds when we read the story of the First World War. CHAPTER II THE FIRST YEAR August 1914 — September 1915 The outbreak of war — Divisions within the Cabinet — Mobilisation delayed — The violation of Belgium unites the whole country — Lord Kitchener's appointment as Secretary of State for War — His plana of organisation and view of the general situation, August 15 — My views of the military situation on the eve of war — The Expeditionary Force leaves for France — Disclosure of the German concentration, August 12 — Early defeats of the Allies and the retreat from Mons — The Marne victory — F.M. Lord Roberts's last o2er of his services — My first visit to the Army in France — Life at Sir John French's G.H.Q. — Visits to the French and Belgian fronts — General Foch at Cassel — He asks me an interesting question — French and English languages — The King and Queen of the Belgians — The question of the shells — Reiterated demands for shells — War Office promises not kept — The situation on May 9, 1915 — Heavy casualties in British attacks — The 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade at Fromelles — My telegram of May 12 — The Dardanelles drain on the munitions in France — Sir John French informed that he can expect no more reinforcements for a considerable time — A disquieting situation — Captain Stanley Wilson, M.P., and Mr. Bonar Law — Proposed action by the Unionist Leader — Mr. Lloyd George's action — Censoring of my telegram in France — My paper exposing the facts — Reconstruction of the Govern- ment — The Coalition Ministry — Creation of the Ministry of Munitions — Lord Kitchener stops my visits to Sir John French — Injudicious article in the Daily Mail — ^The Russian campaign — The Dardanelles — Recruiting difficulties — Suppression of my articles — Public service of Lord Derby at this time. The ostensible cause of the outbreak of the war was the murder of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Serajevo on June 28, 1914. This murder was followed by an Austrian ultimatum to Serbia of the most rigorous and exacting character, and though Serbia humbled herself, and agreed to almost all the terms, Austria pretended to regard the reply as unsatisfactory, and at once declared war. This ultimatum was, I believe, drafted by Count Forgach, my old friend of the Hague days, in collaboration with VOL. I. B i8 THE FIRST YEAR Count Berchtold and the German Ambassador at Vienna. Sir Edward Grey told me soon afterwards that the annotated text of it had been seen, before it was sent off, on the table of one of the chiefs of the Foreign Office in Berlin, The German mihtary party, determined to wage war at the first favourable opportunity in order to forestall the impending expansion of the Russian Army, reckoned the moment propitious and the pretext adequate for war, and from the first Germany blocked all the openings to peace. How much the Kaiser had to do with the decision, history will tell us later. My own feeling is that he did not wish for war, but was carried along by the tumult of events. In any case, his old friends Colonel von Leipzig and his wife suddenly appeared in London during the lasL days of July, as they had done at other times of crisis, and came straight to me. Von Leipzig was utterly opposed to war, and tried to concert means for stopping it even at this late hour. He proposed that we should admit the occupation of Belgrade by Austria as a satisfaction to her, and that operations should then cease pending an arrangement. I passed this on to the Cabinet, and some attempt was made to act in this sense, but it was much too late, for measure was followed by counter-measure, the German military party were in control, and all the efforts of Sir Edward Grey and the Tsar to avert the greatest catastrophe of history were rendered fruitless. During the first ten days of Aug. 1914 it positively rained ultimatums and declarations of war, and very soon all the great Powers of Europe, except Italy, were at war. Though war had often been expected, it had been expected for so long, and so many crises had been successfully over- come by diplomacy, that it came in the end like a thief in the night, quite unexpectedly. We were far from being united in our determination to stand by our friends, for the whole spirit of Gladstonian Liberalism hated war like the plague, and most of all continental war, which was positively anathema to the party in office. These divisions were marked within the Cabinet, but when Germany sent 1914] THE ORDERS TO OUR FLEETS 19 an ultimatum to Belgium, demanded a right-of-way on the plea of military necessity, and thereby broke the faith of treaties to which she had set her hand, all doubts and differ- ences vanished, and we went into the war wholly united and in a good cause. ^ All my anxieties during the days immediately preceding the war, which began between us and Germany at 11 p.m. on Aug, 4, were centred upon the timely mobilisation and concentration of our land and sea forces. From July 27 onwards I urged in the Times and privately that our fleets should be sent to their war stations, and that the order for mobilisation should be issued to the Army. Thanks to Mr. Churchill and Prince Louis of Battenberg, the order went to the fleets on the night of Wednesday, July 29, and it was a great relief when this was known, for it was not realised by us that Germany was unready for war at sea, and had not anticipated that we should take part in the war so soon, if at all. The German ultimatum to Belgium reached Brussels at 7 p.m. on Aug. 2. It was not known in London until after the Cabinet meeting on that day. The mobilisation of the Army was delayed until 11 A.M. on Mondaj^ Aug. 3, when Lord Haldane, instructed * The dates of the various declarations of war were as follows : — War declared against Central Powers. August 9, 1914. November 3, 1914. August 3, 1914. April 7, 1917. August 28, 1914. August 4, 1914. November 23, 1914. August 27, 1916. November 23, 1916. April 6, 1917. May 23, 1915. August 28, 1916. August 14, 1917. October 26, 1917. There also declared war, Montenegro, San Marino, Panama, Cuba, Siam, Liberia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Honduras. War declared by Central Powers. Serbia . July 28, 1914 Russia . August 1, 1914 France . August 3, 1914 Belgium August 4, 1914 Japan . August 27, 1914 England November 23, 1914 Portugal March 9, 1916 Rumania August 29, 1916 Greece . United States . Italy . Italy (with Germany officially) China . . Brazil . . . . . . 20 THE FIKST YEAR by part of the Cabinet overnight, gave the order for it to the Army Council. The first day of mobihsation was Aug. 4, leaving us two days behind the French. All our military plans had been laid for a simultaneous mobihsation, and the delay of the Cabinet was partly responsible for the defeat at Mons, since we arrived there late, and with the Expeditionary Force not at full strength. I attacked the Government about this delay in the Times, and saw Sir Charles Douglas, then Chief of the General Staff, to urge action upon him. I found that he had warned the Cabinet expUcitly of the dangers which they were running, but that they had not listened to him, and the only excuse was that the Cabinet were not united on the question of war until the violation of Belgian neutrahty was an accomphshed fact. The Germans invaded Belgium on Aug. 4. After Colonel Seely had left the War Office as a conse- quence of the troubles in Ireland, Mr. Asquith, the Prime Minister, had taken charge of it. It was impossible for him to hold such an office in a great war with all his other responsibihties, and on Aug. 3, with the approval of the editor of the Times, Mr. Geoffrey Robinson, I made the first proposal in the Press that Lord Kjtchener, who was at home on leave from Egypt, should be appointed War Minister. This proposal was warmly taken up all over the country and soon bore fruit. Lord K. sent Sir Henry Rawlinson to see me and find out what pohtical game was behind my suggestion. I told him that I knew of none, and that I had made the suggestion in the pubUc interest without any prompting from anybody. It needed Lord K.'s immense mihtary prestige to carry the pubhc forward in the great work that lay in front of us. From no one else would the people accept the great mihtary schemes needed for the expansion of the Army, while it seemed certain that Lord K. would keep the Cabinet up to their work, and would never allow them to make a disastrous peace. No one else could have asked the country for miUiona of volunteers, and no one else had the foresight to say that the war would last for three 1914] LORD KITCHENER WAR SECRETARY 21 years. Even if Lord K. had done nothing more than this, his taking office would have been an inestimable service to the country, while although he had scarcely a friend left in the Cabinet at the end, the public retained their faith in him to the last in the most touching way. The tall, grim, silent figure — silent at least in the public estimation — whose impressive portrait appeared on every wall and on the recruiting posters, was the central feature of the war ; and if at any time the country had been asked to choose between him and the Cabinet, the latter would have come off second-best. This is not a soldier's appreciation only, it is a fact. Lloyd Greorge admitted and deplored it to me more than once. I was on the best of terms with Lord K. at the opening of the war and told him that I would do my best to support him if he would trust me. We had several talks, and a few days after he had taken office he sent for me to meet him at Lady Wantage's house in Carlton Gardens, when we had a long talk for a couple of hours about his plans. The purport of this conversation I published in the Times of Aug. 15, and as he revised my proof of the article, and approved of it, it stands as an authoritative account of his views at the time. Lord K. saw clearly that we were in for the greatest war of our history, and were bound to rise to the level of our responsibiUties. He said that we had to create the armies of our needs, and that our enemy was a nation in arms of 70 miUion people who meant to crush us if they could. He allowed that we had stout Alhes, but said that France was throwing the whole of her manhood into the field, leaving little behind except the successive annual contingents of recruits, while Russia, with all her immense capacity for defence, had untried and unproved offensive powers. He thought, in these circumstances, that the war would last very long, and that it was his duty so to prepare our land forces that by their steadily expanding numbers and constantly increasing efficiency they should enable us to play a part worthy of England, and at the peace to impose terms in consonance with our interests. We must, he said, 22 THE FIEST YEAR neglect for a time the works of peace and apply ourselves sternly to the business of war in defence of a righteous and impregnable cause. He allowed me to hint at the need for 500,000 additional men as a beginning, and thought that at the moment when other Powers were exhausted, we should prove to be most capable of continuing the war. There must, he declared, be no question of peace except on our own terms, and he proceeded to outUne and discuss with me his plans for the Regulars, the Territorials, and the New Armies, all of which plans were subsequently carried out. The pubhcation of this article aroused the greatest pubhc interest, but, by a perverse stroke of fate, it became the de- termining cause of our estrangement. He sent for me one day and told me that the Radical editors had made the devil of a fuss about his having given me the exclusive knowledge of his plans, and that he had been bitterly attacked in the Cabinet on this subject. He was, with all his power at this time, terrified of the pohticians. He said that it was as much as his Hfe was worth to see me again, but told me that I could always see one of his Staff, and that they would tell me anything I wanted to laiow. But it was not the same thing, and though I occasionally called to see FitzGerald, most capable and loyal of Lord K.'s men, great questions arose on which I could usefully speak to my old Chief alone, and in the natural course of things, when I could not get things done which I knew ought to be done, I drifted away from him. His method of doing everything himself made it useless to talk to any one else, as I laiew full well from having served on his Staff. Poor Sir Charles Douglas, a slave to duty, and the most honest and trustworthy of men, died very soon, and was succeeded as Chief of the General Staff in London by Sir James WoKe Murray, who was a good man in his day, but was too gentle to stand up to Lord K. As a result, the General Staff lost its rightful position, and Lord K. usurped most of its duties without knowing how to perform them. Lord K. was pre-eminently an administrator. He knew little about our political system and Army organisation at home. He had not seen nor 1914] GRAND STRATEGY 23 studied European Armies and countries, and was not versed in all the great military problems which had been exercising European General Staffs in our time. Sir Henry Sclater, the Adjutant-General, was a hard worker, but was as wax in Lord K.'s hands, while Sir John Cowans restricted himseK to the Q.M.G. work, which he did splendidly, but he knew little of other things going on. My view of the general miHtary situation at the opening of the war was given in the Times of Aug. 3 on the eve of the declaration of war. I showed in that article that though Russia had 4,000,000 trained men, it would take her a month to place from twelve to sixteen Army Corps on the Austro-German frontiers ; that the 2,000,000 French of the Active and Reserve Armies expected to meet the German masses between the fourteenth and twenty-first days of mobiUsation ; that by the fourteenth day Russia could give but httle help ; that Germany would leave from three to five Army Corps of the First Line to face Russia, and would mass her main forces against France, which would find against her a superior Army ; and that if we failed at the rendezvous, — which seemed possible at that moment, for France had mobilised on Aug. 2 and we had not — history would assign our cowardice as the cause. Things feU out precisely in this manner, with the exception that Sir John French arrived with four divisions and the cavalry in time for the first encounters, or nearly so. All the work of mobihsing and moving this force to France was admirably, secretly, and expeditiously accompHshed, and I am not sure that the Germans knew that we were in front of them tiU Aug. 22. The passage of the steamers was covered by the Navy. All the previous work of the French and British Staffs from 1906 onward bore fruit, and it may almost be said that the army took wing without the pubUc at home being aware of what had happened. The Territorials dropped into their places for home defence, and some went abroad even at this time, while scores of thousands of recruits trooped in voluntarily to join, though there were neither quarters, clothing, equipment, nor arms for them. There 24 THE FIRST YEAR had joined, by the third week in May 1915, no less than 1,239,312 Regular recruits and 469,611 Territorials, the largest intake in any one week being in the week ending Sept. 5, 1914, when 174,901 Regulars enUsted. The work thrown on home staffs, and especially on the Q.M.G.'s department, by this avalanche was simply overwhelming. The best journalistic coup that I brought off at this time was the pubUcation on Aug. 12 of a map showing the con- centration of the German Armies on the French frontier, giving the position of every Army Corps. The concentra- tion was not quite complete since the 2nd, 5th, and 6th Army Corps were not yet up and were not shown, but all the rest were given, and I think with fair exactitude. Such a coup had never been brought off before contact of the armies by any newspaper in any war. This map completely exposed the German aim of enveloping the French left by a march through Belgium, and had the proper conclusions been drawn by the French Staff from the indications on which the map was based, the great misfortunes of the open- ing of the war would have been avoided. Dii'ectly I had made and studied the map I began to preach a defensive until the advancing hosts had broken their heads against our prepared positions, and I am persuaded that if the French had held their left defensively from Namur through Brussels to Antwerp, as they might have done in co-operation with the Belgian and British Armies, they would never have lost Western Belgium, nine departments of France, and the great harbour on the Scheldt. The information on which my map was based was known to the French on Aug. 10. The first encounter between us and the Germans did not take place until Aug. 22, and there was ample time to have acted as the information really dictated. But things happened that I feared would happen. The French had their own plans which had been long prepared for certain eventualities which did not happen, and when the conditions changed the French plans did not sufficiently change with them. The three French attacks in Alsace, Lorraine, and the Belgian Ardennes were launched re- 1914] A PROPOSAL BY LORD ROBERTS 25 gardless of the menace in the North, and our unfortunate Army was left to be positively overwhelmed by a flood of enemies. It fought superbly and saved the French left from being enveloped and destroyed, but the real trouble was that no French general at this time had the prestige and the power to order a defensive attitude to be tem- porarily observed when the contrary tactics had been preached for so many years. After a long retreat, great losses, and much suffering, the Allied Armies turned on the Marne, and from Sept. 6 onward there began that wonderful series of battles in which the French re-established the campaign and drove the enemy back in rout to the Aisne. The action of General Joffre and of his Army Commanders and their valiant troops during this period filled me with admiration, and, except in July 1918, there was perhaps never such an abrupt reversal of the roles between two contending armies as there was at this famous time. I also thought that Sir John French's decision to cross the Aisne in pursuit was one of the boldest ever taken by a commander, and the behaviour of our troops in that fight seemed to me most glorious. Our Army then moved to the left and began that series of wonderful actions which culminated in the defeat of the second great German effort to overwhelm us in the West, and eventually ended in the estabHshment of rival lines of defence, and in the crystallisation of the fighting into the trench warfare which endured throughout the years 1915, 1916, and 1917. One episode during this early period remains firmly in my mind. Only a few weeks before his death in France, Field-Marshal Lord Roberts drove up to my house at Hampstead one morning, and his alert and active figure suddenly appeared at my library door. ' I have come to talk strategy with you : get out the maps,' he said. He then proceeded to unfold to me a plan which he thought should be carried out, namely, a landing on the Belgian coast, the outflanking of the German line of battle, and the ruin of its communications. He thought that the stroke 26 THE FIEST YEAR should be delivered by 150,000 men, and asked what I had to say about it. We discussed it up and down ; the troops, ships, escort, landing, organisation, forward march, and so on, and we finally decided that though it was an operation of great risk and difficulty, it was the right stroke to deliver. The Field-Marshal then rose and walked sharply up and down the room, deep in thought. * Yes,' he said at last, ' yes, it must be done . . . and I must go in command of it.' The old Field-Marshal, at the age of eighty-two, was prepared to risk his great fame, his reputation, and his life in command of an expedition attended with infinite risks, and more suited to a man of half his age. I said nothing, but as I accompanied him to his motor car I pressed his hand and could only say, ' Field-Marshal, you are splendid ! ' He went off to suggest the stroke and to offer his services in the command to Lord K. first, and to the Prime Minister afterwards. His offer was not accepted, but his grand soldier's spirit shone out in this last and supreme offer of his services to his country. I had plenty to do in writing constantly to the Times upon the campaigns in East and West, in seeing important people, in looking over many hospitals due to private initiative, such as the Duchess of Bedford's hospital at Woburn, which was a model undertaking, and in visiting our camps at home to watch the progress of the new troops. But when the campaign in France settled down I thought that the time had come when I should not be too much in the way if I went out, so I accepted an invita- tion from the Field-Marshal to visit the Army in France, and reached St. Omer, then Sir John French's Head- quarters, on Nov. 23, 1914. It was the first of many visits which I paid to the Army in France, thanks to the friendship and hospitahty of the Field-Marshal. During these visits I went round the British fines several times, saw and talked with most of the chief Army and Corps Commanders, discussed matters with the heads of services, had many conversations with officers and men of all arms and all ranks, and, last but not least. 1914] OUR G.H.Q. IN FRANCE 27 enjoyed many a long talk with the Field-Marshal alone, and with his two successive Chiefs of Staff, Sir Archibald Murray and Sir Wilham Robertson, who were two of my oldest and most valued soldier friends. I will first describe the G.H.Q. itself. An ignominious peer on one occasion got up in the House of Lords and made himself the echo of malicious rumour which had spread the report that cards were played and ladies entertained at G.H.Q. The Field-Marshal was not a card player, but if a rubber of Bridge had been played I should certainly have taken a hand at it. I never saw a pack of cards during my many visits, and am convinced that the life was much too strenuous for any amusement of this kind. I saw no ladies at G.H.Q. except a nurse who accompanied Lady Horner when her boy was badly wounded, and I am sure that this peer's charges were as silly as they were mendacious. Sir John Hved very simply. He occupied an ordinary house in an ordinary street, and except the two sentries at the gate there was no display of any kind. Sir John and a few of his Staff occupied the building in which were usually lodged the young Prince of Wales and his com- panion. Lord Claud Hamilton, while in a house opposite the few guests were lodged, and here there lived Billy Lambton, his military secretary, Brinsley FitzGerald, his private secretary, Major Watt and Freddy Guest, his A J).C.s, and Colonel Barry, who was looking after the Prince. Vesey, the assistant military secretary, Lord Percy and Major Swinton, who at first acted as ' Eye -Witnesses ' and wrote accounts for the Press, were also installed here, but were not in the G.O.C.'s mess. Murray had been in it at one time, but the constant flow of messages from the front so interrupted meals and disturbed the Field-Marshal's calm that Murray at last wisely withdrew, while all the other Chiefs of Services had messes of their own in various parts of the town. The living was plain and good. Sir John sat at the end of the table facing the windows. There were generally six or eight persons at meals, but now and then some of his particular cronies, such as Philip Chetwode and 28 THE FIRST YEAR Cis Bingham, turned up and had a seat. There were just the dining-room, Sir John's sitting-room, and the A.D.C.s' room, besides the kitchen on the ground floor. Meals were short. The others thought it best to give the Field-Marshal's mind a rest by talking of things not connected with the war, telling good stories, and indulging in friendly uncon- ventional talk. There was no display, and no formality. We all dropped in when we liked. The Prince of Wales was under twenty-one in the late autumn of 1914. He looked much younger, and his fair hair and ipink and white complexion added to his youthful appearance. He was full of energy and go, and his idea of perfect happiness was to join his Grenadiers in the trenches. He was a tremendous walker, making hght of a toe and heel of ten miles before breakfast, and he drove his own car at a fast pace. He made capital maps of his various trips, some of which he showed me, and wrote in his room till all hours in the morning. He was most punctual in all his duties and saluted every officer senior to him with the greatest precision in true Guards fashion. He was very much liked, but was treated like any other subaltern, and no one made any fuss about him. A rare education for a Prince of Wales ! If fighting was going on, Sir John was either at or went off early to his poste de commandenient, which was nearer the front than St. Omer, and from this point he controlled affairs. Most days at St. Omer he had breakfast at 8 a.m., and at 9 a.m. the various heads of departments reported to him ; namely, the Chief of Staff, Q.M.G., A.G., P.M.O., Director of IntelMgence, and so forth. The Field-Marshal issued orders, if any were necessary, and then went off and spent the day visiting his Army Commanders, any point of the hne of special interest, the hospitals, or some particular service or department. Often he visited the French generals in his neighbourhood, and was visited by them, while occasionally he travelled by car to Chantilly to see General Joffre. The Uaison officers also reported to him regularly. They were good men Hke Lord Loch, Sidney Clive, Hugh Dawnay, etc., and they kept 1914] KITCHENER AND FRENCH 29 him au courant with aU that was going on. In the evening the heads of services came again with the reports of the day, and by aU these means Sir John was kept well posted in the whole situation of his own troops and that of his enemy. One day crossing the Channel I had a talk with the F.M, about the strategy of the campaign, and suggested that an offensive down both banks of the Meuse seemed to me the proper direction for our efforts. The F.M. surprised me by saying that he had never discussed these things with Joffre. Most days when I was at G.H.Q. I had at least two long talks with the Field-Marshal alone, usually early and late, and I was impressed by his complete grasp of the whole mihtary situation, and by his intimate knowledge of all the details of his troops and their services. He possessed the sacred fire of leadership in a rare degree. I never knew him to be depressed. He was the incarnation of confidence, and he inspired confidence in aU. Though he had been through such terrible experiences during the retreat, he was remark- ably well, alert, and in all his mental and physical vigour. Nothing escaped him, and the rapidity of his decisions was most remarkable. But he was greatly enraged at the con- tinual interference of Lord K. with the operations, and at the constant worrying about small subjects on the part of the War Office at home. He did not at all approve of Lord K.'s visits to France, considering him a Civil Minister who had no right to pose as the leading soldier in Sir John's domain, and even at this early date of Nov. 1914, Sir John was much hampered by, and exercised about, the supply of guns and shells. I did my very best to try and make him keep on good terms with Lord K. for the sake of the cause, but each time that I went out to France I found that there had been more friction, and that the relations between the two men had become more strained. I could do nothing at home on account of the attitude which Lord K. had been compelled by the pohticians to adopt towards me, and there seemed to be no one else sufficiently intimate with the two Field-Marshals to smooth things over. Each had true friends, but each had different friends. 30 THE FIEST YEAE During my visits to France I had a car placed at my disposal, started early and came in late, spending as much time as I could with the commanders and troops. Fre- quently I was accompanied on these tours by one or other of the King's Messengers, who arrived every morning and was at a loose end during the day preceding his return. The K.M.s were hard-worked men. The idea that their job was a soft one was only entertained by people who did not know what was imphed in almost continuous travel to all parts of Europe in war time. I thought it a good thing to help these men to hear and see all that they could, so that the truth of the situation might be known at home. There was nothing to conceal. The Germans had all the best of the ground at the end of the operations in November, and had a great superiority of guns, but their two great attacks had been shattered, and I found all our officers and men in the best of health and spirits, and imbued with that invincible behef in their superiority which Sir John's boldness did so much to inspire. He was confidence itseK, Every day the Armies under him were growing, and the troops waited with impatience for the moment when their time would come to attack. I went to France as often as I could, because in view of the attitude which Lord K. had adopted I scarcelj^ ever went near the War Office at this time. In France I was told everything, and was especially able to keep touch with the German dispositions, thanks first to General Macdonogh, the extremely competent head of our Intelligence Service, and subsequently thanks to the French G.Q.G. and their excellent officers. Macdonogh was a first-class man at this work, very hard-working, methodical, sure, unenthusiastic, and perfectly indefatigable in his pursuit of the truth. Colonel Dupont of General Joffre's Staff, and subsequently Colonel de Cointet, were worthy colleagues of his, and I can only say that the information concerning the enemy was so good that we knew the positions of almost all the regiments of the enemy. The air service, which began with small things — forty-five planes, if I remember right — and gradu- 1914] A QUESTION BY GENERAL FOCH 31 aUy worked up so wonderf uUy, was most valuable, and from the photogi aphs taken by them there were compiled plans showing aU the German trenches in detail. I also visited the French and Belgian fronts. Foch was then commanding on our left, with his Headquarters at Cassel, a town on a hill with many windmills and a fine view over the surrounding country. General, afterwards Marshal, Foch was certainly, even in 1914, one of the most distinguished of the French generals in the war. His services at the Marne, during the great battle of Ypres, in Artois, then on the Somme, and finally in the Supreme Command, were of incalculable value to the cause, and he had a special gift for the offensive, which suited his fiery temperament. He was a good comrade, and understood us better than most of his colleagues. All my recollections of him are of the most pleasant character, and as he spoke his mind to me on matters small and great I never failed to look him up when I found myself within reach of him, and I learnt much from him whenever I paid him a visit, as this diary wiU show. He was dead against the Salonika expedition, which was my pet aversion amongst all the foUies that we committed during the campaign, and he was a man who was always learning from events and endeavouring to improve the handhng of his troops. I recall one curious episode which showed that even the most illustrious and enhghtened of French generals never quite understood in those early days our British poUcy. At the close of one day which I spent with him in 1914, he took me into his sanctum, and having shut the door, said, in a most impressive way, that there was one subject upon which he seriously desired my opinion, for he said that he could not ask any one else, and he knew that I would not misinform him. I wondered what it could be. He took up a map of northern Europe, spread it out, and asked me solemnly how much European territory we should expect for ourselves at the end of the war. I could not help laughing, and said, ' But, my dear General, not an inch of continental territory at a gift ! ' He seemed surprised and 32 THE FIRST YEAR incredulous, whereupon I asked him if he knew who founded the British Empire. He mentioned various names, and I said ' No ' to them all. Well then, he said at last, who founded it ? I replied, 'Joan of Arc,' and went on to point out that from the moment when we were driven out of France our visions of continental domination ended, and that we had turned to the sea and gradually created our Oceanic Empire. I told him that I confidently expected to see a statue to Joan in Palace Yard one day, and on it the inscription, ' Founder of the British Empire ! ' One of the difficulties which beset us in the war was the inability of almost every French general to speak a word of EngUsh, and the almost equal ignorance of most of our senior officers at first of French. This was a real hindrance to relations, and I think it was particularly harmful to us in political and military affairs, for we made an effort to converse in French, and here our good Allies had all the best of us, and regularly talked us down. There was prac- tically no leading statesman or soldier on our side who could speak French fluently and hold his own in a conference in French. I never met a French general or statesman dur- ing the war, Clemenceau excepted, who even attempted to speak Enghsh, and though the younger liaison officers on both sides were in most cases good linguists, it was throughout a serious defect that the leaders could not converse rapidly and with ease in each other's tongue. The extraordinary thing was that the rank and file of the Army, though not knowing a word of French at the start, and uncommonly little at the finish, seemed to get on very well with the French people, and especially with the girls. I saw soldiers sitting talking with girls times out of mind, and they got on famously though mutually ignorant of each other's tongue. It was a very extraordinary position. Here was the pick of our youth in a foreign land, quartered in the houses of the people, and with all the able-bodied Frenchmen gone away to fight. What the results of this extraordinary state of affairs may be the future historian will have to tell us, but Frenchmen openly spoke of the building up of a new race and regarded 1914-15] THE BELGIAN HEADQUARTERS 33 the inevitable consequences of the position with apparent satisfaction. I must say that I never heard of any serious charges brought against our men, and I think that their conduct was quite exemplary on the whole, and that we had every reason to be very proud of them. When at La Panne I visited the King and Queen of the Belgians and had lunch with them. They were very civil to me, and I had long pohtical and military talks with them. They were living in the most bourgeois style in quite a small seaside villa right upon the shore with the dunes at the back. Countess Ghislaine de Caraman Chimay, my old friend of Brussels days, was in attendance. The Queen one day made me go and see a long, low cottage hard by as she thought that it would interest me. It certainly did. It was full of books, every room, and evi- dently the home of a literary man. On inquiry I found that it had been taken before the war by a German, Dr. Reich, who had selected La Panne because it was such an unsophisticated spot and had no soldiers near. Here the good man estabhshed himself to write a book on Universal Peace, and the war surprised him in the midst of it. He had selected by inadvertence the Headquarters of an Army in the greatest of wars. Reich was interned, and his cottage became a barrack for gendarmes, whose swords and pistols were seen hanging in front of his precious but neglected books. Truly an example of the vanity of human wishes ! The King of the Belgians had shown himself to be one of the great figures of the war. The Queen was a very brave woman. She had been in the front trenches and occupied herself in hospital work. The royal villa was very exposed to attack, both from sea and air. While I was there one afternoon the German aeroplanes were over it and under fire from Belgian guns, but the Queen went on with her tea with perfect calmness and unconcern. General Tom Bridges, the head of our mission, was away at this time, but Prince Alexander of Teck was there, also Major Tyrrell, who ought to have been at the Dardanelles as he had been Military Attache at Constantinople, and VOL. I. c 34 THE FIRST YEAR some others, — a very cheery party. Lady Dorothie Feilding, who was doing fine work with the sick and wounded, came in one day, — a remarkable character — and she was after- wards decorated for her gallant conduct in attending to the wounded under fire. Thousands of our women of all classes were already distinguishing themselves by rare devotion to duty at home and abroad. The episode which aroused the greatest public interest, so far as I was concerned, during the first months of the war, was the share which I took in the revelation of the want of shells in the British Army. I had been able, during my frequent visits to France, to ascertain how lamentably short we were of high explosive shells for our field artillery in particular, and it was with this gun and this projectile, at this period of the war, that we prepared the way for the infantry assault. We were also short of heavy guns of all cahbres, in which the enemy enormously outnumbered us, and of shells for those which we possessed ; we were short of trench mortars, of maxims, of rifle and hand grenades, and, in fact, of almost all the necessary instru- ments and materials for trench warfare ; and the trouble was that Lord K. did not comprehend the importance of artillery in the war, took no effective measures to increase our supphes of it, and concealed the truth of the situation from his colleagues in the Cabinet. There were no regular Press correspondents with our Army at this time. I shall never forget the look on our soldiers' faces when they came cfut of the trenches after a long hammering by the German artillery to which ours, at this time, could make little reply. It was a look of utter and complete weariness and it haunted me. They seemed almost dead to the world. Our G.H.Q. in France had quickly realised their deficiencies. They had started with scarcely any H.E. shells for field guns, but, from their experiences on the Aisne, they raised their demand to 15 per cent, of H.E. in September, On Oct. 10, 1914, they raised the proportion to 25 per cent., and on Dec. 31, as the result of further experience, to 50 per cent. Sir Archibald Murray was 1914-15] THE SHELL SHORTAGE 35 haled over to London to see Lord K. at the end of December about this demand for 50 per cent, of H.E. for field artillery guns, and was roundly abused about it. Murray told me at the time that Lord K. had informed him that he was not fit to be a General Staff OflEicer, and that the British Army ought to be able to take positions without artillery. He even instanced the Atbara as a precedent, proving himself to be totally unacquainted with the lessons of the campaign. The request for 50 per cent, of H.E. was refused. I suppose that General von Donop, the M.G.O., did his best, but all that I can say is that all dehveries promised in France were late, and that our Army, on every occasion during the earher battles of the war, was completely out- matched by the guns, shells, and maxims of the enemy. I believe that the War Ofiice had given our contracts to men of straw who were unable to produce the goods, but I do not think that this absolved the M.G.O. I had watched the state of our ammunition in France with great anxiety and growing anger. Every time that I went over I heard of promises from the War Office, and found on my next visit that the promises had not been kept. Representation after representation had had no effect. I found our trenches being plastered with shells, and our guns restricted to a few rounds per day. Three times I endeavoured to see Lord K. on this subject, and three times I failed. It was useless to see any one else, and I found that my allusions to the subject in the Times, censored as everything inconvenient to the Government was censored during the war, were not enough to rouse the country to the facts. The Army in France knew the situation. Lord K. and the M.G.O. 's branch knew it. The public knew nothing, and it was not certain that the Cabinet was any wiser. I knew that the great Anglo-French offensive in the spring of 1915 was due to begin on May 9, and I went over some time before it, hoping to find that after the lapse of so many months we might have approached to the 50 per cent, standard. I found, on the contrary, that we had only 7 per cent. Our 700 field guns represented at that time 36 THE FIEST YEAR the bulk of our armament, and we had only 71 guns of larger calibre than 5 in., so that we were obviously not in a position to prepare an infantry attack as experience had shown it should be prepared. I went up to the Ypres front to see the end of the heavy fighting which followed the first German gas attack. I was incensed by the Kttle return which we could make to the German guns. We had 51,000 casualties between April 22 and May 9, mainly from this cause. Whereas, again, the French on our right in Artois, on May 9, used 240 rounds of H.E. shell per field gun per day, and pre- pared their attack by a violent and continuous bombard- ment lasting for four hours, we could only afford forty minutes' similar bombardment ; and while the German trenches in front of the French were knocked to bits, those in front of us were not similarly treated. Much barbed wire remained uncut, the German defences remained but httle injured, and the very numerous machine guns of the enemy were not placed out of action. I witnessed the attack. We obtained insignificant results at the cost of heavy loss. I visited the 2nd BattaKon of my old regiment, the Rifle Brigade, and saw its commanding officer, Colonel R. B. Stephens, immediately after the action at Fromelles. He gave me a paper showing that the battaUon had gone into action with 29 officers and 1090 other ranks, and had come out, 24 hours later, with only one young company officer, who had been in the Cambridge Eleven the previous year, and 245 other ranks unwounded. I was enraged by this loss which was attributed by the troops solely to the failure of the guns, due in its turn to want of shells. I therefore determined to expose the truth to the pubUc, no matter at what cost. I sent off to the Times, on May 12, without consulting any one, a telegram which became famous, and stated, amongst other things, ' that the want of an unHmited supply of high explosive shells was a fatal bar to our success.' ^ These words were my own, 1 ' Never before perhaps in the history of the world, certainly of war, have sixteen words in a newspaper produced such epoch-making results.' — Adventures in Interviewing, p. 124, by Isaac F. Marcosson (U.S.A.). 1915] MY TELEGRAM CENSORED 37 and were not suggested by Sir John French. The original of my telegram contained much more than saw the hght when it was pubhshed on May 14. General Macdonogh censored it, and cut out all allusion to the Rifle Brigade casualties, as well as all my remarks about the want of heavy guns, howitzers, trench mortars, maxims, and rifle grenades. I beheve that Sir John French never saw the telegram, though he told me afterwards that he approved of it. Macdonogh consulted Brinsley FitzGerald, who told him that he felt sure that Sii- John would approve, and away the fateful telegram went, dreadfully bowdlerised, it is true, but still containing, in the one httle phrase, enough high explosive to blow the strongest Government of modern times into the air. On Friday, May 14, I picked up at St. Omer Captain Stanley Wilson, M.P., a King's Messenger, motored with him to Hazebrouck, where Sir John's Headquarters were temporarily located, and took stock of the situation. On Saturday, May 15, I went, again with Captain Wilson, to Le Couteau, where we chmbed the church tower and witnessed from the top of it a bombardment preparatory to a night attack. We returned to Hazebrouck at 5 p.m., where I saw the Field-Marshal and heard some exceedingly disagreeable news. He had been ordered to send a large proportion of our precious and exceedingly small reserve of shells to the Dardanelles, with one or two of the largest of our heavy guns, and had received another communication which I can only describe as heartbreaking. This was a letter from the War Office signed by Mr. Cubitt, but emanating, I was afterwards told, from Lord K. himself. I think that the date of the letter was May 14, but am not sure. It began by saying that the Admiralty, in consequence of the new dispositions of the Fleet, were no longer able to safeguard the shores of England from invasion by the enemy on a large scale, and that, in view of this statement, the War Office were no longer able to fulfil their promises with regard to reinforcements for the Army in France. It said that the Territorial regiments at home were not up to full strength, and that consequently the War 38 THE FIEST YEAR Office would be unable to promise drafts for the Territorials in the fighting line in France. This was most grave, as the strengths of these regiments were very low. The letter went on to say that, with regard to the New Armies, Sir John had already received the 9th Division and was expecting the 14th, but that it was now uncertain whether the latter could be sent at present, and that, if it were sent, no further reinforcement of any kind whatsoever could be expected for a considerable period of time. Such was the general purport of the communication, and the exact wording I do not pretend to reproduce. It was most disheartening, and though no one questioned the Admiralty opinion, or the deductions drawn from it, it was certainly extraordinary that our Commander in France should be placed in such an unenviable position a week after opening his operations agreed on with the French. It seemed impracticable for Sir John to fulfil his promises to our Allies were his few shells to be taken away, and the flow of his reinforcements to be suspended at such a critical moment. I believe that on May 16 we had only four rounds per gun in reserve on our Line of Communication instead of 150. I told Captain Wilson the facts and asked him to see what he could do in London. He crossed the following day, Sunday, May 16, saw Mr. Bonar Law at 5 p.m. at the Carlton Club the same day in the presence of Mr. J. A, Grant, M.P., and informed him how matters stood. In view of Captain Wilson's communication, and my telegram which had already appeared, Mr. Bonar Law informed him that he would see Mr. Asquith at once and would tell him that he intended to move in the House of Commons for the appointment of a Committee to inquire into the exact position with regard to munitions and reinforcements for our Army in the field. But first he desired to be placed in communication with me, and as I was due to arrive that evening in London at 9 p.m.. Captain Wilson promised to meet me at Victoria, and he there informed me of Mr. Bonar Law's wish. 1915] A POLITICAL CRISIS 39 I had been furious about the censoring of the telegram, and had hastened to London to expose the facts. Mr. Asquith, immediately before, doubtless on the faith of false informa- tion supphed to him, had declared in a speech at Newcastle that we had no lack of shells ; and while I was in France he had refused to consider even the idea of a Coalition IMinistry. He was obUged, and very hurriedly, to alter his note. It was Mr. Lloyd George who, as he frequently told me afterwards, applied the match to my train of gunpowder. I saw him on my return, and he told me that immediately he had read my telegram in the Times of May 14, he had gone to the Prime Minister and had informed him that he would be unable to go on. I was astonished at his ignorance of the facts. He had been on the Cabinet Munitions Committee appointed in Oct. 1914, and was on another Special Committee assembled in April 1915 to deal with war material. Yet he seemed to know nothing of what was happening. I gave to Lloyd George a hastily-drafted paper exposing all our deficiencies in munitions and guns of aU types, and giving the history of the shortage. I had no need to make a further disclosure to the public, for I found a first-class pohtical crisis in full blast. Having posted up Lloyd George with the facts, and having his promise that he would go straight to the Prime Minister, I saw Lord Curzon, Mr. Bonar Law, Sir Edward Carson, Sir F. E. Smith, and other Unionist leaders ; and at dinner at Bonar Law's house, when Carson was present and F. E. came in later, I told them all I knew, and neither minced my words nor concealed my feeUngs. My exposure was fully sustained by the report which Sir John sent over. The Unionist Party informed the Prime Mnister that there would have to be a debate, and the Prime Minister, reahsing that he had been inaccurately informed, that he would be beaten, and that he had no defence, ran for shelter under the Opposition umbrella and decided to accept the CoaKtion Ministry which a week before he had rejected with contumely. Thus fell from office the old Gladstonian Liberal Party which had never understood foreign politics, and had neither 40 THE FIRST YEAR foreseen the war nor prepared for it. Questions were asked in the House of Commons about my telegram, and Mi'. Tennant had the imprudence to declare that it was not censored in England, thereby inferentially throwing the blame upon Sir John French and his staff for exposing the Government, though God knows it was time they did. But Freddy Guest was at home and flew down to the Times when I gave him the original of my telegram as it reached the Times office with the London Censor's stamp upon it, and I begged him to throw it down on the table of the House of Commons, and to inform Tennant, with my compliments, that he was mistaken. But whether Guest saved his own Liberal people, or whether Tennant learnt his mistake by some other means, he withdrew his statement and saved his skin. I learnt long afterwards that my telegram had been taken by Colonel Cockerill to Major-General Charles Callwell, then D.M.O., and that Cockerill had asked that it should be passed. Both laiew the real situation, and Callwell replied, ' All right, carry on.' The telegram never went before the Press Bureau, and how the Censor's stamp came to be on the telegram I do not know. On such slight accidents do great events turn ! This explosion was followed by the reconstruction of the Government and the estabUshment of a Ministry of Munitions under Lloyd George, who handed over the Chancellorship to McKenna. The general provision of an adequate supplj' of munitions of all descriptions dates from this convulsion, but Lord K. was so furious with me about it that he ordered Sir John, in a private letter which the F.M. showed to me, not to allow me to visit his Headquarters any more, and it was not until the battle of the Somme that I was able to see with my own eyes the complete transformation in the relative strength of the two artilleries, effected by a year of Lloyd George's administration of his new office. This was a grief to me, but the only thing that really mattered was the safety of the Army and the success of the cause. The reconstruction of the Government, and the disappear- ance of many Radical politicians to make room for the Union- 1915] THE RUSSIAN RETREAT 41 ists in the new administration, made me shoals of enemies. Every endeavour was made to show that I had been engaged in an intrigue against the Government or was acting under the orders of NorthcUffe, and various reptiles bit me whenever they could. It is not an intrigue to endeavour to save an Army from defeat by a necessary public exposure when all official representations have hopelessly failed. North- chffe, whom I had neither seen nor consulted on this matter from first to last, made things much worse by coming in late upon the scene, five days after the pubhca- tion of my telegi'am, and publishing in the Daily Mail a most ill-judged personal attack on Lord K. This article had precisely the contrary effect of what was intended. The Mail was burnt on the Stock Exchange on May 22, and for some time its circulation fell. The best of the joke was that the Daily Mail subsequently proclaimed itself to have been the organ that exposed the shell shortage. It had nothing to do with it, nor had Northcliffe, though the latter did the Ai-my some good turns later, as my diary will show. All that Northcliffe did by this particular attack was to get Lord K. the Garter, and, by causing a revulsion of feeling in Lord K.'s favour, to confirm him in his office. I thought it best in Sir John's interest not to deal much with affair's in France after this episode, and occupied myself mainly with following the terrible Russian campaign, and in endeavouring to arouse people to the need for men and for compulsory service. The German attack upon Russia, which had begun on May 1, 1915, continued all this year well into September, by which date the Russians had been driven out of Poland, Courland, and the best part of Galicia, mainly, though not entirely, owing to their lack of rifles, guns, and shells. The Russians fought gloriously, often almost without arms, but were overwhelmed by the superior leading, organisation, and armament of the enemy. The campaign was well conducted by the Germans, who made an immense number of prisoners and captured a vast quantity of rifles and guns, leaving the Russian Army in the end almost at the point of extenuation, but never out 42 THE FIRST YEAH of heart. Many of us feared that the Germans would follow up their victories when the frost came, and march on Petrograd, but they made the supreme blunder of leaving their work half finished at this time, and of returning in the winter of 1915-16 to the West, leaving a thin veil of troops on a huge front of 700 miles in the East, and allow- ing the Russians time for recovery. This campaign, which filled me with profound interest, I regarded as the turning point of the war at the time, and from June to September I was mainly occupied in following and commenting upon it. The Dardanelles expedition was not a subject that I was able to write about freely, for although I admired greatly the bold landing of Ian Hamilton and the superb gallantry of his men, I recognised that we could not, for a long time, have sufficient military resources to win in France and at Constantinople at the same time ; and for this reason, — though I thought Constantinople a right objective, and had so informed Hankey, the Secretary of the Defence Committee, at the opening of the war with Turkey — I disapproved of the Dardanelles adventure. I believed that there were three times as many Turks at the Dardanelles, or within short call of it, as there were British in Sir lan's little force, and I never perceived any sound basis or plan for the glorious but hopeless proceedings which followed. Sooner or later, I thought, we should have to meet army by army, and our strength was never sufficient to offer Sir Ian a fair chance of winning. By dividing our armies between France and the Dardanelles it seemed probable that we should be too weak for victory in either theatre, as indeed we proved to be, and as I could say nothing good for the expedition to the Dardanelles, and the Censor mangled the few articles which I drafted on this operation, I relapsed into silence. The first Report of the Dardanelles Commission has revealed most of the facts, and I need say no more about it here. Of even greater interest was the question of recruiting at home. The preliminary enthusiasm of our people gave us in the first months a huge number of men, and as we were 1915] RECRUITING AND CASUALTIES 43 unable to arm these men, or even to equip and clothe them, for many long months, the question of recruiting was not at first of great moment. But it became evident during the second quarter of the year 1915 that we were not obtaining by voluntary recruiting the regular flow necessary for main- taining our strength in the field, and the creation of new divisions had to cease. Lord K. had made the mistake of ignoring the County Associations and the organisation which Lord Haldane had left behind him as the foundation of a future National Aimy, and the New Armies had no real territorial connection and no depots or reserves. Lord K. knew nothing of modern mihtary organisation, and he had not a strong Adjutant -General in Henry Sclater. Lord K., when numbers began to fail, concealed the fact from the Government and the pubhc, as he had done in the case of the shells. Whole articles which I wrote on this subject were suppressed by the Censorship, and matters steadily went from bad to worse. Had Asquith or Lord K. come forward at any time to aimounce the need for Compulsion, the country would joyfully have accepted it, but both hung back, and it was not until Lord Derby and his assistants invented the Group System that things began to mend, Derby, in my view, performed a great pubhc service at this time, and deserved the gratitude of the country. His system merged easily into full-blown Compulsion when the situation of the Aimy had become wellnigh desperate, and the Asquith Government were obhged to move. Posterity will probably wonder how this generation regarded the casualties, which were severe from the first and ran into 6000 and 7000 a day during the stiffest fighting later in the war. What happened at first was -v^^hat M. Thiers long ago predicted would happen, namely, that after the first great battles all our best famiUes were in mourning, and many humble homes besides. The heroines who suffered in the glorious deaths of those whom they loved set a noble example of fortitude, and it was thanks to their early example that pubhc opinion subsequently remained so steady. There was considerable doubt among leading 44 THE FIRST YEAR people in London how the country would stand the inevitable losses of a war like this, but no unworthy plaints ever soiled the roll of honour, whether at first, or later when the losses became distributed over all classes of the people. The people of the home country and the Empire displayed un- exampled courage in hundreds of thousands of stricken homes, and in this and every other sacrifice demanded by the war, were perfectly splendid. Nothing could exceed the steadiness with which they took good and evil news alike, or the tenacity with which they set themselves to suffer anything rather than to lose the war. There was nothing, at any time, that the people would not have done in response to a call from their leaders. Less valiant, we must admit, were certain members of the Government. The effect of the heavy losses upon some of these, from Sept. 1915 onwards, was to cause them to question the correctness of our strategy in France. They did not all firmly bear in mind that the overthrow of the main German Ai'raies in France was the only road to victory, and that this road was a hard and stony track which had to be followed with implacable resolution amidst blood and tears till the end. They sought ways for evading these losses, and looked round for theatres of war where they might, as they vainly thought, win victory at little cost. The thing was never practicable, but the tale was passed round that there was a stalemate in the West and that we could never win the war there. We consequently never, till after our defeats in the spring of 1918, made the effort necessary for victory in France, and we sent Armies to many theatres where success, no matter how brilliant, could not have brought Germany to her knees. From this weakness, the war was prolonged and our casualties enormously increased. We were indeed brought to the very brink of ruin, but the people had no responsibility for these errors, which were due to the Government alone. But I am not now writing the history of the war, and will proceed to trace the succeeding phases of this mighty con- flict by the entries in my diary. CHAPTER III THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 Mr. Lloyd George's views of the situation, Sept. 29, 1915 — Mr. Churchill on the Dardanelles and naval matters — Sir William Robert- son on the situation in France and the attack at Loos— The Salonika Expedition — Opposition of French and British Staffs — The first Zeppelin raid on London — Mr. Lloyd George's views, Oct. 18 — Criticisms of the Battle of Loos — Dissatisfaction with the Govern- ment — Ignorance of the people concerning events — Greneral JofiFre and Lord Bertie in London — The New Armies at Salisbury — Sir Archibald Murray on the conduct of the war — Lord Kitchener goes to the Eastern Mediterranean, Nov. 1915 — Sir Arthur Markham's views — Sir Arthur Lee at the Munitions Ministry — Lord Derby and Recruiting — Mr. Churchill joins up — Russia's day, Nov. 18— The Dardanelles and Salonika — General Townshend in trouble after Ctesiphon — Lord Curzon on his colleagues. Wednesday, Sept. 29. Lunched with Lloyd George at 11 Downing Street. Met Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Montagu. The host in good form ; he monopohsed the conversation. After lunch the others went away, and L. G. and I sat by the fire, while he smoked a big cigar for an hour. He wants me not to hustle about compulsory service just now, as the thing must come, and is more likely to come soon if we do not raise too much Radical opposition. We discussed the campaign up and down. He thinks that the Russians have done wonderfully, though the Germans have a little the best of it. Tliey are like two dogs fighting, neither of which can get on top. He does not think that the Russians have 1,000,000 rifles left, and said that they have been fighting one rifle against three, and one shell against ten. The Russians will not be armed before May next year at the earliest. He thinks that the Germans will try to press on and capture Petrograd and the Russian factories 46 THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 of munitions, when the snow freezes. He does not think that the Germans will give the Russians time to recuperate, if they can possibly prevent it. He is getting on well with his shells and rifles, and declares that there will be a tremendous flow of everything next spring and onwards. Woolwich, he declares, is very badly organised. The filling and issuing departments are most inadequate, the result being that hundreds and thousands of empty shells are waiting to be filled. He has got men down from Vickers to expand these departments, and to get rid of the present narrow neck of the bottle. He was most critical of Lord K., and said some very severe things about him. Evidently something has cropped up, and the story that K. had a very bad week in the Cabinet is confirmed. There must be something more than mere obstinacy or L. G. would not have spoken as he did. He continues to be opposed to the Dardanelles, and is mildly in favour of the Salonika affair ; but, on the whole, is most anxious to keep up the strength in France. He asked me what I would do about the Dardanelles, and I said, ' Take away the troops and put some of them in Egypt, and have transports so that 20,000 men can raid the coast of Syria, a la Sidney Smith,' He agreed, and asked me to come to his office and ask for Da vies whenever I wanted to see him. Dined with Winston, Lady Randolph, Mr. Lowther, and Lady Gwendehne Churchill, at 72 Brook Street — Lady R.'s house . Everybody talked at once . Soon after dinner, W . and I adjoujned to his study upstairs, and went through all his alleged failures at the Admiralty. He showed me that he had been the first to suggest the withdi'awal of the patrol, com- posed of the Cressy, Aboukir, and Hogue, and this was because he heard a young officer with the Grand Fleet talk about the 'live-bait patrol.' He was so impressed by this description that he determined to warn the First Sea Lord. The date of his note was two days before the ships were torpedoed. The court of inquhy laid the blame for the affair on the Admiralty. It appeared to me that Prince Louis of Battenberg had been playing a very restricted part, and that the Secretary of the 1915] CHURCHILL ON THE WAR 47 Admiralty had been acting as a kind of Chief of Staff to Winston, with whom a great deal of the initiative originated. I told him that if he had been content to administer his department, and not to dabble in strategy, he would have been still at the Admiralty. He rather agreed, but said that sailors had no initiative and understood very little about war and movements, and were so hopeless in the higher branches of strategy that, unless he moved, nobody did anything. As for Kit Cradock's fight off Chili, he told me of the coveys of ships which were chasing the Germans in various waters, including a Japanese squadron which were following the Germans down from the north. Cradock had distinct orders not to fight without the Canopus. But I said that I thought that as this was a slow ship, Cradock knew that his only chance to fight was to do so without the Canopus ; it had always seemed to me that Cradock had taken the most honourable course. Winston then went into Antwerp, and I saw the telegrams from which it cer- tainly appeared that the French were prepared to help with a couple of territorial divisions, but I did not see it stated that they made any distinct promise to line up at any particular place or date, and the whole thing seems to have been a rare bungle, into which Winston, apparently encouraged by Lord K., had thrown himself out of sheer love of adventure. As regards the Dardanelles, his position is that he cabled to Carden to ask him if lie could force the Dardanelles. The latter replied that he could not rush them, but thought that he could take them by deliberate attack. His plans were sent home, and approved by the Admiralty. Two days before the attack Carden went sick ; Winston then cabled to De Robeck, who had succeeded Carden, to ask whether he approved of Garden's plans, and was prepared to carry them out. Robeck answered ' Yes,' and the attack went on. After the loss of the three ships, Winston said that the Admiralty declared that they were pre- pared to lose twelve ships, and wished to go on, though Jack Fisher was already hesitating, Winston cabled privately to De Robeck to urge him to go on, but the latter now said 48 THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 that he preferred that the soldiers should take on the job, and although Winston disliked this course he consented to it. The miUtary plans were approved by Lord K., who practically ran all the military part of the expedition. In short, Winston's position is that he was only directly re- sponsible for the naval attack ; that he only used old ships which were useless for any other purpose ; and that the attack by the ships was not pressed home. He read to me the statement that he was to have read in Parliament but refrained from reading. He admitted that these fail- ures had greatly impaired his usefulness, and he was rather despondent about himself. I stayed until about 2 a.m., and had to telephone to the Turf Club for a taxi, which came with only half a gallon of petrol, not enough to get up to Hampstead — so like the rest of the war arrange- ments. Tuesday, Oct. 12. I saw Sir Wilham Robertson, the new Chief of Staff of the Army in France, at Somerset Hotel at noon, and had a long talk with him. The situa- tion of the Army in France appears now on the whole to be good. They have enough though not plenty of men, guns, and ammunition. For the recent attack at Loos — Sept. 25 and the two following days — they had accumulated over 900 guns on the main front of attack south of the La Bassee Canal, and this attack was successful. We still hold the chief points gained in the attack, bub the troops in their eagerness pressed on much further than was intended, and got into the third German line, from which they were driven out by the German counter-attacks. We have in front of this main attack, from our left to our right, the 7th German Army Corps, a Guard Brigade, the II 7th and 123rd Divisions, and the 4th Army Corps. It is generally agreed that 14 German divisions have left the Russian front, of which about 8 have come to France, including, I think, the Guard and the 10th Corps. All these, with 7 other loose German divisions not actually holding the trenches, have been drawn in for the various German counter-attacks, including that of last Friday, Oct. 8., when 28 battaUons 1915] OUE LOSSES AT LOOS 49 attacked our front and lost 8000 men, — so we say — while our losses were only 150. Li the three days, Sept. 25-27, our losses were not so high as has been rumoured. They were nearly 47,000, a great deal caused by the inexperience of new troops who had pressed on too far without consoH- dating their captures. Robertson thinks that the German reserves are now temporarily exhausted on the Western front. The estimate of the German numbers in the West as a whole at the opening of the attack is 1,070,000 rifles, nearly 4000 field guns, and about 2000 heavy guns. The Germans have never scored a point against us for a very long time. Robertson thinks that there is no better poHcy than to go on hitting them. The main attack is being conducted by our 1st Army under Haig, because they hold the most important part of the position, and are in touch with the French on the right. The front of the 2nd Army has no clear objective. The Ypres sahent is difficult to debouch from, while the fortress of Lille is here on our front with three defensible river fines behind it. Our 3rd Army, under Monro, is holding a front of thirty miles with ten divisions, some of which are quite new troops, and consequently this Army is not in a position to attack. On the right of our 1st Army is General Foch, but he has only one Army now, which is under D'Urbal, and Robertson evidently thought that two leaders here were in- advisable. We then spoke of affairs in London. Apparently General Sarrail, who was degomme by Joffre, has much influence in Paris, and compelled the French Govern- ment to search about for another high command for him. They first thought of large operations south of the Dardanelles. This was negatived ; then there came up the Salonika plan. Viviani, the French Prime IVIinister, as I already knew, came over to the Cabinet last week, and was full of sending 400,000 men to Salonika ; but on investiga- tion this plan was ruled out, as nothing could be hoped from it within the time available. I had been told by a friend that our General Staff had sent in a very good memorandum to the Cabinet two days ago — signed by Sir A. Murray VOL. I. D 50 THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 and by Jackson the First Sea Lord — which, up to a point, recommended the policy which I have so frequently advo- cated of concentrating every effort in France and Flanders, and strongly deprecated dispersion in any form, unless it was quite obvious that troops could be spared, and that we could completely satisfy all our wants in the Western sphere. But, in the last paragraph, Murray, unfortu- nately allowing himself to be influenced by Kitchener, gave some sort of conditional approval to the further pro- secution of the Dardanelles expedition, thus vitiating the whole argument. It must here be explained that K. went to see Joffre a few days ago, and, though bringing nothing back in writing, declared to the Cabinet that Joffre had told him that he would be unable to con- tinue his offensive seriously for another three months, and Robertson thinks that it is on account of ammunition, of which the French have been very prodigal, and of which they have less than they say. K. represented all this, and it became a reason for checking our offensive in France, and continuing the Dardanelles adventure. The Cabinet yesterday agreed to despatch from France eight divisions to the Mediterranean. Robertson says that this is the best way to lose the war that he can think of. He doubts that Joffre holds the views that K. attributes to him, and is afraid that there is a Radical- Sociahst cabal in France, and that it is making things very difficult. No one knows what the Allied troops which have been sent to Salonika are expected to do. He asked K. what their orders were, and was told that they were to go to Salonika, and that was all. I hear that Carson, who threatens to resign, wishes to send an ultimatum to the King of Greece, and also to tell the Serbians — who are pressing us to say what we propose to do — what our plans are ; but all the Cabinet appear to have told the Serbians is that we cannot send them any troops this month. Carson thinks that this is dishonest, for it sounds as if we meant to send them next month, whereas, in fact, we do not mean to send any at all. Apart 1915] CABINET AND SIDE-SHOWS 51 from the folly of detaching troops from France, Robertson points out that the time question is aU important. We are going on with our attack in France to-morrow, and no troops can be taken out of the Mne for another fort- night at least. It will take the Admiralty six weeks to carry the eight divisions to Egypt, and ships have already been taken up with this object in view. It will take another fortniglit before troops can be put ashore from Egypt in the Dardanelles, where apparently they are to be landed at Suvla Bay. This means that the operations in the Dardanelles cannot begin till January and the General Staff calculate that the Germans may have knocked out the Serbians by then, and may be at Constantinople by the end of November. Comment is needless. There still appear to be two parties in the Cabinet, one for Salonika, and one for the Dardanelles. The chief advantage of the Salonika party is that they wish to take the troops away from GaUipoK. Some say that this cannot be done, but Robertson doubts this, and says that in any case we shall lose fewer men by withdrawing them than by leaving them there for three months. Curzon and one or two others oppose the withdrawal from the Dardanelles on account of the loss of prestige, and the resulting danger in Egypt and India, so that this increases the difficulties of the whole situation. Asquith, searching for a compromise that would please everybody, suggested that the eight divisions should be taken from France and put on board ship, their destina- tion to remain a subject of subsequent consideration. Thus for months this important body of troops will be inutilisable in all theatres. The worst of it is that owing to the un- fortunate paragraph which slipped into the General Staff's memorandum at Lord K.'s instigation, the Government will be able to affirm that this action is initiated on the advice of the General Staff. It would appear that if these calculations of time and distance be correct, the Germans will be in Constantinople before we can get to Salonika. 52 THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 Wednesday, Oct. 13. I wrote an article strongly con- demning the proposal to withdraw our troops from France. This article was more mangled than usual by the Censor, but ; he main points of the argument were allowed to remain. Found everybody very excited about the subject of the crisis in the Cabinet, and about the proposed despatch of troops to the Mediterranean. The King reported to be very angry about the decision of the Cabinet. In the course of the day things have altered a little, and L. G., who originally proposed the Salonika expedition, knocked out Gallipoli, and substituted Salonika. The proposal is to take 250,000 men from France. The question is how to kill this scheme most effectually. I am told that Joffre last week only consented to the withdrawal of three British divisions and not eight, and this only with reluctance on account of our predominant interests in the East. It seems therefore most improbable that he should have agreed, as Viviani declared in his speech in the Chambers, to the despatch East of 400,000 Anglo-French troops. Northcliffe sent a man to-day to Joffre to warn him what was in the wind, and another to Clemenceau, who is of our way of thinking. Thursday, Oct. 14. Zepp. raid last night, bombs on the Strand, including three theatres, and on Woolwich, Croydon, and Hertford. They began at 9.30 p.m. I was dining with Mrs. McCreery, 1 Grosvenor Crescent ; Lady Colebrooke and Bulkeley- Johnson also there. Our hostess was rather alarmed, but when the guns stopped we settled down again. No damage was done to any of our friends. Drove Lady C. home, and went on in her motor until I found a taxi, of which there were very few about. Tried to find L. G. this morning, but discovered that he was staying down at Walton Heath with a bad headache and neuralgia, and had asked the dentist down to take some teeth out. Had a talk with his secretary, Da vies. I told him that L. G.'s enemies were using L. G.'s approval of the Salonika adventure in order to prevent him from becoming Prime Minister ; and that Lord K., who had no love lost 1915] LLOYD GEOEGE ON THE WAR 53 for L. G., was asking people how they would like a Prime Minister who had such wild-cat schemes. Da vies, who is evidently the echo of L. G. and seems a smart fellow, asked whether we had not a million more men in France than the Germans, and whether we could not spare the troops. I said ' No,' we could not spare them ; that Salonika was useless, unless Greece and Rumania came in too, and that we ought to send an ultimatum to Athens ; that our troops would arrive much too late to save Serbia. I shall try to see L. G. to-morrow when he comes up. Met several people who approved of my article to-day. Monday, Oct. 18. L. G., Northcliffe, and Jack Cowans lunched with me. We had a tremendous talk over the war ; on the whole most unsatisfactory. L. G. says that he has the most unpleasant reports about Russia from Sir George Buchanan. The political state of Russia is as bad as can be, and German influence predominates everywhere. There are serious riots, and in many cases Russians are selling their rifles to the Germans. He does not anticipate any useful results from Russian fighting this year, or even next spring, and he thinks it quite possible that the Germans will try to get to Petrograd when the snow freezes. It seems to me that the picture is a little overdrawn. He thinks that Germany has plenty more men, and so does Northcliffe. L. G. saj^s that the great difficulty is to find any one to tell the truth, especially about Russia, but also about recruiting and the Balkans. He thinks that a large Cabinet is useless, and wants a small War Cabinet. The conduct of the war is where, in his opinion, we have failed most. He thinks that the offensive in France has de- finitely failed with enormous loss, but no one will tell this to the country. Cowans and I told him how much opposed he and I were to the Balkan campaign, and how useless it was to send troops into this country without the proper guns and pack transport. Cowans told him that it would take a month to make the pack saddles required for a single division, and we both lold him that it would take three months to carry a large and properly organised force from 54 THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 the West to the Balkans, when it would be too late to help Serbia. He seemed very much struck by our arguments, and I expect that the Cabinet will hear about it. He told us that Carson had definitely resigned, and North- cliffe proposes to get Carson to make a full statement of his reasons, and to tell the country the whole truth about the war. I asked L. G. whether it was true that Joffre had gone back on his undertaking to allow a large Army to go to the Balkans, and he said that this was correct, and that Joffre must be untrustworthy, as he, L. G., could not conceive that one of his — L. G.'s — own colleagues had deceived him. Whereat we all laughed, and I thinly that there is no doubt that Lord K. brought back from France last week an in- accurate impression of JofEre's opinions, just as Robertson thought. L. G. still believes that the British pubhc will insist on helping Serbia if she puts up a good fight, but he admits that he does not know what our forces at Salonika can do. He evidently finds Asquith and Balfour in the Cabinet very trying, but he did not give any hint that he personally would resign or take any drastic course. We stayed and talked for a couple of hours over the events of the war, and L. G., as usual, was very bright and sympathetic, and ready to listen to us all. He certainly has a great charm. I told him I wanted him for Prime Minister, and Carson for Minister of War, and that the Dardanelles force ought to be withdrawn, and a strong force placed in Egypt with transports to carry 20,000 men to raid the coast of Syria. I think that we all regard Serbia as done for, barring a miracle. We have not enough time to send troops properly organised. Thursday, Oct. 21. Dined last night with Lady Cole- brooke at Claridge's. Mrs. Astor, who dined with us, M^as looking a picture. I was half an hour late for diimer, being unable to get a taxi. Lady Cunard had a party at a neighbouring table. She and Lady Randolph, Wolkoff, young Horner (recovered from his serious wound), Mrs. Duggan, and a few more. They came up and had a 1915] TALES ABOUT LOOS 55 talk to us after they had finished their dinner. Winston is back in CromweU Road again. We had a great talk at dinner about poHtics, love affairs, and aU sorts of questions, one fair lady holding that a man was the nicest thing in the world when he did not make love to you, and another objecting that such companionship was quite incomplete and impossible, and that there was nothing in it. We heard a good deal about American opinion, which is said to be deteriorating on account of the Censorship, and aU the stupid things we have done over here, and I am not surprised. Heard this morning that Cyprus was going to be given to Greece. Rang up my editor, Geoffrey Robinson, and protested most strongly. Lunched at Prince's GriU ; Lockett, M., and X. home from the 2nd Cavalry Brigade in France. He was very interesting. Admitted that the whole attack had been a failure, and laid the blame on Douglas Haig. The cavalry, he said, had been prepared for several months to break through a gap of ten miles when it was made, and to raid right lip to Antwerp. Considering the whole country in front of us is full of hostile troops, can only be traversed by the roads, and is unjumpable, the scheme seems perfectly mad. X. said that the 21st and 24th Divisions of the New Armies were given orders to penetrate as far forward as they could get. The error of Neuve ChapeUe, which seems to have taught our people nothing, was repeated. These troops were badly cut up here. If they had had a hmited objective assigned to them, they could probably have attained it. X. thinks that the offensive in France is over for a year, and that D. Haig has become dreadfully aged. He says that cavalry horses are aU going to be sent back to the coast, where they wiU be looked after by 100 men in each regiment, drawn from the reserve regiment ; that the cavalry are being taught bomb-throwing, and wiU be more or less equipped hke infantry ; and that they wiU take their turn in the trenches Uke infantry. They loathe the idea of another Flanders winter. He says that our artillery bom- bardment completely levelled the German trenches and 56 THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 destroyed the barbed wire, but that it killed very few Germans, as they were in dug-outs thirty-five feet deep. He does not think that we killed more than 8000, but in the counter-attacks the Germans lost a lot. He does not think that we hold either the Hohenzollern Redoubt, or the Quarries, or Hill 70, all of which figure in the recent reports, and he is very critical of the Staff, especially of the 1st Army Corps — the usual stories that are circulated in London when anything goes wrong. Had a letter from Sammy Scott this morning from some- where in the Mediterranean, probably the ^Egean. He says an Austrian submarine, commanded by a German, popped up within 2000 yards of them while they were rescuing the men of a French colher. He thinks that the transport would certainly have been sunk had the submarine been British. As it was, they fired a few small guns, and down she dived. It must have been a narrow squeak. He says that there is a lot he would hke to tell me, and suggests that things are bad in the Dardanelles. But this is no news ! Friday, Oct. 22. Went to talk to Lady Ridley about the political situation, and what was to be done. We dis- cussed the whole situation up and down, the incompetence of the Cabinet, the indecision of the Chief Ministers, and the troubles into which we were drifting on all sides. She has a very good head, and always gives good advice. We thought that if the King would take these affairs into his own hands, the country would be sure to be with him. We both wanted the King to send for L. G. We thought that the King might write a letter to Lord Derby or some neutral statesman to explain the reason for his action, but of course we saw the difficulties. Another alternative was for me to write a letter to the Times, which I have done to-day, but I do not expect the Censor to pass it. The ignorance of the people concerning the war, owing to the Censorship, is unbeUevable. Lunching at the Hautboy, on my way to my mother's, near Ockham, the other day, the proprietor — a good-class intelhgent man — told me that 1915] PUBLIC IGNOEANCE OF EVENTS 57 the Serbians were going to beat the Germans ; that there was nothing in front of our Army in France ; and that we were going to be in Constantinople in ten days' time. These are the kind of behefs into which the country has been chloroformed by the Censorship. Incidentally, I met at the Hautboy, which is the quietest of country inns, a certain couple who were much taken aback when I walked in. I expect I was the last person they wanted to meet. What a ridiculous httle world it is ! Dined last night at ]\ii-s. McCreery's ; Princess Hatzfeldt, Jack Tennant, Lady Colebrooke, Ashmead-Bai-tlett, Mrs. Bingham, Dunlop Smith, Lady Paget, and one or two more. A pleasant dinner ; Lady P. full of her matinee at the Empire for the Red Cross, which I had shirked. She made £2000. The Queen and everybody perfectly delighted. It lasted from 2 till 6. I had taken Lady Paget to see Doris Keane in Romance some time before, and we had chosen a scene out of the first act, which was about the most dainty dish to set before the Queen. We went round to Doris's dressing- room to arrange about it. It was a great success this after- noon, and Doris was frightfully pleased, and says that it will do her a lot of good in America. Monday, Oct. 25. I spent the week-end at Coombe. Mrs. Astor drove me down. We found Sir A. and Lady Paget, and the two boys, the Aga Khan, Lord and Lady Charles Beresford, Lady Drogheda, JVIrs. Bingham, Baroness de Forest, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Cora of the Itahan Embassy, and an American diplomatist from Bukharest. A wet day Sunday. The American from Bukharest told us that the Rumanians would come if we put 300,000 men in the field, and that, short of that, they would not move. He said that our mihtary attache at Bukharest had declared to him that the Bulgarian mobihsation was a bluff, and that the Bulgarians would never attack Serbia. He said that the Austrians have about 250,000 men on the Rumanian frontier, and the Rumanians rather more than this ; also that the Rumanian Army is practically mobihsed, and ready to come in at a few days' notice. 58 THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 The Aga Khan was very interesting, and I found him more or less in accord witli all my views. He thinks that to capture Bagdad is impossible with our present force, and asked whether we could hold it at such a distance from the sea when the Germans reach Constantinople, and begin to arm the 1,000,000 Turks who are waiting for arms and equipment. He says also that the Germans are training 90,000 Persians, and that the main road to Persia from Turkey passes eighty miles north of Bagdad, so we shall have to occupy a further stretch of country. This is pretty weU what I have already said to Archie Murray. Sir Arthur said that he was very short of reserves, and that unless something was done our organisation would collapse. He cannot get battery commanders for his divisions of the 4th Army. Jack Cowans came down to lunch. He said that the French had crossed the Serbian frontier, and that our 10th Division were south of the frontier waiting instructions what to do. The Cabinet was still in a state of indecision, and had taken the 22nd and 28th Divisions away from Sir John French, They were to begin to embark from Marseilles to-day, but only the infantry, as our horse ships at Mar- seilles had been lent to the French who had cavalry ready to start. He repeats that it wiU take a month to equip a single division with pack transport. We both regard the Salonika enterprise as insanity. Went through events at sea with Charhe Beresford. We compared views on our future strategy on the Eastern Mediterranean. Lady P. still tremendously pleased at the success of her matinee, and is getting up another for the Russians next month, when Lydia Kyasht wiU appear, and will produce a Russian ballet. Saw Geoffrey Robinson in the afternoon. I showed him an important letter from France, received Oct. 23, and discussed the situation with him. Our poHtics, strategy, and diplomacy all seem to be in a rare muddle. Fortunately events are likely to forestall the action of the Alhed Army at Salonika before too much harm is done. 1915] JOFFRE VISITS LONDON 59 Friday, Oct. 29. I dined last night at the Cafe Royal. Went off after dinner to see Lydia Kyasht, who was leaving for Russia next morning. She had asked me specially to come and advise her about an important matter. I found her alone at her new house, 37 Avenue Road. The house is perfectly charming, very nearly finished, and in excellent taste. Lydia had sent for me to say that her husband had broken down after fifteen months of fighting in Russia with his regiment, the Rifles of the Guard, and wished to be attached to John French's Staff, and could I arrange it ? Lydia is due in Petrograd, Nov. 15. Captain Ragosin, her husband, wiU be there on leave, Nov. 7, for a fortnight, so that this matter must be fixed up, if at aU, before Nov. 21. I promised to do my best for her. She showed me round the house : very deHcious, furniture from a Belgian chateau, and altogether a great improvement on her last house in Knightsbridge, where we had the mad supper party. Lunched to-day with Lady Herbert, OUve, Mrs. Astor, Mi's. Sneyd, Lord Bertie our Ambassador in France, Mr. O'Beirne our Minister at Sofia (just returned after Bulgaria's outbreak), and the Prince Aga Khan. Learnt that Joffre is here at last. The Government will now know for certain his views, which have been differently expounded by different people. Bertie says that General GaUieni, who is to be the new French Minister of War, is very unfriendly to Joffre, but that possibly his ambitions will be satisfied by being made War Minister. Mrs. Astor gave me a short character sketch of M. Briand, the new French Premier. I fancj^ that some French pohticians will try to get rid of Joffre, in order to appoint a man who is completely in their hands. Bertie does not think that the French Army wiU stand this, but we shall see, O'Beirne very interesting with his experience of Sofia. He thinks that the Serbians have committed suicide by not agreeing to allow the Bulgarians to occupy the contested territory. He dates the Bulgarian decision to come in against us to the fall of Warsaw, which had a bad influence. He says that the Bulgars hate the idea of fighting against England 6o THE OUTLOOK, AUTIBIN 1915 or France, but are united about Macedonia, and that the war will be fought with a savagery never before surpassed. Tuesday, Nov. 2. Met some boys from the late battle at luncheon. They all seemed to agree very cordially with some mild criticisms of Sir John French's despatch of Oct. 15. One of them belonging to the 15th Division told me the whole story of the attack of his Division on Loos, on Hill 70, and on the Redoubt behind it. They had penetrated almost to Cite St. Auguste, reaching the latter point about noon. They were then attacked by German reserves, and having lost nearly 75 per cent, of their strength, were driven back. No reserves at all appeared to help them throughout the day. Their artillery, under Alexander, co- operated beautifully. McCracken commanded the Division, and of the Brigadiers, two were from the K.O.S.B.s The boys could not say why no reserves came up, but probably all communications were cut. There are some fairly acrimonious criticisms of this battle in some of the papers to-day, and I think matters ought to be looked into. I have many communications agreeing with my article of this morning. We hear that Kragugevatch, the Serbian arsenal, has fallen, and that the enemy is now close on.Nish, the fall of which, I suppose, we cannot prevent. The German spies sit in rows on the quays at Salonika smoking large cigars, and note down every man, horse, gun, and ton of stores landed. This is a nice way to make war ! Up to the last week these spies reported that we had landed 76,000 men. There is going to be a nice mess here soon. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Nov. 3-5. Went down to Salisbury to stay with Sir Ai'thur Paget. Found Crowe, his chief Staff Officer ; Bethell (Westbury's son), his A.D.C. ; and Charles Bathurst, M.P., acting on the Administrative Staff. Had a great talk about the war. Prevailed upon Paget not to write what he contemplated to K. about the leading and the number of cavalry generals in high command. He decided to see Lord K. and talk the matter over with him, which is much better. Lady Paget and his Staff were much relieved. We went out both mornings and saw the 1915] THE SALISBURY TROOPS 6i troops . There are seven divisions of the 4th New Army on the Plain, most of them ready, but only three with their full complement of rifles, and all the artillery very backward. The 33rd and 30th are Paget's best divisions. There are also going out the 31st, 32nd, 34th or 35th, and 38th. The first three will leave their artillery behind, and will take over the guns of the Indian divisions in France, and of the two Territorial divisions. As each division is taken away from France, one of the 4th Army divisions will take its place. There is a great absence of reserves. Recruiting appears to be poor, in spite of Lord Derby's boom. We shall sadly need some fresh divisions next year. Saw the attack of two divisions from trenches against other trenches ; one attack was done well, and the other not so well. There are only one or two Regular officers per battahon. The troops lack experience, but they are a very fine lot of men, with some good boys among the officers, and all as keen as mustard. When they are gone there will only be the 5th Army divisions left, and they will not be fit for anything for some months. We tried to get Lady Pembroke over to dinner, but she was away in Ireland. Paget hving at a nice old-fashioned house, owned by one of the Cathedral dignitaries. During the trench operations, Paget, who was born in 1851, bounded like a stag over trenches full of infantry with fixed bayonets. I had to follow, and then remembered that he was our crack hurdle racer in old days. Saturday, Nov. 6. Had a long talk at the War Office with Ai'chie Murray, the C.I.G.S. ; also with Kiggell, the Director of Home Defence — an old comrade of mine on BuUer's Staff. Kiggell all for concentration in the West. He says that he is trying to get the Navy to make a fresh statement of what they can do respecting invasion, and says there is no fresh standard against invasion since Lord Roberts and I got it raised from 10,000 to 70,000 after our fights with the Defence Committee. Found Murray in thorough accord with all my views. He had just come from an afternoon War Council. He says things are tending to the evacuation of Gallipoli. 62 THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 He was opposed to the Salonika expedition, but Joffre had compelled our people to go in for it. He hinted that Sir John French would not remain much longer in command, and supposed that Haig would replace him. He told me that he and his directors, with Admiral Jackson, meet regularly in the room where we were talking, and sign memoranda in common for the Cabinet. He was not keen on the advance on Bagdad, and thought that the expedition should have halted at Basra or Kurna, as I advised him when he consulted me about the advance ; but at that time no General Staff was in existence, or at all events permitted to advise, and so the troops went on. India has been told that we could not support them in Mesopotamia, and possibly not keep up the strength of the white troops, but India had accepted full responsibihty and had determined to go on. The result is that all the resources of India will be committed to an operation which, even if successful, can scarcely influence in any degree the main issue of the war. He showed me that there are eighteen Austro -German and nine Bulgarian divisions against the Serbians. I heard in the evening that the War Council to-day were apparently alarmed at the position — as well they may be — and suggested our coming away. But they had been told that they could not go on changing their minds every day, and as they had acted against the advice of the G.S., they must go on with it and make the best of it. I am not sure that this is good advice, for there is no point in persisting in folly. Sunday, Nov. 7. Went down to Coombe last week- end, in spite of a bad cold. Hoped to find Bertie Paget, but he could not get over from France as the boats were not running. There were Mrs. Leeds, Lady Granard, and some other people. A long talk with Sir Arthur about the question of the command of the Armies in France. He is representing that there are too many cavalry officers in high commands, and that this is the cause of many of our recent disappointments. He has written a letter which he is sending to the Prime Minister and to Balfour. I was asked to try and stop the letter, but Sir Ai'thur is set 1915] SIR AETHUR MARKHAM 63 on sending it this time, as he is the senior serving officer of the infantry. Returned with him on Monday. Had a long talk with Mrs. Leeds about Greece. She says that all Greece is pro -Ally, but that they are afraid of the Germans, and do not want to fight ; consequently they are all with the King. A great deal of talk about Lady Paget 's Russian day, and all the plans of making it a success. Monday, Nov. 8. Lunched at Prince's with E. ; Percy Stout of the Egyptian Service also there. He told me that all the Indian troops in France, except the cavalry, were off to Mesopotamia next week. We discussed Sjrria, which he knows very well, and the difficulties of landing there. We agreed that Kitchener, who left the War Office last Thursday night on a visit to the Eastern Mediterranean, would probably winter in Cairo, and remain there. Dined with the McLarens, 69 Eaton Place. Met Sir Arthur Markham. We had a very interesting talk on the whole war. He is the most severe critic of the Government, and is evidently a tremendous worker, and very weU informed. He is going for the Government to-morrow, Wednesday, and was going to attack Archie Murray, but I think I have headed him off that track. He hates Asquith and Kitchener. We discussed munitions, recruiting, General Staff, diplomacy, operations, and much of the inner history of the last few months. Markham has a pretty good insight into things, and is very anxious to advance national interest, and to eliminate all the duffers who infest pohtics. He is trans- parently honest and sincere. I think that he is a man who would attack his best friend without compunction if he thought him wrong. He told me what the Government were saying of me, namely, that I was using my friendship with Sir John French and Murray to find materials for attacking the Government in the interest of Lord Northchffe. This made me laugh, but people wiU invent any tale when they are found out. I told him facts about my visit to France, and the shell shortage, and that I took no orders from any one in expressing my opinions on mihtary affairs. I think on the whole that we were completely in agreement. 64 THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 Tuesday, Nov. 9, Wrote an article on the New Armies telling my experiences at Salisbury, showing the need for fresh troop formations, and demonstrating that unless we set about the creation of thirty new divisions by Aug. 1916, we should not be doing our duty. I showed the differences between the Government's point of view, which would subordinate the Army to the needs of our home trade, and the mihtarj' view, which places the Army first. I also wrote a letter to the Times to show that Curzon was misinformed when he stated in the House ot Lords that the articles of mihtary correspondents were not censored, but the letter which I wrote seems to have been censored too ! With a Censorship, it is as easy for Ministers to retain office as it is for them to romance. An article of mine on the Conduct of the War, published on Monday. Dined in the evening with Mrs. Bingham at 4 Walton Place ; Lady de Trafford, Lady Granard, Lord D'Abernon, Sir Vincent Corbet, and Baron Michiels. Found D'Abernon's views and mine about affairs were much the same. Lady de Trafford very pleasant. Not much news. Wednesday, Nov. 10. Went to see Arthur Lee at the Ministry of Munitions (Armament Buildings). Found him very full of his work and the war. He regards a disaster, or disasters, at Salonika and the Dardanelles as probable, and considers that the Prime Minister has been very astute in the manner in which he has unloaded Lord K., who, he thinks, will never come back to the War Office. Lee does not want to replace him, and agrees with me that Derby is the best choice if L. G. is not available. L. G. seems to have a wonderful Staff at his new Ministry, composed of men formerly drawing huge salaries in business Ufe ; for example, Stephenson, the managing director of Walker's Whisky, who gave up £14,000 a year to come and work for nothing. The office is fuU of this type of man. Woolwich has now been taken over by the North Eastern Railway Staff with wonderfully good results. Lee says that there is only one civil service man in the whole office, and that it is extraordinary how 1915] THE MINISTRY OF MUNITIONS 65 easily the work goes on with aU these business men in charge. Heard a good lot about guns, shells, and rifles. The maxims are the greatest difficulty on account of the extreme nicety of the gauges, while big guns are the easiest to get of aU, it seems, and there is no difficulty about shells. Lee and Dr. Addison are the two heads under L. G., one military and the other civil. Lee was contemptuous of the strategy of the war and of Lord K.'s administration. Lunched with Mrs. Astor to-day ; Wolkoff, Lady John- stone, and a party of Americans. Afraid that JIVIrs. Astor has definitely decided to go to America, Dec. 16, and see her girl. Quite a cheery party. Lady Johnstone very amusing. The ladies wrangled about what nationahties — men, that is to say — are most vahant and enterprising ; by common consent they aU voted British. One lady had a dehghtful phrase which I must try and recall about the disappointed vexations of a woman who came home in fear and trembhng in the dark expecting to be accosted, and no one took any notice of her. Talked with Lady Johnstone about Kiihlm aim's iniquities at The Hague. My impression is that he is not doing much to hurt us. Thursday, Nov. 11. Went off early to see Lord Derby, and had a long talk with him. In the month that has passed he has gathered 160,000 recruits, or about three times as many men as were taken in a similar period before he came in ; but he is paying less attention to the number of recruits than to the creation of a system which wiU enable Compulsion to be appUed. He is instituting Local Tribunals, supervised by Parhamentary Committees, with whom are associated in each constituency War Office representatives with their Advisory Committees. The starring of men presents great difficulties. The armlets given to those wiUing to serve wiU, he thinks, make aU the older men, and married men, his recruiting agents. They will know that their turn will come unless the unmarried men are made to go, and this will make them push the latter out. Derby's greatest difficulty is with the various departments, aU of which are trying to keep their own men. The Board VOL. I, B 66 THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 of Agriculture and the Home Office have been curiously obstructive, and Derby has had to put his foot down. Derby was asked one day to find 300 bakers for the A.S.C., and at the same time he received a letter from Lord Lansdowne to say that no more bakers were to be enMsted. He does not expect to be able to make a state- ment on the recruiting situation until the beginning of January, as many of the papers will not so much as go out until Nov. 20. He is less certain than he was that com- pulsion will come. He has been given a list of 160 trades from which he is not to enlist men, and, of course, at this rate it is hard to get on. I told him that the safety of the country was in his hands, and that we should never get recruiting right until we told the country the truth. He said that he intended to do so, and that I could make quite sure of it. He was much more critical of Lord K. than I expected. He said that he had prevented K., time after time, from making the most horrible mistakes, but at the same time it remained true that Lord K.'s name had more influence and more prestige with the pubUc than anybody else's. He thinks that Lord K. should have been made Commander-in-Chief, and not placed in the Cabinet or at the War Office. The General Staff's views had never been presented to the Cabinet properly, for Lord K. had his own ideas. We fully agreed that neither of us will ever again support the appointment of a soldier to be Secretary for War. I found him very keen to be War Minister, from which I judge that he knows that Lord K. wiU not come back, at all events in that capacity, Derby thinks that Curzon is his chief rival, and that he, Derby, may not get the post because so many Cabinet Ministers disHke his independ- ence and frankness. He showed me a letter which he had written to the Prime Minister, stating very clearly the need for saying exactly how many men we had, and how many we needed, and declaring that K.'s figures of our require- ments per week, namely, 30,000 men, were much below the mark, and should have been 35,000 to 40,000. Derby is a useful pubHc servant, tall, bluff, hearty, and 1915] LORD K. GOES EAST 67 always smiling ; not clever, but very shrewd, a man of the world with very good sense, and at this moment is popular with all classes, including labour and the Army. I do not see anybody better than he for the post of War Secretary if L. G. does not want it. But I question whether it is wise for me or the Times to advocate Derby's appointment. I am inclined to think we had better wait and let things work out naturally. Arthur Lee told me that if Lord K. wanted to come back, his colleagues would not have him, and that there were twenty members in the Cabinet against him. The War Office now wears one broad contented smUe, and having lost Lord K., there is a deep sigh of relief all round. What Lord K. will do in the Mediterranean no one can tell. He may go to the Dardanelles to endeavour to continue the attack, although Charles Monro has recom- mended evacuation. There is a pretty kettle of fish in the Middle East, and we shall see how he deals with it. Lee thinks that K. knows that he has failed, and that if he fails in the Mediterranean, or sees failure coming, he will try to get to India. But who knows what the Sphinx really thinks or means ? On the Tuesday before he left he asked a friend of mine to Broome for the week-end, and Lady SaHsbury was to drive down with him on the Saturday. But on Thursday night, he went off suddenly without beat of drum, I have asked no one the reason yet, but I imagine that when Monro proposed evacuation L. G. was ready with a suggestion that Lord K. should go out and report on the whole situation ; that all his colleagues supported this view ; and that K. could not refuse. In any case, if the Cabinet can prevent his return they wiU do so. The difference in the opinion of Lord K. held by those behind the scenes and by the rest of the pubUc is astonishing. Wednesday, Nov. 17. Went to see Northcliffe at 22 St. James's Place, and found Winston with him. Winston was in great form and tearing spirits. He leaves for France to-morrow to rejoin his regiment, abandoning what he 68 THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 calls his * well-paid inactivity.' It is rather splendid of him. To give up £4000 a year and go off soldiering is cer- tainly noble, except from the point of view of his family. He had come to ask us to treat him in a gentlemanly way when he is away, which I hope we shall. He talked a great deal about his colleagues. He urged the continuance of the Dardanelles operations once more, but, I thought, with less conviction in his voice than formerly. He thought that Salonika was coming out badly, and that he would have stayed had he been kept on the War Council, but as he was taken off he felt justified in leaving the Govern- ment. He spoke of the mess his colleagues would be in when the Salonika adventure came to grief, and he described how every morning fresh chunks of responsibiUty seemed to fall from him. He was critical of Eatchener, and was evidently disposed to put down most of the mis- fortunes of the war to him. We had some talk of the war in France, but most of the time it was politics. Thursday, Nov. 18. Russia's day. Wrote in the morning, lunched with E. and party, and then went to the Alhambra to Lady Paget 's matinee. Sat next Mrs. Grahame White, a lady with a very pretty wit. We found to our vexation that the two plays that formed the chief feature of the programme had been banned ; The Theatre of the Soul, because it was supposed to be too advanced, and Doris Keane's play of Catherine of Russia, because Count Bencken- dorff, the Russian Ambassador, considered that it was impious to suggest that Catherine was warm-hearted. Poor Doris had to do the third act of Romance at the last moment, and the scene was lost on the large stage. The perform- ance was not very good, and there was nothing really first class in any of the turns. Queen Alexandra was there. Benckendorff had a box, and various other people. I saw Lady Randolph, Lady Cunard, Lady Diana Manners, and a lot more. IVIrs. Bingham and Mrs. Astor seUing flowers and flags, looking very pretty. I went off before the end. Dined afterwards at the Carlton with Lady Paget ; our party including Mrs. Leeds, Mrs. Astor, Lady Drogheda, 1915] THE QUESTION OF THE DARDANELLES 69 the Grand Duke Michael who was in uniform, Bertie Paget, and Wolkoff. We had an excellent dinner, with a Russian menu of course, and afterwards went to a concert in the hotel (also Russian), and finished up about midnight, Mrs. Astor and I counted her gains of the day from her bag into a money box : it came to £42 in coins of sixpence upwards, which was pretty good for one woman selling flags and flowers. Lady Paget and the other ladies nearly dead with fatigue. Friday, Nov. 19. Dined with Lady Charles Beresford ; Lady Johnstone, Lady Kitty Somerset, Miss Bertha Capel, Sir Edward and Lady Carson, Mr. Bonar Law, Arthur Stanley, Colonel Stuart, and a few more. Found Miss Capel amusing and original. Arthur Stanley was opposed to his brother going to the War Ofiice, but I think that I rather brought him round. Had a talk with Carson about the Ulster business. He was very amusing and outspoken. He told me how near we were to an explosion, that the Government had determined to arrest the chief leaders, that he had arranged to send the one word H.X. over the wire to Belfast, and that this was to be a signal for the seizure of the Customs throughout Ulster. He called to see the King, and told Stamfordham exactly what was going to happen, and the arrest of the leaders was promptly stopped. A great deal of talk about the war with Bonar Law and Carson. Tlie former gave me to understand that the Salonika expedition was a bad egg, and that no further hope of success was entertained. He was evidently in favour of a withdrawal from the Dardanelles, and questioned me closely about it to see what I thought. I told him that I approved, and he said he saw no use in leaving 50,000 men at the tail of the peninsula to be held up by the same number of Turks or less. He asked me my views about the defence of Egypt, and I gave them to him, and afterwards expanded them in the form of a letter to him. He seemed much interested. Both Carson and Bonar Law were very critical of K. When I said I could not understand why the Government sent out Charles Momo to report about the 70 THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 Dardanelles, and then did not take his advice, they both said that they had said the same thing to the Cabinet them- selves. We had a discussion about the Aga Khan's in- fluence with the Mohammedan troops, which Stuart declared to be very sHght. Saw Sir A. Murray in the afternoon after the War Council. He told me that the flow of troops to Salonika was going on, but that they were not going beyond the port. He showed me the situation on the map, the Ser- bians all shepherded in a small corner towards Novi Bazar and Mitrovitza, and a large block of Bulgars between us and them. We have, of course, been too late, as every soldier knew we should be. He was anxious about Sarrail's position, which was in an exposed salient, but expected the main effort of the Bulgars on the flanks. He had written a paper against an advance along the Vardar Valley, and against the coercion of Greece. How on earth they are going either to get these troops away or to get them to do anything useful I cannot imagine, for obviously the whole of the enemy's forces will eventually concentrate upon us, and will take no account of the Greek frontier or of Greek semi-neutrality. He told me that everything was tending towards the evacuation of Galhpoli, and that there was a chance of a great mess before the withdrawal was carried out. Apparently the fate of Sir John French still hangs in the balance. I think that Sir William Robertson has the best chance of succeeding him. Sunday, Nov. 21. Wrote an article just giving the bare facts and bringing the history of the Salonika expedition up to date. It needs no comment. Wednesday, Nov. 24. Dined with OHve Guthrie ; Mrs. Jack Leslie, Lady Cunard, Lady Belle Herbert, Sir Ernest Cassel, and Pat Guthrie. A report had come of a dis- agreeable set-back to our operations in Mesopotamia. Cassel knew nothing of it, but I telephoned to the Times and found that Townshend's division, after capturing the Turkish position at Ctesiphon, had to retreat four miles for want of water. The affair does not look very well, but if 1915] THE BOUNTIES OF A FOREIGNER 71 the Cabinet will send a weak division into the heart of a sub-continent, 600 miles from the sea, to fight a warlike people with a million soldiers, they are bound to get us into trouble. It is a pity they did not take my advice, and stop at Kurna. It is also stupid to have fought before the two divisions came from France. Lady Cunard very fuU of her sale, and of her coming concert. Thursday, Nov. 25. Wrote an article in the Times this morning on ' The Military Situation,' explaining my reasons for not wishing to fight in the Balkans, giving an outline of my ideas for defending Egypt, and saying that I agreed with Bonar Law that the outlook would be favourable after the liquidation. Lunched with Mrs. Leeds. We had a political talk, and then she told me a lot about her boy. He is at Morton's school, where young Lord Herbert now is. The Leeds's boy is being brought up as though he were the son of a poor man. She gave me an amusing example. He had written to tell her that he was obliged to take half of a half-crown tin of Bovril every day, and he wished to con- sult her whether he could afford at the same time to buy a ' CharUe Chaplin ' outfit. She had written to tell him that as health was the first consideration, he could have the Bovril, but the outfit would have to wait until Xmas. He gets £2 a quarter from the Matron, and is not allowed to have tips. It is very Spartan, but I expect that this young man will some day want a good many more outfits than that of CharUe Chaplin's. She explained that nearly all the sons of millionaires in America have become vicious and useless owing to the possession of too much wealth, and she and her husband had determined this boy should only have it if he proved worthy of it. She told me that she had spent £15,000 this year on British War Hospitals, and she was now practically keeping thirty of them at the rate of £200 a month, which is pretty good for a foreigner. But the point was that the Government charged her not only tax but super -tax for these gifts, and that as her taxes in May came to £5700, she proposed to transfer her donations to the French who did not charge any tax. I must wiite to 72 THE OUTLOOK, AUTUMN 1915 McKenna and put the case before him, for more hide-bound stupidity 1 never heard tell. At 5.30 I had an appointment with Lord Curzon. Found him deep in papers, correcting proofs of memoranda for the Cabinet. The telephone kept ringing, and he returned rather short answers to his interrupters. The main point I wanted to know was whether Lord K. was coming back, and if not, whether Curzon wanted to be Secretary of State for War. Curzon told me that nearly all Lord K.'s colleagues would be very glad if K. remained in the East to control the campaign there, but that K. had taken the seals of office with him and might turn up again at any minute. He said that it was not the practice of Cabinets to review the proceedings of any particular Minister, and that the only person who could review them was the Prime Minister, who probably in this case would not do so. I gathered that Curzon would like the War Office or the Foreign Office, as he considers that his administrative gifts are not being used, but he thought that the Prime Minister would try to give all the best posts to his political friends, and that Lloyd George would probably get the War Office if Lord K.'s rule ended. Dined with Mrs. McCreery ; Princess Hatzfeldt, Lady Colebrooke, Lady Clonmel, Mrs. Portman, Lord Bateman, Lord Athlumney, Almeric Paget, and a few more. Wrote an article on the Serbian campaign, which is going to be infernally unpleasant before long. CHAPTER IV SALONIKA AND THE DARDANELLES A visit to Wilton — General Joffre and Salonika — General Du Cane at the Ministry of Munitions — A tale from the East — Mr. Washburn on the Russian Armies — The Dardanelles and Salonika — Divergent views — Dispute about the Battle of Loos — The evacuation of the Dardanelles — Sir Ian Hamilton's views — Sir John Simon's attack on the Times — ^The defence of Egypt — Lord Derby on Recruiting — Reasons for General Townshend's advance after Kut — F.M. Sir John French replaced by Sir Douglas Haig — Mr. Asquith's reasons — ^The Dutch mails — Transport losses in the Mediterranean — A visit to Hackwood — Lord Curzon of Kedleston on Salonika decisions — A con- versation with the Queen of the Belgians — Withdrawal of troops from France for Salonika — A speech to the Northern Association of Unionist Agents^-Success of the evacuation of GaUipoli and Anzac — German strength in E, Africa— Lord Kitchener opposes General Staff plans — Rasputin — Russian munitions — Trade or Victory ? — More reasons for Sir John French's recall — AUied and German Armies in France — Home Defence Forces— A New Year's party. Week-end, Nov. 27-29 : Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Went down to Wilton for the week-end as Reggie was back from the front. Only his fourth visit since the war began. Reggie and Lady Pembroke, Mrs. Rupert Beckett, Sir Fritz Ponsonby, Colonel Kincaid Smith, and the Duke of Sutherland. A very cheery party ; played games after dinner. Walked in the morning and afternoon of Sunday. Re- turned by an early train on Monday with Reggie who is returning to France by the midday boat. It is wonder- ful how much Bee has done to the house in the last few months. The north entrance front has been much changed. There is a large window in the big tower, and 73 74 SALONIKA AND THE DARDANELLES the covered porch has been removed and replaced by pillars. The dimng-room has been lowered by 12 feet, and is now a very handsome and well-proportioned room — an immense improvement on the gloomy old panelled room of the past. Aunt Liz's old room has been lengthened, and the fireplace changed. The old smoking-room is now a biUiard-room, and a couple of rooms behind it form a much better smoking-room. Electric hght has been laid on, but it is not yet in use. Most of the best pictures have been cleaned at last, and the effect is superb. The Vandycks, Holbeins, Titians, and Reynoldses all come out in new glory. It is a revelation now that the centuries of dirt have been removed. The Vandyck of Phihp Pembroke is especially astonishing, and is a glorious work of art. The great Vandyck is also seen for the first time, in the memory of this generation at all events, and it wiU be a great moment when the wonderful Double Cube room is Ughted up with electric Hght for the first time. All these changes and great improvements have been done under the supervision of Lady Pembroke, and I think Reggie is a wonderfully lucky man to have such a charming and accompHshed wife. We had a good deal of talk about the war, and Fritz, who was rather a cripple from lumbago, told us some good stories about Queen Victoria. The one I hked best was her correction of a draft letter written by Fritz, to say that the Duchess of Connaught was to join the Queen's train at some place or other. The Queen wrote in pencil on the draft, ' You should always describe the Duchess as " Her Royal Highness," to show that she is not a common Duchess.' On returning to London we read the German wireless. They claim that the Serbian Army is completely knocked out. I fear that this is true, and that the whole pack will now come down on us. Nobody seems to know anjrthing about the Russian Army on the borders of Bessarabia. Dined with Sir Ernest Cassel at Brook House ; Mrs. Bischoffsheim, Countess Hofberg, Mrs. Leshe, Mrs, Cis 1915] DINNER AND FOG 75 Biiigham, Olive and Pat, Mrs. Arthur James, Lord Liirgan, Sir Vincent Corbet, and Charles Swaine. The big house rather cold ; the palatial dining-room hung with Vandycks. The huge round table had a depressing effect upon the conversation. A good host and everything done exceedingly well. Tuesday, Nov. 30. Had an absurd experience to-night. A thick fog. Dined with the Charles Beresfords at 1 Great Cumberland Place. Started at 8 o'clock ; fog hke pea soup ; had to go at a foot's pace all along Regent's Park. Arrived half an hour late for dinner, and found a large party at two tables ; majority men, for the first time since the war began. The Itahan Ambassador and the Marchesa, Wolkoff of the Russian Embassy, Lady Paget, Belle Herbert, Ashmead-Bartlett, Charles Whibley, Austin Harrison, Ronny McNeill, M.P., and a few others. Kept my taxi ; lent it to Bartlett after dinner ; it went off into the fog and was never seen again. I went home by tube, crawl- ing along the roads holding on to the raihngs. Heard after- wards that some of the guests could not get away at all, and had to sleep there. Lady Paget took two hours to reach Belgrave Square. Rather an amusing evening. Bartlett, not reahsing that Wolkoff was Russian and a diplomat, held forth on the subject of Russian iniquities, declaring that Russia ought to have taken Constantinople, if she wanted it, and not to have thrown the burden on us. Wolkoff, who held his tongue and smiled benignantly, told me afterwards that Russia would have been very glad, but she could not get there. He told me that aU the Embassy telegrams were now about rifles and ammunition, instead of diplomatic questions. The rifles were coming in fast, and they hoped to send a large force to Bulgaria through Rumania. McNeill and I had a long talk about Carson, and the proceedings in the House next Tuesday. General Joffre arrives on Thursday. He is apparently quite converted to the idea of Salonika. It is a great blow to me. Two divisions have been diverted to Egypt and will 76 SALONIKA AND THE DARDANELLES not be available for another fortnight. It will be two months before the rest arrive, and by that time the situation in Serbia will be changed so much that I hope we may be able to keep out of the war in the Balkans. Wednesday, Dec. 1. Went to the War Office and found all mihtary opinion among the soldiers, including Archie Murray, Robertson, and Cowans, utterly opposed to the Salonika adventure. Drove down to Coombe ; found the Beresfords, Lord and Lady Lytton, the Aga Khan, Colonel Stuart from the Dardanelles, Almeric Paget, Mrs. McCreery, Mrs. Duggan, the twins, and a few more. Talked to Sir Ai'thur most of the afternoon about events. Lady Charles at tea declaimed against Curzon. Mrs. Duggan was sitting next to her. Drove back with the Aga Khan in his car. Looked in at Portman Street to apologise for shirking a promised rubber. Found OUve, Mrs. Astor, Seymour Fortescue, and Pat playing Bridge. George Street, X., and Charles North dined at Mary on. X. full of the war and extremely critical of the Generals and Staffs in France. Thursday, Dec. 2. Busy reading and commenting on Sir John French's despatch of Oct. 15. Friday, Dec. 3. Went to see Johnny Du Cane at Armament House, Ministry of Munitions. The announce- ment of his appointment appeared in Monday's paper, and I wanted to know what it all meant. He told me that he does not know whether the whole thing was a sort of de- partmental coup d'etat — the day before Lord K.'s return from the Eastern Mediterranean — in order to provoke a row and a crisis, or whether it was a serious attempt on the part of the Government to mend matters with regard to muni- tions, which are nothing hke right yet. He was invited by Lloyd George to take up the work. He rephed that he would rather remain in France, but would come to London if the opinion was that he could be of more use there. He had stated to Lloyd George, and to the Prime Minister, that he had to make two conditions, the first being that he should be given the oificers that he required for carrjdng on the office, and the second that the M.G.O.'s branch should 1915] GENERAL DU CANE'S APPOINTMENT ^j not remain over the road in a dummy state and interfere with, and hamper, the work of the IVIinister of Munitions. He was apparently promised that these conditions should be fulfilled. He informed Von Donop what was in the wind, and imagined that the M.G.O. would be left in charge of fortifications. But Cowans then seems to have proposed to hand over the Ordnance Stores, and all that appertained to them, to the M.G.O. , but this was finally negatived. Du Cane'? idea is practically to become M.G.O. himself, and to leave to the General Staff only the duty of defining the needs, and to the Ordnance Branch of the Q.M.G. Depart- ment the work of distribution. This seems a good scheme, if Du Cane's conditions are fulfilled. But the disappearance of Von Donop and the D.F.A. are essential prehminaries, otherwise there would be two branches doing the same work. The Prime Minister apparently fell in with Du Cane's proposals, but the Army Council met and ruled that they viewed the proposal with great alarm. The Prime Minister overrode this opinion, and declared that the decision to act as Du Cane wished had been taken by the Government itself. He further said that Von Donop should be given another appointment. This is how the matter stands at present, and it is that which Lord K. will have to deal with on his unexpected, and, to many, imwelcome return to London to-day. Du Cane at present has a table and a chair and a temporary secretary, but no office proper, no officers, and is merely a skeleton of a branch. I think that the whole should be under the War Office, though a separate branch of it, and that its head should hold the same important but stiU subordinate position that M. Thomas does in France. The question is what Lord K. wiU do when he comes back and finds his department has been cut in bits in liis absence. There will probably be a great row. I fancy that the Army Council think that the change was made in rather a shabby manner behind Lord K.'s back, as indeed it was. This accounts for their attitude, and for the display of some hostihty towards Du Cane, who really had nothmg to do with the matter. 78 SALONIKA AND THE DARDAJSTELLES Lunched with JVIis. Leeds, Dr. Page, the American Ambassador and his wife, Lady Strafford, Lady Paget, Sir Sidney Greville, and Bogey Harris. An excellent lunch, and an amusing talk. Dr. Page told us some great stories of people who wrote from America to the Embassy, men wishing to find pretty English widows, and women wishing to adopt soldiers' children. Drove to Totteridge to see Northcliffe, who was in bed with a bad cold. Found an agent back from the Continent. He told me that according to some evidence which he had collected, there were four German Army Corps (160,000 men in all) assembhng north of Switzerland for the invasion of Egypt. They were all young men who had not yet served in the war. This Army had a lot of 15 to 21 centimetre guns newly turned out by Krupp. The men were being trained to harness and ride camels ! They were to be sent to Con- stantinople via Belgrade and Sofia, as soon as the railway was reopened, and they were expected to reach Constanti- nople in January. They will be joined by 350,000 Turks, and the whole will march upon Egypt ! It is a pretty tall story, but Lord K. and the War Office appear to beHeve it. The agent is going off again to Belgrade and Constantinople, and it will be interesting to see if his report turns out to have a vestige of truth. Went to see Stanley Washburn in a private hospital. He is back from Russia, and is going home to America on leave for a few weeks. He told me that he thought that the Russians had 1| million rifles, and would have 2| million combatants next spring. He declared that the Tsar was much more intelligent than the Grand Duke Nicholas, but that he had not the decision of the latter. Alexeieff, the Tsar's Chief of Staff, has decision, but appears to be a very modest, retiring sort of man, with no advisers but only assistants. The Germans are now well dug in all along the Russian front. Had the Russians 500,000 more rifles they could drive the enemy away. It is all a question of rifles, but Washburn says that the Ai^mies are not stiff with guns, and have lost a lot. He thinks that 1915] WASHBURN ON RUSSIA 79 Evert, who commands the Central Armies, is a very steady feUow, who will do what Alexeiefif teUs him, but that Ruszky in the north and Ivanoff in the south are rather more inde- pendent, while Ruszky hates Alexeieff. There is evidently a danger of want of concord along the front, and Washburn quoted a case of a commander of the Guard Corps, Beso- brazofli, who refused to support the 3rd Army in a recent fight, was dismissed, and then put back by the Tsar's favour. He does not think that the Germans will be able to do any more this winter. He cannot say what force the Russians have on the borders of Rumania, but fancies that they are the 17th and 15th Armies, of which the latter are probably young troops, as the Germans describe them to be. He is inclined to think that the Russian reinforce- ments are to be thrown mainly at the centre. Archangel is still open, and may be open all the winter. The railway to the new northern port will not be ready till February at the earliest. He says that there are certainly 2,000,000 men standing in reserve, and awaiting rifles. He sails on Dec. 13. Saturday, Dec. 4. Lunched at Giro's ; E. and others. One of the ladies apparently wants to bring me to the idea that when all women have a vote there will be no more wars. I told her that there would be twice as many. Went to the War Office after lunch, and saw some friends. I found out some interesting things. The War Council had decided to evacuate Galhpoli, but the Cabinet rejected their advice. This is a flagrant instance of the futility of the new arrangement, and it has now been shown that the War Council reject the advice of the General Stafi and the War Staff, and that the Cabinet in its turn reject the advice of all three, with the result that indecision reigns supreme, that nothing is done, and that the wretched garrison at GaUipoli remain exposed to the gathering cloud of enemies. The Cabinet, after deciding to evacuate Salonika, found that the French refused to agree, saying that if we went they would remain. In consequence, some Ministers and soldiers, including the Prime Minister and 8o SALONIKA AND THE DAKDANELLES Balfour, with Sir A. Murray and one or two more, go over to France to-day to consult with Briand, Gallieni, Joffre, and others. They were expected back on Monday, but returned this evening after 3| hours' conference at Calais. At present wc have 140,000 men, including 50,000 French at Salonika, 120,000 at GallipoH, and 85,000 in Egypt, or about 300,000 men in the Eastern Mediterranean. We have had a nasty knock near Bagdad. We seem to have advanced very rashly with our single division under Townshend, who met superior forces, and in the end was forced to retire, after suffering heavy loss. Who sent him there with his insignificant little force ? Sunday, Dec. 5. Went down to Coombe this afternoon, and had a long talk with Sir Arthur. A large party of people trooped in at various odd times. Mrs. Leeds, Mrs. Astor, Lady Ridley, Lady Paget and the twins, Mr. Vansittart of the Foreign Office, the Aga Khan, Bogey Harris, and some others. Had two long walks in the morning, the first with Sir Arthur, and the second with Mrs. Astor. We had a big luncheon party. Walked over with Sir Arthur in the afternoon to call upon the Ripons. Found them at home with Mrs. Sneyd and the Marquis de Soveral. Had an interesting talk about the command in France, when Queen Alexandra was announced, and I was caught and could not get away. She was very charming, but very deaf. I wonder why Royalties will stand up for so long, and make every one else stand. I slipped away as soon as I could against all rules, and found the Warren House ladies rather cross that all the men had gone off by themselves. We had a cheery evening, and I drove back with Sir Arthur on Monday morning. Monday, Dec. 6. Orders were issued on Sunday for the evacuation of Salonika, but I saw de la Panouse, the French Military Attache to-day, and he told me, as did others, that the French Government has gone back on the decision of the Calais Conference. We should have to wait for two or three days before learning what was finally decided. 1915] SIE IAN HAMILTON'S VIEWS Si It seems to be the practice of all these various committees and conferences to cancel each other's decisions, with the result that there is a general muddle. Also, as no notes appear to be exchanged in writing, — or at least very seldom ■ — ^and as few of our people can speak French, and none of the Frenchmen can speak or understand English, all the elements for a misunderstanding are present. L. G. was asked the other day whether he could understand French. He said that he could not understand the Frenchmen when they spoke French, but that he could understand Grey perfectly when he did ! Wednesday, Dec. 8. Had a talk in the afternoon with a member of our Headquarters Staff in France. He told me that Sir John and Douglas Haig had both sent in reports about the failure to use reserves at the battle of Loos. He did not think that any one here was competent to adjudi- cate between the two. He doubted whether the question of superseding French had ever come to the point, but that French had many enemies, and that if his health suffered this winter, the opportunity of getting rid of him would be seized upon. He said that French had ceased to trust Douglas Haig, and that we should not see the next action confided to this general. He said that we were now all right as regards munitions, but that we were getting short of men, having a deficit of 35,000 in the front line alone. There was no doubt that the Germans had brought up a lot of men and guns in the West, that there was a great chance of a scrimmage, and that many people thought it the best thing that could happen. We compared notes about Lord K. Thursday, Dec. 9. Saw Sir Ian Hamilton in the after- noon. He was just finishing his Dardanelles despatch. He was not able to do so before, because all the reports from the Suvla Bay troops had been sent home to Sir F. Stop- ford, who had sent his report direct home to the War Office, and Sir Ian had to send for them^aU before he could com- plete his own draft. He was very interesting on aU the story of the Dardanelles. VOL. I. p 82 SALONIKA AND THE DARDANELLES He was grieved to think that we were coming away. He had been asked about it before leaving the Dardanelles, and reported against it, mentioning large figures as the pro- bable price of evacuation. He had been able to obtain the opinion of Corps and Divisional Commanders, who changed their views after he had come home. Monro had advocated withdrawal. Generals Davies, Birdwood, and Byng, had now all recommended evacua- tion. Lord K. had told the Cabinet that they would have to give in. Lord K. thinks evacuation possible, and places the loss at a lower figure than that anticipated by Hamilton. The latter declares that troops sent out to him had always been sent out too late, but he admits that for the Suvla Bay afiair he got all he wanted. Lord K. told Sir Ian that there was no fault to be found in his conduct of operations, and that he could always hold his head high. Sir Ian naturally replied that in that case he did not know why he was at home. The men he asked for were Rawhnson and Byng, but K. had said that the man selected must be senior to Mahon. Sir Ian had then asked for Bruce Hamilton, and had received a reply that the Prime Minister thought Bruce too old. Lord K. then offered him Spencer Ewart, but Sir Ian repUed that Ewart was not physically up to the work. There are not enough ships to take away the Dardanelles and Salonika forces at the same time. Monro is at Mudros and is apparently in charge of the two expeditions. Maxwell is in Egypt. Sir Ian thinks that he has been holding up 240,000 Turks at the Dardanelles. He thinks that these troops will now be dribbhng down to Syria, and he agrees that an attack will probably be made on Egypt this winter. He thinks that the forces at Salonika should be able to stand up to the enemy for some time, which is lucky if true, as there are no ships to carry them away. I suppose all this will fall in with the French ideas of not wishing to evacuate Salonika, on which point their Press is still very warm, and as I am the chief exponent of the contrary poHcy I am a good deal attacked. 1915] SIR JOHN SIMON^S ATTACK 83 A military conference has been going on for the last three days in Paris ; French, Robertson, and Murray are our representatives, and all these are strong opponents of the Salonika expedition. Sir Ian looks worn, and teUs me that his weight has gone down to nine stone. I expect he has suffered a good bit, and that his cheery smile is just for the sake of appearance. He says that Birdwood is worth a miUion to the Empire and commanded the AustraUans magnificently, and that B'rdwood would never have recommended evacuation so long as he, Sh* Ian, was there. Ian thinks that we may be able to get away half our guns, then the reserves, and then the supports ; but that the firing hne, part of which is ten yards from the Turks, together with 100 guns and most of the three weeks' supply stored on the beach, will be sacrificed in the event of retirement, and that such losses wiU drag down Lord K. and the Government. He evidently does not tliink that Lord K. has treated him very well, or shown any skill in the general manage- ment of the war. He said it was as hard to get troops out of him as to get butter out of a dog's mouth. He says that our defences at Galhpoli are extremely strong, and he stiU holds that had he been sent 100,000 men and the 50,000 new rifles which he had asked for, after the Suvla Bay affair, he would have got through. I cannot help thinking, however, that the unanimity shown by Monro and the other generals, is pretty clear proof that the game is up. It is merely a question now of the price to be paid in cutting the losses. Dined with the Ancasters, 95 Lancaster Gate, — the Mintos' house. Lord and Lady Wolverton, Lady Edmund Talbot, Fox McDonnell, Lord Falconer, Mrs. Higgins (Lady A.'s mother), and Evan Charteris. An excellent dinner ; hostess very briUiant. Lady Wolverton resplendent. I discussed pohtical affairs at dinner with Lady Edmund. She was very furious with Gulland, the Liberal Whip, for having concealed from Edmund Talbot the fact that Sir John Simon was going to raise a debate against the Times on the adjourn- 84 SALONIKA AND THE DAKDANELLES merit. She said that not even the Cabinet knew it, or at all events not the Unionist members of it, and that Simon had arranged it with the Prime Minister behind the back of the Cabinet. This procedure met with a merited failure. I found everybody very rabid with the Ministers, and all heartily approved of the strong article which I had pubhshed this morning on Simon and his wiles. Wolverton says that our Japanese rifles are all being sent to Russia. I wonder if our division on the coast have now got any rifles at all. I found an invitation from Lord Haldane to dine alone with him on Wednesday ; he says that the position is very serious — as if we did not know it ! Friday, Dec. 10. Worked in the morning, and lunched with Mrs. Astor in Grosvenor Square. We discussed her trip to America, and I gave her a letter from Steed, show- ing what she could do to help the cause over there, and gave her the addresses of our New York and Washington correspondents. We had a great talk over the question of the union of the English-speaking races. Saw Sir Archibald Murray in the afternoon, and we discussed the defence of Egypt. He does not think that more than seven divisions will be required, plus cavalry, and proposes to go forward to Katia, so as to deny this oasis to the Turks and Germans. He did not seem very keen on my plan of attacking the communications of the Turks in Palestine. He thinks that we must leave one division in reserve to watch the raiders on the Western frontier. There are about 40,000 Turks in Palestine just now, and we have 85,000 men in Egypt, but scarcely any of the larger units. We have nearly five divisions in Salonika now, with three French. We have to hold this place through the winter, but the enemy may try to take it if it is any use to him. There are gathering in front of us nine Bul- garian divisions and two German. We discussed the evacua- tion of GalHpoli. The 2nd Mounted Division is aheady away safely. We also discussed Mesopotamia. Charles Townshend's division was only 11,000 combatants (all 1915] LOED DERBY ON RECRUITING 85 ranks) at Kut, and 9000 at Ctesiphon, and yet Crewe said in the Lords that he had more than a division, i.e. more than 20,000 men. The Cabinet appear to know less about our afiairs than any other body of men. Dined with the Charles Beresfords, the young Duchess of Sutherland, Lady Ridley, the Ralph Petos, Lord Dunraven, Edmund Gosse, the Aga Khan, Lord and Lady Edmund Talbot, and some others. Took in Lady Ridley, who was very interesting. The Admiral monopoUsed the conversation after dinner, and held forth at great length about Labour politics. There was some violent speaking against poor old Haldane, in which neither Gosse nor I joined, and I know we both totally disagreed. One might as well try to dam Niagara with a toothbrush as stop an anti-Haldane talk just now. Talked to Edmund Talbot when we went upstairs. He asked me my views on Commanders and Staff Officers, and I gave them. He confirmed what Lady Edmund had told me that the Cabinet were not informed of Sir John Simon's intention to adjourn the House and attack the T lines the other day. The Tories very angry at Simon's tactics. Saturday, Dec. 11. Saw Lord Derby at Derby House. He could not give me the figures as he was reserving them for Asquith to announce, but I gathered that he was fairly satisfied, though the starring had been very badly done. There were a tremendous lot of men of all sorts. He said that owing to the number of reserved trades and occupations, he did not think that even Compulsion would give us enough men to keep going the seventy divisions which we are said to have promised to French. His honour was entirely involved in the married men not going until all single men had gone, according to his promise. He had not made up his mind what he was going to do in case the Prime Minister did not make a complete state- ment of the facts, but if the worst came to the worst he would resign, and make a quite clear public statement. He was in a difficult position because he had figures before him which were confidential, but I think he means to Bee the P6 SALONIKA AND THE DAEDANELLES thing through, and have all the facts brought out. There is little doubt in my mind that he would like to go to the War Office as War Minister. He would like Lord K. to be Commander-in-Chief, and free of the War Office ad- ministration. But he suggests that Lord K. should stiU be head of the General Stafi, and this would never do, for he would never allow it to represent its views freely to the Cabinet. If Lord K. were made C.-in-C. he would become opposite number to Jo&e, who has just been advanced to the same position in relation to all the French armies, instead of Chief of the Army of the North-East alone. Meantime, Lord K. is comfortably installed and does not look hke moving ! Had lunch with Mrs. Astor — a send-off party. Jack Cowans, the Aga Khan, Lady Belle Herbert, Colonel Walker (a Yankee who wanted to meet me), Wolkoff, and one or two Foreign Office people, with Colonel Stuart and Lady Paget. Belle Herbert sat next to me, and we had a very amusing talk. Lady Paget vows that we have lost sixteen ships in the Mediterranean. Jack told me that they had taken 600,000 Derby recruits up to Friday, and ex- pected 100,000 more to-day, but these are gross figures. I told him that we were 300,000 men short of our establish- ments, and that I should have to make a row about it. Mrs. Astor very charming. We were all sorry to say Good-bye, but she hopes she wiU not be long away. Sunday, Dec. 12. Mrs. Townshend and John Walter came to lunch at Mary on ; the latter, who is forty-two, is going to take up soldiering again ; he has been seven years away from the old Volunteers. Mrs. Townshend interesting about her husband's ex- periences in Mesopotamia. She brought his despatch of the battle of Kut for me to read. A well-planned and well-executed battle. He had 11,000 men, and did not wish to go on without reinforcements, but apparently India pressed for an advance for the sake of our prestige in Persia, which would have profited by the capture of Bagdad ; so Townshend went on and fought the battle of 1915] TOWNSHEND AT CTESIPHON 87 Ctesiphon with 9000 men, or less than half the strength of a division, against not 8000 Turks but 30,000. Our intel- ligence service must have been very bad. His casualties were about haK his force. In the India Office, judging by what Austen Chamberlain seems to have said to Mrs. Townshend, they had not expected him to get back without a disaster. Lord Crewe's statement in the House of Lords, that Townshend had more than a division, is evidently completely inaccurate ; but this may have been said to deceive the enemy. We must not make a fuss about it at present. Mrs. Townshend amusing about French politics, the Salonika expedition, and the higher commanders of the French and the Enghsh. She vows that the French are rather wild with us, but apparently with no reason. The idea that we did not send men enough, or quickly enough, to the Balkans, is stultified by the fact that we have 100,000 men and the French 60,000 now on the spot, though we lent ships to carry the French. The enemy is attacking our troops in the Balkans and pushing back our 10th Division, which is protecting the French right. Monday, Dec. 13. Lunch with Ireland and Kitty at the Berkeley. He is expecting to go off to France at any moment. Dined at Ciro's with Lady Colebrooke, Lady Sarah Wilson, and Sir Seymour Fortescue. A pleasant dinner and good cooking ; not too many people as there usually are at lunch. We adjourned to the Commodore's dehghtful rooms at St. James's Palace. All news from the Balkans is bad. Wednesday, Dec. 15. Lunched with Mrs. Leeds and had a long talk with her. Dined with Lord Haldane. He showed me the diary of his visit to Berlin in 1912, and wishes that it could be published. I did not gather very much that was fresh from it. I told him that the main points which weighed against him were that he had admitted his anxiety about the situation in 1912, but had not warned the pubhc, and, secondly, that he had claimed in an article that the pubhc had to instruct the statesman and not vice versa. 88 SALONIKA AND THE DAEDANELLES Thursday, Dec. 16. Announcement made that F.M. Sir John French is to be replaced by Douglas Haig in France. Saw Sir John at 94 Lancaster Gate in the morning. Brinsley FitzGerald also there. The F.M. looking fit and well. The P.M. had written to him that the F.M.'s age and the great strain made it advisable in the pubHc interest that he should come home, but that the P.M. would not insist or recall him. It was practically a recall, and it is absurd to speak of the action having been taken ' at the instance ' of Sir John French. The F.M. is glad to be out of it, as during the last few months the Government had so pestered him with all kinds of worries, that he had not been able to attend properly to his work. They had also vexed him with a system of espionage in France and round his London house, though I suppose they will say that they were after some one else. Sir WiUiam Robert- son is to come home too and to take Murray's place, which is a mean trick to play on the latter when he has done so well. French says that Murray is to have a Corps. He says that he and I can meet again now. We spoke of the F.M.'s new work, and I told him that he would find chaos and have a great deal to do, and that a good A.G. would be indispensable. Drove off with Brinsley, and we discussed the Drexel divorce. Lunched with the Dutch Minister and Madame van Swinderen at 32 Green Street — Ribblesdale's house. Baron Michiels, Count Limburg-Stirum — just appointed Governor of the Dutch East Indies — and his wife, and Sir Eyre Crowe of the F.O. Van Swinderen beheves that Grey will not return to the F.O. He was furious with us for abstracting Dutch mails in our territorial waters, and declares that Grey was away fishing and that Nicholson knew nothing about it. He attacked Crowe on the subject. Lord Curzon rang me up at lunch at the Legation, and said that the Queen of the Belgians had arrived in England, and wished me to go down to Hackwood to-morrow to meet her. Walked back with Crowe and had an interesting talk. Dined with Lady Sarah Wilson, 21 Hertford Street. Lord 1915] A VISIT TO HACKWOOD 89 and Lady Alington, Sir Charles Hartopp, Sir 0. Metcalfe, IVIi's. Leeds, and Mrs. Ley from the U.S. Consulate at Berhn. Lady Sarah very pleasant. Mrs. Ley would not talk much, and I doubt that she knows much of the German situation. She has got into hot water for having talked too freely about the merits and strength of the Germans, and had evidently been warned. Friday, Dec. 17. Lunched with Mrs. Toby Long, 55 Seymour Street. Vansittart of the F.O., and Trefusis, late of the Scots Guards, on parole from HoUand. Went on to the Ritz to meet Lady Paget, Mrs. Leeds, Lady Headfort and Jack Cowans. Jack said that they had lost one trans- port a day during November in the Mediterranean. But the spirits of people in England are proof against aU adverse fortune, and it is a great source of strength. Incidentally, they do not know anything. Down to Basingstoke by train and thence motored to Hackwood. Found the Queen of the Belgians, Countess Ghislaine de Caraman Chimay, Count de Griinne, Mr. Henry Chaplin, Lady Irene Curzon — grown very handsome — and her two sisters. An agreeable dinner. Chaplin most amusing, and Curzon full of good stories as usual. During dimier the question came up whether a cow's ears were in front of or behind its horns, and above them or below them. We aU had different views except Chaphn, who has been Minister of Agriculture, and said that he had not the faintest idea ! Sat between Ghislaine and Lady Irene. The former rather depressed and with less than her usual spirits. She had been six months in Paris, and Paris is depressing in this war. Lady Irene I found quite charming. After dinner talked to the Queen aU the evening tiU she went to bed, and then with Curzon up to 1.30 a.m. Curzon told me that MiUerand had come over and had stampeded the War Council. The Cabinet then took it up and negatived the Salonika expedition, of which Curzon entirely disapproved. Then Briand came in and sent Joffre, who practically made the War Council nomiQit themselves, and the Cabinet's hand was forced. 90 SALONIKA AND THE DARDANELLES Curzon seems to approve on the whole of French's super- session, because the regimental commanders had lost con- fidence in him — so he says. Curzon had also disapproved the advance on Bagdad, but declares that any one who knows any particular subject connected with the war is sure to be overruled when the subject is discussed. He says that the question of Sir John's recall was never submitted to the Cabinet, and he knew nothing of the Robertson- Murray change before I told him. He was grieved about Murray and sent to him some flattering messages by me. We discussed recruiting and the Derby boom at great length. I hope, if the P.M. fails in his duty, that Curzon and the conscriptionists will leave the Cabinet in a body, L. G. has told Curzon that he will stand by them. I heard from Cowans to-day that we had taken over 2,000,000 names by the Derby scheme, and that Derby imagines that only a quarter of them will be utiUsable. I passed this on to Curzon and advised him to learn the present deficit in the Army from the A.G. Saturday, Dec. 18. The Queen came down early and sat at breakfast with me. We then went for a long walk to- gether till my car came. She took several photos of me. She thought, and said the King thought, that the position was very serious. They had now 115,000 Belgian troops at the front, and 30,000 in reserve — a good result in the circumstances. She deplored Salonika, and took me all over the various fronts, I telling her my views and she telling me hers, which were shrewd and much to the point. She knew that our AlHes had dragged us to Salonika and desired that we should adopt a firmer attitude. She said that the Belgians in Belgium were found by the Germans to be most intractable, more so than the French in the occupied territory. A Belgian soldier at the Paris Conference had brought back a report that the Russians were short of men, not rifles, but this can scarcely be right. She quoted Com- mandant Gallet as saying that the Anglo-French manner of conducting the offensive was wrong, with which I agreed. She was anxious about Loreburn and Courtney's speeches 1915] MURRAY FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN 91 about peace, but I reassured her and said that they had no following, that we were going on no matter what happened, and that the Russians would do the same, even if the French, owing to their losses, found some need to spare their men. We agreed that the Germans could go on for some time, but I told her that we and the Russians ought to be able to place more men on the front next year than Germany could freshly raise, and that our men and munitions com- bined would give us the pull. We discussed the Yser in- undations and how to use them in case of a frost. The Queen had been in the trenches, and as far forward as a bridge-head across the Yser within 50 yards of the Germans. Except Alexander of Teck, there was no one left of the old English Mission with the Belgians, and the Queen did not know who was to replace Tom Bridges, who had got a division. The Queen made me promise that I would visit her at La Panne when I next went to France. Returned to town and went to see Sir Archibald Murray at the W.O. in the afternoon to condole with him. He showed me the P.M.'s letter, very flattering to him, saying that now he was to succeed Monro in the Mediterranean. Thus the change of the higher command in France entails the shifting of Robertson, Murray, and Monro, three of the best soldiers we have. What a mess ! Lord K. had been very curt with Murray, and had simply said that he had meant to make a change. We have taken eight divisions from France, where our front, after the arrival of some five New Army divisions, will be two to three less on balance. The Boches will indeed be pleased. The Army for the defence of Egypt is to be eight divisions and eight mounted brigades. We are undertaking our main work of evacuation at Gallipoli to-morrow night — a terrible anxiety. We hold the right at Salonika, and the French the left — an extended Hne . The G .S . had just drafted a memo, on the general situation. It dealt in divisions, not entering into recruiting, and showed first how many divisions were needed for defensive purposes. Murray thinks that the Allies on the main front must agree to act 92 SALONIKA AND THE DARDANELLES simultaneously, and that on each front there must be a general attack where we stand. In this manner the enemy will not be able strategically or tactically to deplete one front, or one part of the front, for the profit of another. Robertson is coming in next Friday. Dined with Colonel MacFarlane and a party of men. Sunday, Dec. 19. Lord Haldane called in the afternoon. We deplored the Staff changes. His idea of the psychology was that the Cabinet were too weak to order Lord K. to Egypt, and therefore put in Robertson to neutralise him and stand up to him. We both thought that Murray was the best man in London, and R. invaluable in France. Discussed recruiting, but I found Lord H. still in the old Radical strain, and I expect no help from him. Lord H. would prefer Haig as C.I.G.S., and Balfour as War Minister. I should not. Monday, Dec. 20. Went to see Laszlo's portrait of Mrs. Leeds. A great success. A fine piece of work, and a most companionable picture. Lunched with Mrs. Leeds, Lady Sarah, Mrs. George Keppel, and some others. Dined at the Hotel Cecil with the Northern Association of Unionist agents. Lockett Agnew presided with great verve over a large body of capable men, mostly from Lanca- shire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, etc. I addressed them on the war, not mincing matters. Made an effective speech. Steel-Maitland also spoke, and was as critical of the Govern- ment as I was. Mrs. Keppel told me to-day that Lord K. had been offered India and refused it. Steel-Maitland, however, says that Austen Chamberlain vows that he will leave the India Ofi&ce if K. is made Viceroy. All the Ministry are pining to dispose of K., but no one can bell the cat. K. is not on the pinnacle he once was, but the mass of the people hold to him. Tuesday, Dec. 21. We heard this morning that our troops had evacuated GaUipoli and Anzac successfully ; a great relief to us all, and especially to the Government, which would probably have been turned out had the operation 1915] LORD K. AND EAST AFRICA 93 cost as much as was feared by Ian Hamilton and others. Spoke to CaUwell at the W.O. about the share of the General Staff in the initial miUtary attack on the peninsula of GaUipoU. He assured me- that the G.S., as such, were never consulted, nor had been asked to express an opinion. Lord K. alone was responsible. Maurice and Whigham are coming back with Robertson, and Kiggell goes out as C.G.S. to Haig. Saw a friend and discussed the general situation. The continuation of the alHed pressure on the three main fronts is in our opinion the best road to victory. We agreed upon the uselessness of the Balkan theatre to us. and exchanged views about the danger of an oversea attack on us at home, especially if we make our main offensive elsewhere than in France. I am told that Murray says that the attack on Egypt may come sooner than expected. He sails next Tuesday. He wiU have exclusive command, but will allot to Maxwell responsibihty for the Sudan and Western fronts. Several Ministers, notably BaKour, have deplored his departure. We discussed East Africa. The Germans have 2200 whites, perhaps 20,000 blacks, and 63 guns. The raising of the S.A. Levies for the war had to await the close of the late elections in S.A., and they will now not be ready before the raiiiy season (April-July) comes on. So the proceedings this winter wiU be preparatory only, and the German posts inside our frontier will be beaten up. Lord K. strongly dissents from the G.S. proposal to attack German East Africa. He seems to have written hke a cross schoolgirl, and his paper is said to be nearly as feeble a production as his instructions to Sir Ian when the latter started for the Dardanelles. Dined with Lady Sarah Wilson, Lady Colebrooke, and Sir S. Fortescue at the Commodore's rooms in St. James's Palace. A capital dinner and a good talk. Wednesday, Dec. 22. Engaged upon a summary of the year when I want to be at much more important work. Dillon attacked me in the House of Commons last night. 94 SALONIKA AND THE DARDANELLES He says that I ' might be described as the 23rd member of the Cabinet ; very much more powerful than the other 22 members ' (official report). I wish he had heard my speech at the Cecil ! Lunched with Mrs. George Keppel, Lady Sarah Wilson, and a few more. Heard some interesting things. Dmed wdth Lydia Kyasht at her house, 37 Avenue Road, Regent's Park. A very pleasant dinner. Lydia full of her late visit to Russia, describing the state of destitution as awful, and declaring that a revolution is imminent, and that the only question is whether it can be postponed tiU May. She says that the Army is all right, and they will have 7 million men in the spring, but I fear only 2 milHon will be armed. The Army want the Grand Duke Nicholas back, but some regiments will stand by the Tsar. Society is now all for revolution, but whether they will profit by it is another matter. Her description of the influence of the favourite so-called monk, Rasputin, who is an illiterate peasant, unable to read or write, is most astonish- ing. He is said to have the Tsar and the Tsaritsa completely under his influence. Unheard of tales are told of his goings- on. He told the Grand Duke that he was coming to bless the Army, and the Grand Duke rephed that he would hang him if he came. The next day the Grand Duke was dis- missed and sent to the Caucasus. Many, including Prince Orloff, have tried to open the Tsar's eyes to the rascahty of this Russian Piers Gaveston, but all have failed, the Tsar saying that he will allow no one to interfere in his private affairs. Even allowing for exaggerations it is a pretty distressing state of things ; and it seems to be true, as Benckendorff tells his intimates, that no one is governing in Russia, and that things are drifting. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 24-25. Met Johnny Du Cane and Peter Granet, Xmas Day, on my return from Ockham, Johnny said that they had just succeeded in detonating ammonal, and he was very pleased about it. Our H.E. shells supplied since June had been on the 80 to 20 basis, and 50 per cent, of them had proved ineffective. Partly owing to this, 1915] RUSSIAN CONTRACTS 95 and to the fact that many shells had burst at the muzzle, and to the conservatism of the artillery, which would not easily transform itself from a shrapnel to a H.E. artillery, we had used 500 rounds of shrapnel to 60 of H.E. at the Loos battle. Things were coming on, but we aU agreed that the rearma- ment of Russia was a primary interest of all the AUies. Knox had come back from the British Mission in Russia stating that they had only 800,000 rifles left after the re- treat. It is thought that they cannot have more than 1,500,000 by the spring, as U.S.A. suppHes wiU not come in until well on into next summer. Du Cane said that the Russians had first made their own contracts in America. Then it had been decided that all orders should go through England, whereupon the Russian man in America, who thereby lost his commission, refused to pass the rifles in America ! How can one win a war when these things happen in such a grave crisis ? Looked in at OUve's Xmas tree. Pretty Bridget kissed me under the mistletoe. SuTiday, Dec. 26. Wrote an article on ' Trade or Victory.' It will make the Radical Press howl. But after all, if you give the Aimy men you get victory, and if you keep them back for trade you don't get victory, and then eventually get no trade. Victory gives all. Q.E.D. Monday, Dec. 27. Dined at the Carlton with H.H. the Aga Khan, Lady Paget, and Mrs. Cis Bingham. Lady P. sure that the P.M. and Lord K. would soon be out of office. The A.K. and I doubted about the P.M. We all imagined that the Cabinet to-day at 3 p.m. on the Derby scheme would lead to no decision, and in fact this was so. Mrs. Bingham described Sir John French's departure from the Army. All the cavalry, 35,000 men, hned the two sides of the road and cheered him to the echo. Cis Bingham found the tears rolhng down his cheeks, and when the F.M. stopped to shake hands with him he was so overcome that he could not say a word. We went on to a very siUy play called the Sjxinish Main, and saw an act and a half of it, which was more than enough. 96 SALONIKA AND THE DARDANELLES Had no chance of a good talk with the Aga Khan about Eastern affairs. Tuesday, Dec. 28. The Daily News attacks my last article and makes a precious hash of its reply. The Cabinet meets again to-day at 11.30. Some think that it will break up on the question of compelling single men to serve. Went to see F.M. Sir John French at 94 Lancaster Gate and had nearly two hours with him. Sir John told me more fully the story of his giving up the command. When the P.M., Balfour, and Lloyd George were in Paris, Sir John heard rumours of a change, and drafted a letter to say that unless he had the entire confidence of the Cabinet he pre- ferred to resign. But Esher, then at G.H.Q., asked him to hold the letter up, and posted off to Paris, saw each one of the three Ministers separately, and was told that they had not thought of any such thing. Shortly after, when Lord K. had gone East, Esher came over to France with a verbal message from the P.M., saying that on account of the F.M.'s age, and because the P.M. wanted him at home, it would be better for the F.M. to resign. Sir John then went to London, and arrived one Saturday night when the P.M. was away. Sir John consulted Walter Long, who was all for a personal interview, and the F.M. saw the P.M. on the following Monday evening at 5. The P.M. was very nice to him and told him that he, the P.M., had been Lord K.'s only friend in the Cabinet, but he was now unable to put up with him, and consequently wanted Sir John to Com- mand-in-Chief at home, so that the Cabinet might have his military advice. He said that there was no hurry, and that if Sir John himself did not decide to return, he, the P.M., would not insist. Sir John said that he had to consider whether he was justified in leaving the Army which had fought so bravely under him ; secondly, to consider what view history would take of his action ; thirdly, to know who was to succeed him. The P.M. agreed, and as to the last point, said he would consult the F.M., who eventually nominated Robertson, but without success. He then re- turned to France after telling the P.M. that he was in 1915] STEENGTHS IN FRANCE 97 consultation with Walter Long, a course of which the P.M. approved. A few days later Lord K.'s unexpected return was made known to be imminent, and Walter Long wrote to Brinsley FitzGerald saying that the P.M. reaUy wanted French badly at home, and advised resignation. On this advice French acted. We discussed the whole affair. Sir John thinks that the P.M. really wants him, and had told him that home defence was in a state of chaos, but French also thinks that there was an intrigue against him and in favour of Haig, who proposes to make X. his military secretary, a post for which X., despite his good points, is not very suitable. French thinks that it suited the P.M.'s book to fall in with this arrangement. However, we are agreed that the Cabinet were not consulted on this change, or on any of the others recently announced, and that there is still some mj^^stery about the P.M.'s decision which must be cleared up. French thinks that we have 35 divisions and the French 96 in the West. We had a combined superiority of 700,000 men in September, but since then the Germans have brought 12 divisions from the East, while we and the French have lost 8 for Salonika, and we could not count the New Army divisions recently sent out to France because they are no good yet. In fact, taking 10,000 men as the average fighting strength of a division in rifles, we have 350,000 only, and the French 960,000, making 1,310,000, and the German 103 divisions equal 1,030,000, so that the balance in our favour is only 280,000 rifles, while we have to remember the German superiority in heavy guns and machine guns. He gives the Germans only 45 divisions, or under 500,000 rifles, on the Russian front. The Grerman units are kept up better in France than in Russia. The German division should have 13,000 rifles, but in the West companies are down to 150-180 men in the place of 250, giving about 10,000 rifles per division, and he doubts whether in Russia the German battaUons are so high. He does not believe that the Germans have VOL. I. Q 98 SALONIKA AND THE DARDANELLES more than 1,000,000 men left in reserve. He practically rules out the Russians for the rest of the campaign. Note that 350,000 rifles for 80 miles of front held is only 2| men per yard, even if all were there. In his new job the F.M. will not get into his office for two days. He is to have training and home defence, and the inspectors will be under him. He had half an hour with Lord K. and Sclater (the A.G.) this morning, and jotted down a few notes about numbers, but is quite ignorant of his command. He imagines that he will have the last five of the New Army divisions, and thirteen 2nd-line Territorial divisions, but the former go abroad in February and March, and the latter will follow, when he will only have 300,000 scratch volunteers, at present unarmed, and about 1,000,000 others, chiefly recruits, depots, special reserves, invalids, and garrisons — a motley crew, but, as ever, Sir John disbelieves in invasion, and would send all his men to France if asked. His Staff for operations will be at the War Office, but I told him that his head man at least should be with him at his office. He promises to look very carefully into strengths and rifles, and to see all the weak commanders. He gets on perfectly with Robertson. The latter insisted on full powers when appointed. Sir John says that Robertson is not like us ; he takes nothing on trust, and finds out himself. He has already had to be very firm with Lord K. Friday, Dec. 31. A New Year's party at 35 Belgrave Square. Lady Paget, the Duchess of Westminster, Lord and Lady Ancaster, Lord and Lady Colebrooke, Mrs. Cis Bingham, Belle Herbert, Jack Cowans, Mrs. Duggan, Mr. O'Beirne, Sir Louis Mallet, the Aga Khan, and one or two others whom I forget. A very cheery evening. We dressed up in the hats from the crackers, ragged a good deal, went out into the square at midnight to hear the chimes, and then back to drink an excellent punch and sing ' Auld Lang Syne.' CHAPTER V THE OUTLOOK FOR 1916 Lord Kitchener and Sir William Robertson — The deficit in our Army- strengths — General Robertson's plans — Derby recruiting estimates — The Compulsion Bill introduced — GalUpoli finally evacuated without loss — Sir Ralph Paget and Mr. O'Beirne on Balkan poUtics — Sir Ian Hamilton on the Dardanelles — Visit to SunninghUl Park — Home Defence chaos — M. Coleyn on German numbers and British strategy — Lord Derby on recruiting — German losses — Sir W. Robert- son's views of events — Sir F. E. Smith's arrest in France — Russia's rifle strength. Tuesday, Jan. 4. Saw Sir William Robertson for the first time since he was installed as C.I.G.S. He told me that he had had to drop his first plans of being wholly inde- pendent of K. because orders had to go out in the name of some Secretary of State to be vahd, so he could not make the War Council his Kaiser as he had wished. He now preferred to range up alongside Lord K., and to act with him. Lord K. had accepted the position that aU orders should go out through R., and an Order in Council would shortly come out in this sense. K. had at one time prac- tically resigned, and the P.M. had accepted the resignation, but R. had met K. at Calais, had travelled to Paris with him, and had induced him to carry on. R. is having much trouble with a section of the Cabinet. McKenna and Runciman are urging that finance and trade require that we should have a small Army. R. advocates the comple- tion of 70 divisions. We have now actually 67, including 3 in India (Territorial), and 6 Canadian and Australasian. He says he beheves that at one of the Calais meetings it was agreed that we would supply 70 divisions. I told him that I knew we were short of establishments, 99 100 THE OUTLOOK FOR 1916 and to keep up the strengths for three months by 338,000 men. He calculates that the Derby recruiting will give us, if we get Compulsion, these needs, and enough men more to go on for nine months — a total need of about 1,500,000 men for the year. He has advised that all the divisions should be raised to war strength, and he cannot do more at present. He has not put this on paper, but has verbally stated the case to the P.M. McKenna was opposing the 70 divisions, but he did not apparently know that they all existed, or that their staffs, guns, cadres, and transport were already provided. It apparently costs 7| miUions to keep up a division, and all found, for a year. To cut off the thirteen 2nd-hne T.F, divisions at home would save McKenna less than 100 millions, which would not go far to pay the 600 millions a year which we lend to our Alhes. R. thinks that there is chaos in our arrangements, but hopes to get it right in a few weeks. All the generals now report to him. He has 200,000 men in Egypt, but can only find two formed divisions out of them, as they are mostly odds and ends. He is worldng up for 12 divisions in Egypt. The Helles lot will try to come away when the weather serves. He considers troops at Salonika useless, and laughs at Garvin's and Strachey's admoni- tions, in the Observer and the Spectator respectively, to make a great campaign in the Balkans. He has not altered the memorandum, the magnum opus as he calls it, of Murray and Kiggell, and has given the Cabinet a short summary of it under a few heads, saying that he has notliing better to propose. He hopes to strengthen the force in France with more troops (4 to 6 divisions) and plenty of heavy guns soon. He will take the troops from Salonika when he can. He says, to my surprise, that Joffre is dead against Salonika, and has thanked R. for opposing the expedition ! Why then did he advocate it here on Oct. 29 ? R. thinks from political motives. R. is not at all sure what the Germans will do. We discussed invasion. R. says that there are 1,200,000 men at home here, and Sir John may be able to do a great work in setting them in order. R. disbe- 1916] DERBY RECRUITING ESTIMATES loi lieves in invasion. He thinks that BaKour and Austen Chamberlain advised the advance on Bagdad, which Nixon had stated he could take but not hold. K. was against the advance. We discussed the chances of a fresh attack on us in the West, and I gave my views. Grey, McMahon, and K. all insist on Maxwell remaining in com- mand in Egypt, though Murray has gone out to command. An absurd line of demarkation has been drawn along the canal. R. strongly opposed this and wanted one com- mander, and the poor P.M. was in a quandary to decide between R. and K. Finally he supported K., and R. did not think it worth while to resist any more. But the P.M. will make Murray fuU General, and then in case of need he can order Maxwell about. R. sees httle sign of a Turkish attack on Egypt, but admits that our informa- tion from these parts is defective. He has brought Mac- donogh home to run his Intelhgence Service here, which pleases me very much. Dined at Ohve's ; Belle Herbert, Lady Colebrooke's pretty daughter-in-law Mrs. Murray, Colonel Wyndham Portal, Lady Randolph Churchill, and Pat. Was very late, but so were some of the others. A very pleasant dinner, and we had a rare gossip afterwards. Lady Randolph in great form, and most bitter against Lord K. The figures of the Derby recruiting scheme came out this afternoon. We should get, according to these estimates : Unstarred attested men . 343,386 ,, married ,, . 487,676 Unattested single ,, (651,000), say 300,000 Direct enhstments taken . 275,000 Total 1,406,062 This is only an estimate, but if it works out all right Robertson wiU get the men he needs for 1916 at aU events. Wednesday, Jan. 5. Went down to hear the P.M. bring in the Compulsion BiU. Had a seat under the clock in the Sergeant-at- Arms' box. A packed house. The P.M. very quiet and undemonstrative. He spoke so low that he was 102 THE OUTLOOK FOR 1916 invited to speak up. A great want of magnetism, and judged by this speech his powers are faiHng, but it may be onl}^ a trick. He gave no explanations of the mihtary necessity for the Bill, but restricted himself to the pohtical side, to his pledge, and to the terms of his Bill. Sir John Simon, who has happily left the Government, got up next and made an unhappy speech for a Minister who has had all the facts before him. He was cheered by the riff-raff of the Left, but he made a bad impression. Thursday, Jan. 6. The Bill passes first reading, majority 298. Bonar Law, Ward, Barnes, Samuel, and BaKour made the most effective sjDeeches. The Labour Conference passes a resolution by a supposed large majority against Compulsion. Friday, Jan. 7. Dined with Lady Charles Beresford. Congratulated her and the Admiral on the peerage. Lady Norreys, Mrs. Maguire, Lady Kitty Somerset, Lady Paget, Lord and Lady Lytton, etc. A pleasant dinner and a good talk afterwards about politics and strategy, Charlie B. holding forth with shrewd good sense and much to the point. Saturday, Jan. 8, Went down to Coombe for the week- end. There were either there or came over on Sunday, Sir A. and Lady Paget, Lord and Lady Granard, Lord and Lady Charles Beresford, Sir John Cowans, Sir Charles Hartopp, Mrs. Peto (who was Ruby Lindsay), Mrs. Keppel, Sir Ralph Paget (late Minister to Serbia), Bogey Harris, and Mr. O'Beirne (late Minister at Sofia). A pleasant party, but we sat up too late. Jack Cowans told us on Sunday night that the last part of GalHpoli had been successfully evacuated without loss. This was good news. Official estimates led people to fear the loss of between 30,000 and 50,000 men. He told us that we had now 1000 ships in the Mediterranean, and that the cost was something frightful. He mentioned one that had been at Mudros since the spring, and was costing £90,000 a month, and another that was travelling about with a heavy gun which could not be landed anywhere, and had already cost the country £11,000. He 1916] DIPLOMATS ON THE BALKANS 103 had telegraphed to tell them to throw the gun into the sea and come home. I had a long talk, first with Sir Arthm" Paget, and then with O'Beirne, in the morning of Sunday, and in the after- noon I walked over with Mrs. Keppel to call on Lady Ripon. We found Gladys and Juliet both at home ; also that shrewd judge of affairs, Several. Topps and O'Beirne came in after us. We had a great poUtical talk. Gladys very amusing about the French Ministry, many of whom seem to be mixed up with different ladies, and their colleagues all make it warm for them in consequence. Mrs. X, tells me that she met a French Army Commander who assured her that France could not go on any more, and that it was necessary to think of terms of peace. Gammon ! There is a great difference of opinion about McKenna and Runciman, who are making themselves rather a nuisance just now. Had an interesting talk at breakfast with Ralph Paget and O'Beirne about Balkan politics. Each of these ex- Ministers takes the point of view of the country to which he has been accredited, Paget holding that the Bulgars are liars and thieves, and O'Beirne holding that the Serbs committed suicide by not giving up to Bulgaria the con- tested territory. Paget thinks that the war will be over very soon owing to the exhaustion of the Germans. He says that there are very few Germans left in Serbia, and that they have all gone off again to the Russian front, and to watch Rumania. His account of the Serbian retreat is very interesting. The Ford cars seem to have done best on the rough roads. He thinks that about 120,000 of the Serbians are left one way or another, but that the submarines make a difficulty in getting them away from the Adriatic to Salonika. Lady Charles amused me very much by asking ' what the Baron was sajdng.' I could not think what she meant, but it was Charlie B. holding forth at the other end of the table. There is some feeling because he took the peerage from Asquith, whom he attacked so severely, but I don't think that this is fair criticism, for in a 104 THE OUTLOOK FOR 1916 Coalition Government Lord Lansdowne has his own Ust for honours. Jack produced a lot of stories and verses. The sup- posed French communique was rather good. Tuesday, Jan. 11. Wrote an article on 'Amateur Strategy ' in the morning, but it was banned by the Censor. Lunched with Sir Ian and Lady Hamilton at 1 Hyde Park Gardens. He and I at once plunged into the history of the Dardanelles expedition. He told me that the largest number of effectives that he had ever had under him at any time was about 130,000, and that the Turks had available on the peninsula, or within easy reach of it, 240,000 men. I told him my views which I had written down in my article in the morning, namely, that the matter really resolved itself into a fight between two main Armies, in which case his Army was not strong enough to gain victory. I told him that I did not think, if he had captured the heights above the Narrows, that the Navy could have compelled the Turks to make peace, and that therefore the objective assigned to him was not a correct one. He admitted that the whole thing had been planned in a most sketchy manner between him, K., Call well, and Braithwaite during an hour's vague talk before he went out, when Kitchener scarcely thought that a landing would be necessary, but said that, if it was, Ian was to restrict himself to the penin- sula. There was no paper before this meeting for considera- tion, and the whole thing was left exceedingly nebulous. Sir Ian thought that the Navy would have expected to dominate the Sea of Marmora and to starve the Turks by controlhng the railway which fringes the Asiatic shore of the Marmora, but the submarines had exercised this command to a large extent for a long time without starving the Turks, and the latter could still have got supphes over the Bosphorus from Asia Minor or from Thrace, Bulgaria, and Rumania. He showed me the correspondence about his subordinate commanders, from which it appears he had asked for Byng and RawUnson, as he had told me before, but had been refused because 1916] THE EVACUATION AT GALLIPOLI 105 K. did not wish to supersede his old friend Mahon in the command. Mahon was a senior Lieut. -General, and there was hardly any one senior to him worth taking. We looked at the Army List and I saw no one except Lake and Willcocks worth thinking of. K. had offered him Spencer Ewart, and Ian had repMed that he would not do as he could not get about in the trenches. He unfortunately added that Stopford would do better than Ewart, so that in a sense he was responsible for Stopford coming out. Sir Ian also showed me a letter from Bird wood about Lord K.'s visit to GalUpoli, from which it appeared that ' Birdie,' in changing his opinion about the evacuation and in ap- proving it, was influenced by K.'s, Maxwell's, and McMahon's opinions about the imminence of an attack on Egypt, and by the fact that the Army in this case would not pull its weight in the boat by remaining at the Dardanelles. We are told some amusing stories about the evacuation. Ingenious contrivances were made to fire off guns and rifles mechanically when the troops had left, and then went on firing for half an hour after the troops had embarked. There does not appear to be the sHghtest truth in the rumour which naturally goes round that the Turks were bribed. Wednesday, Jan. 12. First meeting of the Hampstead Tribunal. The Mayor, Mr. O'Bryen, the Town Clerk, and four or five others, rather inclined to be Jacks-in-office, and even to dispute the right of Colonel Sheffield and myself to appear, as we had not our credentials with us. I had asked om- Advisory Committee to come up and Hsten to the meeting and see how things were done and worked, but the Mayor put them all out, saying that he did not want their help, which is not the point at aU. The harm had been done before Sheffield and I had arrived. They took 2| hours to do ten cases, and Heaven only knows how long we shall be when the Compulsion Bill comes into force. I have had no deahngs with Municipal authorities before, and did not know their idiosyncrasies. Thursday, Jan. 13. Lunched with Mrs. Keppel; Lady To6 THE OUTLOOK FOR 1916 Paget, Lord Ilchester, Lady Juliet Duff, and Mr. and Mrs. Leishman (who represented the U.S. in Constantinople and Berhn), Violet Keppel, and Bogey. Found Leishman a very intelhgent and well-informed old gentleman. His wife has been a great beauty. We had an amusing lunch, and all chaffed a good deal. JuHet in great good looks. I was glad to see Violet again ; she is such a clever girl, and so attractive ; but I told her that she frightened me to death, for she is the best mimic in London, and a noted caricaturist — two most dangerous accompHshments. I heard her taking off some people at Mrs. Rupert Beckett's after dinner one night last year ; she is inimitable and acts each part to the hfe. Lady Minnie in good form and full of amusing stories. I am attending a meeting of the Advisory Committee at the recruiting office in Finchley Road, and go there again to-day. The Advisory Committee consists of one barrister, one Labour man, and five local tradesmen of the better class. Mr. David, K.C., is chairman. They are a good lot of fellows to work with, and are very fair in examining claims. Our trade unionist is the hardest man of all on the poorer classes. Friday, Jan. 14. Things are going badly with Montenegro, which looks Uke losing her capital and getting quite knocked out. The ItaUans have been very slack in the Adriatic, where their interests are most involved, I don't wonder that the French Press are sarcastic about them. The Giornale d'ltalia asked me for another interview to tell them what I think of the Adriatic, but I have not answ'ered the invita- tion as I should not have anything pleasant to say about them. Last time they interviewed me, their man did not send me the account before it was pubhshed, as he promised to do, and apparently he made me say all sorts of awful things, for all kinds of protests came from various countries, and I was shown a long telegram from our Minister at Bukharest, complaining bitterly about it. So it is best to keep these gentlemen at arm's length, even though this paper is the ItaHan Prime Minister's organ. Monday, Jan. 17. Went down on Saturday to spend the 1916] SUNNINGHILL PAKE 107 week-end at Sunninghill Park, near Ascot, with Mrs. Duggan. Travelled down to Windsor by train with Lady Sarah Wilson. Jack Stirling came to say Good-bye at Padding- ton ; he is off to France to-morrow, and hopes to get com- mand of a battahon. We had some talk before the train left. Motored through Windsor Great Park, and then to the house. A large, comfortable, early- Victorian house, with 1000 acres of park and farms, and a large lake bordered by woods. Our party consists of Mrs. Duggan and her three children, — including a perfectly adorable Uttle girl of eight — Lady Sarah, Lady Paget, Sir George and Lady Arthur, Lord Curzon of Kedleston, Lord Ribblesdale, and Lord Drogheda. There also came over on Sunday afternoon Colonel Ames from Windsor and Lady Downshire and party from East- hampstead Park. Lady Downshire the second wife of the 6th Marquess : a beautiful woman with great natural dignity. The house has some treasures in it, especially some of the pictures, but also a good few early- Victorian horrors. A very comfortable house to stay in, and a very charm- ing hostess. We did a great deal of talking and walking. I had some good talks with George Arthur about Kitchener, whose private secretary he is. Lord K. seems much more free now than he was. Had some long talks with Curzon about pohtics and the war. He thinks that Sir John Simon made a miscalculation, and fancied that he was going to find himself at the head of a strong party instead of the riff-raff. I told him about the money received from Germany at the time of the last railway strike, and suggested that they should pubhsh the facts now in order to dish the strike-makers, who are still opposing Compulsion. He seems still hurt that he is not on the War Council. I am not surprised. We had an interesting talk about the manner in which the history of this time will be written, and he wondered whether any Cabinet Minister wrote an account to some woman or another of what was happening. He felt sure that no Cabinet Minister kept a diary. He did not think that there io8 THE OUTLOOK FOR 1916 was going to be a big affair in France just now as is runioured. We had a good deal of chaff with Wolkoff about the Russian offensive movement in progress now. Wolkoff could not understand why the Russians were attacking alone, nor could we. Tuesday, Jan. 18. Dined with Mr. and Mi's. Edward Stonor, the Marquis d'Hautpoul, Baron Michiels, and Lady Colebrooke. Good pleasant conversation, and first-rate Bridge ; both d'Hautpoul and Michiels play admirably. Thursday, Jan. 20. Lunched in Belgrave Square. Lady Paget, Prince and Princess Victor Napoleon, Mrs. Duggan, Wolkoff, and Max-MuUer of the Foreign Office. The Princess very nicely dressed, and charming as usual. Mrs. Duggan was in the most attractive widow's weeds imaginable. Callaud of Paris makes a speciaHty of mourning for war widows apparently. These particular weeds included a very pretty hat in crape, with a veil hanging down behind, or rather streamers, and a narrow band of white crape round the hat next her face, and also under her chin. The dress had a white waistcoat of tulle, and open at the neck ; in fact she looked hke a fascinating nun. Laszlo has painted her in this dress. The Princess raved about her afterwards. We had an amusing lunch, and a good talk about Belgium, France, America, and the blockade. I walked away with Max-Muller, who has been writing all the confi- dential reports about German trade, and he told me that his opinion was that economic pressure would never bring the war to an end, but would require to be supplemented by mihtary successes. I had hardly left him before I met Count Wrangel, the Swedish Minister, who told me that mihtary successes would never bring the war to an end, but that economic pressure would. Moral, try both. The Tribunal met at Hampstead to-night, and did its work well. Friday, Jan. 21. Had a lot of letters about my article on ' The Western Front,' which appeared in yesterday's Times, all approving except Ian Hamilton, who was critical but inexplicit, so I wrote to ask him to define an alterna- 1916] PARLIAMENT v. 'TIMES' PLATFORM 109 tive policy. Had an interesting letter from Northcliffe giving his reason why I should not enter Parliament. I had been approached to learn whether I would stand for an important provincial town where one of the sitting members offered to retire in my favour. Northcliffe says that we can open fire with much better effect from the Times plat- form, and that my position is absolutely unique. Lunched with Lady Paget and met Doris Keane and Mi's. Duggan again. I bet tha.t she would not come in the same widow's weeds, but she did, to our joy. Doris Keane was perfectly delightful, and told us all sorts of stories about her play, Romance, and all the letters she had about it every day. She made a profit of £1000 last week, and she puts all her success down to Lady Paget and me for having got her to act before the Queen. There is no doubt that this play goes deep down into the hearts of all classes, and the wonderful acting of this little lady has conquered London. There were 500 people turned away last night. But it is comical that until Doris acted before the Queen no one went to her play, and she was losing £7000 over it. Now all the so-called literary sets think that they have made a great discovery. They have not. They have simply been snobbish sheep. Saturday, Jan. 22. Wrote an article on the Com- mittee of the Compulsion Bill. Feel somewhat doubtful whether we will get the figures that Lord Derby antici- pates, owing to the many exemptions in the Bill and the long lists of reserved trades that are constantly being added to it. In the afternoon went down to see ' Viscount French of Ypres.' French went at great length again into his reasons for coming away from France, and the attitude of the P.M., etc. His account did not vary materially from that which he gave me before, and I find that he still believes that the P.M. wished him to come home to take command owing to the disorganisation here. He said that I had been quite right in warning him that he would find chaos. He had done so. He had found an immense mass of troops, something hke a miUion no THE OUTLOOK FOR 1916 and a quarter or a million and a half, but with no organi- sation worth the name, and most indifferently armed. Out of his Central Forces under Rundle, nominally 170,000 strong, he declares that there are only 30,000 armed. He is to abohsh the generals in command of the Train- ing Centres, except Hunter at Aldershot, and to appoint his senior generals, namely Paget, Bruce Hamilton, Lawson, and perhaps Ewart, in charge of a sector each. He pro- poses to organise each sector on the Hnes of the defences in France, and to j&ght on the coastline, and with plenty of guns if he can get them. He is going to take a tour of the commands, and when he has seen into things he will decide what is best to do. He has not at present a com- plete Staff. He has taken away from the General Staff the Directors of Military Training and Home Defence, namely Lowther and Shaw — both good men ; but he has not an Adjutant-General nor a Q.M.G. branch, though there is one member of the A.G.'s department working with him. He is inclined to suggest that the New Army formations should terminate, and that the whole busi- ness of maintaining in the field both New Armies and Terri- torials should be left to County Associations. I begged him to insist upon having a complete Staff, telling him that the chief part of his work at first would be an Ad- jutant-General's question, and that I thought that he could easily dismiss to civil life 200,000 men now at home, namely convalescent, sick, and immature and useless men. He is inclined to think the same. He is still on very good terms with Robertson and has no difficulties with Lord K. for the moment, but thinks no real good will be done until Lord K. has been got rid off. I recommended that he should have a good look round, and begin by sending in a paper, describing fully and faithfully the existing situation of Home Defence, and giving numbers, arma- ment, fitness for service, and general usefulness or other- wise of the troops for Home Defence. I advised him not to find fault with any one in this paper, or to crusade against anything, but to make it a plain matter-of-fact 1916] M. COLEYN ON GERMAN STRENGTHS iii business statement, so that the Cabinet should know exactly where they stood. I had a talk to George Moore afterwards and found him as bitter as anything against Lord K., and much amused at the excitement in London about him this year. We had a talk about private affairs. Lord French quoted something which amused me, namely, the remark that Lord Cardigan made to the man who came to apologise for running away with his wife, ' My dear sir, you have done me the greatest service that one man can render to another.' I was very glad to hear that he meant to keep on Sir Arthur Paget as one of his sector commanders. Sunday, Jan. 23. Worked in the morning, then had a pleasant drive down to Mother's. Called at OUve's on the way back, and found that her father, Sir John Leshe, had died that afternoon at the age of ninety -three. A wonderful figure ; he was a good artist, a great sports- man, lived through many reigns, and was probably the last living witness of Tom Sayers's great fight. He told Olive the other day that he had had only one disappoint- ment in his life, and that was when, after winning the Grand Military in England, he had failed to win it in Ireland. He and Lady Constance were both very good-looking and very fascinating. She bears the blow well. The funeral is to be at Glaslough. Olive and Mary Crawshay are going over for it. Tuesday, Jan. 25. Lunched with Mrs. Townshend at the Ritz. Saw Townshend's last letters. It is stiU in doubt whether he can be reHeved. After lunch M. Coleyn came to see me. He was Minister of War in Holland for three years, and is just back from a trip in Egypt and to the Dutch East Indies. Van Swinderen, the Dutch Minister, arranged for our meeting. Coleyn expressed himself entirely in agreement with my article of last week on ' The Western Front.' He thinks that the Germans had a total available 11,000,000 men to fight, and that they have lost 3,500,000, and have 1,000,000 112 THE OUTLOOK FOR 1916 on work of national interest. This leaves 3,000,000 men over, after deducting the field forces ; and he said that he found large garrisons at Carlsruhe, Diisseldorf, Wesel, etc., including young men in training. He gives the Germans 18,000,000 men 18 to 45, and 11,000,000 deduct- ing the physically unfit. Not aU the 3,000,000 remaining can be placed at the front, but perhaps 2,500,000, so with wastage at 200,000 a month the effectives may be main- tained for another year. He does not think that the Germans can do much more in Russia, and is disposed to think that they wiU throw for a victory in the West. He scoffs at Salonika, and thinks that our presence there merely keeps the Bulgarians in the field. The foUy of our strategy which keeps 1000 ships in the Mediterranean causes freights to rise and is a tax on our people. He does not think that the attack on Egypt will be very serious. He says that the superior internal organisation of Germany has pre- vented the blockade from being very effective, and agrees that we shall never wear the Germans out with economic pressure. If we tighten up the blockade we shaU meet with the same disappointment. It would be better to let in food and compel the Germans to export gold. He beheves that the German desert railway is within 25 miles of El Kantara, but that a single narrow gauge railway cannot do much. Coleyn suggests that it was perhaps the loans which France gave to Serbia after the Balkan war that made her drag us off to save that Httle country, and he considers that this action was penny- wise and pound- fooHsh, as we have already spent on the expedition more than the whole value of the loans. We do not now know how to get away, and it will take a long time to get away. We are doing no good there. With nearly aU these views I entirely agree. Went on to the Times office to see some people for Northchffe, then had a great discussion with Geoffrey Robinson and Mackenzie on the subject of German casualties. We decided to await my dinner with Haldane next Friday, when I shall see his figures and the premises on which they are based. 1916] LORD DERBY^S VIEWS 113 Wednesday, Jan. 26. Saw Lord Derby at 10.30 a.m. at his house. We had an hour's talk about the Mihtary Service Bill and its prospects. He still thinks, on the whole, that he wiU get the numbers that he anticipated in his report. He is most alarmed about the hsts of reserved trades, several of which have been pubhshed since he made his reports, and, secondly, about the clause deahng with conscientious objectors, the effect of which is very hard to define. He is more afraid of the Government departments than he is of the Tribunals, and I agree with him. The Tribunals are aU right. I asked him who was responsible for aU the Unoleum trade being exempted on one of these hsts, and was much amused by his answer. Derby thinks that the Ministry of Munitions has been very bad about the exemptions, and declares that they have starred 800,000 men. I went into some of the points of the administration of the Group System, and told him where I wanted some changes made. I am to put them on paper and let him see them. He does not think that there is any chance at present of Lord K. going, and he says he. Lord D., is sometimes very despon- dent at things that go on at the War Office. He wants to get his Ist-hne of Lancashire Territorials filled up abroad, but cannot manage it, although the 3rd-hne is 1200 strong. He says that Bethune is a good feUow enough, but is always all things to all men, and being partly under the A.G. and partly under Tennant, is the shuttlecock between the two, and nothing gets done. He says that Lord K. is Hkely to change his A.G. We discussed means of effecting a change, but he says that the Territorials are under the U.S. of S. and so he, Derby, can't get hold of them. He has managed to raise the T.F. estabhshments in France from 800 to 1050, but his Lancashire battahons at the front stand on an average only about 700. In England the territorial battahons are only 650 men. He thinks that this is enough, but I don't. He says that K. is frightened to death of the Cabinet, in which he seems to have many enemies. He says that I can take it that no power on earth will make the Cabinet raise the number VOL, I. H 114 THE OUTLOOK FOR 1916 of divisions in the field above 70, but says that the reason is poHtical and not military. He says that the infantry recruits are now going to pass to the front after three months' training, which is Uttle enough in all conscience. Thursday, Jan. 27. Dined last night with Mrs. Cis Bingham and a party of ten or twelve : Lord and Lady Wolverton, Mrs. Keppel, Lady de Trafford, INIrs. Hope, Sir Fritz and Lady Ponsonby, Wolkoff, and Tommy Maguire. A very pleasant dinner. I had Lady Wolverton and Lady Ponsonby next to me at dinner, and they both talked well. Lunched to-day with Lord Grimthorpe at the Cafe Royal : Dr. Dillon, Mr. Gully, and Lord Wear dale. A very interesting talk, Weardale quite unregenerate about the Mihtary Service Bill. He still talks great nonsense about Compulsion, and thinks Sir John Simon is the only statesman we 've got, and will be the future head of the Liberal Party. He declares that we should only get 100,000 men by the Bill. When we asked him how he would have got the number of men without the Bill, he had not a single argument worth answering. We aU agree about abusing the ' Higher Direction of the War ' on the part of the Government, and in criticising all the adventures abroad. Dr. Dillon fuU of good stories of aU his experiences, and gave examples of Russian peculation. Went down to the Foreign Office to see Max-Muller, and told him that Mr. Marshall had a very good character as a journahst in America. We discussed the propaganda question in the Middle West of America, and are quite clear how it is to be done ; but that is altogether a different thing from getting it done. Our Government departments are full of boobies. Friday, Jan. 28. Dined alone with Lord Haldane, and had a great talk over all points of the war. The special object of our meeting was to find out how many casualties the German Army had suffered, and what effectives they can provide in the future. He gave me a mass of statistics which I took away with me. They date mostly from August last, but as many of them are concerned with establishing the basis on which one should 1916] GERMAN CASUALTIES 115 estimate casualties, they are still quite valuable. The Press Bureau appear to trust more or less in the German casualty returns. Macdonogh, however (lately the head of the Intelligence in France, and now at the War Office again), declares that these statistics are inaccurate, and he wants us to add fifty per cent, to the German records of killed, missing, dead, and severely wounded, in order to get at the net wastage of the German Army. He would also add 420,000 per annum for the permanent loss by sickness in 3,500,000 German troops in the field. I don't think that he has quite made out his case, but certainly there are many omissions in the German lists, and one must add something on this account — possibly 10 per cent. Dr. Brownlee's estimates of the total number of men of the military age of Germany and Austria-Hungary, and of the number of these that can be spared for fighting, I found very interesting, but in the papers there is no firm conclusion on the whole subject from any responsible person or body, and there are certainly wide differences of opinion. I should say that the Germans will be able to keep up their strength for the greater part of the year. Lord H. is against Derby going to the War Office in Lord K.'s place. Sunday, Jan. 30. NorthcHffe came up in the morning, and we had a long walk on the heath till lunch time. We ffitted from subject to subject about the war, and never got to the bottom of any of them. He says that the Govern- ment are going to take all the mass of paper that he has so carefully collected for his various journals, and distribute them among the Radical papers that are short ; in fact, wise virgins will be made to give up their oil to the unwise, which is against Biblical teaching. Talked to him of George Moore's coming action against the World. Monday, Jan. 31. Lunched at the N. and M., and had long talks with Sir James Willcocks, late Commander of the Indian Army Corps in France ; John Baird, M.P. ; Peter Granet, now commanding the 58th Division ; Valentine AUison, commanding a division at Chelmsford ; Dick, the King's Messenger ; Sir George Armstrong, and others. They ii6 THE OUTLOOK FOB 1916 are very anxious about the Mesopotamian expedition, and about Townshend. It seems impossible to discover who ordered the advance on Bagdad. All that is certain is that Townshend officially protested against it. He wrote the same thing to his wife and to me. Curzon was certainly against it, and Willcocks and I agreed that it was folly when we discussed it months ago. However, there it is. Robertson wrote to me this morning that Monro says that the advance on Egypt is a mare's nest. Probably they know that we have 300,000 men there, and are directing all their attention to Mesopotamia. Willcocks is told that Lake has come back sick, but I am not sure. Met Jafiray, who offered to make 4-inch shells for the Govern- ment at 6s., and was told to tender through the Suffolk Munitions Branch, who now charge the Government 7s. As Jaffray makes 1000 a week, this is £50 dead loss a week to the country for no reason. I am afraid that this is the sort of thing that is going on. Jaffray 's firm was making glass bottles somewhere down in the S.E. corner of England before the war. Tuesday, Feb. 1. Had a busy day. Dined with Mrs. Higgins, and was late. Lord and Lady Ancaster, Tommy Maguire and his wife. Lady Essex, and Mr. Benson. Very pleasant dinner. Found the last taxi in London to get home with. Wednesday, Feb. 2. To Romance in the afternoon. Doris acted superbly ; Owen Nares rather less well, I thought, than when the play began. Anson as Vantyle was quite excellent. House crammed full. The more I see of this piece the more I think that Doris is one of the finest actresses that we have seen on the stage in our time. Went on to see Sir William Robertson at Queen Anne's Mansions. He is fairly satisfied about the general posi- tion. He hopes that the politicians will let him alone, and not expect him to take any part in poUtical manoeuvres against Lord K., with whom he seems to get on very well. Robertson agrees with me that Lord French will require an Adjutant-General's Staff, and that the affairs in England 1916] JOFFRE EXPECTS AN ATTACK 117 are in a rare muddle, for we have a million and a half men and make no adequate use of them. R. complains specially that the Territorials of the reserve formations will not come forward to support their Ist-Une units in the field. It is the old story of the Militia wanting to go out with their own men and under their own ofiScers, and not caring for the Army point of view. R. is dissatisfied with the Muni- tions Ministry, against which Lord K. has been stirring him up. R. says that it is ridiculous that the munitions should be separate from the War Office, and that the right system is that of France, where M. Thomas is Under-Secre- tary of State for War. This is not the position here on account of the rivalry of Lord K. and Lloyd George. Mean- while Von Donop stays on as M.G.O. and has a D.F.A. and the normal Staff, although practically all the duties, including the control of the Ordnance Committee and the responsibility of the designs, have passed to the Munitions Ministry, where the sentiment is hostile to K. and Von Donop. The rifles do not seem to be coming in very fast, and I judge that we are not through our troubles yet. But all this comes from the initial failure to understand the munitions problem, and as L. G. and his men are putting it right, I consider that it is best to leave them alone. R. still agrees with me that the Western front is the theatre of war of chief importance. We have forty divisions there now, and more will come for the same theatre, including perhaps some from Egypt later. R. has seen Joffre twice this last week. Joffre thinks that the Germans are going to attack him. This they may do, but R. thinks that they ought to be well beaten if they try. He thinks that all the splash and noise made on the GaUcian side by the Germans are to distract attention. The French have had heavy losses, and are supposed to be no good for more than one more serious and costly effort. They played the main part last year, and expect us to do so this year. This we are prepared to do, but at present the ground in front of us in Flanders is too sodden for movement. We discussed aerial warfare, which is now being handed ii8 THE OUTLOOK FOR 1916 over from the Admiralty to Lord French. The Admiralty took over all our light little dirigibles, and have none, or nothing to speak of, for North Sea scouting. We discussed the big air raid of the last day or two. R. does not know how they are to be countered except by building similar craft and executing reprisals on German towns. R. was very cross that the Home Office had not pubhshed yesterday morning's statement handed to them at the War Office about 10.30 A.M. R. has not heard of any particular movements of concentrations on the German coast. He does not appear in a hurry to call away the troops from Salonika, and thinks that they mystify the Germans. I doubt it. We have no assurance that there are 50,000 Germans south of the Danube. R. has no particular news about the attack on Egypt and does not believe in it. The best season for such an attack is slipping away. Murray has something like twelve divisions in Egypt. There are 50,000 Australian drafts. The whole thing is gradually being put in order. He thinks that there must be 300,000 men there. We talked a lot about Mesopotamia, and I promised to send him all my papers about Townshend. R. wants to have authority over the C.-in-C. in India for the general control of the operations in Mesopotamia and elsewhere, a point of view with which I thoroughly agree. We discussed the responsibility for the advance on Bagdad. The G.S. here were misled by the bad in- formation from the Mesopotamian front. He is not sure whether Townshend can hold on for more than three weeks. He seems to place a great deal of responsibihty for the advance on Austen Chamberlain, and says that K. opposed it. It is one of the most sensible things that he has done since the war began. We have four divisions in Mesopotamia, not counting Townshend 's force. Appa- rently it takes three weeks to get a division from the Persian Gulf to Kut-el-Amara, and six weeks to get a divi- sion from Egypt to Kut. R. is against the advance on Bagdad, and proposes to have a defensive campaign, 1916] DISCONNECTED STRATEGY 119 which was my idea from the start. Some wandering officer of ours appears to have seen the Grand Duke Nicholas in the Caucasus and to have concocted a scheme for co- operation. He was told to mind his own business, and the Grand Duke was told what our policy was — without phrases. Meanwhile the Grand Duke is attacking Erze- roum. Thus while we were passive they were active, and now it is vice versa. It is hard to win campaigns with this manner of proceeding. R. thinks that the Russians will have 2,100,000 rifles by April next, and nearly 1,000,000 more behind of the odd- job lots provided by England, France, and Italy. American contracts of rifles for Russia are still many months overdue, and R. thinks that there is Grerman money at work to stop them. I sketched to R. my idea of what he could do with the Press if he took it in hand with the idea of misleading the Germans about our plans, and he promised to consider it. R. has now his own man with Joffre, and Joffre has sent a man to him. This is a good arrangement, except that Lord K. and GalHeni, the French War Minister, also have exchanged Staff Officers, and the two lots may not always see with the same eyes. On the whole R. is fairly satisfied, con- sidering that we began this war without an Army. He says that Haig is not distinctly under Joffre, but is told to conform with the plans of the latter, and is practi- cally in the same position as Lord French was. Friday, Feb. 4. Finished rather an important article about the German casualties, making out that they have lost 150,000 men a month since the war began ; that is the permanent net loss including sickness. I find that my article on ' The Western Front ' is regarded as unanswerable, and is generally agreed with by the most important people. Had various visitors in the afternoon, and was unable to get down to London. Lovat Eraser came up to go into the Mesopotamian affairs with me. He declares that it is Arthur Balfour who persuaded the Cabinet to throw over George Curzon's advice, and to advance on Bagdad. My papers 120 THE OUTLOOK FOR 1916 from Townshend are with Robertson, so I could not show them to him. We agreed that Townshend is in a very tight place. We do not feel sure that Aylmer, with two weakened divisions and two more dribbhng up to join him, will be able to reUeve Kut. It is stiU very difficult to find out exactly how this foohsh movement originated. I told him how much better it would be if Robertson were in general charge of all these operations, and were able to issue directions to the C.-in-C. in India. The men coming up under the Mihtary Service Act are due to appear on March 2, so I expect that we shaU have a very heavy month deahng with claims for exemption. It is very interesting work, for one gets an insight into the home Ufe and the circumstances of numerous people and classes whom one never mixes with. I do not find any signs of shirking, but no doubt there are many cases in which it is a great hardship for a man to go. The work gives one a very clear impression of the social upheaval caused by compulsion in any form. Saturday, Feb. 5, Wrote an article on ' Plans and Projects ' — ours and Germany's. It is very difficult to decide what the Germans are going to do. Is it to be the East or the West ? or is it England ? This time no one can tell ; from aU appearances one would judge that they will have a go at us in the West first, and then take on Russia in May, worrying us all the time in Mesopotamia and in Egypt. I don't think we have anything to do but go on steadily kiUing Germans in the West. We have just heard that one of the Zepps. has been destroyed in the North Sea on its way home. One of our trawlers refused to save the crew of the Zepp. Sunday, Feb. 6. Jack Cowans sent his car to take me down to Coombe. Our party : Sir Arthur and Lady Paget, Mr. May (a Belgian), Mr. Gunther of the American Embassy (very nice fellow), Mrs. Duggan, Lord Castlerosse, Mrs. Stanley, Sir F. E. Smith, and Jack Cowans. May was very interesting about the condition of Belgium, declaring that the country would starve but for the Ameri- 1916] SIR F. E. SMITHES ARREST IN FRANCE 121 can feeding arrangements. He said that there were 175,000 Belgian refugees in England, and 80,000 in Holland, and that the Belgians would not work for the Germans, and if America goes to war with Germany, and Germany feeds the Belgians, she wiU make them work. Gunther seems to think that America will go to war with Germany sooner or later, but I expect later, black, or rather white, as things look at present. Had a long talk with Sir Arthur about Home Defence, and the state of his troops on SaUs- bury Plain. Of his two 2nd-lLne Territorial divisions one has Japanese rifles, with only 200 rounds per rifle, and no reserve ; the other has the old Lee-Enfield, and no ammuni- tion. They both have their guns, one the 18-pounders with no horses, and the others some mixed guns, partly converted 15 -pounders. Paget is aU for fighting the enemy on the coast when he comes. Jack Cowans showed me some figures of what he is spending. It is about a miUion a day, and he has spent over 400 milhons already. I made F. E. tell me the story of his arrest in France. It was too ludicrous. He went with Bonar Law and Lloyd George. He called on Macready the A.G., and upon Haig. The latter's A.D.C. telephoned to arrange that F. E. should see Winston in the trenches. He then got into uniform, and as his chauffeur had a pass, he thought that he was quite in order, and went off to the Division, whence he was sent on to the trenches, accom- panied either by an officer or an orderly. This is exactly what I have always done. He met Winston in his dug-out, where they had a talk. Some time after- wards there arrived the Assistant Provost-Marshal of the Division, and informed F. E. that he had been ordered to place him under arrest, and send him back to Headquarters. There was nothing to be done, so he went off", arriving at St. Omer again early in the morning. He was taken to the Provost-Marshal's office, and after half an hour's delay, the latter's assistant came down, and was severely taken to task by F. E., but still the arrest persisted, and he was sent off to the Hotel du Commerce, where a room had been 122 THE OUTLOOK FOR 1916 taken for him for the night. The assistant told him that he had to go before the Adjutant-General in the morning at a very early hour, whereupon F. E. said that he would see the A.G. in hell first. At this time it was about 4 a.m., and a few hours later the A. P.M. turned up again and ordered him to go before the A.G. in half an hour. F. E. refused, and said that he intended to sleep for half an hour more, and then take an hour to di'ess. Then he went off with his escort and saw Macready. F. E. was still in uniform, and told Macready that he would like to go off and put on civiUan clothes unless he would grant him the same hberty as if he were in civiMan clothes. M. said he would, where- upon F. E. gave him a good deal of his mind, telling him that he, F. E., had been outrageously treated, and that Macready was an officious blunderer. Macready vowed that he had never issued orders for liis arrest, and made the A.P.M. confirm this. Macready said that the mistake had arisen owing to errors in repeating telephone messages, and said that he had only invited F. E. to come and see him. Macready tlien wiote an apology. F. E. had deposited this apology with Sir R. Brade at the War Ofiice, where I must go and see it. F. E. then went back to bed, saying that he was not to be disturbed by anybody, even by Haig himself. Haig had meanwhile heard of the story, as Macready had reported to him. Haig sent Phihp Sassoon to ask F. E. to lunch. F. E. was not approachable, and Sassoon was kept trotting backwards and forwards all the morning. At last he went to lunch and sat, as he said, on Haig's right hand, and all was peace. It is not true, as is currently reported, that F. E. was marched on board ship a prisoner. He went off with Bonar Law and Lloyd George. We spoke about G. Moore and the Hbel action. Monday, Feb. 7. Drove back with Sir Arthur, who dropped me at the house of a certain statesman who gave me some important documents to take away and read, and told me that the number of Russian rifles was now 1,398,000, and will be 2,200,000 at the end of April, at which time they will also be making 200,000 rifles a month themselves. CHAPTER VI EQUALITY OF ALLIED AND GERMAN STRENGTHS Colonel House — M. WolkofE on Russia — ^Lord French at Whitehall — Aerial defence — The Indian Corps in France — A visit to Barley Thorpe — Mr. Balfour on Mesopotamia and naval affairs — Joffre, Robertson, and Salonika — Weaknesses of the Derby system — The reserved occupations — Mr. Wollcott's visits to Belgium, Poland, and German Headquarters — His views on the situation — Lord French and Home Defence — Inaccurate figures given to him by Lord Kitchener — The defence of Egypt — Mr. Wollcott on Grerman finance — ^Mr. Frank Simonds on propaganda — Commandant Bertier de Sauvigny's views of events — Work of the Tribunals — Mr. Lloyd George's views on recruiting, German casualties, munition workers, and munitions — Sir Arthur Paget on his visit to Russia — Allied and Grerman forces in March 1916 — Practical equality of strengths — Cost of the war — Mr. Lloyd George's orders for guns — Our loans to our AUiea. Wednesday, Feb. 9. Finished my examination of the papers, then went down to the Reform Club. Lunched with Colonel A. M. Murray ; his editor, Mr. A. G. Gardner of the Daily News ; and our host's brother, Sir George Murray, late of the Treasury. We had a pleasant lunch. Mr. Gardner is a self-made man, alert, independent, and sensible. It was very amusing to be lunching with him, considering how often the Daily News and the Sta?- fall foul of me, but I found all the same that we were in agreement on most subjects. A. M. Murray preached from his usual texts in favour of campaigns in the East, while George Murray was sarcastic about everything Radical. The latter told me that Vickers had just launched the finest battleship in the world, but he would not tell me the cahbre of the gims. Dined with the Ancasters. We had Sir F. E. and Lady Smith, Sir Fritz and Lady Ponsonby, Mr. and JVIrs. Henry 124 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS Higgins, Sir Lionel Earle, and a few more. Earle tells me that he has not been able to efEect his brother's exchange yet, but the Germans are ready to exchange him for one of equivalent rank. He is di'eadfully wounded in the head, arm, and leg, and is almost bhnd. Such a splendid specimen of humanity too ! Thursday, Feb. 10. Northcliffe came up to see me this morning, and I showed him the papers, about which he made some shrewd remarks. Went to 35 Belgrave Square, where I found Colonel and Mrs. House. He is President Wilson's confidential emissary, and is just back from Berlin and Paris. Lady Minto, Soveral, Dr. Dillon, and Madam Grouitch, the wife of the Serbian Minister. Found Mrs. House very pleasant. She said that Berlin was decidedly empty, that no one now had a motor car, not even Gwinner of the Deutsche Bank. She saw plenty of troops in the streets coming and going. The tap of the drum was constantly heard. The Kaiser was not in Berlin while she was there. She thought that his illness was only a cold. There were scarcely any wounded to be seen in the streets. I liked the look of Colonel House. He is short and reserved looking, a thoughtful, pleasant face, and has a difl&cult part to play in pretending to be friendly to all countries alike. We had a little talk and agreed to meet again and talk quietly before he goes back to America. Sir Arthur came in later. He is off to Russia again to take a Field-Marshal's baton to the Tsar. I am afraid that this means that he will have to give up the Salisbury centre. Friday, Feb. 11. Northcliffe telephoned that he thought the statesman had some object in giving us those papers, and that we ought to be careful about them. I told him that I did not care who gave me the papers so long as we had the information. N. asked about the black troops in Africa, and whether it was true that we had 38 milhons of blacks, and the French 28, and why we should not do more with them. I said that the exact figures were not in my mind, but certainly we could raise great masses of black troops, and that it was 1916] RASPUTIN 125 unpardonable of us not to have done so. In the fighting in East Africa the Germans have 30,000 natives in arms. Lunched with Mrs. Harry Higgins : Mrs. Peto, Mrs. Duggan, Lady Horner, and WolkofE, Mrs. Duggan told me that George Curzon was back, and that the Belgian part of the mission had been satisfactorily performed, and that the King and Queen of the Belgians were very well satisfied. Curzon appears to have been nearly caught by a shell while visiting Winston, and he also went up in an aero- plane, but was not allowed to cross the German lines. He does not appear to be so well satisfied with the general situation. Wolkoif and I walked off together, and I told him what I knew about the state of the Russian armament, and the way in which American contracts for rifles in Russia had been delayed by the Russian Inspector in the U.S., who had refused to pass the rifles when the orders were sent through us because this course deprived him of his usual commission. Wolkoff says that there are a great many people in Russia who want hanging. He confesses that he has been frightened to death by the poHtical situation in Russia lately, but that the dismissal of Goremykin had been very satisfactory, that M. Stiirmer had been receiving deputations from Zemstvos, and that the Duma was to assemble without any date being fixed for its prorogation. Wolkofi says that we were very near an explosion ; and that the whole of Russia, including the Army and even the Guards, were of one mind. This confirms what Lydia Kyasht told me. He was deeply interested, and did not know what would happen when the Duma met. He told me various stories of the famous monk, Rasputin, which again confirmed Lydia 's tales. He said that the Tsar remarked to some one who ventured to object to the monk, mieux vaut U7i moine que vingt hysteries. Apparently the monk keeps the Tsaritsa quiet. It is true that he is illiterate, and indulges in the most wild fancies, but he seems to have the most extraordinary^ fascination for the ladies, and indulges in every kind of foUy. Wolkoff said that one 126 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS woman tried to assassinate him, but did not quite succeed. WolkofE said how extraordinary it was that at the moment of a tremendous crisis like this, such a lunatic should have such a sway, but he thought that this war made many people mad, and he instanced the power of a clairvoyant with certain ladies of our acquaintance. He had just seen some telegrams from Russia which made him very much happier about everything. He had not seen Yermolofif lately. Evidently there is some jealousy between the Embassy and Yermoloff, with whom the Grand Duke collaborates. He told me that there was a neck of Russian territory running into Norway, and within a short distance of an open fiord southwest of the North Cape, and that the Norwegians were allowing the Russians to use this as a line of communications. I suppose the coast-end has reindeer transport. He was very sick indeed with the way in which Italy had allowed things to slide in the Adriatic, and complained greatly of their want of initiative. He is still anxious about Rumania, and wants us to advance from Salonika to keep the Bulgars in play. They seem to know that Robertson was against this course and is all for the Western front. Saturday, Feb. 12. Dined with Sir John and Lady Horner ; Lord Haldane and Lady Leslie also there. We had a great talk about German casualties with reference to my article in the TiJnes of Feb. 9, and about the war generally. Lord Haldane thought that my figures were conservative, but he did not shake me in any way by such few criticisms as he made. We went over the interminable question of National Service again, and found the ex- ChanceUor quite unmoved. He browses about in the pre-war Radical pastures, and assumes that we shall go back to old heresies after the war. He was very interesting, and we were full of reminiscences of his term of ofiice. Sunday, Feb. 13. I lunched with the other F. E. Smiths in Hampstead, and old Mrs. Earle, author of the book In my Surrey Garden, and a very clever old lady. Sir Lionel 1916] THE AIR DEFENCE OF LONDON 127 Earle also there and talked well, and is very keen about his work, which is in the Board of Works. His idea is to bring all interned prisoners down to the ports to reheve the congestion, and I don't see why this should not be done, if we can get any one in a Government office to stop pampering the Boches. Drove down in the afternoon to Mother's in a taxi and back again. Monday, Feb. 14. Wrote a letter to the Times on ' German Losses,' in reply to a great number of letters from correspondents, and answering them all. I spent the whole of the afternoon on the Advisory Committee, and we got through a mass of cases. No claim yet before us under the Service Act. Got home very late. Our Advisory Committee : Mi. David, K.C., chairman ; Mr. Green, of Green and Edwards ; Mr. Briscoe, a barrister ; Mr. Fraser, who is a sort of rag merchant ; and Mr. Pratt, a labour member ; our secretary is Mr. Smith. We now sit at the Town Hall, which is very inconveniently placed in the outskirts of the borough. Tuesday, Feb. 15. Lunched at the club expecting to meet Sir James Willcocks, but found that I had made a mistake about the date. Had a talk to Jenner, who is running the personnel of the InteUigence ; also met Lord Midleton, with whom I am to have another talk. He rather thinks that Lord K. does the least harm where he is. He is intent upon getting Grey out of the Foreign Office. Went down to the Horse Guards and found Lord French in his office, where everj^thing seemed much the same as when he occupied the same rooms as Inspector-General. Lo-w-ther, Watt, Barry, and Dawnay in attendance. We had a httle talk in the A.D.C.s' room about George Moore's impending action against the World. Watt thinks that the real object of the enemy is to aim at Lord French through his friendship with George Moore. Had a long talk mth the Field-Marshal. He has sent in his views of the situation. He is still without an A.G. 128 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS and Q.M.G. branch. He says that Asquith is most kind to him, but that certain other influences are very hostile. Lord K. has been over to France the last four days. French cannot imagine why K. should go over to France. We discussed the air problem. Air Defence has now been handed over to him. It is a daynnosa hereditas, and I told him that he would get into trouble over it ; that in the absence of dirigibles on our side to counter-raid, nothing could prevent night raids by Zepps. and day raids by aero- planes until we have good anti- craft guns and efficient aeroplanes, and plenty of them, and that the pubUc would become incensed against him for not succeeding. He agreed, but said that Home Defence had been handed over to him, and as Air Defence was part of it, so he could not shirk it. He is reorganising it as weU as he can with David Henderson's help. London is divided into eight districts, including Woolwich and Waltham. Machines as well as guns and hghts are allotted to each. This machinery of defence is being extended elsewhere, as well as a system of communications and warnings, but he has no dirigibles. He knows of none being made, though the Navy have a few themselves, and as the best thing is to fight dirigibles with dirigibles, they are also the best means for counter-raiding. He can neither guarantee to stop dirigibles when they come nor counteract them by reprisals. He is working with David Henderson, who is a close aUy of his, of course, and David advises him not to attempt to order his airmen when and where to fight in the air, but to trust to his air commanders, who alone know what they can do, and what is possible. Lord French looks uncommonly well. Wednesday, Feb. 10. Worked in the morning. Lunch with Sir James Willcocks, and afterwards sat and talked with him and Sir WiUiam Knox, General Kempster, and Smiler Kennedy. We had a great talk over all the fronts of the fighting. Willcocks tells me that his Indian Corps in France was never over 25,000 men, often down to 18,000 and less, had had 25,000 casualties, and went off to Mesopo- 1916] AIR RAIDING NEAR CROMER 129 tamia without a Thank -you from anybody except the Prince of Wales. I told him that the last two Indian divisions are being withdrawn from France, perhaps to take the place of the British divisions which went out a month or two ago, and are now on their way back to France from Egypt, including Eddy Wortley's North Midlandcrs. We imagine that India will be furious at having the command of Mesopotamia taken out of her hands and con- fided to Robertson, but we all thought that it would be a very good thing. We discussed Zeppelin raids, and Kennedy told us that they came only a thousand feet from the top of his house at five o'clock in the afternoon, 16 miles from Cromer, and bombed freely but hurt nobody. The bombs made great craters about 15 feet broad and 6 feet deep, so they must have been pretty heavy ; 49 were dropped in this particular locality. There was some artillery near by, but they could not get sufficient elevation, and the wires from the watch station to the artillery were cut, both at the time of this raid and at the time of the last. The Zepps. returned later on in the night the same way as they had come ; our people tried to get a searchlight on to them, but failed, and the anti-aircraft guns seem to have all been moved to London. Went round to Bond Street to see the wonderful Rem- brandts of Lockett Agnew, and a very beautiful eighteenth- century commode. The Rembrandts were dated 1632 and 1631, the former from the Due de Broglie's collection, and the latter of a monk reading, and the face hidden by a cowl. Very mystic and wonderful, and the paper from which he is reading has a white light on it, and stands right out from the picture. It is a good piece of work. Sir Claude Phillips was there, and admired these beautiful things very much. Friday, Feb. 18. Tribunal work most of the day. Dined with Lady Strafford at Chandos House, Cavendish Square. The Italian Ambassador and the Marchesa Imperiali, the Spanish Ambassador and Madame Merry del Val, the Speaker and Mrs. Lowther, and the Councillor of the American VOJ - 1. I 130 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS Embassy and his wife . Found Mrs . Lowther full of talk , and charmingly indiscreet. The Americans quite confirmed the good news which I had heard of the possibility of American intervention, A lovely house in the Adams style, dated about 1760, with nice old-English furniture, very comfortable and restful. We played Bridge afterwards ; Madame Merry del Val very bright and amusing, but not quite so good at the game as her husband is at diplomacy ; fortunately we were playing for very low stakes. Saturday, Feb. 19. Tribunal most of the morning, and arranged about checking the lists of starred men. Went off to Oakham in the afternoon to stay with Lord Lonsdale, and to discuss various German matters. Travelled down with Foster of the Blues, who manages to get about wonderfully considering his lost leg. Was met at the station by an eighteenth-century yellow coach, on ' C ' springs very high in the air, driven postillion fashion. The postillion and the tiny tiger who sat upon the box had yellow-faced liveries and fluffy yellow beaver hats. We seemed to be a century or two out of date. Foster, in his motor, screamed with laughter as I drove off. Drove to Barley Thorpe with our pair of chestnuts. This house was once an inn where a previous Lord Lonsdale used to keep his horses ; it has been added to, and the grounds and stabUng laid out afresh. A comfortable house, an excellent cook, early- Victorian furni- ture, no electric light, and house full of sporting prints, pictures, caricatures, and curios. Lady Lonsdale ill in bed, so Lord Lonsdale and I had the house to ourselves, only young Lady Londonderry coming over on Sunday afternoon. We had a talk on leading men now in Germany, and about German affairs. Lord Lonsdale still holds that the Kaiser is not responsible for the war, which was brought on by the war party regardless of him or his wishes. He told me some curious stories about the Kaiser and the Crown Prince. The former told Lord Lonsdale that the Prince had never grown up, and that his brain had never come on since he was sixteen years of age. L. thought 1916] DOGS AND HORSES 131 that Falkenha3ni was about the best of the Germans. Mackensen was the grandson of a Scotsman called Mac- kenzie. We had forgathered to talk German politics, but got on to ladies and horses, and soon forgot all about the Boches. We had a great talk about the late King Edward and his associates, about whom we told each other a string of amusing stories. He also told me the tale of his famous match with Lord Shrewsbury. There was a copy of the Tranby Croft gaming-table picture from Truth, and this led us to exchange confidences about the chief actor in that drama. I was much interested in Lonsdale's dogs. There were nine of them in the dining-room, and I never knew it till we got up to sit after dinner before an old mahogany horse-shoe table in front of the fire. Then he called them, and they all came from the corners in which they had been lying ; each dog had his corner, and never took the corner of another dog. L. has evidently a marvellous knowledge of, and power over animals, and they seemed very fond of him, and under perfect discipline. They followed him from room to room, and in each room each dog had his corner. When a new dog joined the pack, he was shown his corner, and if he moved from it, he was gently but firmly taken back and reproved ; if he moved again, he was again taken back to the same corner without any unkindness or beating. There was a lurcher, a Westmoreland collie dog, two re- trievers, a spaniel, two Cottesmore terriers, a big yellow dog, a Labrador, and one other. The most extraordinary collection, Sunday morning we went round to the horses, of which he had about one hundred and fifty. It is evidently a kind of parade. A pair of yellow gloves are handed to him as he enters the stable yard, and as he enters each fresh stable a basket of sliced carrots is brought to him. The stables are very perfect, and his weight -carrying hunters are quite superb. All the harness horses are chestnuts. We then went on to see the kennels, where there are a nice lot of terriers and a pack of miniature bloodhounds, which hunt deer and hares. They were brought from 132 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS Germany by the Prince Consort, and dispersed at his death. Lonsdale found some in Devonshire and restored the breed. The dog I coveted most was a Cottesmore terrier, a httle square-built fellow with short legs and most engaging manners. We ended up by teUing each other more stories of the bf.auties of the late- Victorian and Edwardian period, and never came to L.'s German docu- ments at all ! The pretty ladies, the horses, and the dogs had made us forget the war for one brief week-end. Monday, Feb. 21. Came back by an early train. Lunched with Arthur Balfour at 4 Carlton Gardens. Miss Balfour, Lord and Lady Rayleigh, and Mr. Bonar Law. We dis- cussed the war. There is no doubt that Balfour is largely responsible for the advance on Bagdad, but he declared that they had been misled by bad information, and that the whole of the military authorities in India and at the front had told them that the advance could take place without danger and with the greatest of ease. It was merely a question whether the Turks might bring up re- inforcements six months later to turn us out. He had never heard of Townshend's objection to advance, and when I told him the details he was astonished and said that it was necessary to probe the facts. Bonar Law quite confirmed what he said. We had an interesting discussion about the officers of the New Armies, and about the issue of posthumous decorations to those who had fallen. I made them see that the Indian troops had been badly treated. Balfour told me that Jelhcoe had just been down from the north and had complained bitterly at the want of small craft and mine-sweepers. The Germans had, he said, undoubtedly been laying mines recently with submarines. He was not at all disposed to underrate the danger of the German threat due for fulfilment on March 1. I said that it was the old cry of want of frigates, and he agreed that it was so. He said that the Battle Fleet was strong enough, barring accidents in a mine field, but he had, of course, to run the risk of having no ships in the south. The Grand Fleet was stiU based on Scapa Flow, the Moray Firth, and 1916] BALFOUR ON THE NAVY 133 the Forth, and this was a long way from the south of England, but I agreed that it was the best jumping- off place, as I had said many years ago when all our fleet was in the south. But I saw that Balfour was decidedly anxious, and he is not at all a timorous person. He said that the Germans had a lot of bogus battleships, and un- doubtedly ample transports to carry large forces. He spoke of a big neutral shipowner who frequently came to us with good information : his latest news on the whole was favour- able to us. There is a rumour that Prince Henry had been given a separate command in the Baltic, and A. J. B. was not at all displeased about it, as it will suit our book. He seems to have heard of the American Wollcott's reports. This man was agent for Rockefeller, and for the provisioning of Poland. He has been to Germany, and has been all round. He says that the Germans are making big prepara- tions for a heavy blow in the West^ and consider the Russians as of no account. I asked Balfour what he thought of the command in France, and gather that his advices about Haig, whom he did not know personally, are all second-hand. He had also no very good reports about generals in Mesopotamia, and when I was asked by Bonar Law whom I would send there, I said Willcocks, who in my opinion had been very badly treated. Bonar Law agreed and said that Chamberlain thought the same. I walked with Balfour to the Admiralty and he took me up to his rooms, but M. Painleve arrived just then, so we had to break off talk. Friday, Feb. 25. Saw Sir WilHam Robertson at Queen Anne's Mansions at 6.15 p.m. ; had a good talk about the war. He is not so pleased with Lord K. as he was, and begins to think that we shall not get on until K. goes. He has been over twice to see Joffre lately. On two occasions in the last fortnight the French had tried to induce us to send more men to Salonika. They wanted us to send 100,000, and the ItaHans the same number. Cadorna refused, and so did Robertson with the support * The German attack on Verdun began this day. 134 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS of the War Committee which is now soUd behind him. He is bringing over to France the 29th Division from Egypt, as well as the North Midland Territorials. As regards the troops in Egypt, he is acting on the principle that it is better to have a small number of troops back in the West now than a larger number later on, and he hopes to be able to get some troops from Salonika. I advised him to make our Cabinet speak stiffly to the French about this folly. It is extraordinary that the French should want to burden us with this expedition when they are being heavily attacked since Feb. 21 at Verdun, and nine French provinces are in German hands. When Joffre told Robertson that he wanted more troops, Robertson told him that the French had better supply them themselves, and he said that he did a httle thumping on the table on his own account in the approved French style. Joffre said that they could not spare any, so Robertson said, ' Then why ask us to send them as we are aU in the same boat ? ' Joffre replied, ' Well, there are no more in France.' Robertson came home thinking that he had convinced Joffre, but the next day came a fresh request from the French with the same old story, but our people remained adamant. Robertson used all my old arguments, of the want of an objective in a mountainous country, the absence of roads, httle mountain artillery or mule transport which would take months to coUect, a single Hne of rail, partly damaged and destroyed, to serve the needs of French, British, and Greeks, and so on. Why any sane man can continue to advocate this folly, when the Germans are known to have 118 divisions on the West front and maybe more, while we have only 140 and weaker, is one of those mysteries which no one can fathom. He agreed with me that the Navy were anxious, and thought that even if they lost a few ships they ought to come south now and then to initiate offensive operations just to keep their hands in, and to give the Roches fits. We spoke of the forces in Egjrpt. Robertson does not think that the Turks in Syria are strong. I told him that a stroke at Adana would upset the whole of the Turkish 1916] MESOPOTAMIA 135 communications by rail with Mesopotamia, the Caucasus, and Egypt, and I gathered from him that some operation of this kind was in project. He had bad news on the whole from Mesopotamia. He had asked the Indian Government if they could receive and maintain Joe Maude's 13th Division, and India answered ' Yes,' whereupon the 13th was sent to the head of the Persian Gulf ; but on their arrival India cabled that they could not send them up the river and feed them without starving the rest of the Army. This is what they call receiving and maintaining a division ! I recommended him to send Jimmie Willcocks out to take charge of the whole affair, as it seemed to me to be in charge of a pack of imbeciles. Townshend could hold out, he said, until the middle of April. Aylmer will have 30,000 men there in a week's time ; that is three weak divisions ; the fourth apparently is not yet up. He says they are searching everywhere from the Thames to the Irrawaddy for Ught river-boats. The old Indian Marine seems to have charge of the river transport, and appears to have made a mess of it. We went into the question of the Derby system, and the supply of men. I explained the machinery of the Tribunals, etc., of which he seemed to know very httle. I advised him to do certain things : first, to get the Prime Minister to compel the Board of Trade to revise its lists of reserved occupations, which, in my opinion, were killing recruiting ; second, to make Lloyd George reduce the number of men of military age engaged on munition work ; third, to teU the Advisory Committees to beat up their starred men by using the pink cards of the Registration Act to find the names of employers ; and fourth, to send a confiden- tial letter to the Tribunals that every man was needed. He promised that he would take all these steps at 10 to-morrow morning, and I think he wiU. Thursday, March 2, Went to see Derby in the morning. He said that the results of the recruiting under his scheme could only be described as appalling. They were not one half of his estimates, but it was impossible to give figures 136 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS at present, because if one said that four groups of 86,000 men had only produced 18,000, it might be that the result of postponement might still produce another 18,000. He told me that he was still Dkector of Recruiting in a civil capacity, and that Mackinnon was merely given the title of Director- General for administrative reasons. He, Derby, only spent 1| hours at his office every day. He had told the Prime Minister that if he could not get enough work he would go back to Lancashire, so he was made Chairman of the Air Committee, where he had nothing whatever to do with Air Defence, and was mainly there to use tact and judgment in order to prevent the Army and Navy from falling out. He was not Air Minister at all, and thought that he was being attacked by the Daily Mail because Northcliffe wanted his own nominee put in. The Daily Mail campaign was impairing his useful- ness, and was doing a great deal of harm. Could I stop it ? There was no chance of his succeeding Lord K. at present. He thought that if he succeeded Lord K,, it would be disloyal to the latter, whereupon I said that I only recognised loyalty to the country in a great crisis like this. He was going down to the House of Lords this after- noon, and was going to trounce the Government and Simon, also McKenna, Runciman and Co. I advised him to produce the list of starred occupations, and to fling it at the Government. There ought to be some fun if his speech comes up to his intentions. Thursday, March 9. Have been meeting lately the American, Mr. Wollcott. At one party we had Donald, editor of the Chronicle ; Gardner, editor of the Daily News ; Austin Harrison, and Harry Brittain to bring him out. He came over here to help in the French Loan ; when this was put through he was asked to take up the plan of feeding the starving Poles. He got his passports and went off to Germany, and visited some of the chief towns, as well as the Headquarters of the Armies. He saw Von Beseler, Governor-General of Warsaw, visited Hinden- burg's Headquarters at Kovno, was in Berlin, then on 1916] ME. WOLLCOTT'S MISSION 137 the Western front, where he saw Von Bissing the Grerman Governor of Belgium, and talked with many German generals and staff officers. He made no secret of the fact that his main object was to feed the Poles. He says that the Germans have not got enough to feed the Poles, that Poland to a large extent has been devastated, and that they want us to allow in 15 million marks' worth of food a month, which the Germans will pay for in gold, and they will find the ships to carry it in. Wollcott supports his plea with the argument that it will stop the Germanisation of Poland ; that it will draw gold out of Germany ; and that it will prevent the despatch to Germany of 1 to 1 1 milUon Poles, who will set free a similar number of Germans for fighting ; and, lastly, that it will prevent a crusade against us for our brutality in starving the Poles. We were not all convinced by this argument, but he has certainly brought back a very unpleasant picture of Poland, and also a large supply of photographs, showing the devastation wrought among the starving people, of whom there are said to be 15 milHons altogether. He says that the German generals talk quite differently from the way they make then- Press talk. They admit that they made the war in order to forestall Russia's great mihtary programme, and they glory in all the frightful- ness which they have carried out. They admit that they cannot win the war, or succeed at sea, or win in the econo- mic struggle against England, but they think that their Army cannot be beaten, and that the war will end some- where in the region where the respective Armies are now situated. They beheve that they have got the advance in the air warfare, and they mean to keep it. They laugh very much because they have made fools of the English, and have attracted such large armies to Salonika and Egypt, and they are out for a big throw in the West, for which they are prepared to lose half a million men. He said that all the German Staffs read my articles regularly. Scarcely any other foreign articles are seen. My military articles are read by officers who understand Enghsh, and 138 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS become the subject of general conversation among the Staffs each evening. Practically no English articles are read and discussed except mine. He says that the figures told him by the Germans as to the number of reserves tally closely with mine given in the Times, and he says that people of importance in New York meet together every week and discuss my articles. He heard nothing said by the German Staffs of any over- sea operation by the German Army and Navy combined. He thought that the German Navy was rather foreign to all the German military set, and that the latter did not much bother about it. He thought Falkenhayn and Beseler two of tlie best German leaders. Hindenburg was old, but a national hero ; Mackensen he had not met. He wants to do the feeding of Poland through the organisa- tion which is feeding Belgium, but I am doubtful whether any of our people will look at it. I like Wollcott ; he is acting for Rockefeller, and the Germans are good to him because they want American financial help after the war. In any case I have con- fidence in the general accuracy of his statements. He told people here of the approaching attack on Verdun a fortnight before it began, and he declared that he had been watching the preparations made for it since January. This is not the information which a pro-German would convey. Friday, March 10. Yesterday George Moore won his case against the Chronicle (Manchester), which had copied the World's libel about him and Lord French. The Manchester paper ate humble pie. I went to see Lord French to-day, wallcing down to the Horse Guards with Sukky Barry from the club. Saw General Shaw and Colonel James in charge of the Home Defence under French. They complained bitterly that they were not fighting the Germans, but the Home Office, the Treasury, and the Finance branch at the War Office. French was fairly well, and said he would soon be all right if he were a trifle less hampered. When he took office Lord K. told him that there were 1,600,000 men 1916] KITCHENER'S FIGURES 139 in England, and 1,000,000 fit to fight, and that 1,300,000 recruits were coming on this year. French made a note of these figures at the time, and showed me the note in his writing. When French got to his own office he told his officers to look up the states, which they did, and he showed them to me. They showed that the total number of men drawing rations in England was 1,019,000 ; the total number of men fit to fight was 540,000, with about half a milHon rifles, of which 350,000 were '303. He said that he supposed that Lord K. would deny having given the figures, although Sir Henry Sclater, A.G., was present. I told French that in his position I would have sent a note to Lord K., putting down the figures that Lord K. had given, and requesting confirmation, and French regretted that he had not done so. He said that chaos was still consider- able, but that things would gradually improve. He could not tell me whether the Government knew the facts, but he had told Walter Long, who was with him for an hour just before I came in. Shaw, by the way, scoffs at the idea of an Air Minister in the shape of a civilian, to direct the movements of a fighting force. But if he were only to administer the new department, that was another matter, and this is a very sound point of view. French declared that according to Macdonogh there were only 10 German divisions in reserve unexpended on the Western front. There were 115 German divisions in all in the West, 3 unaccounted for, including the 22nd Corps, and I think 50|- in the East, including 3 (101 to 103) in Serbia. Therefore the idea seems to be that Germany cannot do much more, but this depends entirely upon the strength with which Germany chooses to hold the rest of her line in France, and I am not yet convinced, as our people appear to be, that the Germans will not make another push. Lord French was not hopeful that we would be able to do much, as he did not see whence the force was to come for doing it. He was very severe on our detachments in the 140 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS Eastern Mediterranean, and put down our troubles to those who had initiated the miUtary part of the Dardanelles expedition. Saw General McGrigor to-day just back from Mudros, which is now cleared out. He says that there are over twenty big German submarines in this sea, and that the moving about of troops entails great risks. He was quite near to the Provence, which was sunk the other day, and as he was in a 10-knot ship he did not much care about it. He was very sarcastic about the Naval Division. There were immense trenches now east of the Suez Canal, and many great swinging bridges. One small party of Turks had come across the desert with a mine, which they managed to place in the Canal during the night, and it nearly sunk one of our old battleships. He scoffed at the idea of a Turkish attack. There were said to be 36,000 Turks at Beersheba, but K., Maxwell, and McMahon had been talking about 250,000. Their information was most defective, and had been a very expensive mistake. Wednesday, March 15. I have been seeing more lately of Wollcott, and also of Mr. Simonds, the editor of the New York Tribune, who is here on a visit. I have met them frequently at Lady Sarah's, Ohve's, and Mis. Astor's. The latter is just back from New York, and has brought her girl, who is pretty and charming. Wollcott says that the Charleville Headquarters are linked by direct telephone and wire to all the Armies, and that they sent a message from there to Hindenburg's Head- quarters at Kovno at 10 a.m., and had a long answer back by 1 P.M. Wollcott was cliiefly interesting to-day at Lady Sarah's about German finance. The Reichsbank, by dint of massing all the gold in circulation, etc., and by drawing 27,000,000 of gold from Austria apparently, had managed to collect 187,000,000 sterhng in gold, but, owing to the mass of paper issued, the gold, which at the beginning of the war repre- sented 87 per cent, of the notes issued, now only repre- sented 19 per cent. The result was that the current price 1916] GERMAN FINANCE 141 of the mark was stiU inflated, and it was worth only 25 per cent, of its par value. He said that the thing could go on, but directly the veil was hfted after the war there would be a catastrophe. A German, for example, who had £5000 in the bank, would already have had taken away £1000 for contributions, and his £4000 would be worth only £1000, out of which he would have to pay war taxes. It was a perfectly rotten situation, and they could not go on much longer. The chief German bankers whom he had spoken to did not conceal their anxiety from him. I asked him why all the clever financiers of the world allowed the mark to be quoted at an inflated price, and he said that it was because they did not know how bad things were. He was much struck by the claim for an indemnity having dis- appeared from the latest edition of the German peace terms sent to us from America after the return of Colonel House from his trip to Europe. Wollcott is very sure that the Germans are making a gigantic effort to place themselves in a favourable position to make peace on good terms. He said that they did not talk of Paris, but only of Verdun. Mr. Simonds was extraordinarily interesting at Mrs. Astor's the other day. He says that the Germans have been far more clever than we have been in America. They were stupid at first, and Dernburg tried to promote his pro- paganda by making speeches, and so forth, but soon found out that Roosevelt's system was the best. This was to be accessible, and to use the American Press, which acts in America in a more important manner than ours, and has greater influence in poUtics. So Bernstorff keeps open house in Washington, and wiU always discuss any question with a pressman over a cigar and a drink. They also feed any papers that they may eventually want with stacks of adver- tisements. There is Uttle or no direct bribery Simonds thinks. Our Embassy meanwhile is useless. Sir Cecil Spring-Rice is too much of a diplomatist, and the Embassy is no good as a centre of news to the American Press. Mrs. Astor says that our attaches out there are very nice feUows, but she 142 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS describes them as ' cavemen,' and she says they go to the club and keep to themselves in the old British manner, instead of circulating and spreading the gospel. Simonds says that he has been here three weeks, and has practically seen no one but Balfour. His London corre- spondent, Draper by name, has had even worse luck, and from being very strongly pro-Ally, has become almost pro-German. I think that Simonds is tending that way from sheer neglect on our part. Simonds says that London is almost written off American journahsm on account of the inaccessibihty of our chief men, and is reckoned as no more important than a suburb of New York, and the best men will not come. He says that people do not reahse over here how unpopular England was in America before the war, and how much Germany has been able to trade on this feeling. He thinks that Wilson's Government is purely opportunist, and that it will follow the line of least resist- ance in order to succeed in the next Presidential Election. We therefore have to be very careful, and should leave no stone unturned. Thursday, March 16. Lunched with Sir Arthur Herbert and his wife at 1 Hill Street, Knightsbridge. He has been two years in America, and told me pretty much the same story as Marshall, Simonds, and WoUcott. He has been trjdng to do propaganda, and has come back here hoping for a job in connection with it. He described how the business over here was in water-tight compartments, one run by Gilbert Parker, another- — the Pilgrim Section — by Brittain, and the third by WiUie Siyerell of the Press Bureau ; no co-ordination. Sir Arthur is not very keen about the Marshall plan of putting first-class American journaUsts in charge over here, and another at New York in charge of the distribution service, but he gave me no reasons for thinking that this was not the best plan, as I think it is. Friday, Marcji 17. Lunched with Colonel Sykes of the Flying Corps at the Ritz. He is just back from the Dar- danelles, and has been given the C.M.G. by the Admiralty, 1916] BERTIER'S VIEWS 143 having had nothing from the War Office in spite of his good work — so like our people. There were at the lunch, Mrs. Townshend, the Duchess of Marlborough, Lord Percy, Geoffrey Robinson, and Commandant Bertier de Sauvigny, who is the new officer de liaison between General Joffre and Sir WiUiam Robertson. Had a great talk with Bertier, and arranged to go over and pay a visit to General Joffre and General Castelnau the week after next, if possible. Prince Victor Napoleon came in after lunch. I intro- duced Bertier and Sykes to him. Bertier says that the Germans had nothing to do but to attack the French. His argument is much the same as that given in the Times. He says that the Germans are nearly ruined, and are short of men. They had to make a great effort and score a strik- ing success in the West, and they chose Verdun because of its importance in the eyes of the mob. He thinks that they have failed, and that there are no more than six to eight fresh German divisions at their disposal for continuing. He declares that as soon as the Germans are exhausted, we must counter-attack and prevent them from having leisure for recovering themselves. Joffre 's view, he says, is that every one who is not in France on the Allied side by May 15 had better stay away altogether, for they will be useless. What Joffre evidently implies is that he means to have a good smack at the Germans by that date. When we were deploring the want of action by our troops, Bertier said that that might come too, but he would not say much. He was glad about the divisions coming to France, but he tried to support the policy of Salonika, and when I drove him into a corner about it, and showed the inutility of this operation, and the wastefulness of it all, he could only argue that the shipping did not permit more than the divisions from Egypt coming West at present, which is quite another matter. He did not think that the Serbians at Corfu could be any use for three or four months, for they were practically a mob, without arms, clothing, equipment, or guns. Joffre wanted us to put every division we could into France 144 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS from England, but, of course, could not dictate to the British Government what they should do. Bertier said that even second-rate troops could hold the trenches and release some good divisions for the offensive. The game was for all the Allies to attack simultaneously in May, a view which I have always held. If the Russians were not quite ready they would have to come on and do their best with what they had. As for Joffre's view about troops arriving after May 15, this is an exaggeration. We must try and keep up a constant stream of fresh troops. Bertier thinks that Germany is like a groggy boxer who is trying for a knock-out in desperation before he is himself finished. The only question is whether the adversary has strength enough to hit him hard enough. He probably won't be owing to the waste of men and munitions at Salonika. Sykes and I had some talk afterwards about the Flying Corps. Monday, March 20. Published an article on 'Re- cruiting ' in the Times ; it was held up two days by the Censor. Had a long sitting of the Tribunal ; cases very interesting. A longer experience has given me a higher opinion of this body. If we can judge by Hampstead, the Advisory Committees and Tribunals perform their work admirably. They are careful, sympathetic, and thorough, and I con- sider their decisions are very just. Of course, to apply a measure like this is foreign to all our habits, and our people meet with extraordinary difficulties. We have to create our own precedents, and to act by the light of nature, as in some cases our instructions do not help us out. There is very little shirking among the people, but there are so many bolt-holes in the new law, and the lists of certified occupa- tions which Runciman has put out through the Board of Trade are so long, that there are an intolerable number of claimants for exemption. Tuesday, March 21. Spent the afternoon hearing Lord Northcliffe's account of his visit to France. He is full of praise of the French Army and French generals. He said 1916] NORTHCLIFFE IN FRANCE 145 that all the French people and all the French Staff were reading my articles and discussing them, as they do in Germany, but I was criticised about Salonika, as I can well believe. If they would only give me a military reason for this idiotic adventure, I should be very pleased, but they never will, because there is none. Northcliffe did rather a smart thing journalistically. He motored to Paris from Verdun, and sat up all night to put his story together, so defeated a rival who was with him. Steed is also back, very full of the noise of the cannonade at Verdun and the danger of the trenches in Champagne. Dined with the Agnews ; met Lady Byng, Sir Theodore Brinckman, and Sir Savile Crossley. Wednesday, March 22, Met Dr. Hughes. We had a great talk about the economic question, he holding that we could do Germany an infinity of harm by the coming economic conference in Paris, and I maintaining the thesis that victory alone counted, and if one had victory everything else came with it. Dined with Reggie and Bee Pembroke, 10 Belgrave Square. Mrs. Asquith, the young Duchess of Sutherland, Belle Herbert, Admiral Sir Hed worth and Lady Meux, Mr. Bonar Law, Mrs. Svieyd, Lord French, and Lord Derby. Very pleasant dinner. Had a little talk with Bonar Law afterwards, and some talk with Lord French, who told me that he had had to go to the Prime Minister in order to get Sir Aithur Paget and Sir Bruce Hamilton appointed to the commands under him in the United Kingdom, as Lord K. had steadily obstructed their appointment. He also ad- mitted that he had dismounted many of the Yeomanry at home, partly for financial reasons and partly because they were just as good as cyclists. After dinner Mrs. Asquith and Bonar Law played Bridge against the Admiral and the Duchess. Lady Pembroke, Belle, Derby and I, and Mrs. Sneyd had a great talk afterwards, and a good deal of chaff. Reggie was in great form, and full of good stories as usual. He is just back from Russia, where he went with Arthur Paget to give VOL. I. K 146 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS the Tsar his Field -Marshal's baton, and he is ofif back to France to-morrow. Derby told me to-night that they were doing some real good work in cutting up the lists of certified trades . Thursday, March 23. Lunched with Lloyd George at 11 Downing Street. Mrs. Lloyd George and Scott, editor of the Manchester Guardian. L. G. just back from the War Committee looking very fresh, young, and spruce, much better than last time I met him. We had a fascinating talk about the war. He said that even now he had not been able to get out of Lord K. the demands of the Army for munitions between the outbreak of the war and the time when I began the row of May 1915. He turned to Scott and said, ' Is it not extraordinary that the whole Cabinet only knew the truth from Colonel Repington, and could not get it from any one else ? ' I told him that recruiting was as great a scandal as that of munitions, and he agreed. The whole trouble had come from Lord K.'s inability to understand the question and foresee the future. L. G. was gloomy about numbers, and thought that we would not get them this year. He thought that the best way to deal with the case of the married men was to extend the Courts Emergency Powers Act, and to see that no process was served against married men who were with the colours. This seems a good way out of the difficulty. L. G. thought that it would prevent a family who had means from claiming relief automatically when they could afford to pay, but, of course, it only postpones until after the war the real financial difficulty of the problem. L. G. is not very sanguine about the future. He told me that he read my papers on German casualties very carefully, and was amused that the chief criticisms in the Press of them were that they were too pessimistic. He thought the contrary. He gave the enemy — Germany and her Allies — 13,000,000 men still upstanding, and could not see the way to victory this year. He asked me if I could, and I admitted that I could not. He liked Robertson and thought that he had played 1916] LLOYD GEORGE ON THE WAR 147 the game. L. G. said that he was employing 2,000,000 people, men and women, in Army and Navy munition work. The least he could do with was 1,000,000 men, of whom 300,000 would be of mihtary age. He was working Ireland for all she was worth to create his factories, as Ireland did not come under the Service Law. He con- firmed what Du Cane told me about sending 60,000 shells a day to France, and said that by about June we should be ready for practically unhmited expenditure of munitions in every way. He did not think that Russia was anything like ready, and he thought that their supply of munitions was not greater than ours, although we had a 100-mile front, and theirs was 1000 miles. He thought that they were gambhng in the present attack, and would have done better to wait and pile up ammunition, but he says the Russians gamble whenever they have any money, and so they gamble with their munitions without any real thought for the future. We told each other stories about Lord K. L. G. said that when he, L. G., came into office, not only were the heavy gung not ordered, but not even the machinery to make them existed, and it had been a tremendous task to get the whole thing moving. L. G. said that he was in favour of the General Service Act — looking fiercely at Scott as he said so. I asked the latter what he thought, and he said he was prepared to assent to it on terms. L. G. was inchned to think that the Germans would go at the Russians again in the summer. Friday, March 24. Lunched with Sir Arthur and Lady Paget, Max-Muller, and some ladies whose names I forget. We had a great talk about Russia. Sir Arthur produced two orders set in brilliants which the Tsar had given him. They were really quite superb, and I think that one was the Alexander Nevsky, and the other the St. Stanislaus, but I am not quite sure. He and Reggie had done a long journey, and had been to the Russian G.H.Q.^ which were at Minsk, I fancy, or somewhere in that direction. They had a great function. He says that there are nearly 148 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS 2,000,000 rifles now and 1,000,000 with the reserves. They called up 1,400,000 men a short time ago, and will call up 400,000 more a month ! PoHvanoff, the new Russian War Minister, told him everything. There are going to be no new formations except some small bodies in the Caucasus. The output of rifles in Russia is only 95,000 a month, and not 200,000 as other reports have suggested. They are short of heavy guns, and do not think they wiU be able to resist an attack, a la Verdun, in the East, but Sir Ai'thur says that the men are very splendid and physique magnificent. What they lack is young men of the officer type and our N.C.O.s, but the training wiU be better this year than towards the end of the retreat last year. He expects that the Russians wiU make their main effort in the South as before, partly in order to bring Rumania in. He says that he disabused the minds of the Russians of the beUef that we could do anything from Salonika of a really serious character. The Russians were anxious about the Riga front owing to the manner in which the ice melts in the Baltic, i.e. earUer in the south of Riga Bay than in the north, but they aU seemed determined to fight things out. Sir A. Paget is rather disposed to think that some of the Russian Army Group Commanders fight on their own initiative, and he says that when the thaw comes aU opera- tions will have to stop for a time. Saturday, March 25. I have had a look into our affairs to-day with the help of much information recently conveyed to me by pohtical people, and I see no reason why we should expect victory yet. All the foUowing statistics are unknown to the pubUc. We have 6,300,000 men of the AUies in the chief theatres of operation, and our enemies have 6,000,000 or about the same. With equal numbers we must expect drawn battles unless our leading and quahty are superior, and this we cannot affirm, taking aU the Armies together. The German reserves, including the 1917 and 1918 Classes, promise 2,500,000 exclusive of recovered wounded. The French have about 750,000. The Itahans have 2,750,000, but have neither the cadres 1916] MEN, MONEY, AND GUNS 149 nor the guns to increase their forces much. The Austriana have at least 1,000,000. For the Russians the reserves are still ample, but we have to count rifles rather than men. The Russians say that they have 1,400,000 rifles, and will have 2,200,000 at the end of April. Robertson has always refused to place a figure on our needs, and has said plainly that no hmit can at present be placed upon the numbers which we may have to find to win the war. We have raised 70 divisions in the U.K., of which 50 are now abroad, 3 T.F. divisions in India, 13 2nd-hne T.F. divisions at home allotted to Home Defence with only 600 men per battaUon, and 4 New Army divisions getting ready to go abroad. We have also 3 British and 2 Indian cavalry divisions in France, and about 1,000,000 miscel- laneous troops at home, including 600,000 reserves of aU branches of the Regulars and T.F. Our divisions are below strength and we have immediate need of over 200,000 men to fiU up strengths and meet wastage for three months, even after allowing for all our reserves at home. If we can work up to 62 divisions abroad we shall need 123,000 drafts a month to keep them going according to our past experience, at all events during the fighting seasons. There is no doubt that we can spare these men without industrial disaster and therefore ought to get them, but the German reserves are also large, and they can give tit for tat. We have about 2,750,000 men on the W.O. pay Ust, exclusive of Dominions. Our debts are already near £2,000,000,000. The Army costs nearly 600 millions a year, grants or loans to Dominions and AlUes 600 miUions, munitions over 400 miUions, Navy over 200 miUions, and charges for debt 134 millions. These are the main items per annum, and the hardest drain on us of all, namely, the loans to AUies, is not hkely to diminish. L. G. has ordered between 4000 and 5000 heavy guns and howitzers from 45-in. to 15-in. and they are coming along finely. We are lending Russia 300 miUions a year, Italy 120 milhons, Dominions 100 millions, France 48 miUions, Belgium 30 150 EQUALITY OF STRENGTHS millions, and so on, but we have also released France from the obligation which she undertook last year of sharing with us equally the burden of the loans to some of our Alhes. This amounts to 150 miUions. We also help France in freight and coal below market rates, and pay them for using their railways to defend them. No one of the public is aware of any of these facts. If France did all the things for us that we are doing for her we should be over 400 millions richer a year. It is a hard war for England. ^ * By the end of the war our Allies owed us £1,700,000,000, exclusive of advances for reconstruction pvirposes. Out of this total, France and Italy each owed us 470 millions. CHAPTER VII A VISIT TO THE FRENCH FRONT, MARCH AND APRIL 1916 The struggle over Salonika — Our strength in France — Visit to Chantilly — Views of Generals de Castelnau and PelI6 — System of work at the French G.Q.G. — By motor Paris to Souilly — Situation at Verdun — Visit to the battlefield — French confidence that they can hold Verdun — General P6tain's views — His use of artillery — The 2™" Bureau, 2me ^n^^e — German divisions used — German prisoners — Visit to General Gouraud — The French trenches described — The French 5™*' Armee Headquarters — Their views of the situation — Visit to General JoflFre — His views on artillery, British strengths, Salonika, black troops, and French losses — Visit to the French War Minister — Conversations with M. Briand and M. Berthelot — A version of the Constantinople affair— A visit to La Panne — Belgian strengths. March, 1916. Commandant Bertier having arranged with the French G.Q.G. that I should visit the French front, I left London on Monday, March 27, went to Southampton, and embarked on the boat for Havre . It was blowing great guns, and I slept on board. We started at 7 a.m. on the morning of March 28. Fairly quiet until we got into the Channel. We saw a line of nets extending across between the forts, and there were various patrol boats at anchor in the neigh- bourhood, and some destroyers further out. We passed the line of nets between two old hulks which mark the Channel much too clearly. When we got into the Channel we found a gale blowing. Had a most tempestuous crossing, nearly everything in my cabin was smashed. However, it must have been much too rough for the German submarines to come to the surface, and so we duly arrived at Havre, and, after having a very poor meal, went on to Paris at 5.23, arriving 9 p.m. I found that none of the registered luggage had come with us, and most of us had nothing but 152 A VISIT TO THE FKENCH FRONT what we stood up in. Went to the Ritz. Telephoned to Bertier, who was in Paris, and told him that I could not go to the G.Q.G. (Grand Quartier General) until Thursday. He undertook to make arrangements. Wrote to Sir William Robertson that I was in Paris ; he is here for the Confer- ence of the AlHes. Took leave of Gerald Campbell, who is leaving Paris ; he is on his way to Switzerland for the Times, and his book on the Vosges fighting is just coming out. Wednesday, March 29. Robertson came round to see me at 9.45 a.m. He said that he and Joffre had agreed not to discuss military matters and strategy before the sixty to one hundred persons who are taking part in the Conference. They had decided only to refer to military affairs in general terms, but they had agreed to an Anglo- French Conference, which seems to have been rather breezy. The French had brought Gilinsky, the representative of the Russian H.Q. Staff, and Robertson said that had he known that they were going to do this, he would have brought Cadorna to balance matters. The great struggle was to try and make the French send the Salonika troops to France. He did his best, and both Asquith and K. supported him. They found the French quite immovable. Joffre got angry, or pretended to be, and stormed and thumped the table, complaining that Robertson was un homme terrible. R. was not quite sure what this meant, and asked me whether it was a kind of enfant terrible in a grown-up form. I said that I thought that the French would bring the troops back too late, and R. agreed. He complained bitterly that our Ministers did not take the lead in the debates, and that none of them, except Lord K., could speak French properly. Asquith and others spoke in English. There was a very good translator dis- covered by Lloyd George. He apparently let them speak for a quarter of an hour, and then spoke the speech in French for them. R. said that the translator's speech was much better than the original, but that the whole thing was babble and did not lead anywhere. R. said that we should soon have 40 divisions in France, 2100 field guns, 1916] AT THE FRENCH G.Q.G. 153 600 howitzers, and 600 heavy guns, also a total of 4,000,000 rounds in reserve for the field guns in France, and 1,000,000 for the heavy guns . He thought that our position as regards ammunition was now good. We went over the points that I meant to make in my conversation with the French over here, concerning which R. and I are in entire agreement. Lunched with the Le Roy-Lewises. Met Mrs. Leeds, who is staying at the Ritz. Bertier came to lunch and then went off back to England. My uniform had now come, so Lieut. Pernot of Joffre's Staff and I started off for Chantilly at 2.40 p.m. It is about one hour's run. I saw General Pelle first. I had met him in Mecklenburg at the German manoeuvres in 191 1, and knew his value. A very pleasant and capable man. He called for Colonel Dupont, who is head of the 2nd Bureau at French G.Q.G. We discussed Verdun and German plans. First of all, it appeared that the French had only 3 reserve divisions — namely, the 61st, 63rd, and another — on the N.E. front where the Germans first attacked. General Herr commanded them. They had a .very bad time as the enemy was so superior. Herr had in all 9 divisions in the fortified region of Verdun. Herr had put Joffre wrong by vowing that the Germans would never dare attack. The first four days were very serious — 21st to 25th ; then, on the 25th, General Petain, commanding the 2nd Army, was placed in charge of the whole operation, and there were placed under his orders also the 3rd Army (Humbert) and Herr's divisions. The 2nd and 20th French Army Corps attacked on the 26th and checked the German advance. The Germans had used 24 divisions, of which 20 had attacked seriously. We had a long talk on various subjects, and then I saw General Castelnau, Chief of the General Staff, whom I had met before both in Paris and England. He has already lost three sons in the war. He said that the Germans had already lost 137,000 men at Verdun. Others think they have lost more. The French have lost about half this number. There were now, according to Castelnau, only 8 fresh German divisions left over at disposal on the 154 A VISIT TO THE FRENCH FRONT whole Western front, and they were all in front of the British. Robertson had told me that he thought the Germans were off the Russian campaign, and intended to continue the offensive in France. Castelnau was of the same way of thinking. He said that he thought that the Germans expected to take Verdun in a few days by their rush tactics under the fire of their numerous guns ; other- wise they would not have omitted an attack on the left banlv of the river. He said they had used woods north of Verdun to conceal their guns, that there were such masses of the latter that the French artillery had been exceed- ingly effective. He said that in one zone, 1200 metres by 400, the Germans had fired 370,000 shells. During the fight the Germans had withdrawn 10 divisions, and, after completing them with men from the field depots, had sent them back to the fight. The French, on the other hand, drew their divisions out of the fight before they had lost their quality, and sent in new divisions from the reserve. The French had 20 divisions emploj^ed in all. The Germans adopted their system from want of divisions in reserve, and the French thought their own system best. The French now think that they have information two days before any fresh German troops come up from the interior of Germany or from other sections behind the line. The French have all their plans ready to replace any one of their divisions at any point in their front line at a moment's notice, so they can always follow any Grerman change by a corresponding movement. Generals Castelnau and Pelle asked me many questions about our troops in England, and I enlightened them con- cerning our situation. De Castelnau made rather a good suggestion which I passed on to Sir W. R. the same night, namely, that the Allied diplomacy should call upon Greece and Rumania to take part in the war by June at the latest and aid an offensive of our troops in Salonika. If they come in, well and good ; if not, then we leave at Salonika 50,000 men, French and English, and 120,000 Serbians now reforming at Corfu, and bring back 150,000 men to France. 1916] THE FRENCH RAPPORT 155 I told him that I thought this a very sound proposal, but he rather surprised me by saying that he did not know what the Allied diplomacy was doing. From other sources I have heard that there is considerable jealousy in Paris of the powers of the French G.Q.G. This G.Q.G. at Chantilly is placed in an immense hotel, formerly much crowded in the racing season. It is about one hour from Paris by car. It is not a bad place, and the service of order is quite good. They are away from Paris and from the atmosphere of the capital, which is not always healthy. The system they work on is to have their rapport at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. every day. The informa- tion which enables the rapport to be drawn up comes by telephone. This means a great saving of time. It requires only two hours for the reports from a Brigade to pass through Divisional, Army Corps, and Army H.Q. to the G.Q.G. The Army Group Commanders do not seem to be involved in this chain, but the Armies duphcate the rapports to them, and the Group Commanders appear to be engaged mainly upon special missions such as those given during this war to Foch, Castelnau, and Petain. But when an order is issued by G.Q.G. it goes out through the Group Commanders when they exist. I hear that the French are making 175,000 shells a day. We are sending 60,000 a day to France. We had some talk of the Russians on the German front. It is thought that the Russians are taking the offensive just as the thaw sets in, in order to prevent the Germans from using their heavy guns, but as the Germans are already in position I am not sure that this will help them much. The French say that the German line in Russia is not continuous. It is a broken chain of points of support. General de Castelnau gave me to beUeve that there are eight French hnes west of the Meuse. There is no sign of the Prussian Guard yet appearing before Verdun. There is only one Ersatz division of the Guard in this region. Two divisions of the Active Guard are in the line further west, two in reserve behind the hne opposite the British, and one division in Russia. One Army Corps, 156 A VISIT TO THE FRENCH FRONT they say, has been recently taken away from the Belgian front. I saw some of the other heads of departments of the G.Q.G. Janin, who is Major-General of the operations in the North-East, has under him : Bell for personnel ; Dupont, 2nd Bureau, for information ; and Renouard, 3rd Bureau, for operations. General Pelle is Major-General of what they call the T.O.E., namely, the Theatre of Exterior Operations. The heads of his 3rd Bureau are Dessier, Deuvigne, and Billotte. Pelle and Renouard struck me as the best, and Renouard gave me the above information about the manner of working the rapports. It is on these rapports that the daily communiques are drawn up morning and evening for the Press. I asked Castelnau about the written promise said to have been given by us to the French to keep seventy divisions in the field. He said that if there were such a paper he had never seen it, so I must ask Joffre about it when I see him. My talk with Castelnau ended by his sajdng that ' rather than accept slavery at German hands, the French race will die upon the battlefield.' Dined with the Lewises at the Ritz. Lewis said that by taking over the front held by the 10th French Army ^ we have set free ten French divisions. We have seven in reserve. Lewis makes a point of the supposed German ignorance of our order of battle. I don't beheve a word of it. Thursday, March 30. Saw Mrs. Leeds in the morning, and had a long talk. Lieut. Pernot came in from the G.Q.G. and lunched with me. We started at 2.15 in a Belleville-de-Launay lan- daulette, and went by Vitry le Frangois and Bar-le-Duc. Stopped at Vitry for tea. We have two stout feUows in helmets and goatskins to drive us. We travelled from sixty to eighty kilometres an hour. The roads were in capital order, and not overcrowded. At Sommesous we * These were the 9th, 12th, 17th, and 33rd Army Corps and the 130th Division. 1916] GENERAL PETAIN 157 found a depot for woodwork for the trenches. After passing Epernay we found all the towns full of troops, who appeared to be very weU clothed and equipped, and the furlough parties were going off to the stations as if nothing were happening. We then came into the old Marne battlefield, when signs of war devastation began to multiply. All the farms are capitally kept, and the fields are in excellent con- dition. It is said that the arrangements for bathing and cooking are very good. Pernot says that after heavy fighting units require rest of from six weeks to two months for restoration of their moral, but physically they are re- stored much quicker. There is a system of reading all the soldiers' letters sent home or received from home. A sum- mary is made of them, and sent to each Army H.Q. In this way the General keeps his finger on the pulse of the Army and the country. The spirit of the Army is said to be good. I was subsequently shown one of these summaries, and it quite confirmed all the opinions which I had heard. A glorious spring day with no wind. We put up at the Hotel du Commerce. Poor quarters and worse food. Friday, March 31. Hotel produced only crusts of stale bread and water for breakfast. Started at 6.30 a.m., arrived at General Petain's 2nd Army H.Q. at Souilly at about nine. Had a talk with Commandant de Cointet, head of the 2nd Bureau, and with Commandant Faucher, Joffre's Uaison officer at Petain\s H.Q.— both good men. I saw General Petain first in his working room. A fair Pas-de-Calais man of medium height,with a firm and reserved aspect and a masterful regard ; a soldier before aU, and one with strong will and decided opinions. I was much attracted by him. Petain took command at Verdun on the evening of Feb. 25, when affairs were looking rather black. He counter- attacked Douaumont on the 26th, the 20th Army Corps on his right, the 2nd on his left ; General Balfourier led this attack, which re-estabMshed affairs in this quarter. Petain has now his own Army (the 2nd) under him, also Humbert's 3rd Army — the right of which rests on the Avocourt Wood 158 A VISIT TO THE FRENCH FRONT — and Gen. Herr's old garrison of Verdun which withstood the shock of the first five days alone. Faucher, Pernot, and I went on to the Fort de la Chaume, where we had an excellent view of the whole position. It was a fine clear day, and my Zeiss glasses were much in request. There was a general bombardment in progress, not so remarkably heavy as I had expected to find it. On the left bank of the river, the French main positions about the Bois Boissu were in full view, and all the gun positions behind it. We had also a fine view of the right-bank positions. I was impressed by the importance of the artillery positions which the Germans were holding at Beaumont, and the adjacent woods and hills. The situation of Douaumont, which the Germans had captured in the evening of February 25, and were holding strongly, is also very dominating and important. The Poivre Hill is much lower, and is wooded, except near the river facing the Woevre plain. The French position seems to be satisfactory on the Woevre side. The German batteries here are not able to move much off the roads, and are given a bad time by the French guns. They seem ready enough to stop shooting if the French do so. The Germans are bombarding Vaux Fort, Poivre Hill, and Bois Boissu, including the Fort de la Marre, making pretty bad practice at the latter, and seemed un- able to find the French batteries in the rear of it. It seems that last night the Germans had captured part of Malan- court, and Petain was contemplating the abandonment of this bit to-night, as he had made the Germans pay the price. It is a really indefensible sahent. He explained to me that they were much exposed to the German fire from the Talou Hill, where the Germans must also be suffering a good deal. I watched the fight of the aviators. The French seem to have the mastery very distinctly. The French anti-aircraft guns are now very good ; no German airman seemed to get over our lines, but we were all over theirs. It was about March 8 that the French obtained the mastery of the air. The Germans may have about 2000 guns at Verdun. This artillery is in two main groups, one north 1916] THE POSITION AT VERDUN 159 of Mort Homme, and one about Beaumont. The direction of this artiUery is poor. The French fire is good. Petain has a genius for heavy guns, which he manages now with great faciUty, and their feu d' ecraseynent is beheved to do much damage. Petain also uses the feu de barrage with great effect. The German fire seems to be more scattered than the French. The hostile guns were better at first in their prepared positions, and then they had not so many French guns against them, but as they advanced they be- came much less effective. Petain cannot hold the Malan- court positions, because his guns cannot get forward enough, as they would be raked from the right bank. Petain suffered at first from lack of communication trenches (boyaux), but these seem now to be extending in rear of all positions. No one here seems to beheve for a moment that the Germans can take Verdun. They are, however, throwing incendiary shells into the town, and doing what damage they can to the place. I was shown a particularly vile and detestable German trick. The compressed forage sent from America contains a lot of needles and sharp, bent pieces of steel and smaller spHnters. These are intended to pierce the intestines of animals eating this forage, and the French lost many horses and mules before finding it out. The Due d'Auerstadt told me he had lost seven horses from this cause, and I was shown a specimen of this forage with the steel in it, and have no doubt that the outrage is dehberate, and is traceable to the German- Americans in the U.S.A. Moral : Use no American compressed forage or tinned goods. I saw many French troops. All the villages and towns west of Verdun full of them, and many hundreds going on furlough, which does not look as if they were much alarmed by the German attack. The moral of the Army is really magnificent. Lunched with Petain and his Staff, including General Herr, commander of the old Verdun garrison; there was also one of the Army Corps commanders — about ten or a dozen in all. Petain congratulated me on my writings, and said that he had used the arguments of my article on ' The i6o A VISIT TO THE FRENCH FRONT Western Front,' of Feb. 20, for some official appreciation, and cordially agreed with it. He said that his reading of the situation was that the French had to thank me and the English people, but not the English Government. He was very critical of Lord K,, and cordially disagreed with many things that he had done, especially in Egypt, which could, he thought, be held by a handful of men now. He was strongly in favour of an attack on Alexandretta. He had been against the despatch of troops to Salonika, but was not now for their coming away. He reminded me that he had never seen a shot fired before this campaign. I told him that he was doing fairly well for a beginner ! He told me that he had been at the ficole de Guerre as professor under Foch ; his arm was the infantry, but he had realised since September 1914 — and he appealed to his artillery commander to say if he had not said so — that artillery now conquers a position and the infantry occupies it. So he had gone all out for the guns, and had, above all, tried to make his heavy guns supple so that they could quickly concentrate their fire on different objects and destroy them by the feu d'ecrasemerit. He owed his successes to following this principle. The French artillery fired all day and night. They denied the roads to the enemy at all hours, and so the Germans took to the woods, but the French airmen reconnoitred the pistes, and then these were also shelled by night. If 250,000 German infantry attacked, it was imagined that 120,000 men of other arms and services would also have come under fire. The Germans, like the French, suffer more when in reserve than when in the first line, since the cover is inferior. There are comparatively few losses in front-line trenches on quiet days when there is no infantry attack. Petain asked me what I thought the Germans were going to do. I said that he was in a much better position to judge than I was, but that I thought they would con- tinue to peg away in the West, because there was nothing else for them to do. He impressed upon me, as Castelnau had done, that the battle was not yet over. Petain asked 1916] SITUATION OF THE ENEMY i6i me how many German spies had been shot in England, and I said about a dozen, so far as I knew. I went after lunch to the 2nd Bureau of the 2nd Army, where de Cointet gave me a useful map and some papers ; he also showed me the dossier of all the Grerman regiments. From this one can follow the positions and strengths of all the German regiments, battalions, and companies since the beginning of the war. It is very well done and always kept up to date from the evidence of prisoners. I find that our Intelligence book on The German Army in the Field is highly appreciated, and they all ask for more copies to be sent when the next edition is published. The situation is that the Germans have now brought up thirty divisions in all to Verdun. These are shown in the map given to me, and they include the 1st Division of the 1st Corps, which is reported to have arrived at ifitain from Russia. This is not absolutely certain as yet. This number of thirty includes the 3rd and 18th Army Corps, which are now Ucking their wounds in the second line. The other German divisions held in reserve in the whole of the Western front number ten in all, of which eight are in reserve behind the German troops facing the British. It would appear from this distribution that the German troops are either preparing an attack against us, or expect us to attack them. Another hypothesis is that they may bring the eight divisions from the reserve on our front up to Verdun. A company of German prisoners was paraded for my inspection. They were captured in Avocourt Wood a few days ago. They are a villainous-looking lot with bad faces, and many were miserable-looking specimens of humanity. Two aspirant ofl&cers reported their platoons, cHcking their heels and saluting us in the best Potsdam manner. There were all sorts of men. There were Poles who were dehghted to be free ; others were short of fingers or were deaf ; others had joined in February and were cap- tured within two months. From the Bavarian prisoners VOL. I. L i62 A VISIT TO THE FRENCH FRONT one learnt that the 11th Bavarian Division had been first in Russia and then in Serbia, afterwards at Antwerp, and then before Verdun. There was scarcely any man who would have been taken by the German Army in peace- time, except half a dozen who had been taken out of muni- tion works to be taught bombing. But it appeared on examination that they had not thrown any live bombs until the day of the fight in which they had been captured. The French interpreter of the 2nd Army was a savage - looking little man, who had been two years a student at Bonn. He made short work of the prisoners, telling them that they must say all they knew, or the consequences would be awful. He told me that out of 12,000 prisoners whom he had examined since the beginning of the Cham- pagne offensive in 1915, not more than five or six had refused to speak in the end, officers included. We asked a lot of questions of the prisoners ; they all said that they were dead sick of the war in Germany, and that everybody wished that it would end. I should say that Bavaria had emptied her gaols to produce the rascals whom I saw. Motored on to Chalons and arrived at 6 p.m. Dined with General Gouraud and his Staff that night. He com- mands the 4th Army, and had been badly wounded at the Dardanelles, losing his left arm, and was also very lame. It was a Turkish gun from the Asiatic side that had got him. A very gallant and noble gentleman, perfectly charming. I talked to him most of the evening, largely of extra -European affairs. He is a strong pro-Salonikan. His own front for the moment was quiet, but he said that the Germans were working down the slopes towards him, and that he expected an attack, but that he did not know where they would now find the troops. Commandant Henri was at the head of his 2nd Bureau. He told me that one German division had been taken away from the front of the 4th Army for Verdun, and that he knew of its impending departure a fortnight before it happened. The German strengths in front of the 4th Army are well maintained. The company in the field ran from 160 to 1916] THE CHAMPAGNE TRENCHES 163 180 in addition to the abkommandirende. Note that the German Guard has now its two regular divisions at the angle turn of the German line in the West. Two reserve Guard divisions are behind German troops facing the British ; one Guard Ersatz has just come up at Verdun ; the 3rd Guard Division is still in Russia. Saturday, April 1. Rose early, made some chocolate in my Etna, and with it and the biscuits fed Pernot and self. Motored to Donchery ; stopped on the way short of Rheims. Davoust Due d'Auerstadt of Gouraud's Staff and Captain d'Humieres of the cavahy joined us on the way. An exciting fight of aeroplanes over our heads at the village where we got out. The bugle sounded and every- body else took cover, for the French anti-aircraft guns were raining shrapnel upon the German airman whose progress was marked by the httle puffs of bursting shrapnel which looked hke scraps of cotton wool in the blue sky. Un- fortunately the Boche got away, having had his look. I expect he tried the Montagne de Rheims, which is a good place behind which to assemble troops for a surprise. We visited the trenches of the 4th Army, which are held on their left by the 7th Cavalry Corps. A long walk through woods and hoyaux to a ruined farm, and on through four or five positions to the first Mne called the p6 his or line of resistance. In front is the first hne of aU, which is an outpost hne held by a smaU number of men and a few machine guns just to check the enemy and to spht up an attack. All these trenches are protected by wire, mostly barbed, but not altogether so ; and as it is the order in the 4th Army to add two yards of depth to one or other of the hnes of wire entanglement every week, the result is a perfect sea of wire. In the low ground the defences are almost entirely breastworks, very much hke some of ours, but theirs are concealed by the woods, which Gouraud very wisely does not aUow to be cut. After leaving the low ground we reach the chalk, where the trenches are extremely good. The chalk, of course, stands up ahnost perpendicularly when frost and thaw do not crumble it. i64 A VISIT TO THE FRENCH FRONT In the lower ground the hoyaux have still much water in them, but there are duck-boards which allow one to get along dry. Further up, the trenches are very dry and clean. Units remain in these trenches for ten days. The cavalry in the trenches are mixed with the Territorials ; the latter have an equipe to look after the hoyaux and act as cantonniers. They keep the trenches in perfect order, and quickly repair all damage done by the sheUs. Under a farm was the colonel's quarters with a stag's head to ornament them. This head was blown 1200 feet by a shell, and was brought back by the Territorials. We went down to see the colonel's kitchen, which is sunk very deep in the ground under the road. It seemed like a huge cavern. The colonel has an excellent batterie de cuisine. The road- way of the hoyaux is sunk some eight to ten feet below the ground hne. All turnings are marked with notice boards. There are steps here and there for getting out, and there is much barbed wire on aU sides. The dug-outs are very deep, with good wooden bunks, one above the other, for the men to sleep in. There are blankets and straw in the bunks. Each dug-out has at least two entrances, in case one is blown in by a shell. The approaches to the advanced Unes are zig-zags, but each bit of the hoyaux is defended by parapets or traverses with loop-holes for rifle fire, so that not much progress can be made by the enemy along the hoyaux, even if he gets into them. The parapets are arranged for rifle fire, but there seems to be a great absence of head cover. The machine guns and 3 7 -mm. guns are placed in concealed pits flanking the lines and covering aU approaches. The tops of them are covered with canvas and pieces of bracken or branches. Along each hoyau there run a dozen or more telephones which diverge along the branches. There is one hne buried under the ground, one metre deep, in case the other hues are destroyed. I was told that a jeu de barrage takes from 40 seconds to 3 minutes to turn on, and that a field battery covers 400 by 400 yards with one sheU every minute every 10 yards. At one point we stood up about 300 yards from the Grerman 1916] RATS AND POISON GAS 165 trenches in order to look round, and no one fired at us. It was very different from Flanders, where we should all have been shot at if we had shown our noses above the parapet. I fancy that the French and Germans are less vicious than we and the Germans. They fight a battle harshly enough, but in the intervals they like to keep quiet. We go on fighting all the time. The observers in these front trenches are protected by little steel cupolas, and even when there is much bombing they are fairly immune. On the parapets of the front trenches are what look Hke window flower-boxes. They contain chemical materials for making a smoke screen to lift the German gas when it comes. All the rats in the trenches congregate round these smoke boxes when the gas comes, as they realise that they save them from suffo- cation. This process of lifting the German poison gas was discovered quite by chance. During a gas attack some straw was set on fire by accident and forced the Grerman smoke up. The rats came in swarms to squat round the burning straw and gave the French the hint. There is a special hoyau for a 60-centimetre light line of rail, which is laid down with the metal sleepers attached to it. It runs under cover within a few yards of the front fine, and the trucks are pushed by hand. AU the suppHes, including the wood for the dug-outs, come this way. Strong and close wire-netting is used to support the earth, where it does not stand by itseK. AH these trenches are clean, comfortable, and natty. The dis- ciphne is excellent. Every man we met in the trenches saluted, and all seemed very cheery. I am told, however, that these Champagne trenches are better than anywhere else. A man was kiUed close to us. We walked back in the open, and went on by car to the Montagne de Rheims, which is a strong artillery position. It is within range of the German guns, but people are at work on the vines everywhere as if there were no war. I remember my last voyage here with the Vicomte de Pohgnac and his pleasant party. A fairly large population still remains. i66 A VISIT TO THE FRENCH FRONT The statue of Joan of Arc still stands untouched in front of the Cathedral, but the latter is a scene of vandahsm and desolation. Drove on to Donchery to lunch with General Franchet d'Esperey, commanding the 5th Army, but he had just gone off to the Vosges to confer with General Dubail, so we lunched with his Staff. All very pleasant and friendly and informal. They were billeted in the house of a Hun who, of course, had disappeared. I went into the 2nd Bureau and had a talk with them aU. There was a capable captain there, by name Fagalde, in charge of it, and several other officers, including a Japanese, The captain's view was that the Germans would go on till the last gasp. He admitted 2,000,000 as a possible number of reserves still available, counting at half a milhon each yearly class, 1916-18. We studied the maps of the German distribu- tion, and found that there were absolutely no German troops in reserve in front of the 5th Army, which has 105 kilometres to look after. In this front there were 10 German divisions all holding the trenches with nothing higher than single battahons for local reserves. The German positions in front of the 4th and 5th Armies have the best of the ground, which is shown by an excellent panorama in General Gouraud's sitting-room. I told Gouraud that if he could place himseK on the top of these hills, all the world would be at his feet. Captain Fagalde thought that except for eight divisions in reserve in front of the British, there were no other German troops to spare between Verdun and the sea. Motored on to Chant illy in the afternoon. Had tea with Henry Yarde-Buller at the British Mission. Hein?y the same as ever, very cheery, bright, and pleasant. Le Roy- Lewis told me some time ago that Lord Bertie cannot bear him, but I don't know why. Then went on to see Greneral Joffre, who occupies a big house facing the race -course. He is a big man, even vast, especially in breadth. He has a big head, big shoulders, big arms and hands. He greeted me civilly, but at first with some formality. 1916] GENERAL JOFFRE'S VIEWS 167 As we talked all the formality wore ofi, and he became cordial and eventually almost expansive. He started the talking, and I let him talk. He first dealt with the general situation, and then went on to speak very highly of the French medium-heavy artillery, especially the 155 and 210 guns. He said that the French shells were far superior to the German, because they had a heavier charge, broke up into more fragments, and killed more men. He preferred the medium to the very heavy guns — 305, 380, and the 420 — ^which were chiefly for the diversion of the public and the Press. It was possible to have more of the medium caUbres, and they were much more effective. He granted, however, that the Grermans had the advantage of the longer range of some of their guns, many of which were quick-firers. I then turned the conversation into the question how many British divisions had been promised to the French, and he assured me positively that he had nothing written on the subject, and had only been given general indications. He wanted as many troops as we could spare. But his particular request was that we should keep our troops now in France up to their fuU strength. I said that I supposed we were about 40,000 short in France, and he said, emphatic- ally, ' More.' I afterwards learnt that we were 78,000 men short abroad, of which 55,000 in France. I told Joffre the situation of our divisions in England, as I had done to PeUe and Castelnau, and told him why they were not to come over yet. As an example of the disadvantage due to lack of men, Jofire told me that he had recently asked Sir Douglas Haig to carry out certain preliminary work for an eventual offensive, but that Haig had rephed that he could not do it for want of men. We discussed the state of our Army at home, in Egypt, and at Salonika. As for the latter, Joffre declared that it was a political and diplo- matic question. He did not attempt to suggest, and in fact contemptuously denied, that there were any mihtary grounds for the operation, so I remarked that as this was his point of view, there was nothing more to be said. Our i68 A VISIT TO THE FRENCH FRONT Armies had only to carry the policy of Governments. How- ever, he went on to argue that the Salonika detachments might bring Rumania in and keep Greece quiet. His main complaint was not the absence of troops from France owing to their retention in England, but the state of our effectives now in France. I told him that the question had never been presented to me in that way, and that I heartily sympathised with his views. I told him that as we had over 1,000,000 men at home, 200,000 in Egypt, and an Army in Salonika, I thought we ought to be able to make up the Armies in France, and that I would do my best to get them hurried out. I then opened up the question of French losses, and said I wished to state them to the English public, as I thought nothing would move them more. He was very sympathetic and understood the point, but, after some reflection, said that as the losses had been concealed so long from the French public, it would be difficult to announce them now. He asked me what I thought of the general position, and I gave him my views, as concisely and clearly as I could, telUng him that from what I had seen of his troops I felt confident and happy. We went into the question of an African Army. He listened attentively to my views, and said that the French would have 100,000 black troops in France this year, but that he thought that they were no good in the winter, and that they could not stand being shelled ; they were only good for an attack. I asked him how he got on with Robertson, and he spoke very nicely of him, saying that he admired his frankness and his will power. We neither of us mentioned Lord K.'s name. We parted on cordial terms, and Pernot, who was present at the talk, congratulated me on the way I had managed Joffre and brought him out. Joffre impressed me favourably. He is a bigger and a stronger man than I thought. He struck me as being shrewd, prudent, broad in his views, and with a great many of the best qualities of the French peasantry. He warmed 1916] AGGREGATE FRENCH NUMBERS 169 up gradually as we talked, and I should say that he is well worth talking to. Motored on to Paris after a word or two with Henry Yarde-Buller, and arrived at 8 p.m. Sat up late writing about Verdun. Sunday, April 2. Met Le Roy-Lewis in the morning. We went to the Embassy. I saw Lord Bertie, and told him what I knew. He evidently thinks very small things of Lord K. He came from Dubail, who had just been appointed Governor of Paris, and is said to belong to the CaiUaux group, or what Bertie calls ' the Rue de Valois lot,' in politics, which is bad news, but Bertie says that even if the party got back to power, they would not make Caillaux premier. Bertie very amusing about his experiences with a British Assist- ant Provost-Marshal in Paris when the Ambassador was travelling to London. He told me that several French soldiers were against Joffre. I told him that a commander- in-chief always had enemies. Met Lady Granville, but missed Lord G. Lunched at the Cafe Voisin on the way back. It seems to have fallen from its ancient glories, and there was hardly anybody there. Le Roy-Lewis gave me a tabular statement, expanding what I had told him about the system of the French G.Q.G,, and showing the French W.O. system, includ- ing the command in the field. Lewis says that the French have 2,300,000 men at the front, and 1,900,000 behind, but allows that this includes sick and wounded, and odds and ends. It is, in fact, not the fighting strength, but the aggregate figure of men drawing rations. He places the French losses at 800,000 killed and 200,000 missing, and imagines that the total casualties may be 3,000,000. Went to the French W.O., and saw General Bard, chef du cabinet of the new French War Minister, General Roques. Made an appointment to see the latter to-morrow morning. Called at the Times office, 2 Chaussee d'Antin — nice rooms. Then on to see Mrs. Leeds, and had a pleasant talk with her. Tony Drexel there at first. 170 A VISIT TO THE FRENCH FRONT Hubert Walker dined with me at the Ritz. General Ferdy Stanley and his wife were there. He is back on short leave from his division, which is on the Somme. We talked with the Lewises after dinner. Lewis said that he had reported in June 1915 that the French had lost 1200 guns by using drilled shells instead of forged, and that the English had made the same mistake, and had lost 38 guns at Loos from the same cause. Lewis told me about the meeting between Lord K. and French at the Embassy in August 1914. Monday, April 3. Saw General Roques at 10.15 a.m. I knew the huissier very well by sight. He has been there twenty -seven years, and has seen thirty -two Ministers of War in his time. He hopes to live to see his fortieth. Found Roques very pleasant. He is not tall. He was in plain clothes, because he had to attend Parliament that day. Roques said that he had long wished to meet me, and that he had read all my articles. He said that although I was often a severe critic, severity was often required. He impressed upon me that he was an intimate friend of Joffre's, and had come to the War Ministry to protect his friend from coups de langue, while Joffre was giving the coups de sabre to the enemy. I said that I remembered all the work he had done for aviation in France. He rephed that during the years 1909 to 1911 he had spent 12 miUion francs on this service, although he only had a vote of a few thousand francs. I asked him why he was not hanged by the ParUament, and he repUed that aU his friends had told him he would be, but thanks to his knowledge of administration, which no doubt meant cooking the esti- mates, he had managed to pull through. I congratu- lated him heartily on the fine work of the French War Office, examples of which I had seen in all the French Armies. We discussed a number of matters, and parted on very friendly terms. Lunched mth the Lewises. In the afternoon went to the French Foreign Office to see Monsieur Berthelot. He was apparently with Briand when my card went in, and Briand at once sent and asked 1916] A CONVERSATION WITH M. BRIAND 171 me to come and see him. I was struck by his resemblance to Lloyd George. About the same height and build, with the same cut — or want of cut — of hair, and the same captivating smile and manner. He was extraordinarily cordial, and said, as others had done, that he Uked to meet a man whose ideas he had so often read, as it made all the difference in the world knowing the man who wrote them. He asked my views on the situation, and the state of the French Army. I gave them as briefly as possible. He then launched out into a long and interesting account of the diplomatic situation. Of course I knew that we would soon arrive at Salonika, which has been his particular pigeon, and sure enough he reeled off all the old argu- ments. We had saved the Serbian Army ; we had pre- vented Germany from dominating the Orient ; we had kept Rumania and Greece from joining Germany. ^ I told him ^ It is only just to M. Briand to give in his own words, from the Loire Ripuhlicaine of August 1919, his view of the Salonika story : C'esten Janvier 1915, exactement le l^'' Janvier, a I'Elys^e, que M. Briand, qui 6tait alors garde des sceaux et ministre de la justice dans le cabinet Viviani, a fait au president de la Republique et aux members du gouver- nement la proposition d'organiser, en collaboration avec les Anglais, une expedition de 300,000 hommes qui, debarquant dans un port de I'Adriatique serait all6e joindre les Serbes, dont I'arm^e venait de remporter sur les Autrichiens une grande vietoire, consacr^e par la prise de plus de 50,000 prisonniers. L'id6e fut adoptee en prhicipe par les membres du gouvernement, mais MM. Millerand, ministre de la guerre, et Delcass6, ministre des affaires 6trangere3, ont fait des objections et ont demand6 que le G. Q. G. fut appel6 a donner son avis. II en fut ainsi d6cid6. Quelques jours aprfes, le G. Q. G. adressait au gouvernement un rapport dans lequel il concluait a I'impossibilit^ absolue de cette expedition. Plus tard, la Bulgarie ayant attaqu6 la Serbie et celle-ci se trouvant en p^ril, on dut envoyer des troupes a son secours, mais il etait trop tard : elles ne purent pas joindre I'armee serbe, qui fut menac6e d'une destruction totale. C'est alors que les Anglais voulurent renoncer totalement a toute intervention dans les Balkans et ramener les troupes en France. Beaucoup d'hommes politiques 6taient de cet avis, et Ton se rappelle toutes les attaques violentes qui furent dirigees centre M. Briand, alors devenu presi- dent du conseil, lorsqu'il persistait a maintenir les troupes frauQaises en- voyees la-bas, a en augmenter le nombre et a obtenir des Anglais qu'ils consentissent a suivre cet example. On sait qu'il parvint a triompher des resistances du marechal Kitchener, et c'est la la veritable origine de la grande expedition de Salonique qui, des 172 A VISIT TO THE FRENCH FRONT that I had objected to the expedition last October, because it was too late then to save Serbia, and that the saving of the Serbian Army, so far as it had been accomplished, was not due to the Salonika expedition, but to the subsequent reUef sent to the Adriatic, and to the use of Corfu as a repairing base for the Army. I told him that I was not opposed to the presence of our troops at Salonika on prin- ciple, but only to the absence of a quarter of a milhon of our best troops from France at a moment when they might enable us to win a decisive battle. I told them that in their absence, instead of having a homie hataille this year, we should only have an hataille ordinaire. He listened very attentively to the argument and then admitted, in reply to some further remarks of mine, that no mihtary offensive was to be expected from the Salonika base. In this case, I said — following Castelnau's idea — that the time had come to compel Greece to march, so that some useful result might accrue from the costly expedition to Salonika. He agreed, suggested that Venizelos was no longer of leading importance, that financial pressure should be appUed, and that the Skaloudris should be replaced by a Zaimist Govern- ment. He also agreed that pressure on the King was the main thing ; he added that this pressure had already begun, and I said that I was glad to hear it. I suggested that the great diplomatic fault of the war was the promise I'ann^e 1916, libera ie canal de Suez des entreprises de la Turquie, barra a I'empereur Guillaume II. la route de Constantinople, sauva rarni6e serbe de la capitulation et permit de s'emparer de Fiorina et de Monastir. Pendant ce temps, nos alli6s russes, liberes des troupes turques rappel^es vers Salonique, s'emparaient en Arm6nie d'Erzeroum et de Tr6bizonde ; les Anglais reprenaient Kout-el-Amara et prenaient Bagdad ; et le roi du Hed- jaz, rompant avec les Tures, se rangeant a nos c6t6s, s'emparait des Lieux- Saints et de la Mecque, ce qui eut, dans Ie monde musulman de nos posses- sions algerienne, tunisienne et marocaine, une influence considdrable. Une autre consequence — et non des moindres — de rexp6dition fut que la Roumanie d^clara la guerre a I'Allemagne. Enfin, on sait qu'en 1918 ce sont les victoires 6clatantes de Tarm^e d'Orient qui ont fait capituler la Turquie, la Bulgarie et rAutriche-Hongrie. Le mur qui prot^geait, en Orient, TAlIemagne 6tait tomb6. Le marechal Hindenburg 6crivit la fameuse lettre dans laquelle il disait : ' II ne nous est plus possible maint«nant de r^sieter. 11 faut demander I'armistice.' 1916] M.BERTHELOT ON THE DARDANELLES 173 of Constantinople to Russia, to which he assented, and added that the second fault was the failure to send an Army to Salonika instead of to the Dardanelles in Feb. 1915. These two errors ruined our cause in the Balkans, but he was trying to re-estabhsh it. He had advocated the Salonika cowp early in 1915, just as Lloyd George had done. I told him that the military situation in France was now good in my opinion, and that we held the Germans definitely, but I thought it necessary to explain to him our recruiting difficulties. He was evidently possessed of a very poor opinion of Lord K., and declared that the latter had ruined everything in Greece by assuring the King of the Hellenes that we should withdraw our troops. Monsieur Briand added that a soldier should not be charged with diplomatic missions when completely ignorant of diplomacy. Briand is a charmer, and I now understand his power. He has the appearance of strength, a great deal of fire, and much affabihty. I talked with Berthelot, who gave me an extraordinary version of the Constantinople affair. He said that this affair had begun, as I knew, in England. The project was made known to the French, who were informed that the attack was to be purely naval, and so they desired to take part in it. Up to this point Russia had been told nothing of the attack, had not asked us to mtervene, nor had there been any question of any promise to Russia, which seemed content with the idea that the Straits should remain in Turkish hands unfortified and free after the war. But one day Isvolsky, the Russian Ambassador, had happened to be with Delcasse, — at that time French Foreign Minister — and had mentioned incidentally a rumour that had reached him about a coming AUied attack on Con- stantinople. He said to Delcasse that he supposed there was nothing in it. Delcasse repHed, ' Why, surely you know aU about it, don't you ? ' Isvolsky expressed complete ignorance, and did not conceal his astonishment ; he then cabled off to Petrograd, thinking, no doubt, that we and the French intended to make our cowp behind 174 A VISIT TO THE FRENCH FRONT Russia's back, and were playing a trick on her. The same point of view must have been taken at Petrograd, and very naturally. In any case, there came a wire back in almost harsh terms, exacting the concession of Con- stantinople to Russia after the war, and there was nothing for Delcasse to do but to agree. The whole fault lay in the neglect to inform Russia of what was being done. Isvolsky and Russia were not to blame in any way. It would be incredible to them that we should prepare an expedition against Constantinople — the aim of Russia's hopes for centuries — and yet not inform Russia when she was our Ally. Berthelot also told me that Sazonoff, against all his promises, practically gave away the Franco-British pro- ject to the Duma people, and then, of course, the news soon got round, penetrated to the Balkans, and infuriated Turkey, Rumania, and Greece. This neghgence was the main cause of our undoing in the Balkans. Berthelot declared that the Franco-British union should remain the basis of all our pohcy in the future. I went back to the Embassy and saw Lord Granville, to whom I communicated these conversations confidentially. He knew nothing of the proposed pressure on Greece, nor of the origin of the pro- mise of Constantinople to Russia. He said that he thought Lord Bertie knew nothing also, but H. E. was in the habit of writing private letters without communicating the contents to the Embassy. He therefore could not be sure, but he was much interested. Dined with IMrs. Leeds in her rooms ; then joined John Baird, and we started with the 11.40 p.m. train from Paris for CaJais. Tuesday, Ajjril 4. After a frugal meal found the car which Prince Alexander of Teck had sent for us, and motored to La Panne at breakneck speed. We had just time to clean ourselves up a bit before being commanded to go to the Palace {alias Villa), for an interview with their Majesties. Baird was late as usual, so I did not wait for him. I found the Queen and King alone in the same modest 1916J AT THE BELGIAN HEADQUARTEES 175 little villa on the beach. He was in khaki with putties. I told him of my recent experiences in France. We were getting on to interesting subjects when Prince Alexander came in with Baird, and we had to break off. We then had tea. The Queen had to go and fetch it because the bell would not ring. The worst of it was that unless one can get the King or Queen alone, or unless one is alone with the two of them, the conversation is limited to banalites, Baird and I both felt it, but the audience had been arranged, and it was too late to alter it ; also Countess Ghislaine was not there to help to arrange matters. The Queen as charming and as witty as usual. She thanked me for keeping my promise to come and see her next time I went to France. The King looked very well. We all had a lot of talk about nothing of special interest ; five people meant formality. Royalties in a company and Royalties alone are totally different people. I had a talk with Major Gallet, the King's Military Secretary, and also with Commandant Prud'homme, on my way to Boulogne next day, as well as with Prince Alexander and Captain Bridge of the British Mission. It appears that the Belgians have six divisions of infantry and two of cavalry, but I do not think that the divisions are strong. They have 70 heavy, and 300 field guns. They have 18,000 men training at Havre as reserves, but could take in many more men if they were available. The inundations on their front still hold, but there is a gap of 300 yards at Dixmiide, and the front is also open at Steenstraete, where they join on with the French division which is still between us and the Belgians. The Army has now khaki and the French casque khaki-coloured. The cavalry take their turn in the trenches. Their horses look in capital condition. The French have the Groupe- ment de Nieuport on the left — more than a division — and another division at Steenstraete, making in all the 36th Army Corps. Foch at Amiens commands the Armies in the North, but what he does I do not know, as all his troops have been sent away. I do not approve of this Anglo- 176 A VISIT TO THE FRENCH FRONT Belgian-French salad in the North, and must state the fact clearly. There is a British naval commander with four 9' 2-inch and some 6-inch guns acting with the French Nieuport group. Dined with the Mission. There were the Prince, Bridge, two English ladies from the Queen's Hospital, and two naval officers. While we dined the telephone rang, and we heard news of the Zepps. in England, and also that others were coming towards us from Nieuport. One came over us, if not two, but they kept their bombs for Dunkirk, doing some damage there, and killing some people. We had a merry dinner and a lot of chaff. Wednesday, April 5. Started at 9 a.m. with Prud'homme to Boulogne. Got on board the boat all right, thanks to Major Comber, the British Intelligence officer, who was most obliging. Lady Angela Forbes turned up. Saw the masts of a torpedoed ship off the harbour mouth. We were very full of troops returning on leave. All wore life-belts. Prud'homme reminded me that the Belgian constitutional law of 1832 only allowed the Belgian Government to call out eight classes of the IMilitia for the active field Army, so they only have men from 18 to 25 in the ranlis. Efforts had been made to change this, and the King was most keen about it, but the Ministers at Havre could not see their way. The King has never once been to Havre since the war began. It was thought possible to take all Belgians in England by an agreement between the British and Belgian Govern- ments. I must talk to Madame Vandervelde on this subject. I learnt that the Belgians had all they wanted — money, equipments, uniforms, etc. All that they wanted was more men. We had a good crossing. When I came over by Havre the German submarines were off Boulogne, and when I returned by Boulogne they were off Havre. Friday, April 7. Saw Mrs. Townshend at three. She showed me a wireless from her husband, thanking me for my letters. She was, of course, delighted with the progress of Gorringe's relieving force. I went on to the Times and told 1916] A TALK AT THE TIMES OFFICE 177 Northcli£fe the story of my visit to France, and what I had learnt. He thought, and I agreed, that we could not take up either Joffre's complaint of the weakness of our effectives in France, or the story of the Russian claim to Constantinople, without documents to support us, and, of course, there are none. However, I must find some means of seeing that the effectives are put right. Talked with Steed. Washburn just back from America on his way to Russia, and with Edward Marshall just returning to America. Marshall was on the Sussex when she was torpedoed. VOL. t. M CHAPTER VIII RECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES Lord French's Commanders and troops — General Robertson's diflfi- culties about men — Verdun silences French demands for Salonika — Sir Mark Sykes's visits to Tiflis — Mr. Baliour on the naval situation — The submarine depredations — Mi-. Bonar Law unconvinced about the need for a Military Service Act — A crisis in recruiting — Mr. Churchill on events — ^Turkish distribution — Stories of the late Lord Salisbury — A visit to Beaconsfield— General Robertson on recruiting and oversea campaigns — A visit to Hartsboume Manor — Sir F. E. Smith's views — ItaUan defeat in the Trentino — Sir W. Robertson on the situation — Necessity for us to attack in France — Commodore Sueter on past naval policy — The R.N. Air Service — The Jutland Battle — Lord Kitchener drowned. Saturday, April 8 . My article on ' The Heart of France ' ; many congratulations about it by telephone. Will Rothen- stein came in this morning to suggest the despatch of artists to the front to make sketches for regimental histories and the H.Q. of county regiments — a good idea, and should be worked. I will try Lady Cunard. Lunched with Mrs. Astor ; Mrs. La very, the wife of the artist and a pretty woman, another American woman, whose name I did not catch, Lord Basil Blackwood, and another man. We had an amusing talk. Mrs. La very asked me to come to her husband's studio about five any day. Went on to see Lord French at the Horse Guards, at his request. He has got on a bit with Home Defence. He will be happier a month hence. It is true that Lord K. was blocking his proposals. French had to go to the P.M. in order to get Arthur Paget and Bruce Hamilton for his two Armies, and Simon Lovat for his cavalry. His de- fensive system, as far as I can see, mainly concerns itself X78 1916] LORD FRENCH ON HOME DEFENCE 179 with the coast south of the Wash. Hamilton commands the Northern Army, Paget the Southern. There are ten battaUons entrenched on the coast, and the two cavalry divisions, each with 7000 cyclists, as a reserve. The two Armies have four and six divisions respectively as their main force, while French has two in reserve under his own hand. Lawson organises the defence from Berwick to the Wash, while French considers that Scotland is sufficiently protected by the Navy. French considers that he has absolute control of the whole of the troops in the United Kingdom, the only exception being certain schools, and he has the trains standing ready to move the troops in any direction. All the aircraft are manoeuvred from a ' dug-out ' at a certain place. He thinks he stopped two Zeppelin raids last week from getting to London. The defect of his posi- tion is the low number and the poor quality of his troops. The divisions have only from 5000 to 7000 men each ; more- over, 8000 men have just been taken away and replaced by untrained Derby group men. He has his guns and horses, including howitzers and heavies, but ammunition is short. He counts a good deal on machine guns, of which he has 500 now at the schools, where the new machine gun com- panies are forming, and he thinks that he can count upon their machine guns for three months longer. He admits that his troops are not much good in an attack, but supposes that they will do well in trenches. He has never beheved in invasion, and does not believe in it now ; but the Navy will give no guarantee, as they cannot be off the coast for forty-eight hours, and probably not for seventy-two ; but he says that we must take risks somewhere, and he is pre- pared to take them at home. With this point of view I absolutely disagree, and I must put my views on record in a letter to him ; however, he thinks that he can take on 100,000 enemies. He thinks that London is aU right for aircraft guns, but that the arrangements for the rest of the country are pretty sketchy ; however, he has been thanked by Hull for having defeated the raiders. i8a RECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES Sunday, April 9. Sir William Robertson came up to my house, and we had a good talk. I told him first of my journey to France, and of my talks with the French. He had not heard that Haig had told Joffre that he was unable to carry out the wishes of the latter for want of men. He had no news from Antwerp, nor of events from Holland. No news also from Kut, but we have over 50,000 men in Mesopotamia, including 30,000 infantry, and plenty of guns, so he hopes for the best. Grorringe is in command, not Lake. In war good news travels fast, not bad. (Joffre had made the same remark to me.) He had come up to see me about recruiting at home. Did I know the position ? I said Yes ; I believed we were 78,000 men short abroad and 50,000 short in the thirteen Terri- torial 2nd-line divisions at home. We had taken 250,000 recruits since Jan. 1, but we should have taken 540,000 to meet the W.O. plan agreed to by the Cabinet Committee of February last. It is three months, he says, since he laid the whole situation before the Cabinet, and he says that in effect nothing has been done, and we are as badly off as we were three months ago. Out of 195,000 men called up under the Derby scheme, 54,000 had failed to appear. We could carry on till August, but then the machinery would crack up, and we were threatened with increasing deficits from now on. He said. It is impossible to go on unless something is done. Did I know what had already passed ? I said I had heard that he had written a strong short paper, dated March 21, and that it was very direct, and ended by urging that pubUcity should be given to the state of recruiting. Yes, said R. ; and he had further assembled the Army Council, and told them that they ought to express an opinion if they considered themselves a Council at all. Robertson was determined to put the matter through, and thought that no good could be done with the present Ministers. It was useless to have a S. of S. for War who was not determined to get the numbers. There was only 1916] DIFFICULTIES ABOUT MEN i8i one remedy, namely, a General Service Law, but even this would not affect the situation for five months. He had seen Lansdowne, who was too old and indefinite. Balfour and Chamberlain no good ; Curzon, he heard, was weaken- ing. The only thing that he could see was Lloyd George. He was to lunch with the latter to-morrow, and meant to tell him to put the red cap on, and get going with revolu- tionary tactics. He thought that Lloyd George was all right, and L. G. and Carson had been together, so he sup- posed that the Carson party knew all the essential facts. Robertson's paper of March 21 had been struck out of the agenda of the Committee every time since March 21. I asked him why he did not refuse to attend until it was con- sidered. He said that you never knew what was on the agenda paper until you arrived. Maurice Hankey arranged it to suit the Prime Minister. The question was how to get a move on and what machinery to employ ? He hoped that things would come to a crisis in Parliament this week, but the question was how to proceed to get the men ? What did I advise ? I said a General Service Law, a sharp re- vision of the list of exemptions, which the Board of Trade Committee pretended to have curtailed, but appeared to me to have been made longer than ever, certainly in the amount of paper it covered ; prolongation of military service for all serving men, Regulars and Territorials alike ; and some other reforms . He approved of these ideas. He was absolutely deter- mined to see the thing through, and would not budge an inch from his position as stated to the Cabinet Committee in February. He was much hampered by the difficulty of getting men moved from one regiment to another. There had been a revolt on Sahsbury Plain the other day on this account, and the men had ' boo'd ' their colonel. He was a poor man, but he was determined to resign if he could not get the men in the numbers accepted by the Cabinet Committee of February, numbers agreed to by the Board of Trade, and due to be found by the Government. It was too critical for him to accept any compromise. i82 EECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES I chaffed him about the Society ladies who pursued him. He told me that he had been the recipient of innumerable invitations to lunch from one lady, who in her importunity pursued him to the War Office, but that he had succeeded in resisting her blandishments. His ' pursuer ' had tried to work on his wife, but had failed : but he understood the game, and was determined to stand clear of poUticians, their wives, and the other great ladies who sought to lionise him for their own purposes. I heartily congratulated him. Monday, April 10. Lunched with Lady Pembroke, Lady Anglesey, Lord Wimborne, and Sir John Cowans. We had some amusing and interesting talk. Wimborne very Guestish, and tried to find excuses for the Govern- ment for doing nothing about recruiting. The Army Council have drafted a hot memorandum to the Govern- ment, and it will be in this afternoon, so Robertson has triumphed thus far. Bee deHghtful on the subject of my Heart of France, and raved about it. Wimborne seems to take his Irish duties very seriously, and to be full of good intentions. He complained that he was not told when the Irish regiments were short. There seems to be no connection between the recruiting branch and DubHn Castle. Dined with Colonel Brinsley FitzGerald and Mrs. Tony Drexel at 63 Duke Street. We had a good talk about their position. It is a pretty good mix up, and I think that they would be wise to settle amicably. We sat up rather late talking about the case. Tuesday, April 11. Dined with the Scarbroughs. Sir Mark Sykes and his wife and Lady Lytton were there. Very pleasant dinner. Mark Sykes very full of his visit to Tiflis. He had been twenty-seven days continuously in the train. He told me that the Grand Duke had only 120,000 men in the field, and that if we did not do something he would very likely be turned out of Erze- roum when the Turkish reinforcements came up from Constantinople. He said that the Turks had men at 1916] BELGIAN AFFAIRS 183 Alexandretta. We were both in favour of a blow at this point. I passed this on to Archibald Murray in Egypt, from whom I have had a most interesting letter full of his ideas of the coming campaign. Friday, April 14, Dined last night at Madame Vander- velde's, 10 Norfolk Square : she is the wife of the ex- Sociahst Deputy, now Mnister. She is EngUsh, I should think about thirty-five, good-looking, Rossetti type, very clever and intelligent. She has been speaking in America, where she made £60,000 for the Belgian refugees. Mrs. Rothenstein was there, and I had a great talk about Belgium and the war. Madame V. is a great admirer of the Queen of the Belgians and stiU more of King Albert. She thinks that the Belgians are making things uncommonly unpleasant for the Germans, whom they appear to insult in every way. She does not think that the Germans have any intention of keeping Belgium. She says that GaUieni's resig- nation is not in the least due to health, as Bertier made out yesterday, and she declares that she has known about it for the last ten days. Her husband comes over about once a month from Havre. We compared notes about La Panne, and the strange, simple hfe of the King and Queen in their httle villa. She agrees with me that Major Gallet is the best of the Belgian officers about the King. I thought she showed a tinge of jealousy about de Brocque- ville, so perhaps her husband aspires to the leading role. She says that the Belgian Government have got all they want, including money, and that the French and EngUsh Governments support them. She was lost in wonderment at England supporting her Alhes financially. Lunched to-day with Arthur Balfour, Lord Robert Cecil, and Mrs. Sedgwick, and told them all they wanted to know about my visit to France. They were much interested, and asked me shoals of questions. As they left for the Cabinet, I told Balfour that he was going off to decide whether we should win the war or only draw it. I found him still very unhappy about the naval situation, owing to the depredations of the German submarines, which i84 RECEUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES have been unusually bad since I saw him last. He said that it was a matter that he could not discuss publicly, but it evidently harassed him very much. He said that some of our Allies were doing no good in their zone of operations. They limited themselves to hunting for the shore bases of submarines, whereas the sea was the only place to hunt them, and all our successes have been gained there. He says that the German nets and other preparations in the Sound had made it difficult for us to put more submarines into the Baltic. We had five or six there which had done splendid work, in fact all the work. The Russians, fifteen in number, had scarcely done anything. The Russians sent effete people to our boats, who learnt nothing, and they would not allow us to send our young officers on their boats to teach them how to handle them. This pride of the Russian Navy was a very serious disadvantage. On the other hand, it had been rather useful at Archangel. One set of Russian authorities had asked us to take over Archangel, the port, and all arrangements about every- thing. Balfour accepted, much against the grain, because he thought that the Russians would refuse him labour, and bungle all other arrangements, and then lay the blame for want of ammunition on England. Fortunately a second set of Russian officers had objected to the plan, and so Balfour was relieved of an unpleasant responsibility. We talked a lot about recruiting. I asked him if he had any news about Antwerp. He had none. I advised him to try and get it, as I was sure the Germans were up to no good there. I reminded him that it was the best equipped continental port in Europe, and as we had made Zeebrugge and Ostend such unhealthy spots, he could be sure that the Grermans, who had been eighteen months at Antwerp, were preparing an armament there. He thought that I referred to invasion. I said that this was important too, as a lot of ships were in the port when the Germans conquered it, but that I was referring to submarine warfare, and I said that when the Germans 1916] BAD KECRUITING RETURNS 185 were ready they would violate the Lower Scheldt and come out. I did not think the Dutch could stop them, and I thought they could only make an ineffectual protest. I am every day more profoundly impressed by the exemplary conduct of our Merchant Navy under the sub- marine menace. There has been no shirking at all, and if we pull through it will be mainly thanks to these fine fellows. Balfour does not beheve in a military success in France ; he evidently thinks that by raising a large Army we are pouring men into a sieve. We had an argument on this point, but it is too long a story for me to set out in full. Balfour is always charming, and always interesting. He has more moral courage than any other of our statesmen, and therefore he is a great asset to us. Saturday, April 15. Sir WiUiam Robertson and I lunched together at the Naval and Mihtary Club. He was still very much exercised about the recruiting. Things could scarcely be worse. Down to the end of February we were 250,000 men short, including the recruits expected during the first two months of the year, and we were 75,000 men short on our estabUshment of troops abroad. The Derby scheme is simply not working out. Of 195,000 men who should have appeared between certain dates, only 38,000 have been accounted for. Of the remainder 27,000 had become attested, 33,000, I think, were rejected for unfit- ness, 19,000 were missing, and I think 27,000 unaccounted for. Generally speaking the unfit average 25 per cent. Robertson has not got the Derby scheme written out yet, but we drew the broad general conclusion that recruit- ing was a farce. Macready, the new A.G., I knew, had suggested the following measures : aboUtion of the ' starred ' Ksts, and every man of mihtary age to justify himself before Tribunals ; power to the poHce to stop and arrest, if necessary, every man of mihtary age without a certificate of exemption ; a Bill to restrict aU men from taking a discharge until the i86 RECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES war is over ; also a fresh Registration Bill on account of the long period of time which has elapsed since August last. Those are the main proposals. There are probably some other which I have forgotten. I told Robertson that I agreed with Macready, though I thought ' bounties ' to the time-expired Regulars would be fairer. Not many Territorials would care for a ' bounty.' What they want is two months' furlough to come and look after their affairs. I told him the story ^ of John French, and Lord K.'s figures. Robertson capped it by another. He said that K. had told him that they had taken 175,000 men one month — I think it was January or February of this year. Robertson had queried the figure, and they had called in the A.G., and had it out. The real figures were only 62,000, K. had counted in all the people who ought to have come in under the Derby scheme ; this was quite another pair of shoes. He said that K. was very much upset at the discovery, and gave the late A.G. a bad time. Robertson left them, and went out for a ride, leaving K. to do the clerking. What a Government and what a War Office ! Macready would pull things round in time, and, at all events, the Government would know the facts in future. But Robertson was very anxious about the whole situation. His view and Macready's was that recruiting should be entirely in the hands of a civihan, and the War Office merely responsible for stating what they wanted. As things stood, the War Office got the odium for all the mistakes. He had found Joffre all right this last visit, but he, R., was stiU unable to get any troops out of Salonika. Robertson was inclined to look into the Alexandretta raid question. Murray was doing well ; he would still have 200,000 men under him when the five divisions had come back to France from Egypt. The second of these — the 29th Division — was now landing, and the other three were following. R. had refused to send Joffre any more * See Diary for March 10. 1916] ANXIETIES ABOUT MESOPOTAMIA 187 from England at present. His view is that once they are in France they are out of his hand, and he has no strategic reserve left to throw in anywhere. There are at present only two of the New Army divisions left in England, and the thirteen 2nd-hne Territorial divisions. He hopes to squeeze Jofifi'e into taking away the troops from Salonika after a bit. Verdun had silenced the cry for more troops for Salonika. He thought the Germans were all out at Verdun, so the French were all right. In the first three weeks the French had 60,000 casualties, and the Germans, he imagines, at least double. He said he must keep a good force for Home Defence : he could not afford to be anxious when any German ship put to sea. As to Kut, he had taken Aylmer away and given Gorringe the command, and had also sent Lake up to the front. He thought Townshend could hold out till the middle of next month. Aylmer's last fight was fought with only part of the force in Mesopotamia ; most of the last division sent out from India had not come up. The situation was dehcate because the river was rising, and it was uncertain whether any offensive could be carried on very soon. He was disposed to put Townshend in command of the advance afterwards. He thought there might be 60,000 Turks in Syria. He had asked the Grand Duke to squeeze the Turks on the Tigris. Saw Mr. Bonar Law one day at the Colonial Office, and had a talk with him. Told him all my news from France. He is evidently not at all convinced that we want a law for Compulsory Service, and evidently agrees with the Cabinet Committee, which made out that they can get 1,000,000 men by a series of half measures. I did not argue the point with him, as he did not give me the estimates. He told me that in case his party would not follow him, he would come out of the Government. All this week there has been a raging crisis over recruit- ing. Robertson has been very firm, and has dragged K. and the Army Council with him. They try to enmesh him in politics, but he stands out and says that it is his business i88 KECRUITING AND SUBMAEINE TROUBLES to tell the Government how many men they want, and their business to get them. I have seen a good many people almost every day. X. and I had tea with E. and Doris Keane one day. Doris had decided that X. was the only man left in Eng- land who interested her, and she had asked to meet him. She was perfectly charming and very amusing. She told him that she had expected to see an old man, with a face like a Wall Street broker, whom she would have to fawn upon, and she found a boy against whom she would have to defend herself. She gave me two photos, with a nice inscription. Tuesday, April 18. Met Commandant Bertier and Lieut. Pernot at my club ; General Egerton and McGrigor there also. The Frenchmen were at a loose end, so I telephoned to Lady Cunard, who allowed me to bring them on to lunch at Cavendish Square, where I was due. There were Lady Randolph, young Asquith, Yeats the poet, the Duchess of Rutland, and three or four more. An amusing lunch. Lady C. in very good form as usual. She is tenant of the charming house of the Asquiths. Lady Robertson came in after lunch and told me that Wilhe was keeping a stiff upper hp about recruit- ing. The P.M.'s statement on the subject this afternoon is to be postponed in order that an agreement could be sought, but it will be precious difficult. IVIrs. Asquith told a friend that the P.M. will be out of office to-morrow, but I doubt it. Wednesday, April 19. Lunched with Lady Randolph ; Lady Juhet, Lady Cunard, Miss Joan Campbell, and another lady ; W. H. Davies the tramp poet, and Eddy Marsh. Amusing as always. All pleased at the fall of Trebizond. Marsh, who is now secretary to the P.M., left Downing Street to-day before the Cabinet had risen, so he could not tell us what the decision was. JuHet very charming. Miss Joan very pretty and amusing. Lady Cunard full of fun, and of the scheme of painters' and poets' visit to the 1916] HAMILTON'S VIEWS 189 front. She has quite a long list of artists who want to go. The tramp poet appears to be a Welshman. He is short and very lame, and came in rough country clothes. Such a contrast to the immaculate and inscrutable Eddy! Lady Cunard extolled the poet's works. None of the rest of us had read them, which was awkward for the poet. He spoke broadly — perhaps in Welsh. At periods he began extoUing the virtues of ' Cat,' saying how mysterious and wonderful it was. We were all in Mesopotamia, and his pronunciation was so pecuhar that we imagined he referred to Kut. Finally we tumbled that he was extoUing the animal cat, but Lady Randolph did not see this, and at last we had to teU her, after getting hot and cold in turn. We discussed the vices and virtues of man and woman. Lady R. said that no woman ever loved a good man, and JuHet agreed, saying that it was the last thing that gave any satisfaction. Lady R. said that man had terrible advantages over woman, as he came into the cradle fully armed. I said that the woman did too, but I was howled down. Lady Cunard thought that a woman ought to have romance and a man sense of humour, and then we tried to define what sense of humour was, and on going round the table we found that every one thought they had it. A good lot of feminine pohtical talk. Lady R. very pleased that every one had patted Winston on the back in the House yesterday. Lady X. had made a very audible remark in the gaUery of the House yesterday. Mrs. Y. had hissed her down, where- upon Lady X. had said that she would not be hissed down by any woman. Miaou ! Thursday, April 20. Went to see Sir Ian Hamilton, who gave me an account of his journey to France to be ' Grand Crossed ' by Joffire. A division was paraded for him and looked very fine. Joffre made a great and very loud speech. He then hung the Grand Cross round lan's neck. Ian then suddenly found the arms of this large person 190 RECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES thrown round him, and himself kissed on both cheeks. The famous accolade ! He had forgotten, and was taken aback by it. I said that I thought that they ought to appoint a pretty woman to do these things to avoid shock- ing our feeUngs. We discussed the Eastern Mediterranean. Joffre had told Ian that the Turks had 52 divisions in all, each of 10,000 men. There were 11 against the Grand Duke, of which 6 had been more or less destroyed, and 9 more had been sent up from Constantinople, there were 2 at the Dardanelles, and 5 against us in Mesopotamia. There was no formed division now in Syria, as the two in the north had gone to Anatoha, and the two at Beersheba had gone north. I suppose the balance were at Constanti- nople, in Thrace, Smyrna, etc., but Sir Ian had not got the story quite pat. The Grand Duke had only 3 Army Corps, which corresponded with Mark Sykes's estimate of 120,000 men, and we agreed that things might be warm for the Russians presently. We also agreed that it was quite absurd that the Allies should have four Armies oppos- ing the Turks, and that there should be no real co-opera- tion between them. Ian is a Uttle dubious about Mm'ray, and doubts whether the latter will be able to do anything big. He thinks that he must have at least 200,000 men still, but admits that they are a very miscellaneous lot. Dined with Lady Randolph, Winston and Lady JuUet were there, and Mrs. Winston came in just for dinner. We had a good yap at dinner, and up to mid- night. Winston and I did most of the talking ; two very sympathetic Hsteners. Winston in good form, but getting rather bald. His battalion is going to be disbanded and broken up owing to shortage of men ; this will enable him to say that he has not left his battaUon, because his bat- talion has left him. All the boys from France have got extension of leave until next Thursday, so they will be present at the debate 1916] A TALK WITH WINSTON 191 postponed by the Government till Tuesday next. Nothing is yet settled. Winston seems to want to form a strong opposition, and spoke in high terms of Carson. Winston's mess of the last Navy debate has made his women folk very anxious for him to be prudent, but I was against this, saying that the recruiting demanded hard hitting and no compromise. Winston opposed hotly the Runciman policy of a half -war followed by a bitter peace ; he wants, as I do, war to the knife till we get what we want, and then a good peace and the pacification of Europe. He likes no more than I do Asquith cooing in answer to Bethmaim HoUweg. We talked of the Eastern Mediterranean, and I told him my Constantinople story from Paris. He did not deny it, but at the same time told me that before the naval attack on the Dardanelles began, he had communicated with the Grand Duke, then, of course, in chief command, who had made ready two Army Corps to help. But, of course, it does not necessarily follow that the two Foreign Offices had communicated with each other. We gave each other points for a big debate next Tuesday, and Winston gave me bits of the sort of remarks he would make on the points — very good and penetrating and clever, with some fine language. I was told that he had sat up until 4 A.M. with Garvin before his Navy speech. This accounts for the mess he made of it. I think he will speak next Tuesday ; he half protested that he will not, but, of course, much depends on the statement to be made by the Prime Minister. Winston declares that since he left the Admiralty, the submarines have been allowed to languish, and nothing has been done. He spoke bitterly of Balfour, but I told him he must keep off that lay, and that it was much better to leave Balfour alone. The big thing was to go for recruiting. I told him nobody could afford himself the luxury of per- sonal jealousies in this war ; that the cause was much more important than the individual ; and that he must go for the big cause, and forget all rivals and animosities. 192 RECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES He said that he thought I had taken the right line all through the war. He had had a good send-ofi from the trenches. The soldiers all mad keen for him to go, hoping that he could do something for them in Parlia- ment. He does not think that we are strong enough to attack yet. Robertson, he thought, was doing very well ; in fact had been perfectly splendid. We discussed old times in the Sudan and South Africa. We thought that Lord K. was no worse than old Buller. Winston very angry about Monro's despatch, and said that he had decided to evacuate after looking at the position for a couple of hours, but I did not argue this point. He spoke without enthusiasm of Douglas Haig. I wonder where we are to find any one better. We both agreed that French, in the sacred fire of leadership, was unsurpassed as a com- mander, and that Haig ought to have been made French's chief staff officer. Juhet described how French went to her hospital in Grosvenor Square, and the very charming way he talked to all the soldiers, and knew what their regiments had done, and where they had been. The soldiers acclaimed him, and raised cheers for ' Lord French of Wipers.' We heard some more odd names given by the Tommies. Their French for Etaples was ' Eatables.' Winston thinks we ought to make up our minds that, owing to the delay which has taken place, we should not be able to do a big thing until next year. He thought I would disagree, but found that I did not. He con- templates coming back to poHtics, and professed not to care what people say about it. I am very dubious on this point and let him see it. However, he says that he has been five months at the front in command of a battahon, and he thinks it gives Mm the right to speak. He still thinks Fisher worth all the rest of our admirals, but I advised him not to harness himself to a corpse. I said, You must find good young men among the sailors. He said that Oliver was splendid ; he arranged all the move- ments, and always had ammunition and coal ready. Sturdee, 1916] A PLEASANT WEEK-END 193 after his action off the Falkland Islands, had only twenty - five rounds per gun left, and so wired to the Admiralty. Winston was horrified, as the Von der Tann was supposed to be loose, but he learnt that Oliver had an ammunition ship waiting at the Azores to join Sturdee. Sturdee had fired ofi nearly all his ammunition because he had engaged at such extreme range. Good Friday, April 21. Went down to Wilton Park, Beaconsfield, to stay with Mrs. Astor. Found in the train Baroness D'Erlanger, young Rumbold, Professor Ross, now in the Intelligence Department, — one of the finest linguists in Europe — and Vansittart of the Foreign Office, and one other. Ross, Van, and I got into the fly, leaving the Baroness and two other men to go in the car. The flyman looked rather dubiously at us, and asked whether he should go to the front or the back entrance ! I could not stop laughing all the way to the house. They were both quite cross. I found Seymour Fortescue already there, and there joined us, at various times during the week-end. Lady Randolph Churchill, Lady Cunard, and Mrs. Phipps, a delicious little sister of Waldorf Astor. She is small and very pretty and all on wires, dances divinely, and sings charmingly to a guitar. Mrs. Cecil Higgins drove down from London with the American, Mr. Griscom, who is shortly returning to the States. Prince Wolodiecki, a Pole in the Russian Diplomatic Service, also came down with WoLkofi from the Russian Embassy. A very nice big house in a charming park ; everything very comfortable. The fair Ava a perfect hostess. We had tennis, fishing, walking, Bridge, charades, music, and games, and fooling of every description. The Baroness a very pleasant woman, and still very good-looking. Mrs. Phipps dances extremely well. Both the Russians told me that Sazonoff had insisted upon 200,000 Russians being sent to Asia Minor to help the Grand Duke. More political strategy. We had a most cheery party, and were all very friendly and young. A capable cook and a good cellar did no harm. With Ross, Rumbold, and the two dancing VOI,, I. N 194 RECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES ladies to act for us, and with WolkofE at the piano, the evenings passed very pleasantly. Ross is a great loss to low comedy ; he is most amusing ; and Rumbold is a very clever fellow and a delightful mimic. Hinds, the pro, came down from Prince's, and there was some first-class tennis. Van is also a tip-top player, while the hostess and Mrs. Higgins were quite able to live in this good company, and both played admirably. Altogether a most successful Easter party. All my letters went to the wrong Wilton, or perhaps we ought to say to the right Wilton. Tuesday, A}oril 25. Picked up Lady Cunard, and went to lunch with the Duchess of Rutland in ArUngton Street. The Duke was there and Lady Diana, also the fair Ruby Peto, and a wonderful Rumanian singer who looked like a young beau of the early- Victorian period, and two or three more. Lady Diana's last appearance in her hospital clothes, which suited her so well ; she is very sad about it. Mrs. Peto in very good form, and always briUiant. After lunch I went into the Duke's sanctum to telephone, and he came too. We began talk- ing about Lord Sahsbury as a chief ; we had both served under him, and knew his value. The Duke said that SaUsbury was a very fine tennis player in his earUer years, that he was the Idndest-hearted man he ever knew. He said that he often forged his signature by order. An immense number of the sprawUng S.'s which I used to see over the despatches in the old days were written by him, the Duke. Sahsbury used to Uke to he at full length on his blue velvet sofa in ArUngton Street, and have the despatches read to him. He would then dictate the answer, and get his friend Henry, the Duke, to sign them. The Duke said that Lord Salisbury used to be out shooting to the last, even rabbit-shooting in the park, in a tall hat and frock coat. I told him what a splendid chief he was to me when I was running the Secret Service. He said he loved very short despatches, and those that were to the point. He could not stand the long Trea- 1916] HOME DEFENCE 195 sury minutes, they made him quite ill. We also talked of Arthur BaKour, and vowed that he was one of the finest figures we had ever known. The Duke taxed Arthur one day with going about armed when he was Chief Secretary for Ireland. A. J. B. said that he was made to carry a pistol by the pohce ; he puUed it out of his coat-tail pocket and threw it on to the dinner table, when the Duke, to his horror, saw that it was not only loaded but cocked ! We went upstairs to Lady Diana's bedroom, which is in the back drawing-room, and the Rumanian gave us some music. A beautiful, rich, mellow voice. The Secret Session duly took place this afternoon, osten- sibly on the recruiting question. Saturday, May 6. Went down to Coombe in time for dinner. Large party for the week-end. The Grand Duke Michael, Countess Torby and her two girls, Lady de Trafford and her girl, Mrs. Keppel, the Duchess of West- minster, Mrs. Bingham, and various others. Eighteen to lunch on Sunday. Had a long talk with Sir Arthur about his defence arrange- ments. He tells me that they have at last stopped taking drafts away from the division which he has available on the coast. But still only half his troops are properly armed. He had nine hours' notice of the Lowestoft raid. He is going to practise defence manoeuvres on Tuesday. The Grand Duke very snubby because I had not been to pay him a visit in response to his request. He apparently regarded it as a command, and he told me that he was greatly surprised that I had taken no notice of it. I made some lame apologies. The Countess very charming. Her little daughter Nada, who is to marry young Battenberg, very pretty and pleasant, but shy. Weather bad ; some of us spent our time playing Bridge, while the boys and girls played and danced and sang. The Grand Duke joined them, taking his coat off. The Countess plays a good rubber. Went for a walk, 196 RECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES Sunday afternoon, with Mrs. Keppel. Returned Monday morning to town, Tuesday, May 9. Went to see the Grand Duke Michael at 3 Whitehall Court in the morning. General Yermoloff was there, and I had a talk with him. He agreed that the strategy of the AlHes in the Eastern Mediterranean is not the way to make war, but he wanted me to go and discuss it with General GiUnsky, who is at Claridge's, and is leaving for Paris to-morrow. I did not follow this advice, because Gihnsky's opinion is of no value, as I learnt at The Hague long ago, and the Chantilly people merely sneer when his name is mentioned. Went to see Sir WiUiam Robertson at his rooms. We began by talking about the Service BiU. R. told me of all the trouble he had had during the crisis, of the constant meetings of the Army Council, and of the splendid manner in which Lloyd George had held out for General Compulsion in the Cabinet. Now we have got what we wanted, and he asked if I was satisfied. I said, ' Quite satisfied, provided the proper separation allowances are made to the famiUes of married men who join, and provided also that certified occupations are not allowed to block the way.' This is the line I took in the Times in an article yesterday. He said that he had told Macready, the new A.G., that he would now have to pan out for himself, and study the situation months ahead, with the view of producing a mass of men for the autumn, when the Germans tired, and not to come to R. unless he was in a difiiculty. R. complained that all his time had been taken up lately with this recruiting crisis, and that he had not been able to concentrate on the strategy of the war. He had been over to France, and had visited the depots at Etaples, Rouen, and other places, and had ordered up to the front a great number of men, leaving us only 29,000 men short at the front. He said that Haig had taken twenty divisions out of the line for training purposes, and that he was a shrewd Scot who would not do anything rash. He did not know what Joffre meant to do. At one time 1916] A TALK WITH ROBERTSON 197 Joffre was for an attack on May 1, and wanted us to co- operate, but no Germans had moved from our front, and it was at length agreed that the time had not arrived for the attack as we were faced by a practically equal force of Germans well entrenched. But R. said that we would have to do something if the French made a move. He told me that after my visit to France the French had suggested a move on Alexandretta, and he had repHed that only a week before they had refused to let any men go from Salonika, and that he could not understand what they were driving at. I thought this rather a pity, and told him that the only way to get the troops away from Salonika was to give Sarrail the command of the Alexandretta operation, which would meet the case of keeping this hero out of France, which was Joffre's great object. I told him that I thought it very bad that we should have those four Armies fighting the Turks, and there be no co-operation except between two of them. I said, ' Leave 50,000 French with the Serbians at Salonika, take the rest to Alexandretta by sea, and let Archie invade Palestine.' I was still dead against aU these sideshows, as he knew, but as we were not allowed by the French to take the troops away, it was better to frighten the Turks than do nothing. I told him that, if he did not watch it, the Grand Duke would be overwhelmed. I told him what the Russians had told me about the 200,000 more Russians, but Robertson did not think they were coming, and did not put the Grand Duke's force at over 150,000 men. We then discussed the horrible organisation of the Meso- potamia expedition, and R. said that he was considering taking over the control of India. I think he means to do it, but he said, ' Of course, we can only send directions and not orders to India.' He complained that in every depart- ment, in the India Office and elsewhere, people thought it necessary to write long papers on the strategical position, but that he had stirred them up in the War Committee, and made them cable direct to India. Barrow, in the India Office, had wished to send ' orders ' instead of R.'s suggested ' directions,' so R, had told them that they would 198 RECEUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES then be entirely responsible and not Duff, so eventually R.'s paper was cabled out. R. did not see why India should not be under him, as the Dominions were, for strategical purposes. I told him my project to visit Italy and Portugal ; he thought of going to Italy too, and promised to take up my idea of raising six divisions of Portuguese troops. He was satisfied with his position. People did what he suggested, and he had K. at the War Office completely under control, but munitions were not doing as well as was hoped, and many contracts were six or seven months in arrears, especially rifles, while the French were behind in their promises of shells for Russia. He grumbled a great deal about the Russians, and said that he never knew where he was with them, or what they could do. He was still strongly in favour of concentration in France, and thought the dispersion of our forces was our great weakness. All these Turks and Bulgars would have remained quiet had we let them alone. R. seemed very fit and well. His visit to France had done him a lot of good. He only spent one night with the G.H.Q. ; the rest of the time he was on the L. of C. and with the commanders of the 1st and 2nd Armies. Not a German had been moved from our front since Verdun began.^ There was still no sign of fresh for- mations from the interior of Germany, but he had had to raise his estimate of German reserves, owing to the employ- ment in Germany of prisoners and Poles. Consequently Germany can still go on for quite a long time. Wednesday, May 10. Lunch with Winston ChurchiU, his mother, Jack Churchill, and his wife. Winston in good form. His battalion has been disbanded, so he becomes Mr. Churchill again, and is in a politician's kit. He thought with me, that L. G. had missed a great chance in not coming out of the Government when the latter brought in the still-born Service Bill. ^ Though we did not help the French ut Verdun directly, we responded promptly to Joffre's appeal when Verdun was attacked, and, by taking over the front held by the 10th French Army, increased Joffre's reserves by ten divisions. 1916] THE SECRET SESSION 199 We went into the question of the P.M.'s 5,000,000 men, and I gave Winston the correct figures of what we had. He said that he was with Carson when my letter arrived before the Secret Session, advising him not to take part in it, and Carson was much disturbed. However, they had gone in, but fortunately the whole thing was a perfect farce, and most of what happened had already been told . Winston will speak on the third reading, and I promised to help him with his notes. I told him that we ought to organise the whole of the resources of the Empire, especially India and Africa, as the Romans would have done in our case, and he says that he will adopt this line when he speaks. He was very excited over this idea, and stumped up and down after lunch, when we made point after point which he is to make in the speech. Thursday, May 11. Lunch with Lady Strafford; the Spanish Ambassador, Mr. Lutyens the architect, IVIrs. Higgins, Mrs. Keppel, Daisy de Brienen, and a pretty Mrs. Clyde married to some rich American. Had a good talk with Miss Daisy about HoUand. She said that some inferior German prince had written to Queen Wilhelmina, and not the Kaiser. This letter said that Grermany was much incensed at the action of Holland, and threatened trouble about it. There was a hasty Cabinet meeting. Kiihlmann used the opportunity to spread the idea through the Dutch Press, and even to telephone to the hall porters of the hotels, that, as a result of the Conference in Paris, England was going to deliver an ultimatum to Holland. There was a general racket, and it took some time for matters to cool down. Meantime Kiihlmann is trying by every means to irritate Holland against us, and uses the most insidious provocations. She complains of some man of the Daily Mail doing a lot of harm by spreading silly stories. Pretty Uttle Mrs. Coke turned up after lunch. Drove back with the Spanish Ambassador. We discussed German atrocities, and he asked whether they had been any surprise to me. Considering that the principle of f rightfulness had 200 KECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES been preached before the war, I said that the only thing that had surprised me was that the Germans should be such idiots as to challenge the whole public sentiment of the world by their villainous acts, and that Germany had gained nothing by it, and lost more than she had any idea of. The Germans did not yet know how loathed they were, and how their name wiU stink in everybody's nostrils for generations. The Spanish Ambassador said at lunch that there were only 50,000 Germans left in Spain, and he criticised the system which allowed the Germans to have a double nationahty. They could be naturahsed in England, and yet by their own laws they remained German subjects if they returned to Germany once in ten years. This would have to be stopped after the war. I quite agreed. Went to the Russian Embassy to see Sevastopoulo, the Councillor of the Russian Embassy in Paris, who is over for a few days' leave. We were both a good deal happier than when we last met in Paris, for we had now got our Compulsion, and Verdun still held. We thought that the French were very tired of the fighting, and agreed that we and the Russians would have to reheve them. He was inchned to agree with me that wc might have to wait till 1917 to carry tilings through with a strong hand. He sur- prised me by telhng me that the Russians were prepared to lose Poland,whichwill become autonomous in one form or an- other, but that they would seek compensations in Asia Minor, and at Constantinople, which they were bent on gaining. We discussed Asia IVIinor, and I told him my views : namely, as the French would not let us bring our troops west, to leave the Serbians and 50,000 Alhes at Salonika, and to put 150,000 AUies from Salonika at Alexandretta ; for Murray to sweep up Syria, and for us to assemble a quarter of a million men south of the Taurus. I said, if we did not do something the Grand Duke might be over- whelmed. I told him that I was entirely in favour of con- central ion in France, but that as we could not get permis- sion from our AlHes to take the troops away, it was better 1916] BAD RUSSIAN ORGANISATION 201 that we should use them figliting somebody. He agreed very much with this plan, and said that he would try to promote it. He had been in favour of making peace with the Turks, but this was now at an end, as the Russians were bent on gaining the Straits. He agreed that if Sarrail went in command to Alexandretta much of the French opposition would vanish, and especially that of the French G.Q.G. He said that the Russians were very badly organised, and that there were even complaints from landed proprietors of lack of men ; the depots, on the other hand, were crammed full. The French wanted more Russians sent over to France, but apparently this would not be practicable, though the French offered to arm them when they arrived. He con- firmed Berthelot's story about Constantinople to the extent of admitting that he, Sevastopoulo, knew nothing about the attack before it began, nor did his Ambassador. I promised to lunch with Mm and Berthelot in Paris if I went to Italy. Monday, May 15. Dined with Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Cunard, 27 Portman Square ; Lady Paget, Mrs. George Keppel, Lady Sarah Wilson, Seymour Fortescue, and Lord Lurgan. A charming house, done up in excellent taste, the dining- room newly built out, and of a very perfect shape, with some attractive pictures. The dinner table decorated exclusively with old Waterford glass of a very fine quality. Most amusing talk ; all the ladies in very good form, and told some capital stories. Wednesday, May 17. Lunched with Olive and Sir Vincent Caillard. He told me that three attacks had been made upon the East Coast, and that German transports had been sunk, but I don't believe it. We had a good deal of talk about the war. Went on to see Lady Byng at 14 Clarges Street, and heard all her news. Maxine Elliott called for me about 7 o'clock, and drove me down to her home, Hartsbourne Manor, Bushey Heath, about twelve miles from London. A very charm- ing house, unpretentious outside, but standing in a fine 202 RECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES position, with an uninterrupted view of hills, valleys, and woods. Beautiful gardens, with two of the new red sand tennis courts, and several grass courts. Very nicely fur- nished inside, and everything extremely well done. We had time to walk round the place before dressing for dinner. The Duke of Rutland, Sir F. E. Smith, the Attorney-General, Sir Forbes Robertson the actor, Mrs. (Margaret) Montagu, a pretty woman with very fair hair, and another lady were the party. F. E. was in great form. He rather astonished me by saying that after the war all the belhgerent Powers would repudiate all their war debts, and that this measure would be universally approved. Not very good news for the holders of war stock. He had succeeded to-day in getting Sir Roger Casement sent for trial. He said that he had heard that I knew Casement, and did I think him normal ? I said that I had only met him once at Brussels before he went off to the Congo, and that he was then apparently normal and very intelligent. He thought that Casement would certainly be convicted, but that whether the sentence would take its course would depend upon the Executive. He told me that a recent article of mine urging prudence before a general attack was undertaken by the Allies had created a deep impression on the Cabinet, and he urged me to repeat it, as he said there was an inten- tion to begin an offensive soon, and he thought we should lose 300,000 men and do no good. I did not give any undertaking. F. E. said that for the last six months the soldiers had been running the war. He said that every- body had been wrong about everything during the war, that he, F. E., had been wrong as well as the financiers, politicians, soldiers, and sailors, and that Robertson had been wrong too. I attacked him upon the decision of the Government to feed the Poles, telling him that I had just learnt that 2000 railway wagons full of potatoes from Russian Poland had reached Austria and silenced the com- plaints of the people who wanted food, and that the Reichs- post said that this operation was to be continued. I said that we were being made fools of, and that we should be 1916] FEEDING THE POLES ? 203 feeding the enemy and not the Poles. He replied that it was not the Government's fault, it was a Russian decision. The Cabinet had objected very strongly, and had telegraphed again to Petrograd, pointing out the dangers, but that the Russians had insisted. This is strange, as one of their best economists has opposed this step most strongly in the Novoe Vremya. We all agreed that the conduct of the war by the Government has been lamentable, and some one wondered how England had ever attained her present position in the world. I suggested that we were the special confidants of Providence, but the Duke said that Providence had got tired of us and had found us out. F. E. said that the capture of Casement was the only bit of luck we had had in the war. We went to bed rather late. Maxine a charming hostess. There were some beautiful pictures of her in various parts during her career on the stage. Thursday, May 18. Returned early to London, Dined with General and Mrs. Bingham, 40 Hertford Street ; Lady Wolverton, Lord and Lady Essex, Lady de Trafford, Sir Fritz and Lady Ponsonby, O'Beirne, Lady Granard, and Lord Ribblesdale. Very pleasant party. We had some interesting talk, and some good Bridge. I cut out and had a long talk with Cis Bingham about his experience at home and abroad. We went through the battle of Loos again, and discussed the cause of the trouble that we got into at the end of the fight. Cis is devoted to Lord French. Looked in to have a tails with Mrs. Leeds about the Drexel divorce case. I should judge a settlement probable now. Saw Mrs. Astor in the afternoon. Ribblesdale came in later. Friday, May 19. Gave up my visit to the Scar- broughs in Yorkshire, owing to pressure of Tribunal work, and went off to see Winston Churchill in the morning at 41 CromweU Road. We had a long talk over his proposed speech for next Tuesday, and it should be a good speech if he leaves it as we shaped it before I left. I begged him to leave out aU personaUties, all reflections on the past, and all egotistical remarks, and to take the big line. I 204 RECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES said, ' You have brilliancy to the point of genius, but we distrust your judgment, and you '11 have to correct that impression.' I told him that he ought to have a ' foolometer,' Uke Palmerston had ; that is to say, a man who would give him the opinion of the man in the street before he made a speech or wrote a despatch. He is going to discuss the whole conduct of the war, its future, and to bring in all my points about India, Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean. He has a good Hbrary, and some nice books very well bound and cared for. Lunched with E, and Mrs. Grahame White at Claridge's. The latter fuU of fun as usual, so we had quite a merry luncheon. They drove me down to the Horse Guards afterwards, where I saw F.M. Lord French. He could not tell me much about the offensive in France, as he hears Uttle from that theatre now. Murray also has not written to him from Egjrpt. He did not think that we were strong enough to attack, and said that not even an archangel from heaven could attack under present con- ditions. It was so frightfully expensive of men. He never went to Lord K, now, as the latter was quite hopeless and most obstructive, but Robertson told him everything that was going on. The troops in England were coming on well ; there were more rifles now, and also more guns and maxims, but he was still far from satisfied, and said he had only eight divisions on which he could count, now that one had been sent to Ireland, He admitted that he had been so wrong about the German reserves that he could not even suggest how many there were now. He asked me to come round and see the Home Defence system with him, so that I could write about it later on, and, of course, I agreed to do so whenever he Hked to invite me. He had been testing his troops in the eastern counties, using trawlers to represent hostile de- stroyers, and was rather surprised to find how close they could he in to the beach. They got in within 1300 yards of some of his trenches, which he had to deepen in conse- quence to avoid the effect of 6-in. gun fire. He told me that George Moore would not be back for some months. The 1916] AN ITALIAN DEFEAT 205 case against the World would not be given up until the paper had disclosed the origin of its malicious article. The printers of the paper had come to heel, and agreed to pay a heavy fine, but he was determined to discover the names of those who inspired them. Tuesday, May 23. Saw Winston at his house at eleven, and went through his speech, which he read to me. We discussed the points. It is all on the conduct of the war, and there is less of Winston in the speech than in any that I have ever known of his. He is going to speak after Asquith to-day, and I think it will have a very good effect. He is taking up most of my points, especially about Africa and India, and has fortunately eliminated from the begin- ning of the speech his dictation of the strategy. E. picked me up and took me to the Flower Show, where there was the usual crowd, but fewer new plants than most years. Commander Thurston lunched with us ; he is in the Naval Flying Corps, and goes round to look after the aero- planes and seaplanes. He is just back from Dunkirk, where we have 200 machines. He considers the hmit of the aero- plane carrying bombs to be about 150 mUes, and admits that the aeroplane cannot compete with the Zeppehn for long-range scouting. He says that he is scrapping 100 machines a week, many of which unfortunately have never been used. We spoke of Commodore Sueter, and in the evening he telephoned, asking me to call on Sueter at the Admiralty. Thurston deplored the disunion between the Army and the Navy Flying Corps, and said it was aU due to the jealousy of senior officers. Wrote an article on the Itahan campaign. The ItaHans have had a nasty knock in the Trentino, and have lost 20,000 prisoners and over 100 guns. I met one of the Itahan Embassy lunching with Mrs. Grahame White, Lady Ashburton, and Mr. Chilcot. They were all very joUy, and I sent word to Imperiah about my Itahan visit. Saw Sir Wilham Robertson, 6.30, at 4 South Street, a pleasant furnished house which he has taken, as he says, untU he sees whether he is kicked out or not. I told him 2o6 RECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES that one of the Ministers, whom I did not name, had asked me to write against an offensive this year, and had said that we should lose 300,000 men and do no good. I told R. that I could write nothing of the sort until I knew his views, I also told him that the ministerial pose just now was to say that the whole war was being run by the soldiers. Robertson said that Joffre had first wanted the offensive in March, but that we had held out as we were not ready. Joffre then wanted it May 1, but this time he postponed it. R. was fully aware that we were not yet ready, but we had now nearly fifty divisions, 2300 field guns, 18-pounders, and 1200 heavy guns, including 4' 5-inch howitzers, so we were double as strong in guns as we were at Loos. We should steadily grow stronger, especially in heavy guns, and it was impracticable to say to our AlUes that we should wait till next year to attack the enemy. The French had lost a great lot of men, especially at the beginning of the war, and at Verdun they had had perhaps 150,000 casualties already. They were not rich in reserves for drafts, and it was certainly true that the German attack had done some- thing to exhaust the number of French divisions in reserve,^ for there were thirty-nine when Verdun began three months ago, and there were now only twenty-five. There was also a very natural feehng in France that it was time we did something. The Italians were also now shouting for their Allies to set to work, while the Russians told him that though they knew they were not ready, they thought it better to attack as the Germans might concentrate quicker than they could on some point of the 700-mile front, and make things unpleasant. Therefore, when everything was put down, and all consideration given, he did not think that the offensive could be ruled out, and he left me with the impression that it would come fairly soon. He was to see Joffre on Friday, and perhaps he would then be told where it was to be, but this part of the affair he left to Joffre and Haig. He thought, as I did, that the southern part of the Hne we held offered the best chances, and we both pre- ^ Seventy-two French divisions were used at Verdun from first to last. 1916] ROBERTSON'S VIEWS 207 ferred that the two Armies should figlit shoulder to shoulder than that there should be two widely separated attacks. We both deplored the continued absence of the Alhed Army at Salonika, where it had done no good, and R. did not wish to attack the Bulgarians, who are well entrenched and will probably do nothing if we leave them alone. But at present the French were as obdurate as ever, and I reminded him that I had told Briand that history would be very severe upon him in case of failure in the West for keeping a quarter of a milhon men doing nothing in Greece. R. said he was getting back aU the troops he could from Egypt, but we still had 200,000 men there. They were rather a nondescript lot ; he did not think that Murray could march into Palestine. He hopes that the Grand Duke will be able to maintain himself. The Turks on the Tigris had detached a force against General Baratofi, and the Grand Duke wanted Lake to march about 120 miles over a horrible country without food and water to help Baratoff who had gone to ground. A nice prospect ! R. is still entirely for concentration in the West. With regard to Ireland and the late rebellion, R. said that if the civil power required troops to suppress rebellion, it was their duty to ask for them. AH he dealt with was external aggression. He was bringing up to-morrow the question of the General Staff taking control in India. He did not understand the position of the two forces on the Tigris, ours and the Turks, and had cabled an inquiry to-day. We have from four to six divisions there. He said, ' This is the general position as it occurs to me, and if any better ideas occur to you, put them on paper and send them to me.' R. looks uncommonly well, and is quite at his best. He says it is no good worrying, one can only do one's best, and he referred to WeUington's visit to Bliicher before Ligny. The old Duke said that Bliicher would be damnably beaten, and then rode off, and went to dinner without troubhng himself further upon the matter. R. gave me his opinion of the Itahans, and chuckled about the Prime Minister having come back full of enthusiasm about them just before 2o8 RECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES they had been Ucked. He thought the position serious, as the Austrians had sixteen divisions in the Trentino on a twenty-mile front, and were within thirty miles of the Itahan railways. Wednesday, May 24. Wrote an article yesterday on the Austrian attack upon Italy from the Trentino, and to-day wrote another on Verdun, gently hinting that the question of an AUied attack depended upon a set of considerations which were very complex. Nothing in it to guide the Germans at all. Met de la Panouse at my club. He was very anxious to know what resources for recruiting would be immediately available under the new Act. Would all the time-expired men be brought in ? I said I thought they would. How many would this mean ? Would there not then be a large number of men who had been trained for three or four months at the depots, and would not the 2nd-line Territorials in England be available for drafts ? I told him aU I knew on these subjects, and said that the Act would now give us plenty of men, but that there were two faults, namely, the Hst of certified occupations which still permitted the emhiisques to escape service, and, secondly, the Barrister Commissioners which might be a cause of great delay. We had a httle talk on the strategy of the War, and I found him very keen that our Armies should do something. We also discussed poUtics, and agreed that our respective Labour men were much more useful than the Radical- Sociafists in France, and the Radicals here. We agreed that things looked unpleasant in Italy. Went to the Admiralty to see Commodore Sueter. An agreeable sturdy-looking sailor with a bright eye and a good head. He had evidently been much gratified at my remembering all about his book on submarines and his various prophecies which had been so well justified during this war. He had great difficulty, he said, in pub- lishing that book, and had been made to cut out a great deal of it. He deplored the departure of Winston, who, he said, kept them all on the move at the Admiralty, and compelled 1916] THE NAVAL AIR SERVICE 209 them to be constantly at work and on the alert. He and Winston had practically run the Air Service between them. Now there was chaos. The young men could not get their way. No one, in his opinion, controlled the Naval Air Service, and that was the way we were making war. He had been a strong supporter of the dirigible ; and at a time when I was preaching it in Blackwood and being criticised by a pack of fools, he was preaching it at the Admiralty and had been turned down in succession by Sir Arthur Wilson, Prince Louis of Battenberg, Admiral Bridgeman, and Admiral Pakenham. It was impossible to get the new ideas through the old men. As a result our Navy was now blind, and the Germans had an enormous advantage over us. The Zeppelins watched the North Sea all the time. They could see up to seventy-five miles on a clear day, and whenever any of our ships put out, their number, type, and course were immediately reported to Germany. They held us under constant observation, and so, knowing where our ships were, could slip over when they pleased, and carry out such attacks as that at Lowestoft. Count Zeppelin had been ten years experimenting, and had lost many dirigibles before he got the right type. Now there were a great many, and we could not catch up during the war. He showed me two specimens of the Zeppelin petrol tanks that had been dropped in Essex from about 2000 feet up when they were empty. They were sixty-gallon tins, beautifully made of aluminium, and so light that one could lift them with one finger. One of them was only a little dented after its fall, and the other only slightly broken. The sea and aeroplanes could not compete with the dirigible for long- range scouting, and, apart from engine endurance, the physical strain of piloting a plane was very great, whereas in a ZeppeUn the pilot could sit in an arm-chair. He did not think it could quite be said that the Zeppelins had no military effect, for they caused work to stop, held up the railways for thirty hours sometimes, and made all the workmen run home to look after their families. He thought that a visit of forty Zeppelins would do a rare lot of harm. VOL. I. o 210 RECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES But, of course, the scouting at sea was the main thing. We had eleven rigid dirigibles under construction, including one of the Italian type, the drawings of which had been sent to him by Delme Radcliffe. There were some twenty non-rigid and a lot of little ones. The first rigid would be ready in June. We should have four or five by next spring. He agreed that the Germans, though bested at sea, would try always to be superior in the air. He thought that our future Navy would be above the water and below it. We should have submarines coming along one day with 12-inch guns on board. He said that the other day a sea- plane, one of ours, had attacked a German submarine near Harwich and driven it under water. It lost its bearings, ran aground, and was left high and dry when the sea went down. It was then captured intact apparently. I said that it should be shown to American correspondents and he agreed. Most of the German submarines which we had destroyed had been caught in nets, or bombed under water, and will never be seen again. At present the R.N.A.S. at Dunkirk was under the Admiral at Dover. Sueter wants an Air Ministry which would control the whole service, handing over to Navy and Army the resources which each required, and organising raids, reconnaissances, etc. I spoke to him of our failure to know what was going on at Antwerp, and of the danger of the Germans coming out by the Scheldt. Why did the First Lord not know what was going on there ? Sueter said, because no one had asked us to go there. We can do it. Mahan, I reminded Sueter, had criticised our Navy for never producing any written work of any sort. We agreed that we would meet at the end of the war and see if we could not get on a bit. Went to the Leicester Galleries, and saw Will Rothen- stein's collection of drawings. They included one of me, not very good, and others of H. G. Wells, Madame Vandervelde, Johnny Hamilton, Mrs. Rothenstein, W.B. Yeats, Tagore, Gosse, and many others. A good lot of people there. We all had tea in a stuffy little Lyons' restaurant adjacent. 1916] HARTSBOURNE MANOR 211 Week-end, June 3 to 5. Sat on the Advisory Committee all the morning. Went to see Miss Muriel Wilson in the after- noon in order to advise her about her brother, Jack, who was captured by the Austrian submarine in the Mediterranean with despatches. He is anxious to be exchanged, but she is doubtful whether it is not all best left alone. We finally agreed that I should sound the Foreign Office and see how they regard what he has done, and that she would sound Lord K.'s FitzGerald and find out the War Office view. Her little house in 25 Charles Street very perfect and in excellent taste. I thought Laszlo's la«t picture of her perfectly charming, and very finely painted. Went to Lady Sarah's, and she drove me down to Maxine Elliott's. Very jolly week-end, only spoilt by vile weather. Winston Churchill and his wife, Sir Forbes Robertson and his lady, Lord Drogheda, Sir F. Sinclair, Captain Foster and his wife, Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland, and Mi's. Montagu ; Miss Muriel Wilson came down on Sunday. A little tennis the first evening. Sunday morning Winston and I spent going through the Dardanelles story, which appears to me to implicate the whole Cabinet as well as Balfour in the scheme of the attack, and also involves Lord K. in full responsibility for all the decisions. Lord K.'s letter of instructions for Sir Ian Hamilton is one of the most infantile papers that I have ever read, and will be the laughing-stock of the whole of the Staffs of Europe if it is ever published. We had a good talk over the whole question practically all the morning. Had a long talk later with the Duchess over all her experi- ences in France and Belgium during the war. Her story of Namur was most interesting. What a wonderful woman ! She could easily be taken for twenty-five, and takes most of them down for good looks even now. She told me that she was not in the least missing the gilded halls and all the pomp of Stafford House, and found such a deep interest in life and in events that she was perfectly contented. She thought that she was still an adventuress seeking new 212 RECRUITING AND SUBMARINE TROUBLES experiences. Her hospital is now outside Calais by the Gravelines Gate. She disturbed me to some extent by declaring that the spirit of our men, judging from the cases which came under her hands, was not as good as it formerly was ; but she excepted the Australians, who have only just arrived. I told her all about affairs here. Winston was full of the naval fight off Jutland. He had been asked to issue the semi-official communique which appeared in Sunday's papers, June 4, and was not quite sure whether he had done right or not. Balfour's private secretary had made the demand, whereupon Winston had consulted L. G. and Rufus Isaacs, who said that he could not refuse, so he returned to the Admiralty, and said he would draft something if Balfour personally asked for it. This Balfour did. Winston thinks that the success of the German Battle Cruiser Squadron against our superior squadron of similar type is a very serious matter and requires investigation. I agreed, but we are evidently very badly informed of all these events as yet, and cannot draw conclusions. Maxine's party very delightful. There were six of the prettiest women in London there, and she says that she always has the prettiest women at her parties. Winston said that the dinner party on Sunday night was like an orchid house, so lovely were the feminine flowers and so varied. We played some amusing games after dinner. I thought Forbes Robertson very charming and with a beautiful mind, and I liked talking to him. Mrs. Winston is a very sweet lady. Friday, June 9. The torpedoing or mining of the Hampshire, and the drowning of nearly every one on board, including Lord KLitchener, O'Beirne, and FitzGerald, is a great tragedy. They were on their way to Russia, and were blown up off the Orkneys. The news came while many of our friends were selling at a bazaar in the Cale- donian Market, and the women of the East End shed tears at the news. We hoped against hope, but no doubt now remains. A great figure gone. The services which he 1916] DEATH OF LORD KITCHENER 213 rendered in the early days of the war cannot be forgotten. They transcend those of all the lesser men who were his colleagues, some few of whom envied his popularity. His old manner of working alone did not consort with the needs of this huge syndicalism, modern war. The thing was too big. He made many mistakes. He was not a good Cabinet man. His methods did not suit a demo- cracy. But there he was, towering above the others in character as in inches, by far the most popular man in the country to the end, and a firm rock which stood out amidst the raging tempest. In FitzGerald we lose K.'s best staff officer, and in O'Beirne, a man who must have gone far in diplomacy. A very sad day's work. CHAPTER IX A TOUR IN ITALY, JUNE 1916 The Salonika offensive temporarily abandoned — Preparations for our attack in France — Havre — Colonel Driant and General JofEre — Lord Esher's Mission — M. Berthelot on the last London Conference — Verdun losses — Views at Chantilly — Journey to Italy — Venice in war time — Italian strengths and dispositions — Udine — Italian and Austrian forces — Russian plans — General Diaz — A visit to the Isonzo and Carso fronts — General Porro — The Carnia front — A mountain fight — Audience with the King of Italy — The General Staff Bureaus — Bul- garian and Turkish dispositions — Aquileia — Visit to the Trentino front — General Pecori Giraldi — A talk with General Cadorna — ^The adminis- trative services at Treviso — Colonel Enkel's views — ^The Cadore front — Italian Alpini— General di Robilant's views — The Asiago battlefield — News of our Somme attack — Return to Paris. June, 1916. Early in May I represented to Geoffrey Robinson, the editor of the Times, that it would be a good moment for me to go to Italy. The worst crisis at Verdun seemed to me to have passed, and we were not likely to do anything very big in France till late in June at the earliest. I told them that it would take three weeks after they had come to a decision on the subject for me to make all the arrangements. They could not make up their minds at the Times, but, about a fortnight later, there came a letter from Delme Radcliffe, head of our Military Mission in Italy, begging me to come, and saying that he would arrange it all. This helped matters a good deal, and ulti- mately all the arrangements were made. Monday, June 12. Before starting I called upon Robertson at his house, 4 South Street, Mayfair, in order to see if there was anything fresh, I found him very anxious that the Italians should press on as fast as possible, and 1916] COMING EVENTS 215 drive the Austrians out of Italy. He told me that the Conference in London with the French had resulted in the decision to abandon the offensive at Salonika. But he said that a paper was going forward, suggesting the possibility of an attack later, when possibly the two more British divisions required by General Sarrail would be available. Robertson had not changed his views, and still wishes to withdraw our troops. The 4th Austrahan Division from Egypt was now arriving in France, and the 5th was following it. We should then have fifty- one divisions in France, with some others to come later. In reply to a question of mine, he said that he hoped that all our troops in France would attack and not only one Army. The French would go in on our right, but there would not be so many as he had hoped, and he supposed that the French could not spare more men from Verdun. The Russians were to make their main offensive to-day or to-morrow in the North. He thought that they had done very well, for Brussiloff had not many guns, and this success was quite unexpected. He thanked me for having sent him a private account from France of the fight at Vimy on May 21, and said that he would always be glad to see similar reports. He declared that we were ready to fight long before the French, who had been putting off the attack ever since May 1. With regard to the successor of Lord K., Robertson would prefer Lord Milner, but did not expect to get him. It was impossible to carry on with Asquith at the War Office. He had been away since last Thursday, June 8, and had only come back for a moment, and was now away again in North Britain on a political tour. Mean- while shoals of telegrams kept coming in, and many things had to hang about for the Secretary of State's decision, and R. thought that war could not be carried on in this sort of way, and I don't wonder. Tuesday y June 13. Started at 9.30 p.m. from Waterloo to Southampton, and went on board the boat. Arrived at Havre at 10.30 a.m. next morning. 2i6 A TOUR IN ITALY I met General Asser on board. He has been transferred from Boulogne to Havre, and promoted major-general to make up for his disappointment in not going to Egypt. He is a first-rate man at his work. There was no train to Paris till 5 p.m., so I went round and called on some of the Belgians, whose political H.Q. are now at Havre. Most of the Ministers are away, but I saw General Jiing- bluth the King's A.D.C, and Vandervelde's chef du cabinet, besides some others, and had some interesting talk. They are short of news from Antwerp, and it is odd that they cannot find out from any one what is happening there, nor does any one in England take any interest in the fact that the Germans have been in possession of the finest port in Western Continental Europe for the better part of two years, and have certainly been up to no good there. Jiingbluth thought that things were looking well, and that the Kaiser must know that the game was up. He was satisfied with the political and military outlook. Slow journey to Paris, arriving twenty -four hours after leaving London. It is quite evident that the desire is to discourage travelling and to throw every obstacle in the way of travellers. Put up at the Ritz and saw various friends. It appears that Briand is in trouble, and is likely to have a warm time with the Chambers. It seems that the late Colonel Driant, Boulanger's son-in-law, who was killed before Verdun and was a member of the Chambers, had come to Paris on Dec. 18 of last year, and had given full information to the Army Commission of the bad state of the Verdun defences. Joffre had replied on the 22nd contradicting Driant 's statement, and making some harsh remarks about this fashion of going behind his back. However, Driant had been proved to be in the right, and the Opposition intended to attack Briand, whose fall would mean that of Joffre, and probably that of Castelnau, which would be a very serious matter. Thursday, June 15. Went to see Lord Esher at Meurice's at 9.30 a.m. He is on a special mission, and I 1916] THE LAST LONDON CONFERENCE 217 expressed my curiosity to know what it was. The real aim was, it appears, to give Lord K. information of what was happening, and no one is better able to do that in Paris than Esher, who knows all the soldiers and politicians, speaks French well, and is very shrewd, discreet, and industrious. Now that K. was dead, he was doing the same work for X. We had some talk about affairs, and agreed that the best person to be at the head of the British Peace Delegation would be Lord Lansdowne, whose know- ledge of French and great experience would be priceless. Lunched with Countess Greffuhle and Countess Ghis- laine de Caraman Chimay. A beautiful house with some fine French furniture, decorations, and pictures of the eighteenth century. We talked of her convalescent estab- lishments, and she told me that 2,000,000 Frenchmen had passed through the hands of her societies. Jules Roche the Deputy came in and talked in an interesting way. I am glad to say that he thought that Briand was safe this time, and Roche is a pretty shrewd parhamentarian, and likely to be right. Went off with the Countess G. to see her exhibition of eighteenth -century French art in the Champs iSlysees. Some fine tapestries from the Ministries, and furniture, clocks, and pictures from various collections, I was so interested that I was late for an appointment with Esher, who was to have taken me to the Matin. Went on to the French Foreign Office and saw Bert helot. Everybody tells me he is so anti-English, but I have never seen a trace of it. He said that the last Con- ference in London had dealt with three subjects, namely, Salonika, Greece, and the Great Offensive. He said that the attack at Salonika had been postponed, mainly because we would not find the two more divisions demanded by Sarrail, but he has hopes that the difficulty will be over- come, and that an offensive will be undertaken late in July or early in August. There was a negative result on the discussions relating to Greece, but yesterday and to-day telegrams have been sent to London by the French, recapitu- lating and giving fresh instances of Greece's duplicity 2i8 A TOUR IN ITALY towards the Allies, and urging strong action, failing which the French propose to take it alone. On the subject of the offensive in France, Berthelot admitted that we had done everything that the French had asked of us. I saw Lord Granville at the Embassy before and after my talk and had a good chat with him. Phihppe Millet came to the Ritz before dinner. He is at the Maison de la Presse, and I must try and pay a visit there. At dinner were the Lewises, Eshers, Ian Malcolm, Lord Newton, Sir Walter Lawrence, and the Aga Khan. The latter was as weU informed as usual, and appeared to know all about the arrangements for the offensive. Talking with various people in the evening made me fear that both our own and the French share in the offensive would not be powerful enough to lead to decisive results. Berthelot had told me that the French had lost 197,000 men before Verdun, and the Germans 450,000. The German figures were known accurately because the French had found out the German cipher. Friday, Ju7ie 16. Started at 8 a.m. for Chantilly. Had a talk first of all with Yarde-BuUer. Then went to see General PeUe. We discussed Italy. He said that there were thirty-three Austrian divisions on the Itahan front, of which some fourteen were in the Trentino. There were three south of the Danube, and then forty others on the Russian front, twenty-six of the latter having been already engaged and severely mauled, losing 150,000 prisoners up to this date in addition to other casualties. Pelle thinks that the Austrians are now securely held in the Trentino by superior forces. He imagines that Italy could attack simultaneously on both fronts if she wished. But an officer in special charge of this theatre came in and said that the Itahans would not attack on the Isonzo when their hands were full on the other front. Pelle expressed his great satisfaction with the British preparation for the offensive, and spoke of the wonderful improvement that had been made in the training of our troops, and in the number of our heavy guns. But he still complained that too many of our divisions 1916] GERMAN YOUTHS OF 17 AND 18 219 were left in England, and thought that, after the Jutland fight, any further talk of invasion was absurd. But then Pelle has not the responsibihty for defending England. He said that there were now fifty-two British divisions in France, and that there were a few more to come. He felt fuUy assured that we should go in with aU our weight. I told him of my qualms concerning the amount of the French support, but he assured me that Foch would have all the troops that could be spared, and a particularly formidable artillery. He admitted, however, that there were fewer troops with Foch than originally intended, but he said that others would come up in order to admit a continuous and persistent advance. The Russians, he said, were on the point of attacking in the North. Dupont, head of the French IntelHgence and a capable man, showed me the map. Hindenburg has taken seven divisions out of his line and has posted them in a semi-circle east of Vilna, evidently anticipating an attack at this point. The 3rd Guard Division from the Austrian front is now in Champagne. The 7th German Corps from the British front is now before Verdun as well as the 1st Bavarians, but the 3rd Corps, formerly at Verdun, is now resting at Charleroi. According to the German official casualty fists, this Corps lost 15,000 infantry before Verdun. Pelle gave me some important papers showing that the German 1917 class was now arriving at the front, and that many of them had been taken prisoners. The class of 1918, who are seventeen years of age, were now beginning to reach the German depots. It was also shown on these papers that the German regiments in France were being filled up from the depots of the German regiments in Russia. Another paper gave interesting extracts from letters of prisoners, judging from which there is real want, approximating to famine, in Germany, at all events among the lower classes. Dupont was unable to give me the figure of the German reserves still available, owing to the way in which the Germans had compelled the Poles and the prisoners of war to work in factories and in the fields, but he thought that 220 A TOUR IN ITALY the use of men of the age of seventeen and eighteen showed the state to which Germany was reduced, and that there were only the recuperes besides. The French appear to think that the Itahans have fought well on the Isonzo, but that the partisan fighting in the mountains was a bad preparation for the tremendous bombardment with which the Austrians opened their offensive from the Trentino. It is thought at Chantilly that all the Austrian divisions in the Trentino, except one, have now been engaged, and that the Austrians are completely checked. I was told that the Itahan Reserve Army in Venetia is now grouped round Bassano, and that a good Army Corps — the 20th — is now attacking in the Brenta Valley. I always enjoy my visits to Chantilly because I find the French G.Q.G. well informed and with clear-cut ideas. Lunched with Sevastopoulo, 27 bis Quay d'Orsay. Colonel Ignatieff the Russian mihtary attache, M. Grosclaude a Dehats man, M. Bidou who writes their miUtary articles, and a Russian secretary. Wrote a short article to the Times in the afternoon, and gave it to Adam to send over. It contained a budget of letters found on German prisoners, almost all complaining bitterly of want of food in Germany. Adam dined with me, and Esher came and talked with us. Left Paris for Italy at 8.25 p.m. A good sleeping-car service, most comfortable, and an excellent train. Saturday, June 17. Arrived at Modane at 10 a.m. Lieut. Lazzarini, station commandant, helped me through the Customs, and was very agreeable and useful. The French and Itahan crops look uncommonly well. Much snow still on the hills quite low down, and it snowed last Monday. Mountain streams moderate, main rivers fairly full, notably the Adige. Roads in good order. Saw much Itahan hay on the way to France. Went by Turin to Milan, where I dined at the Hotel Cavour, and so on to Bologna, where I put up at the Hotel Baghoni. Saw an immense number of young fellows not yet in the Army. A general air of well-being and content, and very httle mourning to be seen about. I was harried late at night by several reporters 1916] DESERTED VENICE 221 whom I refused to see. One, a local editor, knocked at my door at 1 a.m., and asked to see the ' most illustrious Colonel Repington,' who refused to get up. Sunday, June 18. One of the reporters caught me in the hall as I was leaving. I said a few words to him, and he spun it out into two columns of pure invention. These Italian reporters are terrors. Left at 9.30 p.m. for Mestre, near Venice. Warm but cloudy day, lunch in the train. The news in the papers continues to be good from all fronts. The Italian crops look so fine that I expect the Austrians are after them. Many people travelling, and a general air of gaiety prevails, so different from France. It is obvious that the Italians have felt the burden of the war very little hitherto, or else they are uncommonly light-hearted. Arrived at Mestre at 3.15 p.m. Heard that Delme Rad- cliffe was expected at Venice to-night from Rome, so I went on there. Took a gondola from the station to Danielo'sHotel. We traversed the Grand and other canals. The population of Venice seems to have fled, nearly all the big palaces are shut, and scarcely another gondola was working. It is delightful, if selfish, to have Venice to oneself. The place is look- ing very beautiful, and the weather is divine. I have a large window overlooking the lagoon, and a certain number of people turned up in the evening to walk about on the front. Delme came in when I was dining, and after dinner we went out in a gondola on the lagoon for a couple of hours. It was very beautiful and still, a fine night, the moon rising a little before midnight. Delme told me that the Italians had mobilised 2| million men, and that their total casualties had been between 600,000 and 700,000 men in one year of the war. They have forty-eight divisions in the field, besides special troops. There were probably nearer one million than three- quarters in the field. Strengths were well maintained, and the depots were full. The field depots contained up to 50 per cent, of the effectives at the front. The new Army Corps were numbered 18th to 26th Divisions, average 222 A TOUR IN ITALY only 32 field guns each, and all told there are probably no more than 500 heavy guns. The Italians gave 400,000 rifles to Russia at the time of her greatest need. Delme appears to have done much to help this matter on. The Italians are now producing one Deport field gun per day and ammunition to suit. General Cadorna did not believe in the Austrian offensive from the Trentino, as he did not think that the Austrians would risk it just as the Russians were getting up steam. There was a good deal of excitement when the Austrians attacked. The people pulled long faces over the first defeats, but Cadorna kept his head, and has now twenty- two divisions ready for the counter-attack, and other troops of the 4th Army are moving round wide on the right from Cadore. The blame is apparently laid on Brusati. A friend of Sonnino's has a daughter married to Di Robilant, commanding the 4th Army, and the latter is re- garded the rival to Cadorna. The real reason of the Italian defeat, apart from their weakness at the moment, is that thirty -three Austrian 12-inch guns and seven of the German 17-inch guns opened on each of the Italian sectors in turn from a central situation, knocking the hills and the defences to bits, and surprising the troops who had only been accus- tomed to guerilla warfare in the mountains and could not stand such a bombardment. On the Isonzo there are six Italian Army Corps in the first line besides the reserves. Only two divisions from the Isonzo had been taken away to meet the attack on the Trentino. In Carnia there are seventy Italian battalions, but they form only one Army Corps. The 18th and 20th Army Corps are now attacking astride the Brenta. Delme thinks that only the Italian 35th Division and two others gave way, and not six as the French Staff had told me at Chantilly. There has been some agitation against Cadorna, mainly got up by the Giolittians, but Delme is helping to resist it. Delme thinks that the value of an Italian Army is only about 50 per cent, of that of the Northern European nations. They fear to lose ships, and have not the habit and the traditions of 1916] THE BRITISH MISSION 223 the sea as we have. Their ports are bad, and they were short of almost everything at the beginning of the war, because Giolitti had let things down. There is a great shortage of coal, which is very dear, and the metal in- dustries cannot be compared to ours. Delme thinks that the ItaUans might use more men, but cannot yet find arms, cadres, and guns for them . Italy has not yet felt the strain of the war like France and England, and food prices are little changed. It appears that the main Russian Army is delayed a good deal owing to the bad roads. Monday, June 19. Went by gondola to the station with Delme at 8,10 a.m. He left me at Mestre and went to Bologna by car on some committee work. Went to Udine. My travelling companions were the Duca di Gallese of the Household of the Queen Mother, and Princess Ruspoli, the latter still very good-looking. The Duke vowed that it was wrong to say that the Blacks of the best Roman families were not fighting. He said that they were all at the front in various capacities. He confirmed Delme's story about Sonnino, and his relation with Di Robilant. He said that General Brusati, who made such a mess of things when the Austrians attacked from the Trentino, was imposed upon Cadorna by the Court. Brusati's brother is A.D.C. to the King. He described General Brusati, who was in command, as the type accompli d'un imbecile. The Princess was very pleasant. I was met by Colonel Count Barbarich of the StafiF, a most agreeable companion, chief of the Press Bureau, who is to be my guide, and by young Rennell Rodd, son of our Ambassador in Rome, who speaks Itahan fluently. Drove to the house where our Mission resides. It is in peace-time a sort of home for people with weak minds. It looks over a piazza, and possesses some large marble baths, which were, of course, a joy to us all, and prevented the Mission from moving elsewhere, in spite of the bombs which seem pretty frequent. A large bomb had killed five people outside my window, and made marks aU over the ceiling of my room after coming through the 224 A TOUR IN ITALY window. Evidently a cheerful spot. About fifty people had been kiUed and two hundred wounded in this little town by bombs, but nobody seems to care very much. The town is full of people and soldiers. The Austrian aeroplanes come most mornings and evenings. The hooters sound and people get under cover until the aeroplanes have left. Very little damage has been done to the town. Found at the Mission an intelligent man called Routhe, who was civil, but looks a very ill man. Barbarich took me to his Press Bureau, where a lot of Italian correspondents were at work, and lined up to shake hands with me. There was a good deal of photography, and of sniping with cameras wherever I went. The Press Bureau seems to be well organised. I obtained a book of their rules. The political and military summaries from the Foreign Press are admirable, but our English papers arrive very late, taking five or six days to come. Barbarich showed me everything, including some excellent maps and diagrams, giving the distribution of Austrian, Italian, and Russian troops, which I was allowed to take away and study. Delme had told me that the Italians are rather sore because we did not show them the distribution of our troops, and I think that reciprocity ought to be the rule. However, Barbarich said nothing about it, so I said nothing. Italian information shows that there are sixteen Austrian divisions between the Lagarina and Sugana Valleys, besides five others from Stelvio to Monte Croce, and one from Monte Croce to Plezzo on the Isonzo. In more detail, and counting from left to right, there are two Austrian divisions west of Lake Garda, namely, the 89th and the Giudicaria detachment ; then Kovess's Army — consist- ing of the 48th, Landeschutzen, 57th, 59th, 8th, and 3rd Divisions in succession — stands between Lake Garda and the Astico Valley ; Dankl's Army covers the ground from the Astico Valley to the north of the Val Sugana, and con- sists of the 44th Division, 1st Mountain Brigade, 34th, 43rd, 28th, 6th, 22nd Divisions, 2nd Mountain Brigade, 88th, and 18th Divisions in succession. The 90th Division con- 1916] AUSTRIAN AND RUSSIAN POSITIONS 225 tinues the line to the Pettorina VaUey, followed by the Piisterthal Division, and the 91st Division continues the line to Monte Croce. The last three divisions form the 14th Corps of Tyrol. The 10th Austrian Army, General von Rohr, extends from the source of the Piave to Tolmino on the Isonzo. It includes six Mountain Brigades on the Isonzo. The rest of the Isonzo front is held by the 5th Austrian Army under General Boroevic. This Army has the 16th Army Corps, consisting of the 62nd and 68th Divisions, from the river down to Gradisca ; then follows the 7th Army Corps, consisting of the 20th, 17th, 61st, and 106th Divisions, while the Nabresina Division is on the Austrian left between the Carso and Trieste. Turning to another theatre of deep interest just now, I see from the Russian distribution diagram, dated the end of May, that the four Russian Armies under Brussiloff consist of 44| infantry divisions and 12 of cavahy. They are opposed by the 5th Austrian Army with 35 divisions of infantry and 8 of cavalry. The above form the Russian Southern Armies. North of Czartorisk, General E vert's fiveArmies of the West or Centre have 50 divisions of infantry and 12| of cavalry. They are opposed by five German Armies or groups between Dvinsk and the Pripet, with a strength of 35| divisions of infantry and 9 of cavalry. Kuropatkin's four Armies of the North hold the rest of the hne up to the GuK of Riga, with 45 divisions of infantry and 9 of cavalry against 15 German infantry divisions and 4f of cavalry. Thus the Russians along the whole front appear to have 140 divisions of infantry and 33| of cavalry against the Austro-German 85 divisions of infantry and 2 If of cavalry. This is a very considerable superiority, and it becomes the greater when we remember that the Russians have killed or captured the equivalent of 15 Austrian divisions, and that the Russian division has 16 battahons to the Austrian 12. I wish that we had such a superiority in the West, but we have not, for as weU as I remember we have about 154 AUied divisions against VOL. I. P 226 A TOUR IN ITALY 120 stronger German, and we have no Austrians against us at all. The maps of the Geographical Institute in Florence are very good indeed. Went to see Commandant Griiss of the French Mission, who seemed a capable man. He thought with me that the Austrians would now withdraw part of then- forces from the Trentino to meet the Russian attack, and Griiss thought that they were probably doing so now, as they had made no great attack for the last fortnight. But it will take a long time to withdraw divisions, because of the poor railway facihties, and because Itahan guns command the Piisterthal railway from Toblach to Sinnian, and practically everything has to go round by Innsbriick. I could not talk intimately with Griiss, because Barbarich's assistant, Colonel Claricetti, was with me. I dined at the mess of the Director of Operations and sat on the right of General Diaz, who is head of the branch. There were some twenty or thirty officers, and he introduced me in a kind speech, saying that my work was favourably known. The mess was in a palace with a courtyard, and in the garden at the back here was signed the Treaty of Campo Formio by Bonaparte. I had a lot of talk with General Diaz about the war, and found him a good, clear-headed, capable soldier. He thinks that the rigid mentahty of the Austro-Germans was the cause of the blow from the Trentino, and that General Konrad had an obsession about this operation and pursued it regardless of what the enemy might do. General Diaz thinks that the Austrians hoped to enter the plains and to cut the communications of the main Itahan Army, but as the Austrian columns spread out fanwise they grew weaker and weaker, and an Itahan communique says that the enemy has had 170,000 casualties. The Itahan inferiority was due to lack of heavy and machine guns. General Diaz, like Joffre, prefers heavy guns of medium cahbre to the very heavy types. He strongly approved of the Alhed plan of simultaneous action. Tuesday, June 20. Started at 7.30 a.m. with Barbarich 1916] THE ISONZO FRONT 227 and motored via Cividale and by the new road N.E. of this place to the hills over Tolmino, whence there is a beautiful view of the Isonzo Valley and of the Austrian and Itahan lines. There are many ItaUan batteries, including one of 2 95 -mm. howitzers very well concealed in a pit where it is practically immune from fire. As we came up to a col near this battery, the Austrians opened fire and burst a heavy shell just at the col. We continued our journey and met the chief staff officer of the 7th Division, who pointed out the position to us from an observation point on one of the highest peaks. Tolmino Bridge is still standing over the Isonzo, and the Italian fines run down close to it, but lower down the Austrians hold a great sfice of the right bank, and should be put out of it as they have no right to be there. ^ They opened on our hill with shrapnel. The 7th Division is now holding a front formerly occupied by an Army Corps. They hold strong positions, and there is much wire. Itafian 295-mm. howitzers were brought up to a hill 1000 metres high in seven hours from the plain ; the platforms were laid and the guns mounted in five hours more. The guns weigh 11 tons, the carriages 8, and the platform, which was in sections, 22. The Itafians had been ordered to destroy the Tolmino Bridge, which I thought unwise, as it would give away the fact that the Itafians were on the defensive on this front. The local commander thought the same, and the bridge was left standing. We had a fine view aU down the vaUey and over the hiUs to the East. A conical wooded hiU faced us across the river, and is apparently crammed full of guns in gaUeries, with howitzers behind, but it could be flanked and rendered innocuous if the Itafians took the Becenica and Santa Maria heights which the Austrians hold on the right bank here. AH the Austrian trenches on the low ground near the river can be seen right into and ought to be smashed to bits. We had an exciting journey back, as the Austrian batteries opened on us and placed three shrapnel quite ^ The Germans used this bridge-head in October 1917 for breaking into and through the Italian line. 228 A TOUR IN ITALY close to us at a turn on the road. This artiUery sniping of motor cars must be great fun for the Austrian gunners. They lay on an angle turn of tlie zig-zag roads and let di'ive as the car gets to it. The chauffeur was more alarmed by the shrapnel than by the precipices below, and went at break-neck speed. The result was, when the game began again, that we came round a corner too fast and ran into a transport wagon which was sheltering from the fire. We bumped off it on to the precipice side, and must have fallen 1000 feet or so, if it had not been for a pile of boulders which had been placed there to mend the road. In these we fortunately jammed, and took some time getting out. Our chauffeur is a very fine driver, but he goes down these zig-zags at about 60 miles an hour, and seemed generally to have at least one wheel over the precipice. Returned to lunch at Udine, and started again at 2.30 p.m. for the Carso. Arrived at Gradisca, where we had to leave the car and walk. There is an interesting old citadel here, and all the official residences have the Austrian arms, and the notices are in German. It was pleasant to be in the enemy's territory, and I liked the notice written over the MiUitarwacht Zimmer by some Italian wag — Evitare di fumare esplosive. The town is practically uninhabited, and there are no troops in it, so that the Austrians may have no excuse for bombarding it. There is a good view from the upper windows of the citadel well up the river. I think that the name of the general is Marchetti. He was very pleasant and a very keen warrior. We crossed the river by a foot-bridge, which is shielded by mats on both sides, and for some reason, known to themselves, the Austrians have not destroyed it. I visited a dressing -station, and also a magazine of bombs. There are three types in use : one shaped like a quoit, the second resembling a pine -apple, and the third a carrot. Viewed from the river all the Carso here is in Italian hands except at Mont St. Michele. The 21st and 22nd Divisions took these positions, and have been here since Oct. 16 last. They work in three reUefs, and the regiments spend 1916] A TALK WITH GENERAL PORRO 229 fifteen days in support, fifteen days in the trenches, and fifteen resting in reserve. The Italian trenches are very near the Austrian, in some cases as little as eight or even two metres. The enemies talk to each other and send one another presents. The Austrians ask for bread, and apparently want this more than anything else. It is con- sidered quite good form to throw over first a packet of cigarettes, then half a loaf of bread, and then a bomb. I asked the general why he did not mine the trenches that were so near and blow the Austrians up in the air ; he said that he did not because when he began the Austrians began mining back, which did not strike me as a very good reason. All the villages along the Isonzo were very little damaged ; at all events there is no comparison with the destruction of the villages in France and Flanders. We came back to tea with Marchetti and his Staff at Gradisca. Stray bullets have the facetious habit of coming through the windows during meals. We thought that we had left our car in safety under cover at the western end of the town, but when we got back to it we found that it had been bespattered by shrapnel. The chauffeur brought us a handful of the bullets that had fallen. Returned to Udine. Delme Radcliffe and I, with Barbarich, went to dine with General Porro, Chief of the Italian General Staff, and his Staff. We were photo- graphed together before dinner. Porro showed us a large model of the Carso, the rough, bare, limestone plateau where we had been that afternoon. He pointed out to us the VaUone as the first objective of the Italians in this district. It is a depression in the hills eastward of where I was this afternoon, and is, no doubt, much used by the Austrians for artillery, reserves, and ammunition. Porro was rather didactic at dinner, but afterwards we walked together in the garden, when he improved and became more communicative. We spoke about the AlUed offensive, which has, of course, his hearty approval. He considers that the Austrian offen- sive from the Trentino is now definitely checked, and he 230 A TOUE IN ITALY tells me that in addition to the Italian Army Corps of the 1st and 4th Armies, he has five Army Corps in reserve on the plain in case the Austrians manage to debouch. There seemed to be every reason for his confidence. I asked him whether he would hear if the Austrian troops began to go back. He said that he had good information from Innsbriick, but that it took four days to reach him owing to difficulties made by Switzerland. From this source he had no informa- tion at present of any Austrians going back, but he says that General Konrad has left the Trentino for the Russian front and Porro imagines that troops may be following. He says that the 34th Division is already reported on the Russian front. The authorities seem to agree that it will take a fortnight to disengage one Austrian divisional unit from the Trentino and to carry it to Lemberg. Porro thinks that the Austrian attack was miscalculated. The Itahans expected the attack last autumn, but the Balkans took its place. A great deal of information points to the fact that the Austrians thought that the Russians could not possibly strike for another three months, and that therefore there was time for the Trentino stroke. Porro thinks that the Austrian attack may be pressed. The Italians were short of heavy guns everywhere, and especi- ally of medium calibre heavy guns from 6 to 8 inch. He said that the Austrians employed thirty of the 12-inch guns in the opening of the attack. I told him how keen we were in England that no change should take place in the G.H.Q.'s in France and Italy, that we knew the men we were dealing with now and had confidence in them, and would, if necessary, support them. He quite under- stood and says that he will accept Bissolati, who has been appointed a sort of civil inspector of the Army by the Italian Parhament, and Porro will gladly see him take over the civil work performed by the Army in the occupied territories of Austria. This work includes agriculture, from sowing to harvesting, repair of the roads, religion, births, deaths, marriages, and every other sort of civil job. I told him that I expected an Austrian retreat. He 1916] THE CAENIA FRONT 231 spoke of the work that had to be done when the Austrians attacked. He had to move the Italian reserves, a quarter of a milUon strong, from the Isonzo to the Trentino front, and he also had to move 150,000 of the civil population from the territory temporarily lost by Italy, and to dis- tribute them all over the peninsula. Porro declared that the whole country was united, and he seemed quite content with affairs. Delme told me something in the evening of his difficulties in supplying the Italians with guns and munitions. He said that they are now turning out 2000 rifles a day from plant which he bought in England. Wednesday, June 21. Started at 7.30 a.m. with Bar- barich and visited the Carnia front, going via Tolmezzo, Arta, and Paluzzo, to Mount Timau, where we found the Italians engaged with the enemy on the Mauthen side, and also with the infantry, who were 800 yards off. On the way up I saw General Lequio at Tolmezzo. He commands the Italian Army in Carnia. He is a bluff Piedmontese engineer who impressed me favourably. He told me that he had 100,000 men in all and a front of 100 kilometres to defend. It was by his advice that we went to Timau and were well repaid. We had a glorious day amidst wonderful scenery. The forests on this part of the hills run up to 2000 feet, then come pastures, and above them are the arid peaks with some patches of snow on them. I found the Friuli and Carnia ladies most attractive ; they have good figures, fine eyes, and warm complexions. They wear black dresses and hoods of an original type, and I wish that Rembrandt or Velasquez were here to paint them. I found that the Tagliamento, as an obstacle, was almost as great a fraud as the Piave, and it will remain so until October. The But Valley, called the Canale de San Pietro in these parts, is very beautiful. At Timau there is a German patois -speaking colony. We found the SiciKan division in occupation, and I thought them very taking and hardy-looking fighting men. We found 290's on the road, and two more in position west of Timau in a wood. They were firing at Mauthen from a 232 A TOUR IN ITALY position about 820 metres above the sea and over the Timau Mountain which rises to a height of 2221 metres! There are mountain guns on this crest, and field guns behind, while there are some anti-aircraft guns further back. The Austrians have two 305's at Mauthen. The Gail Valley is commanded by the Italians both here and lower down, while in Cadore to the westward other guns strike with their projectiles the Piisterthal between Innichen and Toblach. The filovia, or telepheric air railway, has been established in many places on this rugged frontier. The car and its load weigh 400 kilogrammes, and cover in twenty minutes an ascent which would take three or four hours to walk. They have been in use ten years. The upper pair of chain lines carry the car, and the lower pair do the haulage, and are worked by machinery at the base of the hiU. There are other Austrian guns in caverns in the hills round Mauthen. A staff officer, who turned out to be an aviation enthusiast, said that we should long ago have bombed Essen and Vienna, and that the air tactics of the Allies had been contemptible. We found the Alpini holding the highest Alps . General Lequio told us that to hold an Alpine crest of this character meant three mules for every one man. There was good telegraph communication, and the Italian hold upon the crest gave good observation of the fire. The best lorries are those of 1| tons or about half the capacity of ours. They are weU-engined, and manage the hills well. Small and handy steam tractors bring up the guns. The way that the heavies are man-handled round the zig-zag turns is very clever. Some 150 kilo- metres of new railways have been made in this sector since the war began. The fine held by the troops is divided into divisional, brigade, and regimental sectors of defence. On the whole, I found no reason to alter my view that the Carnic Alps are practically impass- able. They are most rugged and forbidding, and there is no pass for wheel traffic except Monte Croce di Carnia. We got back to Udine for lunch. General Diaz told me that 1916] AN AUDIENCE WITH THE KING 233 it was confirmed that General Konrad has left the Trentino, and that the Archduke Joseph Ferdinand has been relieved of his command owing to his defeats in GaHcia. Delme told me that no less than eighty Italian generals had been degomme by Cadorna, whose enemies were consequently very numerous. I am incHned to think that the Itahan Alpine warfare is very well conducted, especially considering the somewhat sparse means at disposal, but that this war of detail somewhat prevents the situation from being re- garded from a large point of view. I was struck by the amount of work done on the roads, railways, and bridges. North-East Italy is certainly wonderfully attractive ; it is so varied and so rich ; one is struck by the comfort and the well-being of the people, and they certainly hate the Austrians pretty thoroughly, because they have been under their heel. We had news to-day that 24,000 Austrians had left the Isonzo front, leaving only 67,000 men on this side. There is no change yet in the Trentino, on which front to-day's Italian report gives the Austrians 227,000 men all told. I had a private audience with the King of Italy at his villa near Udine at 6 p.m. It was a humble residence with a small garden, not differing much from the abode of the King of the Belgians at La Panne. There were three or four officers about, and a sentry at the entrance gate, but I saw no other guard. I was shown up at once to the Kong's bedroom, in which he appears to receive especially favoured guests. It was the humblest kind of room imagin- able. There was just a low camp bed with a soldier's blanket over it ; a small hard table, and two small hard chairs, made up the rest of the furniture of the room. The King met me at the door. He is even shorter than I imagined, but he was very cordial and spoke volubly and weU in Enghsh. We each sat down on one of the hard chairs ; he inquired what I had been doing, and what I had seen, and meant to see. I told him briefly where I had been and made some complimentary remarks about various things that I had noticed. He approved of my programme for the rest of the trip. 234 A TOUE IN ITALY He then told me all sorts of details about the war. He did not beheve that the Austrians had lost more than 100,000 men at the outside during the Trentino offensive. He asked me if I knew how many the Itahans had lost since the campaign began, and I said that the estimates given to me varied between 200,000 and 400,000. He said that it was an intermediate figure, and when I suggested 300,000, he said, 'A httle more, about 320,000.' But this was the total casualty Ust, and more than 50 per cent, of the wounded returned to duty. They had only 3000 cases of amputations up to January last. I told him that I expected that the wounded would make good recoveries on account of the great sobriety of the people. The King agreed that this was the case, and told me that during the two years of his command of an infantry regi- ment, he had only one case of drunkenness brought before him, and the man got fifteen days for it. His men came from five different regions, of which two, namely. Piedmont and FriuH, did a bit of drinking. I asked him how he reckoned up the miUtary value of the soldiers of the different regions, and he said that his best soldiers were the peasants and that it made no difference from which part they came. When I told him that I hked the look of the Sicihans, he reminded me that some of the best of the Roman legion- aries came from Sicily. He said that the peasant who seldom ate meat was now getting from 300 to 350 grammes a day, and was having the time of his fife. They also gave wine to the men, and the food was excellent. We talked about the crops, and the King said that Germany's system of agriculture had not stood the test of war very well, because it depended on artificial manures drawn from abroad, notably the nitrates of Chih, and that these had failed owing to the blockade. Italy had followed her own practice of growing corn, wine, oil, and fruit, and had a very good harvest. The prices had risen a fittle in wheat, but not much in other kinds of food. He said that in a bad year Italy had to import wheat, because people were so well off now that they ate less maize. The harvest had 1916] WANT OF CADRES 235 been gathered in the south and was excellent. It was being gathered in central Italy and promised well. In the north the harvest would be gathered in about a fort- night's time. He told me a story of a priest who had been a chaplain in the Austrian Army. He was not satisfied with the treatment, so one fine day he deserted in a boat, after taking away some of the parts of the guns of the battery. He landed all right, and went to the nearest ItaHan battery, in order to get it to fire at the house where the Austrian general hved, with whom the chaplain had quarrelled. The battery commander was quite wilhng, and hit the house with the first shot, to the immense dehght of the chaplain, who jumped about and clapped his hands. The King told me that the Austrian prisoners told many stories of the severe disciphne maintained in their Army. Three men had been shot for eating their iron ration without orders. The King said that it was inconceivable how Httle the Austrians knew about geography. The men had been told when they reached the Trentino that they were in Russia, and quite beheved it. The King asked what my medals were ; he knew the decorations, but not the campaigning medals. He wore three or four only, including one only worn by officers and men who had been a whole year at the front. I opened up the question whether the ItaHans could raise a larger number of divisions, but he said that they could not raise a larger Army for want of cadres, and he even asked if it was not already too large, since it had been doubled since the beginning of the war. He deprecated any allusion to the fact that he was often with his men in the front trenches, but he admitted that he had often been under close fire, and showed me the base of an Austrian shrapnel which had burst over his head, and had been mounted as a souvenir by the Queen. He told me that his httle house only took four people ; there were four more in a second house, and three in another near by. This seemed to be all his field staff, and I saw no 236 A TOUK IN ITALY servants about. He showed an extraordinary and varied knowledge of his officers and men, and of all their likes and disHkes and wants in the field. He seemed to me a thorough regimental officer, and his thoughts seemed to run much more on regimental hnes than on those of high pontics and strategy. He certainly takes a real and warm interest in all his men, and he struck me as being inteUigent and very well informed. He did most of the talking, and was very pleasant and agreeable. He impressed upon me that the country was entirely united in waging the war. I dined at General Diaz's mess in the evening. Thursday, June 22. A comparatively quiet day. Went at 11 A.M. to the General Staff Bureau, and to Aquileia in the afternoon. At the former I visited first the mapping section and saw specimens of their maps, plans, and pano- ramas. The whole frontier is well mapped on scales of 1 over 25,000, 50,000, 100,000, and 200,000. The Florence establishment has done wonders. I liked best the 1 over 100,000, which is good and clear. It is issued to all officers, and is that on which all orders are based. The photo- graphs are very fine, and so are the plans compiled from the airmen's photographs and reports. I inspected some of the detailed plans of the Austrian position on the Isonzo ; most of them were quite close to the river and only guns were in the second line, but there were many lines of trenches, notably on the Carso, which is the section most strongly held. I saw also the maps of the Russian frontier showing the dispositions of troops on both sides. There is still no definite news of the withdrawal of Austrian troops from the Trentino, but the Italian counter-attack makes some progress. I also saw the distribution in the Balkans. This showed that eight Bulgarian divisions were on the Salonika -Monastir front, three on the Bulgar- Rumanian frontier, and one, the 13th, in reserve. The Turkish distribution map showed twenty-two divisions on the Asia Minor front, six or seven in Mesopotamia, four in the Yemen, two in Syria, and four near Smyrna, besides about four marching towards the Turkish front in Armenia. 1916] AQUILEIA 237 This leaves about nine divisions over in Constantinople and Thrace. Thus the Russian coup in the Caucasus has placed tJie Turkish Army out of the way during this critical stage of the campaign. The Information Branch con- siders that there arc 500,000 Austrian effectives on the Italian frontier, or 1,000,000 in all, including all arms and branches, but they still declare that there are 400,000 men in the Trentino, though the main attack there is only by fifteen divisions. Went on in the afternoon with Colonel Claricetti to Aquileia. On the road we came across some strong lines of trenches near Medea, built with reinforced concrete, and I got out to look them over. They were well flanked and well concealed in the woods and orchards, while there was plenty of barbed wire. This forms the fourth line of defence. The Museum at Aquileia has a really beautiful collection of Roman statuary and antiquities of all kinds, while the Church mosaics are marvels. I found that the Prince of Wales and Prince Arthur of Connaught had been here last month. We did not escape the inevitable photo- graph. We were snapped among the amphora, and it looked as though we had been drinking rich Falernian. The curator of the Museum amused me by telling us that he had received a warning to be ready to remove the contents to the interior of Austria in March 1914, so some- body evidently knew what was going to happen. How- ever, nothing was done, and when the Italian attack came, a man arrived in haste from Vienna and took away what he could carry in four bags. All the rest is in perfect order, and has not been injured in any way. A very hot day. Friday, June 23. The Austrians to-day have 67 bat- talions between the sea and Mount Sabotino, 39 from Sabotino to Plezzo, 23 on the Carnia front, 55 on the front of the 4th, Army (Italian) in Cadore, 225 on the Trentino east of Lake Garda, and 38 west of the lake. These figures include 69 field battalions marked doubtful, and also 63 battalions of volunteers and rifle -club men. 238 A TOUE IN ITALY Started 7.15 a.m. with Barbarich and motored by the main road to Vicenza and thence on to Verona, where we lunched with General Bompiani, commanding the so- called fortress. He accompanied lis up the Val Pantena via Grezzana, and thence on to Gastelbert (1758 metres), where his main position is. It is at present a second-line position, and his front extends from the Adige to the Val dei Romiche. The last 13 miles of road were made by the general in three months, and formed the best moun- tain road that I had yet seen, being an easy gradient and very broad with easy turnings. We had a good view of Monte Baldo and Monte Altissimo to the west, and of Passo Buole, Gugna Torta, and Coni Zugna to the east. We also saw Pasubio, and the valley down to the Adige. The Gastelbert position is fairly strong, and has six bat- teries of medium calibre well concealed, including a battery of Armstrong guns. There are lateral roads and com- munication trenches, and this section should be pretty safe 1 if there is any fighting here. I saw that Buole was pitted with marks of Austrian shells. The defence of Verona has practically been removed to Gastelbert. At Verona itself there is an old wall, the line of the old Austrian blockhouses is in front, and some miles in advance again stands the semicircle of Italian forts with armoured cupolas on commanding positions north and east of the town, rest- ing on the Adige on the left. These works appear to have been disarmed and the guns taken farther north, but the old Italian position forms a good line in case of need. General Bompiani has his guns and few troops, with 2000 workmen. He thinks that he needs a division in case he is attacked to make him safe. In passing Vicenza, I visited General Pecori Giraldi, commanding the 1st Army. A cheerful old warrior, but deaf. He told us that they were working night and day, especially to accumulate heavy guns, and he spoke hope- fully of the impending advance. Colonel Albrecchi, his Chief of Stafi and a smart fellow, showed me a capital ^ It was never taken. 1916] GENERAL CADORNA 239 model of the Trentino, and explained why the Austrian attack had succeeded. The Austrians had brought up twenty-live 12-inch guns on to the Lavarone-Plezza front, and had used them hke machine guns. He admitted that Col Santo should not have been lost, but said that it had been heavily shelled from Plezza. The Austrians were now very strong on the Asiago plateau. The Italians had massed a battery of 100 guns at the outlet of the Astico VaUey upon the plains, and were developing their counter-offensive westward and northward. Cengio was in Austrian hands, also Asiago and Arsiero. It became clear on talking to Albrecchi what great difficulties the Itahans would meet with in reconquering these positions if they were pushed right off the foot hills into the plain. This is a point not to be forgotten on our Indian frontier. I saw General Cadorna at 7 p.m. on our return journey. He was at a quiet house at Vicenza, and I had a talk with him alone in his garden, a tranquil and shady spot. He is a man of medium height, broad shouldered and energetic. He impressed me favourably. I asked him what best we could do for him to help him, and he said that what he wanted most was heavy and machine guns. He told me that the Austrians had 400,000 men in the Trentino, wdth some 300 heavy guns. He had not expected the Austrians to commit such a foUy, but had been prepared to meet this attack if it came. He admitted that the attack had been well organised and well launched, and said that General Konrad had been planning this coup for many years. The Austrians regarded it as a punitive expedition, and hatred had proved a bad councillor. He did not think that the Germans had approved, still less advised, this operation. He, Cadorna, had replied by strengthening his front and by massing five Army Corps in the plains in case the Austrians debouched. When they seemed checked, he had sent up these Army Corps to help his front-line troops. Italy, said Cadorna, was short of many necessary things when she entered the war, and especially of heavy 240 A TOUR IN ITALY guns. Except a few batteries they had practically no siege-train, and so he had lo withdraw guns from fortresses and coast defences, and to make them as mobile as he could, but Austria had still a great advantage. He hoped in a few days to push on,^ but he said that it was a slow business. One short advance by one of his divisions the day before had cost him 2000 casualties. He believed that two Austrian divisions at Trent had left for Gahcia, and that the Austrian march battaUons were also being taken away. Of these there were two for each regiment, and so the Austrians were able to make good their losses up to date. But Cadorna said that it would take the Austrians long to alter their dispositions, and he intended to hold them on the Trentino, and also to begin something serious on the Isonzo. He declared that if he had had enough heavy guns he would have broken the Austrians on the Isonzo before now. He sent messages to Lord French and to Robertson. He told me that the Russian main attack was planned for June 13, but had been post- poned for various reasons. It would now begin, and the numerical superiority of the Russians was of good augury. Cadorna said that this mountain fighting was very hard, 1 Distribution of Italian Armies, June 18 1st Army. General Pecori Giraldi. (Vicenza), 3rd, 5th, 10th, 14th, 18th, 20th, 24th, and ' Z ' Corps. 3rd „ H.R.H. the Duke of Aosta. , (Cervignano), 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 11th, and 13th Corps. 4th „ General di Robilant. (Belluno), 1st and 9th Army Corps. 5th „ General Frugoni. (Noventa Padovani), 8th, 22nd, and 26th Army Corps. Camia Force. General Lequio. (Tolmezzo), 12th Corps. Special Force, General Piacentini. (Valona), 16th Corps. Albania. Note. — The force on the plateau of the Sette Comuni consists of 24th, 14th, and 20th Army Corps under General Mambretti, with H.Q. at Braganza. 1916] ITALIAN ARMIES AND ARMY CORPS 241 and that it was only on the Isonzo front that superior numbers could be deployed, and only there with superior artillery. I told Cadorna that I should be asked when I retiu-ned why Italy had not declared war on Germany, and that I wished to have the answer from him. He re- pUed that this was a poUtical question, but that for practical purposes Italy was at war with Germany, and had fought with Germans. We got back to Udine late, having dined at Treviso on the way, and having covered nearly GOO kilometres in the day. Corjjs. Divisions. H.Q. Commander, 1st 1, 2, 19 Auronzo Segato 2nd 3,8 Ipplis Barioni 3rd 5, 6, 37 Brescia Camerana 4th 7, 18 Creda Tassoni 5th 27, 35, 44 Valdagno Bertotti 6th 11, 12,45 Brazzano Capello 7th 14, 16 St. Valentino Tettoni 8th 13,43 Limeria Ruggeri Laderchi 9th 17, 18 Massari Roffi 10th 9,20 Thiene Grandi 11th 21, 22 Medea Cighana 12th 26,36 Tolmezzo Lequio 13th 31 Campolongo Ciancio 14th 28,30 Gobbaro Mossohn 15th not yet formed. 16th 38 Albania Piacentini 17th not yet formed. 18th 10, 15 Arsic Etna 19th not yet formed. 20th 4,25 Bassano Montuori 21st not yet formed. 22nd 24,47 IMontegalda (?) 23rd not yet formed. 24th 32, 33 Sarcedo Secco 25th not yet formed. 26th 23,46 S. Piedro (?) 'Z' 29,34 Valstagno Zoppi = 50 divisions, of which 3 uncertain, 39 to 42 allotted to cavalry, but not yet given to them, and 48 to 50 unformed ? 42 sure. Note. — 37th Division is by itself in Ala direction. Also note that tiiere are the equivalent of 6 divisions of Alpini and 2 of Bersaglicii outside A.C. formation. VOL. I. Q 242 A TOUR IN ITALY Saturday, June 24, (Anniversary of Custozza.) Went in the afternoon to Treviso, which is the centre of the administrative service in the war area. Saw and had a talk with General Lombardi, the Intendant General ; General Morrone, Vice Intendant ; and the Director of Transport, Col. -Brig. Fiastri. They all seem to me to be good men. Major di Orestis of the Staff gave me a long explanation of the whole system. In Italy all the services de Varriere are under the Intendant General except drafts and aviation, both of which come under the H.Q. Staff. The Intendant General has a representative in Armies and Army Corps. An Order of Movement comes to the Intendant General by telephone, and he arranges for transport, food, and ammunition. The transport includes the railways, which are mainly under the State ; motor lorries, carts, mules, and porters, and big contractors' lorries worked on aU the main roads. Then there are the middle-weight lorries taking a useful load of 2400 kilogrammes, and the hght, which take half this amount. The engineers have special tractors for heavy guns. They do fine work and are very handy and powerful. The lorries form an Army Service, and each park has a group per Army Corps. Each group has two sections for each division, which equals two in a two-divi- sion Army Corps. There seems to be no material difference between the general arrangements of the rearward services in the ItaHan and other foreign Ai'mies. The mules allowed are 200 per regiment of infantry, and fifty for an Alpine company. Di Orestis throws doubt on Lequio's tall story of three mules per man for mountain warfare. He gave me a paper showing me the war rations. The normal ration is 750 grammes of bread, 300 of meat, 150 of pasto or rice, 350 of potatoes, and also cheese, coffee, sugar, wine, salt, pepper, and vegetables. In winter the meat rises to 375 grammes, and pasto to 300. The total calories is about 3950. In case of severe work, wine, rum, and bread are added, increasing the calories to 4730. I had a long talk with Fiastri, who told me that between May 17 and June 22 the Itahan railways had carried 18,000 officers. 1916] ITALIAN ROLLING STOCK 243 522,000 men, 74,000 animals, 34,000 carriages and guns, including 71 field, 34 mountain, 81 heavy, and 38 very heavy batteries. This makes : 71 x4=284 guns 34X6=204 „ 81X4 = 324 „ 38X2= 76 „ Total 888 guns Fiastri also told me that Italy had 5000 locomotives and 160,000 carriages when war began, and that, on mobihsa- tion, 120 trains were cleared a day on the two Venetian lines. The train traveUing was thirty -five kilometres an hour. He explained many other technical matters, but I had not time to go into aviation. Claricetti on the way home surprised me very much by blurting out that the Treaties with Austria had prevented Italy from doubhng her fines into Venetia. I had a talk with Delme later, and he agreed that I should stick to Cadorna's view about the question of Italy declaring war against Germany. For aU practical pui'poses Italy was at war with Germany, German prisoners had been taken, and German guns had been used against Italy. Sunday, June 25. Wrote most of the day. Very hot. Colonel Enkel, Head of the Russian Military Mission with Cadorna, came to see me at 4 p.m. An exquisite and a man of the world, immaculately dressed, and about as clever as they make them. I found him extremely well informed. He thought that there were no more than twenty-nine Austrian divisions on the frontier, and many of them composed of such bad material that they were worthless. He went through the Itafian lists of the Austrian divisions, and explained this point to me. He said that Itafian officers were brave in a fight, and that the N.C.O.s lead their men well. He said that the Itafians were best in an attack, but were not so good in the defence. They 244 A TOUR IN ITALY were always shot out of the trenches which they captured from the Austrians by the guns in two, four, or six hours. He agreed with me that the attack on the Isonzo was prac- ticable, but he thought that it would not do with an Italian Army to work by phases ; it was advisable to take the whole position by a rush without stopping. He thought that the Austrian attack from the Trentino had been a success, because it had prevented a grand attack on the Isonzo front. There was nothing of much value in the Austrian Army in the Trentino, except fifteen Austrian first-line divisions, which deUvered the main attack. The Austrian Mountain Brigades were formed now any- how. The Austrians would take battalions at random from other regiments, and the formations were difficult to follow. The Austrians appear to be accustomed to this happy-go-lucky system. Enkel said that BrussilofE's attack 1 had been meant as a demonstration to draw off the German and Austrian reserves ; it had succeeded. He did not know why the main Russian attack had been delayed. He regretted the departure of the Grand Duke Nicholas, and thought that the G.D. and Alexeieff would have been a perfect combination. Dined in the evening with the Prefect of Friuli and Signora Luzzati, Signor Gioge of the Corriere, and a lot of others ; many came in afterwards ; it was evidently the meeting-place of the society of the town. The Prefect told me that out of 24,000 men absent abroad before the war, almost all came home before the notices had been sent to them to rejoin. 1 Russian Distribution at the End of May. Right to Left nobthekn group of armies Kuropatkin, 45 divisions of infantry, 9 of cavalry. %th Army. Oobatovsky, 4 „ „ \2th „ liadko Diini- tricjf, 25 „ » 3^ .. 5th „ Romeko Oourkho, 12 „ „ 3J 1916] THE CADORE FRONT 245 Monday, June 26. Started at 7 a.m. and motored by Gemona, Stazione per la Carnia, Tolmezzo, Passo della Morte, Passo di Mauria, and Pieve di Cadore, to Cortina d'Ampezzo. Thence back by Pieve to Belluno, and so home to Udine. An extraordinarily beautiful motor drive through gorgeous scenery, especially in the passes. We found the sources of the Tagliamento, and at the Mauria Pass we picked more specimens of wild-flowers to the square yard than I have ever seen anywhere before. The road was also quite good for motoring, and the air divine and very refreshing. Later on in the day it came on to rain, and ended in a drenching thunderstorm, so we had all varieties of weather. We found an Alpine group at Cortina, and made friends with them. After an indifferent lunch a quartette of soldiers gave us some music, and ended up with ' God save the King,' possibly played here for the first time in captured Austrian territory. We went up the hills west of Cortina, and saw the position of the Alpini. A few miles out of the town on the Dolomite road the Italians were holding the crest to the right of the road, except at one isolated peak called Castelletto, whence the Austrians fire upon the road on which we stood, and also hold a commanding rocky hill which looks right down the road. To overcome the Castelletto the Italians have driven CENTRE GROUP OF ARMIES Evert, 50 divisions of infantry, 12 J of cavalry. Ist Army, Litvinov, 8 „ 3 2nd „ Smirnov, 10 „ 3i „ 10th „ Radlcievic, 10 „ 2 4th „ Ragosa, 10 „ 1 3rd „ Leach, 12 „ 3 Evert's right faces Eichborn's left, and Evert's left corresponds with Linsingen's right. SOUTHERN GROUT OF ARMIES Bruasilojf, 44 J divisions of infantry, 12 of cavalry 8Enemy. VVII. Corps. 4 divisions. 1 div. in support. 17th 29th 15th 1 div. in support. 50th 33rd 30th In Army Reserve, VIII. Corps, Sunday, April 22. In spite of his coming battle, Allenby found time to accompany me this morning round his gas laboratory, and to the Survey Company H.Q. and the Signal Service. I admired the coolness and detachment of mind which enabled an Army Commander to interest himself in such matters at such a moment, but he said that all his plans and arrangements for the following day were made, and that he could only await the result. At the gas place, Mr. Hartley, an ex-college don, is in charge. This scientist, no doubt, beHeved that all his life would be spent in the cool shade of his university. Now he has become a dealer of death, and positively revels in defeating and destroying the Huns. He is always invent- ing something new and deadly, and he always tries it on himself first. The other day he made a new gas, put on a Hun mask, and let the gas loose on himself. He was dragged out two hours later more dead than alive, and was in hospital for some time, but perfectly delighted that he had found something to defeat the Hun respirator. The German phosgene (C0C1„), which we now use, kills within a circle of 25 yards radius, and causes casualties in a circle with diameter of 200 yards, unless men are masked. It is, however, not of much use in winds of over VOL. I. 2 L 530 AREAS AND CHAMPAGNE seven miles an hour, as the gas disperses too quickly. Our box respirator gives complete protection, and so does the P.H. mask against all but lachrymatory. We use the gas in clouds from cylinders, in trench mortar bombs, and in shells, and there are many reports of the damage done by it. All sorts of cross-roads and communication trenches are to be gas-bombed to-night, and this will compel the Hun to keep his mask on, and it must be very hard to sleep in it. I expect that the Huns are cursing their chemists who invented poison gas. At the Survey Company we found Colonel Winter- botham, a clever expert of the Ordnance Survey, who has many smart men of his trade under him. The rapid way in which all reports, from all sources, of the positions of the enemy's batteries are collected, co-ordinated, mapped accurately, and promptly issued to troops, is a real triumph of science appUed to war. The R.F.C. photographs come here to help in the final stage of mapping, and are, of course, invaluable. I was surprised to learn that we had found the French maps, even the sTjhro> quite untrustworthy. I told W. that I had regarded them like the Bible. So, he said, had he, but experience had shown that only the trigo- nometrical points were accurate, and that the details were often as much as 200 yards out. This had practically en- tailed a fresh survey of the whole ground, and he had amassed all the French mining and railway surveys that he could lay his hands on. The Germans had merely enlarged the French maps and had trusted them, and, in consequence, often hurled tons of metal on the wrong spot, day after day. While we had accurately located as many as 93 per cent, of the German battery positions, the German maps of our batteries showed that they had not located one-third of our batteries accurately. The sound-ranging and flash - spotting work of the survey companies is also very wonder- ful, and Winterbotham explained to us the most intricate mathematical calculations which were at the base of it. I am not sure whether AUenby or I understood it least. One of W.'s workmen told me that all the lithographic 1917] VISIT TO VIMY RIDGE 531 stones came from Bavaria, and were now most scarce. Our Government had commandeered the whole supply available at home, I found the Signals under an officer who declared that I had saved his life in South Africa by giving him break- fast one day. Visited the telegraph and telephone rooms. He gave us a lot of interesting figures. He has 90 tons of copper wire out on his Army Unes. A very complete system, and I suppose that an Army can be better con- trolled from Paris or London with a perfect telegraph and telephone system than from a height overlooking the battlefield without one. Took leave of Allenby, whose character I admire more the more I see of him, and motored on to Greneral Home's H.Q., 1st Army, further north. Here I found Home, lame from a faU, but as cheerful and pleasant as ever, Anderson B.G,G.S., Heath C.R.E., General Mercer C.R.A., and others. We had lunch, and afterwards the A.D.C., KnatchbuU- Hugessen, an active and capable young officer, took me on to the famous Vimy Ridge. We had to wear tin hats, which I found very comfortable. We made the best time we could through the ruins of Souchez, which the Huns persistently shell, and thence on to Stephens's Brigade H.Q. at the Cabaret Rouge, passing a number of our batteries in action. We here left our car under cover, and walked to the topmost point of the ridge, the Hill 145. The whole ridge is pock- marked with shell craters full of water, so close together that one has to crawl along the edges of the craters ; and as the ground was still very muddy, it took us a long time. It must have been very hard for troops to cross this ground during their attack on April 9, We saw the remains of the Hun lines, which had for so long held up the French Artois offensives, and had become a nightmare to the French people. The Hun second line, which had held up the Canadians until the evening of April 9, was hard to find, but it appeared to be within about 200 yards of the crest on our side, well- sited, and with tunnels running back from it. All the trenches were knocked to bits, and almost all the wire was cut. I saw no preparations of ours for defending the 532 AERAS AND CHAMPAGNE ridge in case the Huns tried to retake it. It is most difficult, in fact almost impracticable, to bring our guns over this maze of craters, and so we are using the roads east and west of it, through Souchez and Thelus, for this purpose. From the top of the ridge there is a wonderful view, and the visibility this day was perfect. We saw right away to Douai across the plain. At our feet, below the ridge, there was a broad fringe of field, and then all along the horizon from Givenchy, Lieven, and Lens on the left of us, and all along so far as we could see, an unending line of red-brick and red-tiled mining villages, which I thought good places to steer clear of if it could be done. It was clear why the enemy held the ridge so stiffly for so long. It is a remark- able observation point, and one sees everything from it, all spread out at one's feet. One could see into every part of Lens, where hard scrapping was in progress, and the guns on both sides were busy. The Huns keep on dusting the Vimy Ridge, which is still ' unhealthy ' ; but to-day they were civil on the whole, and we had a prolonged and quiet in- spection of their positions. Stephens and a gunner colonel, P. de B. Radcliffe, out on observation duty, joined up with us. Stephens and P. de B. R. had been out scouting for the attack of Stephens's division to-morrow. We are getting round Lens, but it is a bit of a proposition, and will still want a lot of taking. Hun aeroplanes appeared over our heads not more than 1000 feet up as we returned, and fought a battle with one of our squadrons that turned up. The Huns were chased away, and some of our Archies aided. The way the Huns used the clouds was very pretty. I think that they were after our observation balloon, near Souchez, or else were reconnoitring our batteries which begin to turn up round the Cabaret Rouge. No harm seemed to be done by anybody to anybody else, and the Huns got away. Going back I called on Byng. He thought that it was the winter training of the Canadians that had done the trick at Vimy, which, he said, was not a bowler's wicket, as 1917] HORNE AND HIS STAFF 533 I must have seen. He told me that the Huns had only destroyed one of the guns which his men had captured, and that he had formed his 64 captive guns into a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ' Pan-Germanic Group,' and had used up all their ammunition in shooting Germans. They were the only guns he had, as he could not get his own forward. Dined with Home and his Staff, who are a very happy and united family, and had a good talk with him. His 1st Army have 360 heavy and 720 field guns. He was sorry that only one or two of his divisions could help Allenby to-morrow. It is uncertain whether the wire is well cut, and only a relatively small number of the new German battery positions have been spotted. There are six Hun divisions against the 1st Army, and two more are coming up with their guns. General Mercer only knows the position of a few batteries, while the 3rd Army this morning knew for certain the positions of 52 batteries, and in all of about 83, out of perhaps 110 German batteries left uncaptured on April 9. Reports also show that other Hun divisions are quitting the Northern front to come here. Home and I talked of Lord K. Home was with him on his trip to the Mediterranean, and told me of K.'s reply to the cable from the Cabinet inviting him to proceed to Egypt. It ran, 'Cable received. Am sending Home to Egypt, and return via Italy to-morrow.' Home said that K. quite appreciated the designs of the Cabinet and was very sarcastic about them . It seems that we are bound to attack again, because Nivelle has got in a mess, has lost heavily, and has failed to get through. Otherwise we seem to have gained on this Arras front all we want at present. Monday, April 23. At 4.45 a.m. this morning we seemed to be hit on the head by the thunderclap of the opening of our bombardment by 3000 guns. I took leave of Home and went off to Allenby 's H.Q. at St. Pol to watch the mechanism of the Army Control during a big fight, as Allenby had said I might if I liked. I found Allenby as cool as ever. Bols, Charles Grant, and the Operations 534 ARRAS AND CHAMPAGNE Staff were busy and full of work, receiving reports, and recording all information upon maps of various scales. Allenby and Bols in one room, Grant and another man in a side room, and the rest in another large room. The pro- cedure was very thorough and businesslike. The whole Staff worked as a team, perfectly united, and with great coolness and rapidity. All reports, in and out, were transmitted to G.H.Q,, the other Armies, and to Allenby 's four Army Corps, nine copies of everything required. All the movements of our troops were shown as they became known, and also any movements of the enemy. The Signal Service kept us accurately informed. Congreve had taken Gavrelle with the 63rd Naval Division of the 1st Army, and held it throughout the day with great gallantry. Allenby 's divisions made progress, but met with violent opposition, and Hun counter-attacks took place all along our front. This suited us well, as we had a tremendous line of batteries which searched all the open ground, and the Hun losses must have been immense. The progress expected had not been made by 1 p.m., so Allenby issued orders that the attack should be resumed at an hour to be fixed by the 6th Corps (Haldane) ; the hour selected was 6 p.m., and the line was at last attained, but not until many more counter- attacks had been repulsed. I thought that the Huns wished to retake Monchy. The 29th Division lost 2000 men in the village by shell fire alone, and on the slopes north and south of it some of the heaviest Hun attacks occurred. I doubt whether the enemy has ever suffered such loss in battle with us since the first battle of Ypres. I motored in the late afternoon to F.M. Sir Douglas Haig's G.H.Q. at Bavincourt and found Sir L. Kiggell at home, so we had a walk together, and I found that we were in accord about questions of Man-Power and other matters relating to the war. I chaffed Kig. about his talk in the train with L. G., and Kig. told me that he had advised L. G. to make peace if he could not keep up the strength of our Armies. No wonder L. G. dislikes him ! Haig is writing a fresh memo, about it, and is just putting the finishing touches 1917] AT HAIG'S HEADQUARTERS 535 to it. The Bavincourt chateau is small, and with little accommodation. Only Haig, KiggeU, Davidson, Fletcher, and Sassoon are there. Haig came in at 7.45 p.m. He had been with Congreve and Snow on the two flanks of the attack. A few words with him and then a pleasant dinner, when we talked on a variety of topics, and I told him the poHtical situation respecting men. We then had a talk alone after dinner. He wants me to show the connection between the Somme and Arras, and how necessary it was to wear out the Grerman Armies in the field before doing anything else. He gave me the German communique saying that the retreat had begun on March 16, and pointed out that Gough had attacked and secured the observation over Miraumont on Feb. 24, this causing the retreat. I asked Haig when he thought that the Grermans had decided on a retreat, and he said December 1916. He told me that his horses were 14,000 short, and that cHpping should not be allowed after November. He had reduced the oats ration because his re- serve had fallen to four days'. He thought that horses were plentiful in England, but could not be sent over. He told me that our Armies in France were now 42,000 short. On the basis of the number of men whom the W.O. had under- taken to supply, and allowing for casualties of 100,000 a month all told, his infantry would show a deficit of 198,000 men by Aug. 1. These figures do not include the Dominion troops. Very rightly, as I thought, he did not enter into any political discussion of how we were to get them, and merely said that now that I knew all the facts, I could work my own passage. Tuesday, April 24. This morning we heard that Snow's 7th Corps had been driven back to its original line last night, and that the 63rd Naval Division had sent up the S.O.S. this morning and was being heavily attacked. Allenby came in during the morning and said that the Grermans had had very heavy losses all day yesterday, as they were under the fire of our superior artillery in all their counter-attacks. I went to Charteris's local intelligence office. There are 536 ARRAS AND CHAMPAGNE now 157 German divisions in France, of which 69| are between the sea and the Oise. All the first 13 of the first new series of German divisions are now identified and located, while 3 of the second series have also come up, Vivian of the 4th Army Staff and others sent me shoulder straps, as I had requested, cut from the German jackets, showing the numbers of the new regiments so that L. G, might not rest any longer under any misconception. He would be reminded, I hoped, of David's proofs of his night visit to Saul's tent. We have exhausted 10 to 15 of the German divisions which were in the line against us on April 8, and have drawn in 12 out of the 18 divisions in reserve on our front. The G.H.Q. calculation is that a German division withdrawn from the line has lost 50 per cent, of its strength and is out of action for two months. This was the Somme experience. After lunch with the F.M., motored on to Montreuil. Stopped on the way to see Reggie Pembroke to take him Bee's message and to hear his news of the Monchy fight. Found him at a little inn in a small village, very fit and well, and as full of spirits as ever. I asked a Blue trooper where to find Reggie, and he replied, 'At the third ^.estaminet on the left, sir.' He had been temporarily in command of the Blues on April 9th, and had ridden with them through the barrage, losing 30 or 40 men and 100 horses. As the Blues were in reserve, he had taken up his machine guns to Monchy to help the 10th and Essex, and had had a breezy time there. He was twice knocked down by shells, and once thrown down a staircase, but his steel hat saved him. The loss of horses occurred in the village. He said that the Brigade made a tremendous mark, and were shot at from all sides. We regretted poor Bulkeley- Johnson's death very much. I was glad to see Reggie again, and hope to goodness that he will pull through the campaign. I motored on to St. Andre, the H.Q. of the Flying Corps, near Montreuil. Trenchard, its chief in France, is one of the few indispensable men in the Army. He has done wonders and deserves immense credit. The R.F.C. in 1917] TRENCHARD AT ST. ANDRfi 537 France now number 2500, including 2000 pilots. They were masters in 1916, but in the autumn General von Hoeppner was put in charge of the Hun Air Service, which came out in 1917 in the proportion of 6 to 4 against us. The Huns had two one-seater fighting aeroplanes to every one artillery scout, and with us the proportion was reversed. Trenchard pointed out that a great nation like Germany will not easily be cowed, and that we must not expect the conditions of 1916 to recur. He expects that we shall have ups and downs in the air as elsewhere. His policy is to seek out the German airmen and either drive or draw them away so that our artillery scouts may carry out their mission. This has led to heavy fighting and many casualties, but he has persevered. We have been all over them to-day, and have bombed Ath and Hirson. These bombing raids worry the Germans and draw them away from the front, but T. made it clear that bombing will not win the war. T. says that it is no more possible to say which is the best aeroplane than to say which is the best type of ship. It all depends upon what each has to do. He thinks that great harm is done by finding fault with old and slow types, and thus discouraging the pilots, who are young and im- pressionable. T, is against the pilots selecting types of aeroplanes, as he would be against taking Tod Sloan as adviser in choosing a horse. Our great need is for plenty of fast one-seater fighting aeroplanes with two guns, or with three if we can have them, T, thinks that our latest S,E.5 is better than the latest Hun Albatross. A squadron of twelve of these new machines of ours had been out yesterday and had brought down three of the enemy without loss. A new French machine lent to us was even better, but it had only one gun. T, declares that a new type invented now will not begin to reach the Army in any numbers until May 1918, and that it is necessary to shorten the period which elapses between the decision respecting types and their utilisation in the field. T. says that an aeroplane lasts about two months on an average. A pilot takes two months of fighting to become an adept, but his nerve 538 ARRAS AND CHAMPAGNE usually only lasts for three, six, or nine months afterwards, and a man who has had a rest is seldom good for much again. T. wants a squadron of eighteen aeroplanes with each Army, besides the H.Q. wing, which goes wherever the need is greatest. He is determined to act offensively in order to enable the artillery scouts and photographic machines to do their work. This they certainly do, for I am told that in four months the aeroplane observers reported 1589 direct artillery hits on Grerman guns, and some 200 important explosions. The best machine we have now gives 105 miles an hour 10,000 feet up, and, in choosing a new type for 1918, T. will be contented with an increase of 20 miles an hour. He talked of the immensity of the air, and of the difficulty of seeing planes in the air, and of distinguishing friend from foe. The ' Archies ' were most useful in this way, as they saw the plane from below, while in the air the enemy might only be seen end on, and the shells bursting distinguished friend from foe. All the aeroplanes sent to bombard Ath to-day were slow, and might have been put down by any Him. Albatross or Halberstadt, but they never saw one. The space was immense and planes travelled fast. T. had 900 aeroplanes in the air on April 9. The Essen enterprise is a different kind of job which must come on later. In general, T. wants his one-seater fast fighters to go full speed for 3 to 3| hours only. Everything, he says, is a com- promise in an aeroplane as in a ship. He instances the new German three -seater driven down by us near Montreuil to-day as a useless type, though it has two 260 h.p. Mercedes engines. T. thinks that a good aeroplane gun has not yet been invented. He says that from a large point of view he has not obtained what he asked for last year. We talked alone first, and he showed me some aeroplane reports. Then we went into the mess-room, where were some of his chief officers. Maurice Baring was there. It was rather felt than expressed that the home organisation was behind the times, but I did not go into the matter, as these officers were not the proper people with whom to discuss it. 1917] THE GERMAN MAN-POWER 539 Haig told me at breakfast to-day that he could take many more heavy guns, indeed as many as we could give him. KiggeU said the same, and resented very much the handing over of so many guns to nearly aU our AUies when we needed them so much. People seem to give promises to AUies much too freely, and meantime the G.H.Q. demands have not been met, and we are short of 120 field guns and of a good proportion of guns of other caUbres for our ex- isting batteries, while the reserve of guns inspires anxiety. Wednesday, April 25. At the Hotel de France again, and as abominable as ever. Walked round the ramparts this morning — a very attractive view, and a resort of night- ingales. Montreuil stands finely, and the walls are very high. Visited the InteUigence Branch and had a talk with Major Cornwall, who has a rare talent for this work. He thinks that there are from 4,500,000 to 5,000,000 Germans on the two fronts and on the L. of C, besides 1,000,000 at the depots, and, in addition, the class of each year — the 1919 class is only now coming to the depots — and the recwperes. But he declares that combing is finished, and this makes an immense difference. He places 155 German divisions in the West, and says that aU the Landwehr and Landsturm have gone East. There are stiU 10 divisions in reserve from the sea to the Oise, but 25 German divisions have had to be withdrawn from the front during the fighting since April 9, of which 15 from the British front. He says that the new Boche 08/15 machine gun, which is an answer to our Lewis gun, can be carried and manipulated by one man, and that, aU told, the Huns have now 16 machine guns per company. C. thinks that the Germans are short of guns. Hindenburg asked for a doubling of the output, but has probably been disappointed. On the other hand, shells stiU seem plentiful. Motored to Amiens in If hours — good going. Met the Duke of Sutherland at the station ; he is off to visit Bird- wood. The train joiarney to Paris took four hours, and was very boring. Put up at the Ritz, where Dalmeny had fortunately taken the last rooms for me. Billy Lambton 540 ARRAS AND CHAMPAGNE came and talked with me at dinner. His 4th Division had lost 3000 men, and he had only received 1000 drafts, and he is now 9000 instead of 13,000 infantry, Le Roy-Lewis came to talk over matters in my room later. He says that the French have lost 120,000 men, and that Nivelle is to go and Petain will succeed him. Petain had opposed the plans for the offensive on broad statesmanKke grounds, and the event had proved him right. Thursday, April 26. Esher came in to talk in the morning. He told me a httle more about the famous Calais Conference, and how the proposal to place the British under the French had originated with L. G. and Briand only, and that no one else knew of it. L. G. had tried to induce Lyautey to break the news to Haig and Robertson, but L. had refused, and had gone off to spend two hours with the ' Duchesse de Siiderland.' We agree that if Petain is appointed he should be C.G.S. in Paris. Completed my first article on my tour, all about the Boches. I saw M. Painleve, the French War Minister, in the evening. After some prehminary conversation he asked for my views on the general situation. I told him that the practical equahty of the combatants in the West did not justify adventures or soaring strategy on our part, and that I was for a prudent offensive on the model of April 9, to place us in better positions all along the Hne, and that I did not beheve in the aspiring offensive of the Champagne model until we had greater superiority. I thought that we should have to wait until the appearance of the British and American reserves of manhood came forward, and mean- while not exhaust the strength and moral of our good Armies by trying to do too much. Painleve told me that my ideas accorded with Petain's, and he asked me to visit the latter, which I agreed to do. Painleve appears to have read all my articles, and even reminded me of my Blackwood articles on the future and certain domination of the submarine in the North Sea, written four years before the war. Haig came to Paris to-day at Painlev6's request. He would not mix himself 1917] A CALL ON M. PATNLEV^ 541 up in the personal question of P^tain versus Nivelle, but deprecated any change in the plans arranged, and wished to continue his offensive. It was arranged that the old plans should hold good, at least for the time. Painleve is having a hard time to induce his Cabinet to accept Petain, and is furious because Sir H. Wilson came to see him uninvited, supporting Nivelle and criticising Petain severely. Ribot is pro-Nivelle, and Briand angry at Nivelle being upset ; but Nivelle has failed, and the Government have to meet the Chambers on May 22. There are already ten interpellations announced concerning the French offensive. Friday, April 27. Finished an article and sent it off for Charteris to censor by Maurice Brett. Lunched with Le Roy and the Councillors of the Russian and Spanish Embassies. Poor Sevasto very low at being named Russian Minister at Copenhagen. Nabokoff goes to Berne. Sevasto gave us no comfort about Russia. He was rather good on the British and French parUamentary systems. He said that in England everyone knew that the Front Opposition bench would have all the sweets of office on a change of Government, and so there was no intrigue among the rank and file of a partj^ whereas in France any one in ParHament might become Minister, or even President of the Council, and hence the endless intrigues and changes of Government. JVIrs. Leeds turned up at lunch from Switzerland, and I was glad to see her again. Motored to Chalons in the afternoon via Meaux and im- perishable Montmirail — 3| hours. Road fairly good. Many troops at all towns and villages en route. Reached Petain 's H.Q., where several officers were assembled. I was shown into the garden, where Petain and another general were walking about. Petain greeted me kindly and then intro- duced his comrade as General Nivelle. I was at a loss to know whether Petain or Nivelle knew of Petain's new appointment, but, in fact, as it turned out afterwards, Petain and I knew, but Nivelle did not. There was, there- fore, a certain comedy about the deference which Petain 542 ARRAS AND CHAMPAGNE and I showed to the supposed but ah-eady fallen Commander- in-Chief. Nivelle was looking very troubled and careworn, Petain as calm and inscrutable as ever. Nivelle discussed the war. We then dined with some eight or ten other officers, I being on Petain's right, and Nivelle opposite. We three monopoHsed the conversation, the rest of the party keeping silence, as usual at Petain's table. Very unUke a British mess table ! I beheve that it was not etiquette in Joffre's day for any one to speak to the generalissime unless he spoke first, but, being a stranger, I omitted this boring formaUty. Nivelle said that up to the present 34 German divisions out of 43 had been withdrawn from the line for repairs, and that previous experience had shown that this was done when a loss of 4000 men per division had been incurred. He thought that the Germans had already suffered 200,000 casualties in his battle. I asked how long the divisions withdrawn could be counted out, and Petain answered, ' Three weeks at a minimum.' Nivelle was very pleasant and agreeable, but he lacks Petain's character, and was plainly under the latter 's influence. It was like pupil and master, and there was no doubt which was the dominant spirit. We told stories. Petain discussed women and marriage. He said he was a bachelor but loved children, and after the war he would have to choose between matri- mony and suicide. I said that it was often the same thing. Petain thought that he would have to adopt some small children of about five or six. About 9.30 P.M. Nivelle left, and Petain and I adjourned to his working-room, where we were alone. I began at once by saying that the general situation was very delicate, and that I had come at M. Painleve's suggestion to talk it over with him. Petain asked me to give him my views fiirst. I said that we could not count this year upon Russia, and that the best we could hope was that she should hold in her front the German troops now in the East, but that we must also face the possibiUty that Russia might make peace, or be ' down and out ' for the rest of the war. I said 1917] AN EVENING WITH PlfiTAIN 543 that Italy lived in terror of being attacked, and offered little assistance, though she had a mass of troops, and that the burden of the war feU upon France and England until America could help. How were we situated ? We had 169 divisions against 155 German. 'Yes,' interrupted Petain, ' but as the French battahon has only three companies to the four German, and as the artillery comparison was also in Grerman favour, three German divisions were the equal of four French.' I agreed, but said that the British divisions were stronger at present than the German, and that the point was that there was practically equality ^ on the two sides, a conclusion with which Petain agreed. I then said that France had few reserves left but the recuperes and the yearly classes, and Petain repUed that this was correct. Our numbers, I went on, are not being maintained, and unless we did better at home we should have a deficit of 200,000 infantry in France by the end of July, and the loss of moral would correspond with the reduction of effectives. In all these circumstances, I continued, I had watched with concern the plans for the summer, which did not appear to me justified by the relative forces in presence, and I thought that the promises held out by NiveUe and Mangin to break the German lines were sanguine, to say the least. It seemed to me that too little attention was paid to the mechanics of the war, and that our plans of a long-range offensive would only be justified if we had a much greater superiority of force than that which we actually possessed. I was, in the circumstances, for a short-range and prudent offensive, such as that of Haig's on April 9, and I reminded Petain that this was France's last Army, and that Nivelle's failure had destroyed the half, at least, of the French class of the year in a few days. How could this go on ? We also had lost many men, and at the present rate might lose more a month than the 100,000 on which the War Office and Haig were tabulating. It seemed to me, therefore, ^ According to M. Painleve the superiority of the Allies on the Western front on July I only aanounted to 100,000 rifles. 544 ARRAS AND CHAMPAGNE that the whole situation required to be reviewed, and action to be taken to correspond with the reaUties of the position. Petain said that he absolutely agreed with me. He him- self had often conducted short-range attacks such as those of which I spoke, especially at Verdun. He had strictly limited Nivelle at Verdun, but Nivelle was not apparently aware of it. When Nivelle had succeeded en soiis-ordre, the Government had acclaimed him as a genius, though he was only acting as a subordinate. In fact, the instru- ment had been acclaimed the master. This last Rheims ofEensive, said Petain, was prepared by Joffre last December. It was originally meant to engage the four southerly British Armies, the Army Group of Franchet d'Esperey, and Petain's own 5th Army. With such a long line the Grermans would have been highly tried, and could not have easily massed their reserves as they did on April 16 against the French. But the German retreat had thrown the plan out of gear, since two British and one French Army had no enemy in their front. Painleve had visited Petain a fortnight before the attack began, and had consulted him about it. Petain had explained the position, had severely criticised the prose- cution of the plan under the changed conditions, and had foretold its failure. He was perfectly justified in giving his opinion when the War Minister asked for it. Painleve invited him to Paris, where he met at dinner Ribot, Thomas, Painleve, and Admiral Lacaze. All were members of the War Council. The conversations here led to the appearance of Petain before a full meeting of the War Council, at which were present Pi'esident Poincare, all the usual Ministers, Nivelle, and all the Army Group Commanders. Here Petain expounded his views ; most of the Army Group Commanders agreed with him, and Nivelle, who was absolutely accule, ofEered to resign after being completely defeated in argu- ment. But the War Council would not accept the resigna- tion, and finally Nivelle took the 5th Army away from Petain and made absolutely no change in the dispositions. In short, said Petain, the Council had been a parlote ; and I said that we knew the genv^ perfectly well. 1917] PfiTAIN ON JOFFRE 545 After NiveUe's costly failure, there had been a question of what was to be done. P6tainhad been called to Council. He had refused to become the ' Major-General ' (Chief of Staff) in Paris, because he could not issue orders, and besides, he knew that he was not popular with the Chambers, who were alarmed by his houtades at their expense. The actual solution is to be announced on Monday, and the only thing sure is that Petain is to be master. But whether Petain will go to Paris with full powers, or replace Nivelle at Com- piegne, is still uncertain. I must ascertain, as Nivelle has invited me to Compiegne, and it will be awkward to arrive there during the demenagement. Petain was severe upon NiveUe. I remarked how much I had regretted Joffre, for though he was no eagle, had made mistakes, and had acted against his military conscience in the affair of Salonika, he was a solid asset to the Entente, enjoyed great prestige, and represented the only fixed point in French politics. Petain agreed, and said that he had always sup- ported Joffre, but that the latter was very jealous, and as each new star rose in the firmament Joffre tried to snuff it out. But the real cause of Joffre's failure was his in- ability to surround himself by the right men. He had allowed operations to fall completely into the hands of Colonel Renouard, who had established liaison officers in all the Armies — a system of which the Armies disapproved ; and I learnt, without surprise, that poor Renouard is to go. Petain then asked me many questions about our mihtary authorities, generals, and Ministers, and I sketched out their characteristics at some length, assuring him, in par- ticular, that he could place entire rehance upon Robert- son and Haig, who would never fail him, even if for the moment stupid stories were current. The argument used to Painleve against Petain that he was a pacificist and a cunctator, though absurd, must be met, as such phrases did harm and created a false atmosphere and impression. Petain was very wrathful on this subject, recounted to me his etats de service during the war point by point, from regimental to Army commander, and asked, indignantly, VOL. I. 2 m 546 AKRAS AND CHAMPAGNE whether he had merited the accusation levelled at him. I said that the phrase having been launched, I should be asked in London what he meant to do and in what manner his system would be an improvement on the past. It would be well for him to enUghten me on these points, even if I could easily guess the explanation. Petain said that the practice of promising the moon and of the surenchere had entered the Army from French politics and had done an infinity of harm. Joffre had begun it by promising victory at the end of three months, by the end of which period everybody had forgotten about it, and then Joffre pro- mised it again, while Briand traded on it. The foolish promise before the Rheims offensive was of this character, and he, Petain, would never lower himself to such deceptions. He would tell the truth, and if politicians did not like it they could find some one else to lie to them. He was opposed to the practice of attempting to do much with little, and preferred to do little at a time with much. He agreed that Haig's day of April 9 was a good model, but thought that so were his attacks at Verdun. The situation required great prudence and great patience. He said that ' you cannot have strategy until you have exhausted the enemy's reserves.' He was for the short-range prudent offensive or for the aggressive defensive, for a further increase in the artillery, and for its use in the manner which he had ex- plained to me at Verdun last year. It was necessary, in France's position, to economise men, while hitting the enemy as hard as possible. He considered it of the first importance that England should keep her ranks well filled. He wished to incorporate American recruits in the French Armies until they were trained, and then to form companies and battaUons of them until they were fit to go into the larger units. He had made a plan which he would show me in the morning, and had given a copy of it to the Americans. The merit of it was that we should have the support of our new Ally in the field without delay. Petain agreed with me about German numbers and moral, as also that Grerman combing 1917] PfiTAIN AT WOEK 547 is at an end, and he does not for a moment count the Germans to be beaten men. He expressed a great admiration for British troops, and hoped and beUeved that the British people appreciated him and would soon learn to know him better. He also told me of the great effect which had been produced in raising the moral of the French Army by my report on the German manoeuvres of 1911. He confessed that it was a revelation to him that such a report should have been written by an English officer, as they were supposed in France to be ignorant of the grande guerre. He also told me that the French Government had con- sulted him about Nivelle's offensive, and he had advised that it should be stopped in its original form as it would only lead to the useless loss of another 40,000 men. I asked what Petain would do, as Haig wanted to go on, and I also asked how Petain would extricate his own troops from the present position. He saw no reason why Haig should not go on, and said that the French would continue to fight and would not allow us to be overwhelmed. A very satisfactory talk late into the night. We understood each other, and Petain asked me to keep in touch with him by letter, and to come and see him often. Saturday, April 28. Put up at the Hotel de la Mere Dieu last night. Went round this morning to the H.Q. of the Armies of the Centre and saw Petain. I sat in his room while he received all the morning reports, which were read out to him by his Chief of Staff, Colonel Serrigny. I was struck by the quick and businesslike methods of both, and by the acute, pungent, and penetrating remarks of the General. He gave me the evidence taken from prisoners. It shows a German intention to attack as soon as our infantry come near, and I remarked that this was what was happening on our front. He also gave me the memoir e on American help to France. His two principles are agir vite and voir grand. It is dated April, and gives the whole plan for American help, not only in men, but in artillery, aviation, etc. He proposes 120 guns for each American division, including 548 ARRAS AND CHAMPAGNE 40 field guns and field howitzers, and 80 heavies of 105, 120, 155, and 210 mm. He wants a great output of shells, and reserve guns to be made in proportion to shells turned out, so that wear and tear may be met. He calculates that he can get this new artillery ready in eight months, and he suggested the Creusot guns for America. It is a long and interesting paper, and my only criticism to him was that it did not touch upon the language difficulty. Greneral Petain has maps hung round his room, with some graphics, showing at a glance by coloured labels the number of German and AUied divisions fighting, in reserve, and withdrawn for repairs. The Verdun front looked the most unsafe, and Petain said that he had frequently warned the G.Q.G. on this subject. Petain keeps his Staff busy. He makes them study all theatres of war, and thereby he will find himself well posted when he reaches Paris, and will have trained aids. I found him concerned about Italy and Switzerland. He thinks that if Italy is struck down, Germany will invade France through the Swiss plain, along which run four good railways and eleven good roads from east to west, all marked in colours on one of his maps. He also showed me interesting maps of the German railway lines, which show the main lines east and west, the normal gauge, old and new fines, on each frontier, and the metre gauge and 60 cm. Decauvilles which branch from them. It is all very illuminating, and explains the excellence of the roads in the ground which we have taken from the Germans, who must have little need of horses and lorries. We talked of Paris, and I advised him to trust Le Roy-Lewis, whose name he took down. He mentioned, incidentally, that Ribot had told him that by April 7 there would not be one sou left in the French Treasury, but that, providentially, America had come in on the 6th. P. said that he meant to make Serrigny head of the 3rd Bureau at G.Q.G., which would remain at Compiegne as it was a convenient spot. It had a fine building for offices, and he saw no reason for changing it. After breakfast we motored off together to see the pre- 1917] P^TAIN'S PROMISED BILAN 549 parations for the attack on Moronvillers to-morrow. At the top of a high fir wood a little rustic look-out had been prepared hke a nest in the topmost branches. We ascended by a ladder and had a fine view of the bombardment. General Vanderberg, who is literally crible de blessures, told us that the haze beat the avians to-day, and that we should have to postpone the attack for twenty-four hours. Petain means to throw for the heights with six divisions and a lot of heavy guns. We had another good talk motor- ing in and out. He said that Nivelle knew nothing of the coming change of command when he was at dinner last night, but that the announcement would be made on Monday. Petain has already made all his plans, and I gather that there will be many changes in the higher com- mands. If the War Council changed their minds at the last moment, he said that he would write and let me know and tell me the reasons. I asked why the Chambers feared him. Was it on reUgious grounds ? 'No,' said P., 'I am certainly a CathoUc and respect my faith, but I am not pratiquant, and have not been to Mass for thirty years.' ' It is true,' he went on to say, ' that when Joffre went, I said that his successor should claim the control of all the French reserves, and should ask that Parliament should be prorogued until the war was over, but the latter remark was a joke. It, however, established a blue funk of me in ParHament.' Petain's refusal to succeed Nivelle will now result in his being nomme d'office, and he thinks that this will strengthen his position. He intends to give the War Council the deuce of a time when he first goes before them, and proposes to make them all miserable. He is drawing up a bilan — a profit and loss account — and proposes to tell them the whole truth, which they have never heard yet. He says that he knows that with equal forces little can be done, and that he will be roundly abused by everybody, but he proposes to do what he knows to be right, and will not allow himself to be influenced by anybody. We then discussed what I should do, and whether I 550 ARRAS AND CHAMPAGNE should go along the Armies and see all the commanders. I said that in view of the stupid charges against Petain, I thought that I had better go back to Paris and try to circumvent them. I could return to the Armies on another occasion, and, also, I felt that as Petain meant to change the commanders, it was waste of time for me to see any one but Nivelle, whose invitation I had accepted. Petain agreed, and away I went. Directly afterwards, a Hun bombing squadron visited Chalons and gave it beans. There are many good stories of Petain's sarcasms and boutades. He told me one himself which was very amusing. Some one asked him if he agreed with the desiderata for a French general. He asked what they were. He was told that — un general fran9ais doit : — (1) Avoir du cran; (2) Avoir du courage a prendre des risques ilhmitees ; (3) Avoir une confiance aveugle dans le G.Q.G. ' Oui,' answered Petain, ' je suis d'accord. Mais je mettrai la derniere clause entre les deux autres par peur qu'elle n'echappe." All that I saw of the General confirmed me in my behef that he is the best leader in France, and combines the quahties of science, judgment, and character to a higher degree than any other of the generals whom I have met. I admire Painleve — this deputy of the extreme Left — for his courage in selecting him. We parted on very good terms. Arrived in Paris. Esher and Le Roy dined with me, and I posted them in all that had happened. Ribot had been floundering about telling different people different things, poor old man, but Painleve thinks that he has pirmed him down to a formal undertaking to accept Petain. Sunday, April 29. I cabled to London a warm eulogy of Petain which duly appeared in the Times, and I wrote to Lloyd George, Sir W. R., and Geoffrey Robinson to counteract the anti-Petain cabal. Motored out to Ver- sailles in the afternoon with Le Roy, and walked about the grounds. A glorious spring day, the first after many months of the worst winter that I remember. Saw Mrs. Leeds later. Went to see Painleve in the evening, and heard 1917] PfiTAIN TO SUCCEED NIVELLE 551 that P^tain had to-day been definitely appointed C.G.S. of the Army and would come to Paris. He had been offered this or C.G.S. to Nivelle, and had naturally chosen the first, and I feel sure that it will be with such extended powers that he wiU have fuU control. Painleve asked me to describe the appointment as eternal, but said that it was, in fact, only temporary, and that NiveUe will be sent on a mission to Russia in a fortnight, when Petain wiU succeed him. As Le Roy had no one to help him, I assisted him in figuring out the cipher on the appointment. Monday, April 30. Reflected over all these matters in the morning, Joseph Reinach (' Polybe ' of the Figaro) lunched with me. Either he or Lieut. Pernot told me a story of de GaUiffet which amused me. When GaUiffet received the command of the division de fer, aU the Nancy authorities came out to greet him, the bishop at their head. The bishop recounted all G.'s exploits and expressed the great joy of the frontier town at receiving such a hero. He then went on to belaud the Comtesse, whose eccentricities were notorious, whereupon GaUiffet stopped him, saying, ' Mais pardon, M. I'fiveque, je ne vous ai pas fait du mal ! ' Went to the Ministere de I'Armement, 74 Avenue des Champs !filysees, and arranged for some visits to one or two French munition works near Paris. Dined with Le Roy. Met Baron Wedel the Norwegian Minister, M. Paul Cambon, and others. We admired Mme. de San Martino, sister to Mme. LeteUier. Le Roy now declares that the Calais Conference was engineered by Bertier. Lyautey left it as his dying injunction to Le Roy to get rid of Bertier. Robertson agreed, and so he went. Le Roy says that Painleve is rabid with General Wilson for opposing Petain and interfering in French poUtical affairs. Tuesday, May 1. In the morning I went to see M. Citroen's usine, accompanied by Colonel M. CoUin of the French artillery. There are 10,000 French workers, of whom 6000 are women, and also 2000 foreigners. Of the women 2000 are married, and half of them are war-widows, while nearly all the others have lost a brother or a brother-in- 552 AKRAS AND CHAMPAGNE law. They work like beavers. This factory is a mushroom growth of the war and did not exist before. Now it turns out 40,000 sheU cases a day, and could turn out 60,000 were not steel and lead so short, and M. Citroen says that there is no Umit to his expansion, and that he could find 100,000 more women in Paris easily. A fine piece of extemporised organisation. In the afternoon went to Renault's factory, which turns out a great variety of war material, including shells, tanks large and small, 155's, and camions. I did not care for the large French tanks. Saw M. Loucheur, U.S. of S. for Munitions, in the after- noon. M. Thomas is away in Russia. We had a long talk. The department employs 1,500,000 persons. Of these, 550,000 are mobihsed men, of whom 300,000 are reformes. Thus while our Munitions Ministry shelters 800,000 men of military age under 41, the French only use 250,000 under 47. There are 450,000 young and old people, and 550,000 women. M. Loucheur has been to see the fighting, and agrees with me that the German reply to our guns is weak. He has no complaint against England for any failure to help France. In coal it is the bad distribution rather than any real shortage which is the difficulty. He only needs 300,000 tons of coal a month from us. M. Loucheur showed me a graphic, from which it appears that the output of guns continues to increase, and he told me that they had outstripped our figures by February last. Much, however, is being made for Russia. Spent the late afternoon with Mrs. Leeds. Dined with Baron Wedel and his wife, — who was Madame von Andre — Emilie Yznaga, and some others. Wedel told us that when the French Government fled to Bordeaux,^ he and the American Ambassador were asked to go out to the Germans and to try to arrange terms for the peaceful surrender of Paris. Fortunately the victory of the Marne rendered the mission unnecessary. Haig telephones that he is coming on Thursday to see Petain, while Lloyd George, Robertson, and JeUicoe, with ^ The Government were described in Paris as tournedos d la Bordelaise. 1917] A VISIT TO NIVELLE 553 a duma of 28 persons, arrive from London the same day. I am a little sorry for Petain to have to deal with aU these people before he is firmly in the saddle and has had a chance of placing his hilan before his own War Council. However, I expect he will rise to the occasion. Wednesday, May 2. Motored to Compiegne and lunched with General NiveUe and his StafE, including Colonel d'Alen9on, who was the immediate cause of the Haig- NiveUe row. I walked with the General from his ofiice to his house and talked, and after lunch we were alone together and had a long talk. I told him that I had come to ask what I was to tell our pubHc about the battle of April 16 and following days. He said that his losses were 86,000, including 75,000 French, of whom 16,000 were kiUed, 4000 missing, and 55,000 wounded, of whom two-thirds only shghtly.^ He had 60 divisions, of which 28 remained unused. I told him that I had been given much higher figures of his losses, but he declared that Paris had estimated his losses from the medical returns, and that they had accounted for the same men several times over by reckoning men in the field dressing station, ambul- ances, hospitals, etc., as all different people, whereas wounded men passed down these various echelons. He said that the Alhes had agreed last November to attack early so as to forestall a German offensive which might have thrown out our plans. The attack was intended to take place on a front of 200 kilometres. Hindenburg retired to evade the blow, but the Germans were then sub- jected to attacks on the wings at Arras and to the east of Soissons. He had therefore, he claimed, imposed our will upon the enemy, had taken the initiative, and could claim a strategic victory. He had also obtained a tactical victory by occupying the enemy's first fines on the fronts attacked, contrary to the enemy's wiU, as shown by captured orders requiring a defence to the last in the first fine. Nivelle 1 M. Painleve's figures are 116,000, April 16 to 25, including 28,000 killed, 84,000 wounded, and 4000 prisoners. See La Renaissance, Norember 1919. 554 ARRAS AND CHAMPAGNE claimed that he took the Huns' first Hne and parts of his second Une. The enemy had reinforced his first hne in a most unusual manner, and the density of the troops of the defence was greater than that of the attack. The enemy, therefore, suffered terribly from the French artillery fire, and instead of the 52 divisions in reserve, he had but 8 by April 23. There resulted an impossibihty for him to carry out any offensive action for a long time to come. The extent of the front of attack, in proportion to the rest of the front which remains passive, will not allow the enemy to reheve his relatively fresh divisions by those under repair, except for a period relatively short, four to five weeks at most. Nivelle said that signs of wear and tear and of confusion in the enemy's ranks multiphed themselves. Hence the need to continue the pressure which had produced such good results. Before I left, General Nivelle wrote all these points down on paper in my presence, and this curious document runs as follows : — Explanatory Note on the Battle of April 16, 1917 By General Nivelle Partes : 75,000, dont 16,000 tues, 4,000 dispanis, 55,000 evacues, dont les § blesses legers. Avantage strategique.—^Plsin Hindenburg : ]6chapper a I'etreinte des armees franco -britanniques — d'ou reph — Fattaque franco- britannique montee sur un tres large front dejoue le plan ennemi — les armees aUemandes subissent notre etreinte aux 2 ailes (Nord d' Arras — a Test de Soissons). Nous imposons notre volonte a 1' ennemi et prenons 1' initiative des operations. C'est la victoire strategique. 2° Avantage tactique. — L' ennemi etreint aux 2 ailes, contraire- ment a sa volonte, donne I'ordre (ordres trouves sur les prison- niers) de resister a outrance en l*^""* ligne, jusqu'a la mort. Par- tout nous brisons cette resistance. Nous enlevons partout les jeres Hgnes, les 2«""^^ en bien des points. C'est la victoire tactique. Resultats. — Pour pouvoir resister a outrance en P'^" ligne, 1917] I CONSULT GENERAL FOCH 555 rennemi avait renforce cette ligne d'une fagon inusitee. La densite des troupes de defense etait superieure k celle de I'attaque. D'ou pertes considerables par le feu de notre artillerie — (evaluees a plus de 200 mille hommes) . Usure des forces ennemies qui n'avaient plus, le 23 avril, que 8 divisions fraiches, au lieu de 52. D'ou impossibilite pour lui d'entreprendre avant longtemps aucune action offensive. Moyen de continuer la hataille. — L'etendue du front d'attaque par rapport aux fronts restes passifs, ne permettra a I'ennemi de relever les divisions relativement fraiches du front par les divisions usees que pendant un temps tres court, evalue a 4 ou 5 semaines au plus. Indices d'usure, de desarroi, se multiplient. D'ou necessite de continuer cette usure, dont les resultats se feront de plus en plus severement sentir. Nivelle wrote this paper on his own initiative, and I did not ask for it. It seemed best not to enter into a discussion with the C.-in-C. on the many contentious points of his expose. I had called to learn his views, and these he had given to me, so I thought it best to leave it at that.^ He also told me distinctly that the decision of the Calais Conference to place the British under him was taken on Lloyd George's initiative. He approved of Petain's appointment, saying that the Government would now have some one with them who understood matters. This they certainly wiU. I judge that Nivelle and Haig will press for the continuation of the attack. Nivelle is very pleasant and a gentleman, but he looked dreadfully worried, and I often recalled Robertson's dictum, that he was either very elementary or thought that we were. I stopped at Senlis on my way back to consult General Foch, who has been unemployed since December 11 last, and has his headquarters there. He was just going out for a motor drive vidth his old C.G.S., General Weygand, but most kindly got out and came in to have a talk. We agreed that the situation was serious. Foch said that he could not determine what ought to be done * I did not publish this statement at the time. 556 ARRAS AND CHAMPAGNE without knowing exactly all about the state of our joint effectives, of our munitions, and of the prospects of the submarine war. But he was disposed to advocate the continuation of what we called the Somme tactics, as opposed to what he called, a httle unfairly, the Verdun school. I see no difference if Petain is considered the master of the Verdun school, but Foch seems to regard Nivelle and Mangin as its chief exponents. He said that the latter people criticised the Somme tactics as slow, and proposed to swallow the Germans at a gulp. The thing could not be done, he said. We must eat the wing, then the leg, and so on ; but if one tried to swallow the whole chicken at a gulp, one would be choked. He hked Nivelle, and said that he was well-intentioned, but did not think that he had the capacity to direct such a great operation as this. The British had done finely. Last time he had seen Lloyd George he had told the latter that if he gave the British Army time it would do England credit, and so it had fallen out. Foch thought that France was headless politically, and urged me to tell L. G. to take the lead and adopt a strong Line after consulting Robertson and Haig. He is for the prudent, short-ranging offensive Hke Petain. He thinks that the French and British troops are now superb. He regrets Joffre, and for the same reasons that I do. I asked Foch if it was true that he had been accused of being on bad terms with the Enghsh. He said that he had. I told him that I had made inquiries, and that there was no foundation whatsoever for the charge on the Enghsh side. He was very pleased, but said that when people wanted to do a thing they invented reasons for doing it. He evidently retains his old and cordial sympathy for us. We discussed operations in the West and elsewhere. I was struck by his opinion that in these days one needed a chief skilled in Staff work who could sit at his desk and work out problems with all the science of war at his disposal. I found that Foch had ideas about the low country near the coast, and I advised him to keep away from them. He got out the maps and we had a discussion on the subject. 1917] THE G.Q.G. ON GERMAN POWER 557 General Dupont was not at the 2nd Bureau at G.Q.G. when I was there, but I saw a smart locum tenens. No one seems to know what the Huns have done with their 8-inch and other heavy material, little of which has appeared in the recent fighting. He thought that the first 13 of the new series of Hun divisions were good material, but that the other 10 were poor. He gives me 230 as the total number of Hun divisions, of which 155 on the Western and 75 for all other uses. He puts the Huns in the depots at 600,000, excluding the 1919 class, but there are the Arras-Rheims losses to be made good. He thinks that the possibilities of Hun criss-cross transport are much reduced. It takes 3000 railway wagons ten days to bring a Grerman division from East to West, and only four or five can be carried over in a month, so no great or rapid transfer is practicable. The great distances which the Huns have to travel have much disorganised their traffic and rolhng stock. He agrees that Hun combing is practically ended, but that Hun moral is still good. Hindenburg and the submarine are the Hun gods. Dined with Le Roy on returning to Paris, Esher and Lovat came to talk with us. Haig has arrived here to-night and is at the Crillon. L. G.'s caravan comes to-morrow. Thursday, May 3. Finished my third, and last, article on ' The Western Front,' and sent it off to Charteris, via Maurice Brett. Lunched with M. Loucheur and a large party of Frenchmen at La Rue's Restaurant, Place de la Madeleine. Two Creusot directors, Berenger the Senator, Charles Humbert the deputy (famous in munition matters and director of the Journal), and various deputies and other folk. Humbert convinced that bread will decide the war. Others expect a coup de thedtre on the political side from Germany. When they had all given their views I opted for Armies and victories. Went to see Haig at 3 p.m. He was immensely pleased with his first talk alone with Petain to-day, and this gave me great satisfaction. They had got on very well, and had been entirely agreed, as I expected. Haig has lost 558 AKRAS AND CHAMPAGNE 86,000 men in the Arras fighting, or, with the other and normal waste, 100,000, as anticipated. The Ai-mies have recommenced to-day, and have taken Fresnoy, and are half in Bullecourt. Haig's deficit of infantry is now 60,000, and he says that Petain tells him that the French depots have no more that 35,000 men. A nice situation in the first month of the spring offensive ! However, our Govern- ment prepared for nothing else. Dined with Simon Lovat at the Cafe de Paris. M. Citroen and his pretty wife — in what looked hke widow's weeds — at the table next us. Talked with Le Roy and David Davies, the Welsh M.P., in Le Roy's room later, and passed on to L. G., through the latter, Foch's advice about taking the lead here. We also discussed the Paris Embassy. Friday, May 4. Saw Colonel Lucas, Robertson's P.S., at the Embassy in the morning, and inferred from his general tone that R. did not much like the changes of command, and had received varying reports of Petain's views. Lucas asked if Petain would attack. I said Yes, within his means, but we were neither of us in a position to attack and lose a lot of men, as we should be Uving on our capital. I learnt this morning that we were at last determined to get our troops away from Salonika, and that this was the reason for JeUicoe's visit. I was dehghted, but said that the time for action was while the Bulgars were held fast in the mountains by the snow, and that now the operation would be hazardous. But it was a question whether we should remain and be starved, or depart and be sunk. We agree that the French have only come over to our views from shortage of men here, and not by conviction that we were right. Adam dined with me. He doubts whether Ribot will be able to stand against the ten interpellations on May 22, and thinks Painleve vain and imperious, and that he has many enemies. I was much relieved to hear later that the first con- ference of the soldiers had gone off famously. Petain had told Le Roy that Robertson had evidently been put against him and was grumpy at first, but the air had soon cleared, and 1917] A SUCCESSFUL CONFERENCE 559 all had been as happy as marriage bells. M. Hennessy had been to Painleve to get the latter to name General Wilson as chef de mission for the liaison with Petain, but Painleve had absolutely refused, and with indignation. I wrote to Petain to congratulate him on his first day's work. The Mission dined at the ifilysee to-night. Saturday, May 5. Meetings all day of the various committees of the Conference. Lunched with Mrs. Leeds. Reggie Paget came. He is on three days' leave from the front, and is busy moving EHnor Glyn's furniture! Mrs. Leeds in great form and very amusing. She crosses as soon as she can get her boy away to Switzerland. M. Millerand, late War IVIinister, came to see me. He is sure that France will go on, and that the spirit is superb, but she prefers to act with knowledge, and no one teUs her with authority what she has to do. He has been away lecturing in the South, and finds opinion as resolute there as elsewhere to go through with the war. He wants the Yankees to come to France as soon as possible, and in any manner agreeable to them. Saw General Petain at 6.30 p.m. at the War Council Buildings, 4 bis Avenue des Invalides. He thanked me most cordially for having helped him through the intrigues against him, and said that I had rendered him a great service. He had, in effect, found that the British had a prevention against him, and Robertson showed it in his manner of entameing — ^as R. would say — the conversation. So Petain had taken the bull by the horns, had said that he knew of the stories current about him, and then pro- ceeded to recount his etats de service as he had done to me. He asked, finally, whether any one else had undertaken more resolute attacks, and whether he deserved the sneers of being called a pacificist. He did not wait for the answer, and, having fired his shot, said, ' Now, gentlemen, we can begin business ! ' Robertson had been gradually won over, and had drafted the agreement on the Western front exactly as Petain would have drafted it. The offensive was to be continued, but it was not to be a longue portee. Our troops 56o ARRAS AND CHAMPAGNE were to be withdrawn from Salonika, but Petain warned me that this operation was easier for R. than for him. It was a great disappointment for the French, and indeed a situation angoissante, because they had posed as protectors of Serbia and Greece. Petain said that it would take him three weeks to bring over his people. He said that Robert- son had just paid him a visit of courtesy, and had taken his hand and promised to tell him the truth and help him in every way. Petain was much pleased and touched by the visit. ' Yes, I can do the right thing sometimes, can't I ? ' said Robertson with a smile when I told him how pleased Petain was. Dined with the Mission at the Crillon. Robertson said that he was better pleased with the Conference than with any other that had preceded it. We had taken the lead, and laid down the terms, and all the soldiers were in agree- ment. Admiral JeUicoe, who sat next to me, told me that the Huns were turning out 3 submarines a week and that we were catching 3 or 4 a month, and, on the whole, had destroyed 2 submarines a month since the war began. We build 6 to 7 destroyers a month, and lose 2 a month from accidents mainly. He wants 500 to cope with the sub- marines. There are 6 American destroyers now at Queens- town, and there will be 36 at the end of the month. He told me that he needed a good star-shell badly, and could not get one made until he had found an unexploded Hun star-shell at Ramsgate, when he had asked for it to be copied without delays for improvements. Eric Geddes goes to the Admiralty as Controller, and from General becomes Admiral ! JeUicoe becomes Chief of the Admiralty Staff, and asks — what 's in a name ? All are very pleased with Petain. L. G. stays behind to see his son, and the others leave, 10.45 p.m., for Boulogne, where we arrived 10 A.M., Sunday morning, May 6. A slow express, but comfortable, not to say luxurious. We each had a sleeping compartment to ourselves, good food, and regal saloon carriages. We intended to cross in the Swift, but a strong N.E. wind made Calais impossible, so we 1917] VIEWS OF ADMIRAL SIMS 561 crossed in a boat that had just brought drafts over. JeUicoe not optimistic about evacuating Salonika as he has not enough destroyers to spare for escort duty. One is no use ; he should have two for each ship, and he prefers four. Bacon sends a strong escort for us. Talked with Robertson and Maurice on the way. R. thinks that the Russians are of no use to us. Nothing is doing on the Caucasus front, and the Turks may mass against Maude, who cannot now spare troops for Murray, who is mixed up in a trench warfare mess. I showed Maurice Nivelle's memoir e, and he was very critical of it. I had a talk with the American Admiral, Sims, whom I thought a good and modern flag officer and sure to do well. He told me that he had been shown a chart giving the places where submarines had been seen and had sunk ships. The mass were in S. Irish waters, and off the SciUies, and a few near Brest. He is to work this area, and expects to drive the submarines 100 to 200 miles out to sea, as they are not dependent on local bases. He will soon have fifty destroyers, and will have supply and repair ships so that he can move on to wherever there is an aggregation of submarines. He will have general administrative charge, and all the boats wiU be under British naval command. He will get a lot more patrol boats and Hght craft, and the building of fifty more destroyers has begun. America is making 1,500,000 tons of steel shipping besides the wooden ships of green wood. He thinks that thirteen knots gives the tramp a fair chance, if she has a gun, against the submarine submerged. It is a dangerous problem,^ but had we 500 destroyers we might have met it. Our Grand Fleet occupies 100 destroyers, and many more are needed for escorts. We caught two submarines last week, of which one was recharging on the surface by night. This makes a noise which can be heard five miles away, and one of our submarines heard it, stole up under water, and ^ Admiral Sims's account of the U-boat war in the American World's Work for September 1919 gives a chart showing over 100 ships sunk by the U-boats during April 1917 in the Mediterranean alone. VOL. I. 2 N 562 ARRAS AND CHAMPAGNE sank the Hun, a few men only escaping. Sims thinks that nets and mines off the German coast would require watching and guarding, which means that both Navies would be gradually drawn in, and it is waste to expend ten milHons and find a gap of 600 yards driven through the minefield. The plan was tried in the north, and too many watching craft were torpedoed, so it was given up. Sims considers the American battleships to be a reserve to be used in case of need, or if the area of operations extends, e.g. in the Baltic. He described fife on a submarine as hell, from the smells and the rolhng. We reached London in the afternoon, and I was home by 4 P.M. and found all well.^ ^ The early part of the campaign of 1917 has been the subject of such serious dispute that I append the dates of the chief events for convenience of future reference : — Nov. 16, 1916. The Chantilly Conference. GreneralJoffre's plan accepted. Dec. 16, 1916. General Nivelle succeeds General Joffre. Dec. 21, 1916. General Nivelle's plan sent to Sir D. Haig. Jan. 15, 1917. The London Conference. F.M. Sir D. Haig and General Nivelle agreed. Jan. 25, 1917. General Nivelle's new plan. Vast scope and aims. Feb. 26 and 27, 1917. The Calais Conference. F.M. Sir D. Haig placed under General Nivelle. Feb. 27, 1917. General Nivelle's instructions to F.M. Sir D. Haig. Mar. 1, 1917. The German retirement begins. Mar. 2, 1917. F.M. Sir D. Haig consults the War Committee. Mar. 6, 1917. M. Briand complains of Sir D. Haig to Mr. Lloyd George. Mar. 12 and 13, 1917. A new Conference in London. The Grenerals in accord. Mar. 15, 1917. The German retirement completed. Fall of M. Briand's Government. Mar. 16, 1917. General Nivelle's fresh plan sent to Sir D. Haig. Mar. 17, 1917. M. Ribot's Government succeeds. April 6, 1917. The Compiegne Conference in President Poincar^'s saloon carriage. April 9, 1917. F.M. Sir D. Haig wins the Arras-Vimy victory. April 16, 1917. General Nivelle attacks in Champagne and only takes the German first-line trenches with heavy loss. April 2Q, 1917. General P^tain appointed Chief of the General StaS at Paris. May 4, 1917. A Paris Conference. The offensive to be continued with limited objectives. May 16, 1917. General P^tain Bucceeda Greneral Nivelle in oominand. CHAPTER XXI THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME General Murray's situation — Our horses — A recruiting talk with General Gteddes— Where the 3h million men of military age in civil life now are — Austrian and Italian strengths on Italian front — ^The Italian Isonzo offensive of May 12 — Mr. Lloyd George suggests a defensive in the West — Low Country warfare — Lord Burnham and the Calais Conference — I address the Manchester Chamber of Commerce — A northern business audience — Some plain speaking — Foch says that la grande guerre est fi)iie— Lord Hardinge on Russia — Plumer's victory at the Messines Ridge, June 7 — Admiral Hall at the Admiralty — Sir John Cowans's advice for the Americans — AUenby replaces Murray in Egypt — Sir Edward Carson on naval affairs — The present military position in France — Lord Crewe's opinion of Lord Kitchener — Greneral Tom Bridges on his mission to the United States — Probable course of American arrivals — Lieut. Pernot on French opinions and events — On Marshal Joffre in America — ^The Grand Duke Michael and the revolutionaries — A talk with F.M. Sir Douglas Haig at Eastcott — His view of the Flanders position — ^We agree about the War Cabinet's illusions — General Robertson's opinions — an amusing cartoon — The position at home, A LETTER from Murray tells me how he is getting on — Generax Headquarters, Egyptian Expeditionary Force, 22nd April 1917. My dear Repington, — I am in my train on my way back from Advanced General Headquarters at Khan Yunus to Cairo, to see the Mark Sykes' Pohtical Mission, which has just arrived and is sure to prove a source of nuisance to me. We are now close up against the Turks' main position, which runs from the right, which rests on the sea about Sheikh Hasan, and, roughly, on the arc of a circle with a radius of about 3000 yards, west and south-west of Gaza as far as the Ah Muntar Ridge. This section, which consists of a double line of trenches and re- doubts, is strongly held by infantry and machine guns, well 564 THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME placed^ and concealed in the impenetrable cactus hedges, built in the high mud banks enclosing gardens and orchards which stretch back to the outskirts of the town. Due south of Gaza is the main Ali Muntar position, which forms the key of the whole system of defences immediately covering the town. This position is our ' Vimy Ridge,' is very well wired, and has the natural obstacle provided by the cactus hedges. It is a nest of German -manned machine guns. The line then turns back north-eastwards along the eastern slopes of Ali Muntar for about 2000 yards, whence it bends south-eastwards to Hareira. This section of the line is a semi-continuous series of redoubts and trenches, well placed and well sited. Alternative positions have been prepared and fortified behind the whole of this line. The bulk of the enemy's forces are in the neighbourhood of Hareira and Sheria. Both his flanks are absolutely secure : one rests on the sea and the other on a broken, waterless country im- passable to wheels, the dongas of which have to be ramped for cavalry to be moved over. The enemy has at least five divisions and a cavalry division on this line, and, as far as I can gather, many more divisions are on their way to join him. I am now engaged fortifying myself opposite Gaza so as to get all the troops I possibly can free for offensive action. Some way or other I must gain freedom of movement and not get stuck down to trench warfare. The problem is difficult because I am weak in troops, as you know. The reinforcements I am receiving from India will require a long training before they are fit to put in the field. Those from East Africa are absolutely riddled with malaria, and will have to be nursed. The whole problem is an interesting one, and not easy of solution. Philip Chetwode is my right-hand man — a very trusted, capable old friend. I do not think it is understood by the few students of this out-of- the-way campaign how great are our difiiculties ; the vast deserts with absolutely no water, a few scattered oases with a very httle. For instance, my cavalry on the right flank is now watered once a day, and either has to go back ten miles to get it, or go forward and fight for it between the two lines. I long for Joe Maude's Tigris, and shall probably end this campaign with water on the brain. We have reaUy done well the last week or two, though it does not sound much. We have given the Turks some shrewd knocks, infhcting heavy casualties, and we are breaking in our terri- torial divisions to war under many aspects. I am very well, 1917] THE POOR AND BREAD RATIONS 565 and perfectly happy, and the various problems interest me im- mensely. We are certainly pulling our weight, and ought to make the Russian advance easier and Joe Maude's position secure. What splendid work has been done in France by both Haig and Nivelle. By the end of the summer, if we keep up our reinforcements, the war ought to have a very ditferent com- plexion. — Yours ever, A. J. Mubray. Monday to Friday, May 1 to 11. Occupied in writing and in Tribunal work. A curious example of the way the poor live. A woman in a small way as greengrocer and with five children was in receipt of 37s. 6d. a week separation allow- ance, and admitted that she took in 6 loaves a day, or 84 lbs. a week ! Her proper allowance, according to the rationing rules, was 24 lbs., or less if she used flour. But one of our members said that people in her class ate bread at all meals, as it was the easiest form of food to eat and needed no preparation. Lady Murray caUed, and is much exercised about Archie, whose recall is persistently advertised in conversation. I fear that the War Cabinet do not appreciate his difficulties, as explained in his last letter to me, dated April 22, which I have sent to Robinson and to NorthcHffe to digest. Lunched one day with Lady Paget, who wants me to write for the American Times, World, Tribune, or Herald. Spoke to NorthcHffe on the subject, who approves. Lady Johnstone still iU with her broken arm. Jack Cowans and I had a talk about the state of our horses in France, which had given me great concern. He said that owing to sinkings we were down to three days' oats reserve in France one day in January. Haig on Jan. 16 reduced the oats ration by one-quarter, i.e. from 12 to 8 lbs. for artUlery draught horses, and for others in proportion, without informing the Q.M.G. Cowans agrees that clipping, want of shelter, overwork, underfeeding, and shortage of horses account for the trouble. We also discussed the soldiers' rations, which cause some complaints owing to the unpopularity of the biscuits, of which 20 per cent. are now provided, partly owing to transport difficulties ; and we also went into the question of variety of rations 566 THE AMERICAN PROGEAMME and the better practices of the French. Certainly I have never seen our horses in such a state, and Birkbeck showed us that we had lost in France from Jan. 1 to April 14 as many horses nearly as during the whole of 1916. It used to be r? per cent, loss a month, and has been 5 to 7 per cent, in the above period. Saturday to Monday, May 12 ^o 14. Went down to Coombe for the week-end. Glorious weather. The Edwin Montagus, Lady Granard, Jack Cowans, Evan Charteris, and Lord Lurgan in the house party, and there came down Lady Johnstone, the Spanish Ambassador, M. Bardac of the French Embassy, Mrs. O'Neill the tennis player, Baroness de Forest, WolkofE, Lady Alistair Ker, and a lot more ladies. Played some des- perate single games of tennis with Montagu all the Sunday morning, and we tied, though he is twenty years younger than I am. Jack and I went over to Mrs. St. George's to see Lady Headfort, and found ' Scatters ' Wilson and some others there. We met Lady Massereene and Lady Curzon motoring on the way and had a talk. Jack tells me that the Americans have offered us 100,000 men, which I deplore, and he says that some lunatics suggest that they should be quartered in Ireland for training ! He says that he only learnt of the Salonika decision by chance, and was busy cramming in supplies there ! He goes to France, Wednes- day, to investigate my criticisms about the horses. Montagu says that the whole attitude of the H. of C. towards L. G.'s optimistic review during the secret session was one of scepticism, but when Asquith got up and supported him the House was induced to accept the soporific. M. said that L. G.'s whole attitude before he took office was one of pessi- mistic criticism. He had done nothing since he came in, and yet his attitude was now one of the utmost optimism. M. thought that we had still not made up our minds what to do. We were neither throwing all our power into France nor accepting the fact that we had to wait till we were stronger. Motored back to town with Jack in the morning of Monday. Met Lord Crawford, who said that our good imports of wheat had been obtained at the cost of the 1917] CHURCHILL'S BEST SPEECH 567 reduction of other imports, and that even munitions were now sufEering. He read the position to be that if Germany could not beat us on the submarines before the autumn, we would make peace before Christmas, Ttiesday, May 15, Lunched with Lady Randolph at her new house, 8 Westbourne Street, W. She has done it up in an extremely clever and attractive manner, Winston there and four pretty women, including Mrs, La very. W, thought that L, G.'s speech was directed solely to create an atmosphere favourable to him in the Commons, and W. thought that events would soon do justice to the optimism. L. G, has talked of 800,000 recruits to come this year ; but W, said that none of his, W.'s, facts and figures had been disputed and denied, and that men of all parties had congratulated him on his speech, which was about the best that he had ever made. Dined with Theresa Lady London- derry, the young Lord and Lady L., Belle Herbert, Edmund Gosse, Hugh Cecil, and the Duchess of Marlborough. We discussed the cavalry at Monchy. Lord L. and his mother argued about Ireland at the end, and I find him very keen to throw himself into Irish poUtics with a view to a settlement. Wednesday, May 16. This morning came the news that Petain is to succeed Nivelle, and that Foch is to be C.G.S, at Paris in Petain's place. This completes the plan, and I write an article on it. Spent the rest of the day in the country, which was looking very bonny. The show of blossom on all the fruit trees is unimaginably fine in all the orchards, Thursday, May 17. My article on Petain and Foch appears. I find that my article in the Times of May 11 is very widely quoted. I lunched with Madame Vandervelde, Edmund Gosse , and Roger Fry, at 48 Bedford Court Mansions . We discussed books, pictures, people, and the war. Then the Tribunal, and was so late that I had to go in uniform to Mrs. Astor's, where was a large party of some twenty people, including Sir J. and Lady Graham, Joan Poynder, the Winston Churchills, Lady Moyra Cavendish, Charlie Beresford, Lady Paget, Lady Cynthia Asquith, Sir F, Hopwood, Sir L. Earle, and others. Lady Graham inter- 568 THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME esting about her work in an attic. Talked with Earle and Hopwood after dinner, and we all agreed that the War Cabinet was incompetent, also that the Monarchy held all the Empire together as no President could. Played a rubber with Lady Graham, Lady Moyra, and Evan. Hopwood seems to have been in Scandinavia, and in some sort of touch, through an intermediary, with the Kaiser, whose civil advisers want us to destroy the military prestige of the Junkers or they never can make peace ! Our soldiers are doing their best to oblige ! Friday, May 18. Wrote most of the day. Interesting letters from Murray from Egypt, from Maude from Meso- potamia, and from Bird wood from France. Dined with Mrs. Long, Lord Derwent, and Baroness de Brienen, and played some good Bridge ; a most pleasant and quiet evening. Saturday, May 19. Went to see General Geddes in the afternoon to talk recruiting. From Jan. 1 to May 18 they have collected 295,407 general service men and 172,343 others, a total of 467,750,1 which is not bad in 1 NUMBER OF RECRUITS OBTAINED BY DIRECT ENLISTMENT AND FROM GROUPS AND CLASSES 1917. January . February . March April . 1st to 12th May 13th „ 14th „ 15th „ 16th „ 17th „ 18th „ Total for current month . Grand total from 1st January. General Service. Others. Total. Includes 573 for Ireland. !,' 68 '' 57 65 54 45 51,131 75,930 75,445 55,857 34,538 42,911 44,094 31,175 85,669 118,841 119,539 87,032 25,267 2,272 2,558 2,693 2,305 1,949 13,423 1,274 1,309 1,446 1,225 948 38,690 3,546 3,867 4,139 3,530 2,897 37,044 19,625 56,669 295,407 172,343 467,750 1917] TAKING STOCK WITH GEDDES 569 itself, but between April 4 — when Robertson asked for 500,000 men before the end of July — and May 18, they have only got in 93,000 men for general service, and this is less than 60,000 a month, at which rate R. will only have half his requirements at the end of July. Geddes seems to count on 100,000 more, however, from the new law for re -examination of the rejected, and on more men again by combing general service men from Home Defence, and from the rear in France, while he has designs on the boys of 18|-, saying that the Grerman boys of 17| will be fighting this summer. By these shifts Greddes hopes to go a long way to get the men needed, but not all R. asked for and by the date he specified, and this is only to keep up strengths, and allows nothing for new divisions which Geddes and I concur in thinking necessary. We then went into the question where the men of military age, 18 to 41, now are in civil life. There are 3| millions of them. There are 728,705 temporarily exempted, in- cluding 226,705 in certified occupations, 196,000 for domestic reasons, and 126,000 appeals outstanding. There are 628,000 under the Ministry of Munitions ; 527,000 exempted by the Colliery Courts ; 236,000 on the railways, including 50,000 under 25; 115,000 of low medical categories, C3, etc.; 211,000 unexpired notices, etc.; 85,000 men badged by the Admiralty, and 37,000 by the War Office ; 61,000 men holding trade cards, 88,000 men of the transport trades, 47,000 of the public utility services, and 40,000 absolute rejections. There are many other headings. Geddes thinks he ought to get 300,000 out of the M. of M., 100,000 from the railways, 200,000 from the mines, and so on. He reckons the class of the year to be 364,000, but only counts on 240,000 to serve, as some 60,000 will not pass fit, he thinks, and 60,000 will be in exempted occupations. Greddes still wants the men of 41 to 50. He put out the voluntary or Derby group system for these men as a counterblast to the P.M.'s optimistic speech in the Commons' secret session. He does not expect much 570 THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME from it. Agriculture is not shown specially in his lists, which is a pity, but I think it is about 500,000. Sunday, May 20, General Dessino came to lunch at Maryon. He complains that we do not understand Russia, and that he feels everjrwhere, and even his daughter feels, a great decrease of confidence in Russia, almost amount- ing to neglect and rudeness. He is sure that Russia will attack next month. He says that desertion has been common in Russia all through the war, and mentioned that there were 50,000 French deserters in Spain. He also thinks that German divisions moved West from the East have been replaced by others, either tired or of less value. Monday, May 21. Maurice tells me that the Austrians have 1400 guns and 300 battaUons (16 divisions) against 2400 Italian guns and 450 battahons on the front of the new Isonzo battle. There are 36| Austrian divisions on the whole Itahan front. Saw NorthcHffe and Lovat Eraser at the Times office. Went on to have a talk with Lady Ridley at her house. We discussed the war, Ireland, Smuts 's theories about the Teutonic race, the future of France, American aid, and other matters. She has a remarkable capacity for rapidly analysing a situation and arriving at the truth, and I do not know any woman in London better worth consulting. She gave me many ideas worth thinking over. Found Robertson at York House later, and we had a good talk. We were both pleased with the Itahan offensive which began on the Isonzo on May 12. But R. was very scornful about Russia, and declared that we should get no good from her this year. He could not imagine why Germany had not drawn more on her Eastern troops, but apparently they had not done so yet, though it was true that she had mainly tired or second grade troops there. R. says that his 500,000 men demand referred solely to general service men, and he admitted that we were only getting 60,000 of them a month. However, we might get a few more from the re-examination of the medically 1917] ROBERTSON ON EVENTS 571 rejected and discharged, and perhaps 300,000 to 400,000 altogether by the end of July. R. saw no difficulty in raising new divisions if we got the men, but the War Cabinet were not helping him to get them. They were busy with other subjects and left him alone. For instance, this morning, they had spent nearly all the time discussing the SociaUst Conference at Stockholm, and it was not till 1 p.m. that Maurice was able to get a small matter settled. They were not really placing the war first, and when they did discuss it they understood httle about it. L. G. had asked why we could not adopt a de- fensive in the West. I told him Montagu's opinion, that we were doing neither one thing nor the other. R. thought that this did not express the whole truth, and that we could not sit still and let Germany play tricks elsewhere. We agreed that there was practical equaHty in the West, and he could not see his way to winning the war either this year or next. He was much exercised how to get our troops away from Salonika. If he could get them away, then we might do something to clear up Palestine, but at present half our submarine losses occurred in the Mediterranean, which was a narrow sea favourable for submarine action, and the French and ItaUans were no good for sea affairs. Our losses on the Arras front had been, he agreed, 100,000 in the month following April 9, and about 20,000 more later, but in the last week only 1000 or so a day. He had no estimate of the German losses. I gave him a warning to keep out of Low Country fighting, and said that I had warned Foch when he disclosed ideas to me in this sense. I said that you can fight in mountains and deserts, but no one can fight in mud and when the water is let out against you, and, at the best, you are restricted to the narrow fronts on the higher ground, which are very unfavourable with modern weapons. I reminded him of our past failures in the low-lying lands, and urged him to keep away from them. He hstened so attentively that I think that some operation in this sense may be in the wind. He gave me no hope of any offensive by the Russian Army 572 THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME of the Caucasus, and generally said that the Russians were no good and had let us down. He had received several letters or telegrams from Russian soldier committees, etc., full of tosh, and he had chucked them all into the waste- paper basket. He expected nothing of any serious value from Russia this year. Tuesday, May 22. I pubhsh a short article on the new Itahan offensive in the Carso. Lunched with Lady Sarah Wilson at a nice httle house, 2 John Street, where she is temporarily till her house is ready. Lady Curzon and Mrs. Belville also there, and Captain Keith Trevor. A cheery party. Lady Curzon declares that she is ill and cannot travel by train, but she looks the picture of health. Dined with Lady Granard and a large party. Mrs. White- law Reid, Fritz Ponsonby, Lord and Lady Burnham, the Winston Churchills, Lord Lurgan, Mrs. George Keppel, Lord Richard and Lady Moyra Cavendish, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Burns, and half a dozen more. I found Mrs. Reid very well informed about American affairs, and we agreed to meet again. After dinner Burnham admitted that he had taken part in the Calais Conference to this extent, namely, that he had submitted the French views about unity of command to Lloyd George, but from London and not from Paris. Burnham offers to tell me the whole story when we can have a private talk. Wednesday, May 23. Having accepted an invitation from the Manchester Chamber of Commerce to address them on the subject of Man-Power, I left St. Pancras, 9.50 A.M., with Mr. Hannon of the Navy League, and arrived Manchester, 2.47 p.m. Spoke for 35 minutes with- out reporters to a select audience of Lancashire business men, nearly all those who had been invited turning up. I took them through all the facts and figures and told them the real situation. Many got up to speak and asked me a number of questions, to which I duly rephed. I Uked the Northern business audience. They took nothing for granted, were very keen, asked the frankest questions, and explained the position in the Manchester district very clearly. They 1917] THE MANCHESTER CHAMBER 573 do not rightly know what the Government expects of them. They showed me that Manchester had been very strict about exemptions, and that their great need was shipping and labour. They cannot get their goods away for want of ships, and so cannot lodge the bills of lading in the banks to cover advances. They also have to pack cotton in bales instead of cases, and are short of men who can do it. Many told me that there were heaps of young men in certain circles there, notably munitions, who should go, and that the country districts also contained many young fellows who could be spared. They rose to the point about sporadic expeditions, and did their best to extract a promise from me that no more should be undertaken. I refused to go bail for the War Cabinet ! They wanted the aUen Jews brought to heel, were inquisitive about Ireland, wanted to know why colonial labour was not being more used, and asked the Army to dig out more young men in khald from hospitals, etc. Several asked me when the Govern- ment meant to govern. On the whole, a very alert and well-informed audience, intensely patriotic, and several said that they would do anything to win the war if the Govern- ment told them what to do. Returned home by 11 p.m. Thursday, May 24. Had a talk with Mrs. Whitelaw Reid about the Tribune and the war. Dined with the Ernest Cunards at 27 Portman Square. Billy Lurgan, Jack Cowans, Mrs. Ronny Greville, Mrs. Robert Grosvenor (Mrs. Cunard's daughter), Lady Cunard, the Duke and Duchess of Teck, Lady Sarah Wilson, and Sir J. Lister Kaye. Mrs. GreviUe most amusing and interesting, and we talked most of the dinner. The Duke agreeable. We discussed who was Ukely to succeed Haig if he were recalled, and I thought Allenby the nearest approach to the WeUington type in our Armies. A pleasant evening. Jack, back from France, says that the 270,000 artillery horses have suffered most. I put it down to the distance of the wagon Unes from the guns, the absence of the captain of the battery, and the ignorance of the new officers of horsemastership. Whitsuntide. I spent the days of May 26 to 29 with the 574 THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME Lockett Agnews at Hallingbury, and had some delightful rides in the forest and good golf croquet. Wonderful weather. The country looks splendid. I never saw such a show of buttercups. The gardens looking beautiful. Is there a war ? Friday, June 1. Lunched with Mrs. Robert Grosvenor at 88 Gloucester Place, Portman Square. Sir Sidney Greville, Dr. Dillon, Mr. Raemakers the Dutch cartoonist, Mrs. Astor, Mrs. Keppel, and the Duchess of Westminster. Mrs. Astor took me away in her Httle electric brougham, which she drives herself in a most workmanlike manner. She looks in it for all the world like a beautiful piece of Dresden china in a glass case. I saw F.M. Lord French later. He had received a visit from General Foch during the visit of Ribot, Thierry, Jules Cambon, and Foch to London, May 28-29, Foch had declared that la grande guerre est finie, and he ascribed it to the socialistic move- ments in Europe and the state of affairs in Russia. Monday, June 4. Lunched with Marjorie at the Ritz. We went down to Agnews afterwards and saw two fine new Romneys of Lady M'Leod, and a wonderful Reynolds of Venus and the Piping Boy, in the best manner and dated about 1785, We went on to the Academy. The worst that I ever remember, and except the Orpens and two or three others, there was a terrible exposure of fifth -rate work. Everything quiet on the Western and Eastern fronts, but we are obviously working up for a big attack on the Wytschaete-Messines front, and perhaps on the Belgian coastline. The news from Russia continues to be bad. The Germans have apparently brought many guns from the East to the West. Tuesday, June 5. Went to see Lord Lonsdale in Carlton House Terrace, to discuss the state of our horses in France, and found that we agreed as to the causes. He is going to tell me about the baths in which horses are now plunged to get rid of the mange and lice, and he approves of my suggesting to Derby that Lord L., Sam Hames, and a gunner officer should go to France to report. Dined with OHve ; 1917] PLUMER'S VICTORY 575 Professor Morgan, ' Dodo ' Benson, Mrs. Astor, and Lady Johnstone. Lady Leslie came in afterwards. Wednesday, June 6. Lunched with Lockett Agnew at the Ritz. M. de Laszlo the artist, Marjorie, and another lady. Sir Ian Hamilton and two ladies dined with me at the Carlton, and we went to see a clever Revue which amused us all. Thursday, June 7. Lunched with Lady Randolph ; Jack Churchill and his wife, Belle Herbert, Mrs. Astor, Lady Johnstone, and some others . In the evening a large dinner party at Mrs. Keppel's ; Mi's. Ronny Greville, Lord and Lady Granard, Lord Lurgan, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Burns, Mrs. Astor looking a picture, Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, Mr. Montagu, Violet Keppel, and some half a dozen more. An excellent dinner and some pleasant Bridge. Hardinge and I discussed Russia after dinner. He was very des- pondent, and expected any Russian offensive to fail. The sailors had been shot at when they went to the trenches to ask the soldiers to go on fighting. He thought that the pubhcation of the Mesopotamia and Dardanelles reports could do nothing but harm, but Sir Ian asks me not to oppose publication, so perhaps I will not move in the matter. Lord Bertie is in town, and may have to give up the Paris Embassy. Hardinge considered likely to be his successor, but the Mesopotamia report has yet to see the light. This morning there came the news that Plumer's 2nd Army had captured the Messines Ridge, and we are all happy in consequence. Friday, June 8. The Prime Minister telephoned that he would lunch with me to-day, so I invited Lady Ridley and Mrs. Astor to join, but at the last moment the P.M. could not turn up. We had a very pleasant lunch all the same, and a great poUtical talk. Both fair ladies very intelligent and penetrating in their criticism of Ministers. L. G. missed something. Went to the opera to Lady Cunard's box to hear The Fair Maid of Perth, by Bizet, never before given in Enghsh. Gk)od in parts. Mrs. McKenna and her sister Marjorie, Wolkofi, Bardac. one 576 THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME of the Italian Embassy, and Sir Claud Phillips. No cars or taxis, and we aU had to walk to the Tube. I liked Sir T. Beecham's conducting. Saturday, June 9. Went to welcome Mrs. Leeds home from Paris, and had a good talk. She is going to take Kenwood, which is a great pleasure, as we shall be neighbours. Sunday, June 10. M. Nabokoff, who has been appointed Minister Plenipotentiary, and Lady Townshend lunched at Maryon, and General Dessino and his daughter came in later. Nabokoff assured me that the Russian offensive would begin in three weeks' time, and that the 7th and 12th Russian Armies, which had been almost disintegrated, were now normal again. He says that he telegraphed most of my last article on Russia to his Government, and that the Novoe Vremya sent it almost verbatim. This article has been generally approved, but the Times cut out one of the best paragraphs in it, relating to the need for strict discipUne. Dined with Lord Haldane ; Sir John and Lady Horner, Dr. and Mrs. Prothero, and Miss Haldane. A pleasant evening. Monday, June 11. Went to see Admiral Hall of the InteUigence at the Admiralty in the afternoon. A pleasant keen-eyed sailor. He advised me that the Yankee 110-ft. motor launches of which I desired to know the naval value were no use for sea -keeping, and that our sloop class were better, though of course of far greater displace- ment and much more costly. The type was not settled in America, but it should be about 1000 tons, 16 knots speed, with an armament of good 5-inch to 6-inch guns. The merchant ship to be built should have 12 knots speed, and be built with bulkheads, and have one gun able to range 10,000 yards at a minimum, and be able to compete with German guns, which may be 5* 9-inch, and two of them in each submarine. We were getting on well with the Yankee destroyers, of which 24 were now here working with us. The submarine feared our destroyers because of their speed and armament, and plunged at once when they saw them. There should 1917] ADMIRAL HALLOS CACHE 577 be a trained crew of 6 men to each gun. Admiral Hall showed me the photos of the damage done at Ostend by our monitors at 26,000 yards range. It did not appear to be very important, though some 15 shells hit the mark. The German submarines lie up under concreted shelter in the harbour. Our shells fell at an angle of 60°. It was like shooting at a pin's point at such a range. He showed me a paper to prove that it is the Prussian system, and not the HohenzoUerns, that we should get rid of, but what this has to do with naval intelligence I do not know. He has a cache of Grerman naval prisoners here, and constantly examines them. One German officer, recently picked up, and with a very long name, was con- temptuous of America because she had no militarismus . Saw Jack Cowans, who was wroth because the Huns had sunk the Hunstrick off Gibraltar fuU of ordnance stores, including 1000 tons of barbed wire, and heaps of other things. We have taken a division away from Salonika at last, but only one, and Nabokoff told me yesterday that his people had made a row about it, and that he had defended us. Jack advises that the Yankees should send over engines, trucks, and carriages to France to carry their men up from St. Nazaire, and that they should begin now to amass stores, ammunition, and supphes for forty days for aU the force to come, within reasonable distance of the front which they are to occupy. They must also prepare frozen meat stores, veterinary hospitals, bakeries, remount depots, and other depots of aU kinds, and this must be done before the troops arrive ; guns and machine guns must also be sent in advance. This is sound advice and I shall pass it aU on. Our last return showed 850,000 quarters of wheat received, and we have been asked to find storage for 1,000,000 tons of it ! And still they talk of wheat shortage ! Saw Sir E. AUenby, who told me that he has received the command in Egypt. I am pleased for his sake, and he is a splendid soldier, but am very sorry for Archie, and telephoned in the evening to condole with Lady M., who had been dining with Lady Robertson, who had broken the bad news to VOL. I. 2 o 578 THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME her. I think that Archie has been abominably treated throughout the war. Tuesday, June 12. Lunched with Marjorie at the Ritz. She leaves for Hampshire to-morrow. Dined with Ohve, whose girl, Bridget, has had a bad accident riding in Rotten Row, having been run away with. Lady Paget, the Murrays, Belle Herbert, and others. Wednesday, June, 13. Sir Seymour Fortescue gave us a nice lunch at Claridge's, which is becoming the best restaurant in London again under Charles's management. Lady Paget, I\Irs. Astor, Ohve, and Vansittart. A lot of well-known people there. Dined with the Wimbornes at Wimborne House. Jack Churchill and Lady Gwendeline, Mrs. Ark-«Tight, IMiss Boyd, Sir Eric Murray, Claude Lowther, and a few more. Talked about Ireland and the chairmanship of the Irish Convention. To-day 15 Hun aeroplanes, flying high, bombed the East End of London, causing a large number of casualties. People crowded the streets and tops of houses to look on. Nobody seems much concerned, and no panic. Thursday, June 14. Lunched with the Londonderrys at Londonderry House. Lady Ishngton, Fox McDonnell, and a sculptor also there. Saw Mrs. Leeds afterwards. Countess Torby is preparing a surprise house-warming for her on July 1. Tribunal later, and then dined with some neighbours and met a pleasant Russian lady who was a warm revolutionary. Friday, June 15. Lunched with Sir Edward and Lady Carson at 5 Eaton Place. He is looking very well, and is, on the whole, happier about our naval arrangements, and is getting new life into the Admiralty and stii'ring things up now that he has had time to look round. We have had a bad time again lately with the submarines, but he thinks . hat the figiures given away by a Sociahst in the Reichstag are not far out, and they gave the Germans 70 effective large submarines, 70 smaller, and 70 minelayers. He thinks that we shall get the American troops over. Now that the U.S. are with us it is easier to institute convoy. 1917] CARSON ON THE NAVY 579 This is being done after aU the experts had first opposed him, and to-day ^ the first convoy came in with 20 ships, all of which arrived safely with food and munitions. Carson is making various changes at the Admiralty. He is stopping minute-writing, and is asking heads of depart- ments to see each other more and settle things by word of mouth. He has started a thinking branch to make plans, and there will be a similar branch in the Grand Fleet. It is surely a sound thing to begin to think after fighting for three years. He wants to promote Tyrwhitt to be Admiral, and finds a rooted objection to promote any man out of his turn. He evidently thinks the Navy a fine old crusted service. He has found no one yet better than Jelhcoe for First Sea Lord. The latter is very pessi- mistic, and Carson tries to make him and other admirals take a good rest. Carson thinks that the motor-driven craft are becoming more popular. He does not think that the German Navy will come out. In the bombardment of Zeebrugge the monitors fired from positions marked by buoys, and seaplanes directed them, while a fine of motor boats kept up a smoke-screen to annoy the German coast batteries. They got in 115 rounds before the enemy could do anything. The range was 12 miles. Carson is dubious whether we are playing a good game with the Russian revolutionaries, and thinks that the Socialists in all countries will try to make all Governments impossible. He admits that there is no real food shortage, and adds that we are trying to amass six months' reserve supphes, which explains much. He is evidently very hostile to his colleague, X., of whom he has a poor opinion. We mutually admired Smuts, who, Carson says, will not express any poHtical opinion, but never speaks without saying something worth hstening to on mihtary subjects. Carson is not sure whether the Germans are not already using the Scheldt for their sub- marines, and does not think, any more than I do, that the Germans will respect Dutch neutrahty if it becomes a German interest to violate it. Carson is defending officers 1 See footnote p. 396. 58o THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME who destroy German ships in neutral waters. He has a great behef in the large new seaplanes, and thinks that they will help much in the submarine warfare. He also told me that there had been much more bloodshed during the Revolution than had been reported, and that there had been shameful scenes. He was dehghted that the seamen had prevented Ramsay Macdonald from leaving England, and believed that the bluejackets might very well be inclined to do the same thing if asked to carry him. Saw Winston before lunch. L. G. had first offered him Munitions and then the Air, but not firm offers, and when W.'s enemies had made a row, the thing had fizzled out. We talked of W.'s visit to France, which he greatly enjoyed, but he was not allowed to go to Messines. I made some fresh inquiries about our position in France. There are now 158 German divisions in the West and 74 in the East. We AlUes in the West have 9500 field guns, and 6500 heavies to the German 7500, but the latter figure has not changed since January and it includes all guns in reserve, so that comparison is not quite fair. Actually about 6600 German heavy guns have been located. We are now 46,000 men short on estabhshment in France, but 86,000 are ready to go abroad, and as our losses have been hght lately we are fairly right on the aggregate until August 31. We British alone have over 6000 guns now, and shall have 7500 next autumn. We have about 3500 field and 2500 heavies. Gough's 5th Army is being reconstituted, and the attack in the North is not due for some time yet. Murray's organisation has been excellent, and there are no military grounds for his recall, the terms of which will have to be settled by L. G. Only five American divisions are expected this year, and only twelve by April 1918. I have seen photographs which prove the total destruction of the German positions on the Messines Ridge. Our mines only seem to have blown up the German first-hne trenches, which were weakly held, but the explosions caused great alarm, and our infantry rushed the second fine almost by 1917] BRIDGES ON AMERICA 581 surprise. Plumer had one field gun for every 9| yards of his front of attack. There was evidently something wrong with the German guns, which fired seldom, but whether it is want of guns or shells I do not know. Dined with the Walter Burnses at 50 Grosvenor Street. Lady de Trafford, Violet Keppel, the Duke of Roxburghe, Lady Paget, Lord Crewe, Bear Warre, and one or two more. Talked to Crewe after dinner. He had no comfort to offer on the Russian situation, which we thought bad. Crewe said that Lord K., with all his faults, was a great personality, and that he would loom large in history. We wondered who would write his life, and I said that of the few men who knew him well, two were dead, — Hubert Hamilton and ' Conky ' Marker — and that his hfe ought to be written by a syndicate of the others left, but that if George Arthur wrote it, it might not be so good, as he only knew the last phase well. We agreed that only when all the memoirs and diaries of this time came to light would the future historian be able to sum up. The Duke, Lady de Trafford, Walter Burns, and I played Bridge, and the rest played Poker. Saturday, June 16. Spent the day gardening with E., and brought back masses of roses in the evening. Very hot. The garden lovely. A heavy thunderstorm in London. Sunday, Jmie 17. General Tom Bridges, our military representative, recently with Balfour's Mission to America, leaves for France to-day, and I went to see him in the morning at 27 Chesham Street. He had given his views to the War Cabinet, and Curzon had described it as the most depressing statement that the Cabinet had received for a long time. Tom thinks that the first American division will reach France in June or July, and that, there- after, one division a month will probably come. We could only count on 6 divisions this year, say 150,000 men, and 12 more in 1918, total 18, with 360,000 men in the divisions and 140,000 in the services. This assumes that the present programme is followed. The Cabinet were expecting a 582 THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME million, and were proportionately depressed. I said that this report would incline the Cabinet to peace, but Tom said that this could not be helped as he had to report what he beheved to be the truth. Tom says that 40,000 fine young fellows have joined the Officers' Training Corps in America, and he has great hopes of these camps ; the universities have been almost cleared to find the young men. Balfour, he said, had been splendid. He had never put a foot wrong, and his hosts had been delighted with his statesmanship and his intellect. Tom thought that the Americans wanted the French and English Missions to boom the war more than for anything else, and this they had done. He had strongly advocated Compulsion, and when Joffre arrived he had done the same thing, and this had greatly helped in getting the Selective Draft Bill accepted. He thought that the country was keen about the war, but there were elements which did not wish to fight. He liked General Pershing very much. The only other leading general, Leonard Wood, was put aside because President Wilson was politically opposed to him. Tom thought that they had New York solidly with them owing to the support of the three most influential men there, Mitchel, the Mayor ; Malone, the head of the port ; and Woods, head of the poUce — all men under forty and very energetic. He had made good friends in America, including Sunday, the preacher. Wilson had been admirable, but had never said a word to Tom about miHtary affairs. Also, he says that Washington is like Cawnpore in the hot weather. There is nothing doing in the middle of the day, and people don't come out till the sun is down. There is no hustling, but rather the calm of a university town and little conception of the need for haste. The divisions are to be made like ours — ^twelve to thirteen battalions. Tom and Pershing prefer to have our 18-prs. for the field artillery instead of the American 15-prs., and our guns can be made in the U.S. at the factories which we established there. The heavy guns are a difficulty, and Tom agrees that the French might make them. I 1917] AMERICAN NUMBERS 583 told him of Petain's views, which interested him much. He thought it possible that Joffre had made different suggestions, but the French defeat had taken place while the Missions were away. There is Uttle hope of a big air success soon, as Tom says that there is Uttle in the U.S. except practice aeroplanes, and he is not sure whether the fii'st American battle-plane will appear before 1919 ! More disillusionment ! Tom says that they can turn out standardised goods very fast in the U.S., whether it is sausages or motor-car engines, but that they are short of craftsmen, tool makers, and setters, and he would let us make the aeroplanes for them, and let the Americans make the engines for cars, etc. He has advised Pershing to have a good look round in France before he decides upon anything. Haig was asked to express an opinion about the field guns, but refused to do so, or at least did not. In these matters he is always most prudent and reserved. He sticks to his last. Tom, under instructions from Robertson, who did not take warning from my advice in this matter, began by asking for 500,000 American recruits for the British Armies, but had at once found that he was on the wrong path, and had had to drop the proposal like a hot potato ! The Yankees would not look at the idea, so Tom and Joffre had agreed that all the support should be asked for France. Tom says that if we pass a law to reach our citizens in the U.S. we may get 100,000 men, but he only expects 5000 by voluntary enhstment. The American Regulars are now 180,000, and the National Guard 300,000. With the 500,000 selective drafts to come on Sept. 1, there will be a million, and the divisions at the front can be maintained. Pershing tells him that the National Guard, many of whom have been embodied on the Mexican border, are as good as the Regulars, if not better. They have not such long service, but have better men. It is not yet decided where the American troops are to take post in France, but the American soldiers would like to be near us. Tom thinks that after they have with- drawn the cadres for training, the U.S. troops which will 584 THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME come out first will have 60 per cent, of new material in the ranks. They will be strong in heavy guns so far as the first three divisions are concerned, and though Tom is not sure where the neck of the bottle will be, i.e. in transport, guns, or equipment, he is inclined to think it will be equip- ment and especially clothing. No cavalry will come out. The Mission had strongly urged that no one else should be sent out till they had returned, but, all the same, North- cliff e passed them on his way out while they were at sea, and Tom was not at all sure whether it was wise to send him. He admits that America is a trifle disappointing, but sees no reason why they should do better with their New Armies than we did, and besides they have further to come, St. Nazaire will probably be their base, but Tom has advised Pershing not to get jammed up against the Swiss frontier, where he may be cut off if things go badly elsewhere. He thinks that Pershing can do just as he pleases in France. We discussed the war, the Low Countries, and changes among our higher commanders. Tom had been down to Walton Heath to see L. G., who had asked him shoals of questions about America, and seemed mad keen about capturing Jerusalem. In the afternoon Lord and Lady Scarbrough and OHve came up to Maryon, and we had tea and talked. I took S. up to the top of the house to see the view over London, and then we motored up to Judge's Walk to see the Constable scene, and on along ' The Spaniards ' to see the view towards Hendon through the trees of the pine clumps. S. thinks that many of our Volunteers are now superior to the pre- war Territorials. Tuesday, June 19. I began a review of the British spring offensive of 1917, Met PhiUp Sassoon yesterday, who told me of troubles ^ in the French Army bordering on mutiny, from sheer war-weariness I suspect. Lunched with Lord ^ The secret of these troubles was extraordinarily well kept and the truth was not known to the enemy till much later. These troubles explain the comparative inactivity of the French during the summer of 1917. 1917] FRENCH ARMY TROUBLES 585 and Lady Islington. We talked India and poUtics. The Indian astrologers who prophesied this war give it six more years to run. The optimists ! Islington says that India is quiet, but that we must give commissions to natives, and make a long step forward in Indian self-government. Afghanistan is being good, and the Amir has behaved very well. The Indian Government is weak and the Council feeble. Monro is doing well and rules the roast, as he knows his own mind, even if he does not know India. The Mahsuds may give trouljle again at any moment. I. says that Maude cannot trust the new Russian commander in the Caucasus with secret matter. It is a great pity that Yudenitch has gone. We discussed poUtics ; Lady I. very amusing about them, and about the characters of certain Ministers, Met Lieut. Pernot at my club afterwards. He brought a charming message for me from General Foch. He said that Foch was not Petain's nominee, but the latter was glad to have him in Paris, and the two got on well at present, and constantly visited each other. Retain was looldng after the politicians while pretending to desj)ise them, and they were stiU a Uttle afraid of him. I said that I saw in the German Press that Petain was busy at Verdun, and Pernot did not deny it. There has been serious trouble in two French regiments, and the mutiny had been firmly repressed. Things were all right now. It was the Press making out that the French had been so badly beaten that caused the trouble. Many deputies sent scores of copies of the Jourrml Officiel to the front, and Pernot could not censor it. In this paper all the critical speeches of the deputies appear in full and do much harm. The French had been much cheered by Pershing's arrival, and had given him a great reception. I said that there was not enough of the impresario in the war, and that when the first Yankee troops came, they should be marched through Paris several times like a stage army. Joffre's report is more favourable than Tom Bridges's, as he gives the Yankees 150,000 this year, and 500,000 next spring ; also he beUeves in the great air pro- 586 THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME gramme in the U.S. I told him to advise Foch to talk to Bridges. Joffre is at the !l&cole JVIiHtaire with a small staff of five officers, and receives rapports on the situation. He will act as the go-between with the Yankees in their negotia- tions with the French. Pernot is still under Thomas. The latter sends very optimistic messages about the coming Russian offensive, but Pernot discounts some of it. He says, however, that Foch is disturbed about the British view that the Russians can be written off for this year, and thinks it exaggerated. Pernot approves of Brussiloff, for C.-in-C, and describes Alexeieff as a trimmer. I told Pernot all about our affairs here. Pernot says that the French can keep up their 108 divisions this year if there is no large general offensive. Nothing was yet settled about the position in the line of the Americans. Pernot says that Ribot returned from London full of Stockholm and a Sociahst gathering there, but was met by deputa- tions of the pillars of French policy in the Senate and Chamber, who called upon him to take a firm stand or they would put him out. They told him that he had always deserted his friends, but that they would not let him desert France. Hence the ' strong ' Une which he adopted, to the confusion of his nice new friends in London, who were left in the soup. Pernot said that the state of the pubHc mind in France was generally sound, and the censorship of letters to and from the Armies showed that the arrival of the Americans and the Enghsh victories had done much to cheer the people up. I arrived late at the House of Commons to talk to Winston about his speech next Thursday. I agreed with a good deal of what he means to say, but he was most sarcastic about the attitude of soldiers, and declared that they made up information to suit their book, a suggestion against which I protested. He was much depressed at the views of Bridges about the Yankees, and wondered if it was worth going on if they could do no more. I earnestly urged him to be strong, and not to take any weak line. Sir F. E. Smith joined us, and they went off together. Saw Charlie 1917] JOFFRE IN AMERICA 587 Burn, just home from France. The Lords' and Commons' War Committees have joined forces. Wednesday, June 20. Busy writing a review of Haig's spring campaign. Dined with the Scarbroughs in Park Lane ; Lady Ridley, Lady Titchfield, Dr. Dillon, and some others. Much talk of politics and the European unrest — gloomy on the whole ; but I stood out for going on strongly. Dillon wants Austria to be divided up and I do not, Palmerston often described her as the pivot of the balance of power. Lady Ridley said much of interest about labour in the North, and wants a week's hoUday for all controlled firms at State expense. Thursday and Friday, June 21 ayid 22. Busy writing three longish articles. Tribunal in the afternoon. In the evening Madame Vandervelde and Lieut. Pernot dined at Mary on. Madame asked what effect Viviani's oratory had had in America. Pernot said that it had had none, but that at one dinner an American had said that Joffre, who could not speak a word of EngUsh, had made himself under- stood by the whole of America. This has vexed Viviani, who made magnificent speeches, but no one understood them, except a small minority of his audiences. On another occasion Viviani had belauded Joffre, who had risen and had begun to embrace Viviani across the body of the Chairman, who had thought that they were quarreUing, and had risen to say that order must be maintained while he presided. Madame says that her husband's letters are very pessimistic, and that chaos reigns in Russia. Saturday and Sunday, June 23 and 24. Corrected various proofs. Lunched with Lady Cunard and found Mr. BirreU, Wolkoff, Dr. Dillon, Lady Paget, Lady Randolph, and Mrs. Cavendish Bentinck. Wolkoff very silent. In the after- noon went to Coombe, where there were the Grand Duke Michael and Countess Torby, the Countess Zia and her fiance Captain Wernher, Lady Wernher, Mrs. Astor, Lord Charles Montagu. Baron Maurice Rothschild, Mrs. Leeds, Reggie Paget, Mr. Straker, etc. Bertie Paget stiU very 588 THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME ill indeed. We talked much of Russia, The revolu- tionaries and anarchists returning to Russia call on the Grand Duke for financial assistance on their journey ! Chaos still reigns, and the G.D. party have no hope of a successful offensive. Most of the trouble is at Petrograd, however, and the best families appear to have left for Moscow and the provinces. The Russian soldiers who come here from France on their way home, come to see the G.D. and Yermoloff with pipes in their mouths and their hands in their pockets. The G.D. is stunned by the collapse of all disciphne. Went at 11.30 a.m., Sunday, to see Sir Douglas Haig at Eastcott, Coombe Hill, Kingston, only 300 yards from the Warren House. Derby was with him when I arrived, so I had a talk with Lady Haig till Derby went, and she showed me over the house, which is very nice, with large high rooms, and there is a nice garden. She has a long lease of it. We got on to Haig's enemies. Derby and Haig then came in and we had a little talk together, during which Derby said that the taking of all men up to 25 was the only solution of the recruiting problem. He was much exercised about the standing of a soldier candidate against his son. Lord Stanley, at Liverpool. When he had gone, Haig and I had a talk alone. I congratulated him heartily over his Messines victory. He got out the plans of the Messines-Wji^schaete position, showing all the trenches and the British three objectives, marked as usual by differently coloured lines. It was the deuce of a strong place. The Germans thought it impreg- nable, and a German officer, taken at Messines during the battle, said that they expected the attack from the S.W., but that the Wytschaete positions could not be taken. At that moment there trooped in the first prisoners from Wytschaete, whereupon the German officer admitted that all was lost. Haig says that he has now a safe defence to his right flank at Ypres, and has all the ground cleared up to the Lys, while his Arras success enables him to approach LiUe from the S.W. as well as from the N.W. We then 1917] A TALK WITH HAIG 589 discussed the coming coastal operation, and I gave him my views about the ground and the inundations. He brought out another map whereon are shown all the likely inunda- tions which would make a broad band south of the German fortifications on the Belgian coastline. Haig thought that the Germans could not let out the water without isolating the coast defences. I doubted it, and said that the plan seemed to me to credit the Germans with too little water-science, and that they were more likely to inundate lines and sections of ground as the Dutch did, and that I hated the idea of thrusting an Army into such a dssdalus of mud and water. Haig thought that the Belgians knew all the water-system well, and said that even if he only got forward a bit, it was all to the good, and that the best success open to us was to turn the German right on the coast. He said that he thought, and had stated the fact on paper, that had his Armies been kept up he would have pushed the enemy back to the Meuse this year. But he was very short of men, and two days ago Robertson had promised him 80,000 drafts, when the Armies would be only 30,000 short. Did I know what had happened in London ? Yes, I said, I knew. He asked me how I explained L. G.'s attitude about men and strategy ? I gave him my views, and we agreed that German moral, numbers, supplies, guns, and ammunition had become reduced by the hammering which they were getting ; that any change of plan would have a bad effect upon opinion in the Army ; and I said that I was totally opposed to the War Cabinet's illusions. Haig likes Petain very much, and says that he is a splendid fellow ; but when I asked how Foch did and whether Petain and Foch got on well, Haig was very reserved and said that the Frenchmen were funny fellows. We found the attitude of the War Cabinet inexplicable, and I said that I would see what could be done. Maurice Rothschild, after a great gossip with Lady P., drove me home late on Sunday. 590 THE AMERICAN PROGRAMME Monday, June 25. Got through a rare lot of letters. Lunched with Mrs. Leeds, Mi-s. George Keppel, and Lady- Sarah Wilson. A rare lot of gossip. In the late after- noon called on Sir W. Robertson at the War Office. A good new raised map comes in showing up well all the terrain in the North, and all the German lines. R. says that Clive is now liaison officer with Petain. An excellent selection. R. admitted how they stood in regard to men, namely, as Haig had said. He did not think that L. G.'s attack on him would come to anything, but he was quite ready to go if he were not wanted. He thought that the War Cabinet idea about Italy was preposterous, and that it would fizzle out. The Italians had about 2,000,000 men more than they could usefully employ, and it would take six months for us to move in strength from one theatre to another. But it showed that the manners of the War Cabinet had not altered, and that they were always out for firework strategy. He saw nothing for it but to go on hitting the enemy with all the men and guns that could be had. I agreed. He thought that Petain would soon help, and he was fighting hard now, though at the Boche instance. He thought that Petain must be much exercised about the mutiny. He agreed that only two regiments were concerned badly, but some others had engaged in conversations.^ All his news from Russia was bad, and he said that Foch had the same news from his man. In the Caucasus the 2nd Division had had a committee meeting and had decided to go back 50 miles and pass the summer in a place where there was a better water supply ! R. approved highly of my two articles and of the Times leader to-day on the spring offensive. He was immensely amused by a cartoon in London Opinion of L. G. and Carson, in which they were laughing, depicted as the monks in the famous picture of * Une bonne histoire,' over Northcliffe's absence in America. Carson was made ^ M. Tainlove has told us that 150 French soldiers were condemned to death by Courts-martial for these mutinies, but that the sentences were only carried out in twenty-five cases. 1917] PUBLIC FEELING ABOUT THE WAR 591 to say, ' If Asquith had conceived such a splendid idea, he would have been Prime Minister still ! ' Robertson thought that the Boches were short of men, and the artillery was certainly inferior to ours, though Macdonogh allowed them to possess so many heavy batteries. Perhaps ammunition was short, and some captured documents pointed to the fact. Perhaps they had difficulties in repairing their guns. Our divisions now aggregated 25,000 to 27,000 men, and in reply to a question of mine, he said that I could take three British to equal four German divisions now. We had a M.G. company with every brigade, and a divisional company, besides the regimental M.G.'s. We also had an in- creasing amount of heavy artillery, and it was all good and new. He had twenty spare artillery brigades outside the divisional organisation. R. also talked of the Admiralty. Carson had been over to talk with him about it. They would have to find a table man with good knowledge of his business to run the naval strategy. He thought of Colville, who seemed to him a good man. I heard some good stories yesterday of the late Mrs. Moore of Paris, celebrated for saying the wrong things in French. To her cocher she once said, on starting for the opera : ' Cocher, prenez-moi du cote des abandonnees ! ' To her butler whom she was engaging, she once said, ' Eh bien, c'est convenu. Vous aurez 400 francs par mois, et la Jilanchisseuse ! ' Generally speaking, people are deadly tired of the war and greatly upset at the Russian situation, which has probably saved Germany from a military disaster. The Government are too frightened of labour troubles to do the right thing in the way of man-power, and seek for some new strategy to spare them the necessity of acting vigorously in France. L. G. is not so popular as he was, and there is a talk of some additions to his administration. The people do not like the Review of Exemptions Act. Society is pessimistic on the whole. No Ministers talk in the provinces or give the country a firm lead. The losses continue to be high. American aid is seen to be a long way off. But, on 592 THE AMERICAN PEOGRAMME the whole, the country is sound and steady; there has been little real suffering, and while we continue to win victories in France, there is not likely to be any violent change of attitude. On the whole, the worst danger is the dour, vengeful, and almost revolutionary attitude of labour, in the North particularly. The Government have broken some of the pledges about the Dilution Bill, the workers are physically exhausted and angry, they no longer trust their parhamentary labour leaders, and though they do not like Ramsay Macdonald, they like Henderson and Barnes even less, and stand half-way between these two extremes of thought, and are determined to participate more fully in the results of their toil and to dispossess all profiteers. There are many secret meetings which are not reported, and a strong feeling that we should make some move towards peace. All this accounts for the sour looks which Lady Ridley notices among the northern workers and miners, and as the revolutionary movement spreads abroad in various quarters, notably just now in Spain, the Reds and the anarchists feel that their moment may be coming. Not a pleasant situation, but Lloyd George goes north this week, and I hope that he may help to clear the air. This day the first division of American troops, some 30,000 men in all, landed safely in Western France. A great event. CHAPTER XXII MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT, 1917 General Maude's letter describing events of the past six months in Mesopotamia — Angry comments on the Mesopotamia Report — A visit to Glynde Place — Indian politics — General Harington on Messines — The Russian Southern Armies attack — A great relief — Lord French and Sir D. Haig reconciled — Reasons for the early failure in Meso- potamia — ^A G«rman daylight aeroplane raid on London — Captain Charles Fox on his escape from Germany — Sir Archibald Murray's return — His account of the situation and of his organisation of the advance and conquest of the desert — We lose the Dunes sector at Nieuport— More details from General Murray about his campaign — A talk with General Smuts — His view of the War Cabinet system — His strategy for Palestine — Why it was negatived — His opinion about Man-Power — He thinks that the defeat of Turkey wiU. end the war — New political appointments — Russian news bad again — The Southern Armies retreat without cause. Tuesday, June 26. Wrote two long letters to Generals Monro and Maude. Lunched with Lady Leslie, and met there the Dowager Lady Londonderry, Mrs. Leeds, Jack LesUe, and Prince and Princess Radziwill, just back from Russia and uncommonly glad to be here. The Princess told me all about the Russian retreat, which stopped at Baranovitchi, close to where they lived. She thought that the situation was very bad, and that there was no chance of a successful Russian offensive. At the end, before she left Russia, the soldiers who had occupied their house made them understand that the Radziwills were only there on sufferance, and that the soldiers were the masters. The Princess expects a counter-revolution, in which all the officers will join, and says that it will take two years for things to come round. VOL. I. 2 p 594 MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT The following letter from General Maude gives a fascin- ating account of his brilliant campaign in Mesopotamia : — General Headquarters, Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, 1th April 1917. My dear Repington, — Your letter dated January 22nd has only just reached me, so you will see what a long time our mails take, although I hope that this will not continue, for as regards delay in this country it has been mainly due to the events of the past few weeks. But still having to go round by Bombay, letters always take some time to reach us here. You ask me for some news from these parts, and so I will try and give you a condensed narrative of the events of the past six months. I am afraid that it must be very much condensed, for, as you will understand, my hands are very fuU. Since I took over command I have had hardly a moment to myself, and since we reached Bagdad work seems if possible to have increased, for there is not only what there was before to do, but in addition there is the civil and military administration of the city to re- organise, and that takes a bit of doing. When I succeeded Sir Percy Lake at the end of August, it seemed to me that the first step was to reorganise thoroughly and develop our resources fully ; much spadework had been done, but stiU there was an immensity more to do ; and much as I wished to remain at the front, it was evident that it was my business to go down to the Base and get the foundations of our house placed on a sound and secure basis. Until that was done, it seemed unwise even to think of making a move forward. So from the end of August till the beginning of November, I was at Basra going into everything, and investigating how things could be improved here and there, how things could be developed, and where thorough reorganisation was necessary. There were many points that had to be dealt with — railways, ordnance, medical suppUes, transport, communications, etc., all had to be taken in hand in turn. But every one was out to work with a will, and with the incidence of the cooler weather work was easier. So we all set to work zealously, and by the time that I left for the front after Sir Charles Monro's visit I felt that the foun- dations were secure, and it was only a question then of building up our reserves of suppUes before it would be safe to move. 19171 MAUDE'S PREPARATIONS 595 I was very glad that Sir Charles Monro came, for it enabled him to see a good deal, and it has been most helpful in our relations with India ever since. I only wish that he could have stayed longer and seen more, but I think he saw the maximum possible in the time at his disposal. As soon as he left I dashed off for a hurried visit to the oil- fields, and then to Nasariyeh on the Euphrates, for I was most anxious to see both the Karun and Euphrates fronts before I left for the Tigris front, so that I might have a certain grip of what was going on everywhere. Both were most interesting trips, and I felt that I learnt a lot by going there, even though my visits were necessarily hurried ones. That done, it seemed to me that my place was once more at the front, for to command from Basra was an impossibility. To be that distance away, under the most favourable circum- stances, appeared to me to be out of the question, and certainly with our precarious communications it was impossible. So I went right up to Arab Village — a proceeding which made some people shake their heads — but I feel confident that my decision has been amply justified by the results. Amara, where it was suggested that I should stay, would have been very nearly as bad as Basra, but at Arab Village I was in close touch with the troops. I could see them and feel their pulse, and could watch all that was going on from day to day, besides which I got the earliest and first-hand information of what the enemy was doing. Further, it seemed to me that Arab Village was only suitable whilst we were still accumulating supplies and stores at the front during November, and that when operations began it was my business to get still further forward. So when we started off in the middle of December, I pushed my headquarters — moving as light as possible — up to Sinn, which was about the centre of my battle line. It was quite clear from the start what I should aim for. The Turks had in the previous spring relinquished very nearly their entire hold on the right bank of the Tigris, and only held a few systems of trenches on each side of, and opposite, Kut, as well as the mouth of the Hai. They had chosen their position cleverly, for they were well protected by rivers and marshes, and with the advent of the wet weather it was likely that their position would become stronger and stronger, as marshes would practically surround them. Still, though defensively strong, they had Httle 596 MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT power of offence. It was difficult, if not impossible, for them to strike my communications, as the detours necessary were so great, whereas if I could seize the hne of the Hai it would be possible for me, even if I could not strike their communications directly owing to natural difficulties, to hammer away at their extreme right, in prolongation of which ran their lines of com- munication — a situation which appeared to me to be a most dangerous one. So away we went in the middle of December, and we secured the line of the Hai with little difficulty. As soon as we had occupied that we wheeled to the right, and cleared both banks of the Hai up to Kut. We then sat down systematically and began the reduction of the two trench systems which the Turks still held on the right bank, and these we succeeded in capturing one after the other during January and the beginning of Feb- ruary. It was tough work, but the troops fought splendidly, and were full of dash and go, and nothing could have been finer than their performances. The Turkish losses were heavj'^, and as we kept on pressing at their tail, they had to string out more and more until they became weak everywhere. It then seemed to me that the moment was propitious for a culminating effort, and consequently we attacked the extreme left of their line at Sannaiyat, more as a diversion than anything, but still with the intention of taking as many trenches as we could, whilst feints were made all along the river line as far as Kut. Then having drawn the attention of the enemy in every other direction, we launched our main attack across the river at Shumran. The crossing was a real gallant performance on the part of the troops, and will stand high in the records of grit and determination of British soldiers. Having once established a bridge-head on the left bank the rest was comparatively easy. We threw our bridge and rushed troops across as fast as we could, till I had got the 3rd Corps practically severing the Turkish communications. I then pushed the Cavalry Division across, and from that moment the Turks were all in rout. The 1st Corps pushing along took trench after trench from Sannai3^at onwards, and the Cavalry and 3rd Corps pressed in pursuit of the flying enemy. The scene on the line of retreat beggars description. For over 80 miles the countryside was littered with everything imaginable — guns, rifles, ammunition, stores of all kinds, equip- ment, food — everything was being thrown away. It was every 1917] MAUDE'S TRIBUTES TO HIS MEN 597 thing to press our pursuit as rapidly as possible, and I am afraid I got impatient. Naturally the change of our communications from rail and river to river only was bound to take a little time, and it is wonderful how quickly it was effected, but it made me chafe, as my eyes were always on the retreating Turks. Still it only made four or five days' delay at Aziziyeh, and oft" we went again in pursuit. Directly I crossed at Shumran I wired for instructions from the Government. I said that meantime I was pushing on, and of course I would readjust my Hne according to any subsequent instructions I received, but I could not lose a moment under the conditions. In time I received a reply to the effect that I might press on into Bagdad provided that I was satisfied that my supply considerations and the security of my force would not be imperilled. I answered to both of these queries that I was satisfied, and so, as you know, we entered Bagdad on March 11. I cannot tell you how magnificent has been the work of the whole force. It is a real pleasure to command such an Army. Everybody has worked with a will to make our operations a success, and the results achieved have been entirely due to their whole-hearted efforts. The troops have fought Uke tigers, and with a dash and deter- mination worthy of our highest traditions, but although all this has been superb we should have been doomed to failure if it had not been for the splendid work done behind the Army. The communications were magnificent throughout, river and rail transport running without a hitch, and my every need was met with the utmost promptitude. This was especially creditable when we consider the enormous amount of ammunition, for instance, that was involved, and this took a tremendous lot of moving up. The troops were practically on full operations scale of rations throughout, and it was only for a day or two when the advanced troops had to go in any way short, and then even on the worst occasion they had their emergency ration to fall back upon. This, however, was not the fault of the com- munications, but rather my own, as I was so anxious to go on and not to lose a moment. Broadly speaking, since we started we have taken 9000 prisoners and 39 guns. The rest of our captures I cannot give you any estimate of. They are all being tabulated, but it will take an enormous time to sort out and reahse, but it is sufficient 598 MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT to say that they are very considerable, though not so big as they might have been under some circumstances, for the whole countryside being littered as it was, the Arabs helped themselves freely, and we were too busy in other directions to gather every- thing up systematically as we went along. Still, we have taken thousands and thousands of rifles, immense quantities of am- munition, and stores of all kinds. The Turks were quite a broken force, and I do not think that the remnants of those who retired in front of us will give us very much trouble. In fact, although within comparatively close distance of us now, they bolt whenever we approach them. The 13th Turkish Army Corps, which was retiring before the Russians, is, however, a different proposition, as they are quite unbroken, and have some good regiments. The Russians are coming along in a very leisurely manner, and effected a junction with us a few days ago near Khanikin, but apparently they mean to do little or nothing more in this direction at present. I hope, however, that further orders may be sent to them, as I have suggested that their role is to hunt the Turks in front of them whilst we continue to hunt those in front of us. The idea of their commander, Raddatz, is apparently that his mission is completed now that he has cleared the Turks out of Persia. I am, however, very anxious to give them another blow before the hot weather comes, and to estabhsh the Russians on the Tigris. Whether this will be possible or not we shall see. It depends on whether the Russians are dilatory or not. Our river transport is excellent now, and gets stronger day by day with the arrival of new ships and barges. So we feel quite happy on that score. By the middle of this month we shall have converted the Kurna-Amara railway to metre gauge, and so both that and the Basra-Nasariyeh line will be metre gauge. We are rolling up the Sheikh Sa' ad-Sinn ^ line as it is no longer required, and I shall bring it up here where it will be most useful. It was suggested that it would be best to utilise this plant for laying a line from Kut to Bagdad, as our water transport will find a difficulty in getting here when the low water season comes later on. It seemed to me, however, that it was essential to have a metre gauge line, and I have decided on this, and hope ^ It is quite marvellous what this little line did for us during December, January, and February, and the tonnage carried by it must almost consti- tute a record. 1917] MAUDE ON HIS PKOSPECTS 599 to begin laying it before very long. So all our lines will be metre gauge, except the light railway which we shall lay for local use here. Our medical arrangements, too, are most satisfactory now, and in all stores we are indeed well found. So everything rests on directing things on sound Unes and keeping things up to the mark during the hot weather, which is always a difficult matter. I am afraid that this is a very hurriedly dictated line and you must take it for what it is worth, but the mail is soon going and my time is so very fully occupied. If you could give me any news from other fronts I shall always be grateful, as we do not hear much in these parts. As regards the future, it seems to me that by capturing Bag- dad we become so to speak the left flank of the Caucasus Army, and as they press forward, as I trust they will do vigorously, and establish themselves on the headwaters of the Tigris, our functions will lie more on the Euphrates, on which I have already estabUshed some strong posts west of Bagdad. The occupation of these posts means that we seal the middle Euphrates here and at Nasariyeh, and we hope to draw many and plentiful supplies from that region. Here we have got into a land of plenty compared to the barren deserts to which we have been accustomed, and we hope to draw large supplies locally in the way of fresh meat, vegetables, fuel, grain, and fodder, which are all such important and bulky articles, so this ought to ease our supply situation considerably. I have just established a new Local Resources directorate here, which will cover all Mesopotamia, and tap every area to the utmost, so that we may be able to live to a certain extent on the country. I have been working at it for some time, but it has only been finally launched during the last few days. A capital fellow is running it, and I look forward to great results from it. Hope you are very fit and well. — Yours sincerely, F. S. Maude. Wednesday, June 27. The Mesopotamia Report published. A terrible show-up of almost every one chiefly concerned in the initiation and conduct of the campaign in 1914, 1915, and 1916. Angry comments in the Press and a call for the heads of the delinquents. Lunched with Mrs. Ronny Greville, and found Max-Muller, the Duchess of 6oo MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT Beaufort and her two daughters, also her boy just back from Salonika, besides Sir Francis Hopwood, Lady Kilmorey, and the Count de Griinne. Hopwood not sanguine about the submarines. We mutually damned the War Cabinet, and agreed that Carson and Derby should be on it. The Duchess's boy told us much of interest of Salonika and about Sarrail's affairs. He says that the French troops are all colonial and bad. Only one of our divisions has gone. I judge that the relations between Sarrail and Milne are rather strained. Found de Griinne anxious about the German inundations in the Belgian front, and I do not wonder. It was he who opened up the question to me. Had an Ulster talk with Lady Kilmorey. Things in L-eland worse than ever. Thursday, June 28. Wrote an account of the present situation in India and Mesopotamia, based on Maude's and Monro's last letters. It will be an antidote to the Mesopotamia Report, and will cheer up those who have friends and relatives in Mesopotamia. Lunched with the Lyttons at 10 Buckingham Street, S'.W. I did not know where the street was, but found it at last. The Lyttons bought two or three lodging-houses and converted them, as some other people have done, into a single house. Mr. Lutyens, Lord L.'s brother-in-law, did the transformation, and his staircase and other changes will make people believe some years hence that the house dates from 1760. But the rooms are mostly small, and neighbours are building at the back of the house where much of the light will be shut out. Found Lady Islington and McEvoy , the artist, there . We had a lot of talk. Lady Lytton thinks that we all look exactly what we are, a very convenient theory for such attractive women as the Ladies L. and I. But I said that I did not believe it altogether, as the powers of deception of some women, trained as the sex had been to deceive to conquer for ages past, made it impossible to judge from their looks what they were. A talk of placing The Leper on the stage. Lady L. had never read it. Lady I. thought that the leper lady had no face or hands or feet, and that the play could 1917] CANADIANS AND A GENERAL 6oi not be given as it was too gruesome. I thought it could if it were not exaggerated. McEvoy interesting, and I con- gratulated him on his portrait of the Ladies Wimborne and Ridley. He is, though a trifle cadaverous, artistic looking, and very pale with dark hair, interesting but not good-looking. We heard more of the story of the two Canadian Adonises who met these two lovely ladies when they were marooned on the coast from their motor breaking down. The Canadians were in luck. They said that they would be late for their parade somewhere, but did not care, and the General would have to wait. Walked to the Admiralty with Lytton. We agreed that Derby and Carson should be in the War Cabinet, and that it was pre- posterous that they were not. Dined with the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland at 39 Portman Square : Lord and Lady Londonderry, Lady Titchfield, the SoHcitor-General for Scotland, and the Duchess of Marlborough. A pleasant evening. The house looks charming now. The great Romney of the Gower children is in the drawing-room and looks superb. The dining-room is enamelled dark green, with light gold panel- ling, very beautiful in itself, but a trifle hard upon the Romneys, Reynolds, and Hoppners which adorn the walls and are well lighted up. The Duke showed us some in- teresting sketches of the fleet of motor boats which he commanded in Egypt. They do twenty-one knots and must be useful in calm waters. He had also brought back from Rome a lot of paintings by a new artist, remarkable for their artistic properties and colour effects, and I was much struck by them. At Florence he bought a pearl necklace for the Duchess, and Garrard's value it at twice the price which he paid for it. She and Lady Londonderry com- pared their necklaces, which are nearly identical in length and shape. The Duke is now on the East Coast. He arrived at his H.Q. one morning to find that it had just been wrecked by a Zeppelin bomb ! We all praise the past above the present, but it occurs to me that the six ladies whom I have met at lunch and dinner to-day would hold 6o2 MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT their own, and probably win the palm, in any aristocracy of any age and country, for looks, grace, and charm. Week-end, June SO- July 1. Lunched with the Ian Hamiltons, and we discussed Dardanelles and Meso- potamia. In the afternoon went down with Fox McDonnell to stay with the Islingtons at Glynde Place, Sussex, three miles from Lewes. We were met by Joan Poynder who motored us to the house in a taxi. Found also Lord Londonderry, Lady Rocksavage, Lord Hugh Cecil, and Lord Wemyss. A delightful house, partly fourteenth century, sheltered by the downs and woods, and with a lovely view over the Park towards Eastbourne, Newhaven, and the sea. The house is built round a quad- rangle which is turfed like a college lawn. Julia James, the actress, came down on Sunday. She is acting for Lady I. somewhere. Walked over the Downs with L. in the morning, and discussed the Paris Embassy and the need for collecting all the best of the young men of the Tories to prepare a programme for the coming times. Later had a long talk with Islington about India and the Meso- potamia Report, which still holds the field of interest. It appears that Chelmsford's Council has sent back an ill- digested plan for extending Indian self-government. It increases the voting power on a territorial basis, but does not increase the responsibiUties of Indians, and so would merely create more difficulties and solve none. The plan was submitted to a committee of Islington, Duke, Sir T. Holderness, and another, and was thrown out. The War Cabinet — Lloyd George being away in Scotland — decided to send a small Commission to India under Austen Chamberlain to arrange for a more satisfactory plan, and perhaps find this the best way to unload A. C, who says he will go out if they wish, but does not think that he can remain Secretary for India, which is probably what the War Committee thought he would think. It wiU be dif- ficult for them to commence any action on the ' Messpot ' Report without alluding to A. C, who comes in for blame, and this seems the best way out. The Tories on the War 1917] GLYNDE PLACE 603 Cabinet do not seem to consider that any changes in India need be considered until after the war, but IsHngton does not agree. He thinks that Edwin Montagu may get the India Office, and asked me my opinion of what he, IsHngton, should do in this case. I felt sure that he would discard all personal feeling and do what best served the interest of the State. It seemed to me that his experience would be valuable to any S. of S., and that therefore he should remain on and help without regard to his personal feeling. We had some tennis, and then Islington and I walked on the downs with J. J., who told us about her stage experiences, the attentions of her admirers, and their letters. She is a nicely-behaved girl, with good eyes, a pretty mouth, and chestnut hair. An odd week-end companion for Lord Hugh ! Miss Joan Poynder a charming fresh girl full of the joie de vivre and with much independence of character. Glynde belongs to a Brand sailor, and is full of Brand, Hampden, and Trevor portraits, besides old Dutch and other pictures. I liked a Jannsen, a Greuze portrait of the family, a Hoppner, and the Zoffanys. We talked war the first night, and on the second ecclesiastical lore and Speakers of the H. of C. All considered that Peel was the best Speaker of our day. We all came up by an early train Monday morning. It was crammed and there were few porters. Travelling in England is a trial in these days. Monday, July 2. Met Plumer's Chief of Staff, Tim Harington, in the morning. He told me about Messines. All went to perfection. The leading troops all had orders to dig in on the ridge, and Plumer had no idea of going on in advance of the guns. G.H.Q. never pressed them to do so. It was a real advantage having had a good training especially in musketry, and having thoroughly rehearsed the scheme. The Second Army had been to- gether for long, and were a family, and this told in the fight. The second line of troops went on through the first. The German counter-attack was very feeble. We had 54 guns knocked out by the German counter-batteries, 6o4 MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT but we believed we had knocked out 460 of theirs, and we destroyed 20 miles of barbed wire utterly. Now the Second Army had lost five of its divisions, which had gone to Gough for the coming attack in the north. We had 460 aeroplanes at Messines and cleared the air. Lloyd George made a fine speech at Glasgow on Saturday, and another at Dundee, appeahng for unity and resolution. Yesterday the Russian Southern Ai-mies attacked and took some 17,000 prisoners. A great reUef to us all that they are able to do something after their long inaction and dreadful internal convulsions. Wednesday, July 4. A rare lot of correspondence and documents. Met at Theresa Lady Londonderry's the Ronald McNeills, James Craig, and Lady Annesley. I liked Craig's story of an Irish M.P. who complained to him of the cooking in the House of Commons. He said he had never known such bad food — except at Kilmainham. ' What ! ' says Craig, ' have you been in gaol ? ' ' How the hell would I be in Parliament for an Irish constituency. Captain, if I had not been in gaol ! ' Craig very kind about my work, and said that I was one of the few concerned with the war who had maintained and even increased their reputation. Met Spencer Ewart, G.O.C. in Scotland, and had a talk about his affairs. He thinks Scotland well covered by the fleet. Too many units were raised in Scotland before the Service Acts, and it is hard to keep them up. He agrees that we should call on all young men under twenty-five. He says that the older miners in Scotland would be glad as the men are only working two days a week, and there would be more work for the older men if the young ones went. Went to the Opera at Drury Lane in the evening to Maurice Rothschild's box to hear The Magic Flute. A delicious treat, and very refreshing. With our party and Lady Cunard's there were the Italian Ambassador, the ChiHan Minister and his wife, Lady Hamilton, Lady Kitty Somerset, Mrs. Lindsay, Wolkoff, Bardac, Prince and Princess Radziwill, Miss Kerr-Clark, and some more. Beecham's conducting I 1917] A FAIRY STORY 605 thought quite excellent, and Bardac said that it had im- proved immensely. Thursday, July 5. Got through a lot of reading, includ- ing the speeches in Hansard by Dr. Addison and Montagu on Munitions. Quite a fairy story to read of what has been done in two years, but Addison might have given the contractors and workmen a little more credit. Lunched with Lady L. again, and met Lady Haig, F.M. Lord Gren- fell, Sir Reginald and Lady Talbot, and Scovell of Geddes's Staff. Lady H. told me that Haig had called on French at his office and that all was peace between them, news which gave me great satisfaction. The F.M. said that Wingate was known in Egypt as Abu Hibr, the Father of Ink, and he wondered how the Sudan could be ruled from Egypt. Lady Talbot is going to think of a candidate for the Paris Embassy, Went to see Lord French : he may pay a visit to France, which will be an excellent thing. The F.M. is rather in favour of the coming coastal operation which I am dubious about. He says that he and de Jonghe and Winston worked it out once, and he thinks that the dunes can be cleared with the help of the Navy. He supposes that it is coming on soon now, as his flights of birds in Kent are going over to-morrow. He showed me his ' states,' which show an enormous difference between fighting and ration strengths, and he tells the War Cabinet that they may be right to accept the risk, but that he will not be responsible for saying that England is secured by the present arrange- ments. We talked over many other military matters. He says that the War Cabinet send to consult him unofficially. Saw Sir W. Robertson afterwards about the Mesopotamia Report and the Indian Army system. We are in agreement about both. The men who made all the mistakes would, we think, have failed under any system. There was no reason why Duff should not have had an assistant, as R. has, to attend to the Council work, leaving Duff free to go about, but the latter chose to occupy himself with adminis- tration, which was not his job. Murray could not be blamed for not opposing the advance on Bagdad. He 6o6 MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT was only just installed in London ; the W.O. had not been in charge of the operation, and only had knowledge at second hand ; they also had no knowledge where the troops of India were. Even now R. did not know what troops India had on the frontier, and it was not his business to ask. We agreed that India had been severely taxed by the war, but that this did not clear Duff and Bunbury from responsibihty for mistakes. Persia was now an example of divided responsibihty, for the India and Foreign Offices as well as the War Office might send instructions there and they might not agree. The need was that, for Imperial purposes, the control of all the Armies of the Empire should be one, not for internal management, but for all oversea operations, and this power should rest in the hands of the C.I.G.S., subject of course to the policy of the Government of the day. We had a little talk on other matters. Some French divisions are in the north to help Gough. I said that I did not think that the choice of Gough for this particular operation was good, much though I admired his gifts. R. was incUned to agree, and wished that Plumer, who knew every stone in the north, had been placed in charge. Saturday, July 7. Between 10 and 11 this morning there was another air raid on London by Hun aeroplanes. It was a fine morning, with a rising easterly wind, but the sun still obscured by mist and diifting clouds. The gardener ran off to look after his wife, and the postman, much alarmed, flew in for shelter. I got my field glasses and went to the top of the house to see the sight. Our guns on * The Spaniards ' were at work, but at first I could not see where the shells were bursting. Then there came into view from the north, a little to the east of the house, and apparently from the Hendon direction, a great flight of Hun planes, looking like silver swallows, about 12,000 feet up, and appearing to fly slowly. They were in fan- shape formation and were heading south. I saw them very well and counted twenty-six, but a few may have been ours in chase. The shells were bursting all round 1917] A SPECTACULAK AIE RAID 607 them, and after reaching Piccadilly they turned south-east, and the formation became more broken. No bombs were dropped near us so far as I could make out. As they faced the wind the pace became slower, but only one nearly fell and then recovered itseK. They made for the City, and by 10.40 the guns near us stopped firing and the planes were soon out of sight. The inevitable errand boy walked by whistling and quite unconcerned at the height of the racket. In the evening it was said that 37 people had been killed and 140 wounded, also that no serious damage had been done. Lots of sightseers on the tops of houses and in the streets, and everybody unconcernedly going about to do then' Siiturda}^ shopping as soon as the guns stopped. London will soon be as accustomed to being bombed as Ladysmith was to being shelled. Major Blair of the Indian Army, lately in Persia, came up to Maryon to talk Meso- potamia, but the chief point of his argument, and a good one, was that the Egyptian system of attaching officers for periods was not suitable for India owing to the class- company system and the need for learning several languages, and the habits and customs of different races, acquirements which could not be expected under the Egyptian system, and further that the Indian Army would oppose any change which curtailed their Indian pensions. Monday, July 9. One of the colonels of the Special Reserve came up to suggest that some of his colleagues should be given brigades or other acknowledgment of their hard work during the war. He had sent out 450 officers and 15,000 men from his own battahon. He also wants temporary commissions to be given to a few N.C.O.s in each battahon, and that they may remain with the bat- tahons for training purposes. Very good suggestions. I went to have a talli with General Sir 'Moore Creagh, formerly C.-in-C. in India, about Mesopotamia affairs and the Indian Army system. He is a convinced supporter of Lord K.'s system, and declares that he was often away for two months at a time, and that finance is the great stumbling block to progress in India. He is finishing a 6o8 MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT book on India which promises to be entertaining, and he says that the Government will never dare to publish his evidence before the Mesopotamia Commission. He says that the Council in India are usually all in want of a Lieut. -Governorship, or a seat on the India Council or something, and so never oppose the Viceroy or take any initiative. They should never be appointed unless they have already been Lieut. -Governors. He thought that he had ruined his own chances of a seat on the India Council by his plain speaking. Saw Maurice in the afternoon and had a talk over the position of the General Staff concerning the Mesopotamia expedition. He told me that two new German divisions had appeared on the Eastern front, and that one from the West had also turned up there, making 155 German divisions in the West and 80 in the East. We discussed the coming attack in Flanders. He thinks that Allenby will be all right at Gaza. No more troops from Salonika have been taken away yet. From several sources I find that the War Cabinet have still refused to move about men until all A men for general service have left England. KornilofE's new offensive in Galicia seems to have struck a soft place where all the enemy were Austrians, and the Russians did well. Our guns, fortunately, continue to come on well. In the evening Jack Stirling and Captain Charles Fox, both Scots Guards, dined at Maryon. Jack says that the Guards are in front line east of Ypres and will lead the new attack. Two French corps are on their left, the 1st and 6th. Gough will have 16 divisions or more, of which 12 in front line. The French attack next, and then Rawlinson on the coast, aided by the Navy. He says that the place swarms with our pontoons. I said that I disliked all this country very much and thought it bad ground for an offensive. The Boche guns are busy and are doing better than usual with their counter-battery work, while their planes have been all over us. Fox has just pscaped from Grermany at his third try, and was intensely 1917] CHARLES FOX'S ESCAPE 609 interesting. He was taken on Oct. 26, 1914, and has been nearly three years a prisoner. His experiences on his 160 mile journey from near Hanover to Holland recall Jules Verne. He travelled at night by compass bearing, and lay up by day in young plantations where childien and dogs were not likely to come. He had many close shaves of recapture, and at one place had to bury himself as Boches with dogs were after him. Fortunately a flock of sheep ran over his grave and put the dogs off the scent. He lay hid there a whole day and at night swam the Ems, where he lost his boots. He was not sure of the frontier, and the first man he saw was in field-grey, and he took him for a Boche, and went up close to him determined to throw him into the river if he were a Boche, but he turned out to be a Dutchman and all was well. He says that the Germans are very hungry but can still go on. He found the crops very poor in Germany. All were sick to death of the war and the SociaMst spirit was increasing fast. The EngHsh prisoners were badly treated. When they were knocked about they always hit back, and then got two years' imprisonment. They practically lived on their parcels from home. The Boches still think that no ship can leave England. The Russians are regarded as coohes, and clean up for the officers' English orderlies. Some English are on the farms, many with only a girl in the house, or a few women. The Russians are not guarded and are very tame. He says that there are hardly any men to be seen in Germany where he happened to be, and he met hardly any on his long and adventurous cross-country journey. He walked about twenty miles each night from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., and found many bridges unguarded. He located some new Zepp. sheds on the way. Fox says that my articles appear very fully in the German papers. The Boches consider the Russian troops to be herds of sheep and take little count of them. They are furious with the Austrians, who are always letting them in, and consider one Itahan to be as good as several Austrians. They respect us, but are greatly misled about the facts of the war. The complete ignorance of F. on all VOL. I. 2 Q 6io MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT that has happened at home and in our Armies abroad is remarkable. Tuesday, July 10. Completed an article on the Indian Army system, defending it against assailants of Lord K. Lunched with Olive, Countess Pappenheim, the Dowager Lady Londonderry, Sir Vincent Caillard, and Professor Morgan. Later saw Easy Villiers, with whom I discussed East Africa. Villiers would not follow the German rem- nant into Portuguese East Africa, as it is not worth it and they can do no harm there. But we are raising 20 new native battalions to go after them, and 80,000 native porters. V. says that he can only put in the field 200 men of his Suffolk Yeomanry and that home defence is a farce. Archie Murray returned last Sunday, and I had a talk with him to-day. He is furious at his supersession,^ and I do not wonder. He told me all about the conquest of the desert, and showed me the position of his troops south of Gaza. His coming despatch begins by showing all the changes of policy of the War Cabinet, but we feel sure that they will not publish it during the war as it shows up their instabihty too well. He had sent away to France 9 of his 12 divisions, or 250,000 men, and then when he only had 3 left was ordered to advance on Jerusalem. He hopes that AUenby will ask for 7 before he moves on. With the 60th Division from Salonika and the 74th ex-Yeomanry Division Allenby will have 5 divisions on his east front, and should have two more. Murray had only four heavy howitzers when he attacked Gaza, and many more heavy guns are needed, while his planes are of old types. Only 6 of the 12 battalions promised from India have turned up, and all troops sent him from E. Africa and Aden are useless, the former being fever-stricken. He has his black troops along the canal, and 13 garrison battahons hold Egypt, the Western front, * In Allenby's concluding Despatch the great services of Murray were handsomely and gratefully acknowledged. 1917] MUREAY ON HIS CAMPAIGN 6ii and Khartoum. He has broadened the front for AUenby by extending his pipe lines, and says that people will not understand that there is neither water nor a scrap of food to be had in the desert. He has prepared three days' reserve stores of water every few miles along the railway and pipe line, and his pipes bring him 600,000 gallons of water from the Nile daily. They are 12 in, diameter most of the way, and then twin 6 in. and 4 in. He says that the advance on Jerusalem cannot go faster than the railway, which can only be laid at the rate of twentj'^ miles a month. Once in Palestine, the water trouble will be at an end he thinks. The Turks have 5 or 6 divisions on his front, with nearly 100 guns and many machine guns. Their line extends from Beersheba on their left to Gaza. There is constant surf on the coast, but he gets much up by sea. He hopes to be able to have 13| trains a day soon on his normal gauge railway, which will be able to supply 7 divisions and the cavalry. All his sick and wounded, 20,000 in all, are still in Egypt, where he has 18,000 prisoners to look after. The men are very fit at the front and live in the open. The losses from submarines have been heavy. The Yeomanry just arrived from Salonika lost a ship with 800 horses on board, and 700 mules were lost in another ship. He asked every morning what losses there had been, and declares that the passage of the Mediterranean is now a regular operation of war. Egypt asked the Cabinet last year whether it should grow corn or cotton, and was asked to grow cotton. It will therefore require to be fed with corn from the East, Wednesday, July 11, Freddy Manners -Sutton (Lord Canterbury) came up to Maryon to get an Oxford tutor some work. Freddy was lugged off to gaol for not answering a calhng-up notice, placed in khaki, refused to take a com- mission, and did four months as a private, partly in France, where he once went ' over the top ' and took part in a scrap. He was then invaUded, and I wonder he stood it «o long. It appears to be uncertain whether a peer or an M.P. is liable to serve, but anyhow this one is not serving 6i2 MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT now. Lunched with the Ian Hamiltons : Commander Wedgwood, Colonel Mola, head of the Italian mission, Mrs. Ronny Brooke, Lady Annesley, Lady Kitson, the Count de Griinne,Mrs.Tom Bridges, and Blow the architect. A very pleasant party. Wedgwood full of Mesopotamia, which comes up in both Houses for debate to-morrow. He is also full of reforming India. He has never been there. De Griinne anxious about the new offensive in Flanders, and says his King is too, and that it is a gamble. He does not hke the presence of the French troops between us. Mola interesting. He admits that the last Italian offensive stopped for want of shells, and quotes Hamilton who commands our guns in Italy as saying that the Italians will not be able to begin a great attack again till the end of August for this reason. He spoke to me about an AlUed offensive towards Laybach. I asked him how late we could fight in the Laybach area, and he said till the end of October. I said that I was entirely against the AUied participation in this attack until after the end of October, when little could be done on our Western front, but that during the winter I was all for Allied help to Italy on the Carso, where we could fight all the winter. To-night comes news that we have lost the dunes sector on the coast near Nieuport, and that a battalion each of the 60th and the Northants have been taken. I had an article to-day on the Indian Army system and Mesopotamia supporting Lord K.'s reforms in India. Thursday, July 12. Wrote to General Petain on our affairs here. Lunched with Olive and Lockett at Prince's Grill. On the Tribunal most of the afternoon. We are getting down to bedrock in men because the Cabinet will not call out the young men, and we are now mainly getting oldish men in low medical categories. The Tribunal work continues to fascinate me. Dined with Mrs. Astor, and found a party of twenty or so including the Italian Ambassador and the Marchesa, Lord and Lady Harcourt, Tommy Maguire and his wife, Lady Ridley, Prince and Princess Radziwill, Lord D'Abernon, Sir Seymour Fortescue, Sir John Cowans, 1917] THE MESOPOTAMIA INQUIRY 613 Fox McDonnell, and a few more. A pleasant talk with Lady Ridley at dinner. She is going north again soon for the holidays, Imperiali is pleased that Mola and I have met. There has been the deuce of a row in Cabinet circles. The Cabinet wanted the War Office to take on the Mesopo- tamia Special Inquiry which is to investigate the affairs of soldiers and civilians, but the W.O. refused unless Lloyd Greorge put it on paper. This he did, but the War Cabinet refused to let him send the paper out. Parliament is cross about the form of the inquiry. Austen Chamberlain has resigned. There have been several meetings of the Army Council to-day. I mentioned to Seymour the rumour about Carson leaving the Admiralty, and Seymour said it did not matter a hang who was First Lord so long as he did nothing ! I doubt whether a court-martial would convict the soldiers on the charges brought by the Com- missioners, and it is hard to frame charges under the Army Act to meet the cases. Londonderry, whom I saw at Londonderry House this morning, has been reading the Roebuck Report after the Crimea, and says that the Report talUed with what we are saying now about our present governors. Plus Qa change ! I saw the Lawrences at the top of the house and advised L. to have them cleaned. There are four quite good about 1820. L. says that Reggie Pembroke had command in the line at one period lately and did right well. The Wilton sale has been somewhat of a fiasco and the armour is unsold, as wicked stories were spread about the two great suits which I have known for half a century. Friday, July 13. A nasty little knock at Nieuport on the coast of Flanders. I write a note for the Times to ex- plain that only two battalions were involved. This would have checked current rumours in London of the loss of thousands of men, but the fooUsh censorship, or rather its masters, cut out the allusion to the two battalions. Lunched with Lady Beresford, the Admiral, Austin Harrison, the Ladies Essex and Herbert, the Duchess of Marlborough, 6i4 MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT Edmund Gosse, and some others. C. B. is to speak in the Lords to-day on this wearisome and futile Mesopotamia question. Dined at Mi\s.Bischoffsheim's house. The hostess too ill to come down, so Lady Meux presided, and there were also Lady Mar and Kellie, Theresa Lady London- derry, Mrs. Astor, Jack Cowans, the Maguires, Mrs. Lowther, the Countess Torby, Sir Victor Mackenzie, and others. AUenby has told the War Office that he must have 7 divisions and 50 heavy howitzers to attack the Turks in Palestine, and the W.O. does not know where to get them from. I am glad that AUenby has spoken out. Incidentally he has shown up the odious treatment of Archie Murray, who had 12 divisions for the defence of Egypt, was made to send 9 away, and then invited to attack Palestine with 3 ! It is lucky for the War Cabinet that there is a censorship and that we are muzzled ! Played Bridge with Lady Mar, who was looking very handsome, and with Countess Torby and Mackenzie. Saturday, July 14. Wrote all the morning. Lunched with Lady Paget and Mrs. Leeds in Grosvenor Square. We had a great discussion about the question whether American ladies should transfer their services, and incidentally their subscriptions, from British to American good works. I thought that American women with English husbands should keep on at our good works, but that others without English husbands should look after their own American people. Lady X, and Mrs. La very came in after lunch. Lady X. told us a good story of visiting a hospital. She was talking to a soldier who constantly brought in ' Wipers ' into his tale. Each time said ' Ypres ' rather sharply to correct the Tommy's pronunciation, and when had gone the Tommy was asked how he got on. He said that she was a nice homely woman and very kind, but it was very sad that she was troubled with such bad hiccups ! Lady X. told the story well, making ' Ypres ' into a sort of hiccup each time. A hen trovato story I expect ! I dined with Sir Ai'chibald and Lady Murray at their new flat, 20 Lincoln Mansions, 1917] MOSES AND MURRAY 615 Basil Street. He was delighted to hear of Allenby's appre- ciation. Archie has been a week in town and has never been invited to come and explain the Palestine situation to them. Yet he has all the maps, plans, and figures, and they cannot rightly understand the situation without consulting him. I should say that their shabby treat- ment of him makes them shy of him. He thinks that it will take three months to get the 3 divisions up to the Gaza front even if the 2 extra divisions can be found. We discussed the wanderings of the children of Israel in the desert and ours — and also Joshua's campaign and ours. He said that at one place in the desert, forty miles east of Ismailia, he had found 1,000,000 gallons of water stored of which we knew nothing, and this supply would have greatly helped the Turks had they marched this way. I thought of Moses striking the rock. Moses, after all, was degomme like Murray. He thinks that the best way is to attack the centre of the long-extended Turkish line, about midway between Beersheba and Gaza. We also discussed October 1915 and the share of the General Staff in the first failure to advance on Bagdad. Bird- wood writes to me from his Anzac corps in France to say that he agrees with my article on Mesopotamia in the Times. Mark Sykes in the Commons brings out well the two main points. Sunday, July 15. Spent the day at the cottage with E. and Doris Keane. The latter has been offered a huge sum to do Romance on the cinema. She has great plans for the future. Monday, July 16. Got through many letters. Lunched with Lady Strafford at Chandos House : Lady Yarborough, Lady Morton, the Victor Stanleys — he starting to-morrow for Petrograd — and Max-MuUer of the F.O. Max-MuUer has examined Charles Fox, and agrees that the Germans are suffering but not famishing. Stanley has an anxious time before him. He is just back from the Grand Fleet, and thinks the Boches would be fools to come out and fight as they are holding up our fleet by sitting tight. It 6i6 MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT appears that every Russian has still to be bribed before anything can be done, and Stanley's mission in the Baltic is an arduous one. Met the Mayor and Council at the Hampstead Town Hall to discuss air-raid warnings, and had an interesting discussion. We decide on maroons or foghorns at four places where there are fire stations, and make various other suggestions to the Home Office for uniform action, for Scotland Yard to telephone first as well as second warnings, and so on. Lady Strafford has taken Knebworth for the summer, and wants me to go there. Dined with the Dowager Lady Londonderry. Arthur Balfour had to dine with the P.M. and could not come. We had Lord and Lady Mar and Kellie, Lord and Lady Ilchester, Edmund Gosse, Lady Sahsbury, and Jack Cowans. A pleasant dinner. We discussed Lord Haldane after dinner. Jack, Gosse, and I stuck up for him, and Ilchester was also kind about him. But all except Gosse doubted whether he would ever loom large again in our poHtics. Lady S. says that Salisbury is ill and at Hatfield. He has left his division, the command of which was a joy to him. I wish that he figured more in poHtics, as I trust him . Jack and I walked away together and mutually cursed all poUticians. The only two investigations into the war have damned the War Cabinets to heaps, and if Egypt and Salonika were investigated the War Cabinets would be quadruply damned. We suppose that they have done their best but it has not been good enough. People are pessimistic to-day about tonnage again. The Greeks have asked us to fit out 180,000 Greek soldiers and I beHeve we are refusing. Tuesday, July 17. Lunched with Lady Paget, and found the American Ambassador and Mrs. Page ; Bee Pembroke's sister, Lady Ingestre, a very sweet lady, and her young fiance, Mr. Pennoyer of the American Em- bassy ; Mrs. Leeds, Arthur Stanley, and one or two more. Mrs. Leeds tells me that the Americans in France had no idea how bad things were with the French, and how much they would have to do : they now think them- 1917] SMUTS ON OUR STRATEGY 617 selves in for a three years' job. Dr. Page very cheery. We discussed affairs in America. Arthur Stanley quite hurt because our Red Cross has had only seven millions to work with, and the Yankees have given twenty millions right off. Most of the party left early for the Stanley-Cadogan wedding. In the afternoon I had a talk with General Smuts, who has just been given a seat on the War Cabinet. He told me that he was only going to advise on military affairs, and would steer clear of politics. I told him that as he was the only man in the War Cabinet with military experi- ence, we looked to him to keep the politicians straight, and also to safeguard the interests of generals, some of whom, like Murray, have been scurvily treated. I said that the War Cabinet had been twice condemned by the only Commissions which had investigated their proceedings, and that if other inquiries were made into Salonika, Pales- tine, and Home Defence, similar condemnations would result. I mentioned specifically the question of men, and asked him if he felt as happy about it as when he last talked with me. Smuts said that Lloyd George's original proposition was the right one, namely, that Asquith should be Prime Minister, with a Cabinet to deal with poUtical and administrative matters, and that a small body under L. G. himself should manage the war. But this had broken down, and now. Smuts admitted, the War Cabinet were overwhelmed, and L. G. was trying to do the work of six men. He admitted that the machinery did not work too well. He had not known that Murray was in London, and would try to get him called in over the Palestine cam- paign. Smuts was not very keen about our present strategy in Palestine. He had suggested the landing of three divi- sions at Haifa and the interception of the railway, if troops were not available on a larger scale for the Alexandretta coup. But when he had failed to win the approval of people for this plan, he had refused the command which had been offered to him. I asked if he had been at cross purposes with the General Staff. No, he said, he liked 6i8 MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT Robertson and had a high opinion of his rugged honesty and good sense, while he thought the G.S. excellent and a fine instrument. It was not that. I said that I was glad, for Smuts 's strategy was in line with my ideas and was that which Petain had agreed was the right course at Verdun eighteen months ago. What was the cause then of the refusal of his plan ? He said that after three years of war people were worn out ; many disappointments had made them cautious, and they had not the nerve to take risks. I said I understood. As to the men for the Army, Smuts admitted that he took a less rosy view than before, but he thought that we had enough men to keep up our Armies during the summer campaigns. In the autumn we should see how things were, and the Government might have to take a virile resolution and call up 500,000 young men under thirty. I said that if they had been called up before we should have them ready now, and might end the war, whereas forces were now too evenly balanced for decisive victory, and I cavilled at the continued retention of our Army at Salonika. Smuts said that I knew that Salonika was a French plan to which we weakly consented. It was easy to get into a mess but not easy to get out of it. Brussiloff wished us to remain because he was going to invade Bulgaria as his main blow, when the offensive in Galicia had gone further, and wanted our troops to hold up the Bulgars. The Serbians also wished us to remain and said that they trusted us alone, while Venizelos pro- mised twelve Greek divisions if we would supply equipment and heavy guns. Smuts did not consider the Turkish part of the war a side-show. He thought that Turkey would make peace if she were tackled, and that this would end the war. I repUed that certainly we had 800,000 men in the East, and it was enough to crush the Turks if our forces were properly directed by the War Cabinet, but they never had been. I did not believe that the defeat of Turkey would end the war. I said that I wanted the War Cabinet to end the war mth a great reputation, but Smuts replied that every one connected with the war 1917] BAD NEWS FROM RUSSIA 619 seemed destined to lose his reputation. We agreed to meet again and discuss these points. Wednesday, July 18. Some new poUtical appointments. Winston gets Munitions ; Montagu goes to the India Of&ce ; Addison the Ministry of Reconstruction ; Carson leaves the Admiralty and goes to the War Cabinet, while Eric Geddes takes his place. Am very sorry for IsUngton, who will, I hear, retire in spite of my advice to him. Lunched with Lady JuHet, Lady Cunard, and the Comte de Noailles. De Noailles and I discussed the war, and he told me that the Yankees promise thirty-three divisions by the spring, which will be a great deal more than any one here believes. The Russian news is not good again, and it is said that the Russians who did so well in Gahcia have gone back without orders and without mihtary compulsion because they thought that they had done enough. Dined with Lady Herbert ; Lady Manners, Lady JuHet, and Fox McDonnell. A pleasant evening. We discussed art first, and then fishing. Many tall stories. One of Fox's was voted the tallest since Jonah's tale. It was of a shark which swallowed a bucket which stuck in his throat, and all the food went into the bucket instead of into the shark. So the shark died. Jonah's whale was more masterful. Thursday, July 19. Lunched with the Vicomte de la Panouse at the Cafe Royal, and we discussed the war. We both doubt the persistence of the Russian offensive, and his instinct is that we may reach the stage of negotiation in the autumn, but that much will depend upon the attitude of the new German Chancellor, Dr. Michaehs, who has succeeded Bethmann HoUweg, and upon the result of our coming offensive in France. I said that the AlUed mis- fortune was the want of a great figure to dominate the war. Panouse agreed. We talked of France, Italy, and Greece, and were pretty well of one opinion, but the French obviously do not much like Italy's somewhat independent actions in the East. I gather that Petain's next attack will be in the Verdun direction. Afterwards I visited Colonel Armando Mola, chef de mission and Mihtary 620 MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT Attache to the Italian Embassy at Empire House, Kingsway. Captain Count Vicino Pallavicino, a very nice fellow whom I have known since his youth, also there. Mola is an intelligent and agreeable man. We agreed that there ought to be better co-operation on the Franco -Italian front which, rightly regarded, was all one. I repeated that I was dead against any detachment from our Armies in France to Italy during the summer, but that after October I thought that we might take part in an Italian offensive on the Carso and in the Adriatic. I said that if the Italians sent a few divisions to France now, or even one to the Vosges, it would be useful as a proof of co-operation, and suggested that as the Italians had heaps of troops our winter contingent should be mainly artillery. Mola agreed, and says that his War Minister controls 1| milUon men who are not under Cadorna. He thinks that the defeat of Austria, which he desires, would prevent Germany from going on, but I ventured to doubt it, and insisted that the defeat of Germany would end the war and that nothing else mattered by comparison. Alexander of the Indian Army, who is with our mission in Italy, came in. He complained bitterly of Steed's Jugo- slav policy in the Times, and in general complained that our Press was not taking enough notice of Italian doings. Friday, July 20. To-day there was published in the early afternoon papers the text of the Reichstag speech of the new German Chancellor, Dr. Michaelis. He seems to be the captive of the Junker bow and spear, but one can read his speech as one pleases according to one's tempera- ment, and much of it consists of platitudes, combined with the old lies about the origin of the war, many hypocrisies, and a false estimate of our position. I do not think that the speech has brought an accommodation any nearer. Lunched with Olive, Lockett, and Laszlo at the Ritz. Laszlo told me that the Hungarian who had escaped from Donnington Hall came to him for assistance. It was a horrible situation for Laszlo, who is a British subject, and had the man been followed and been arrested in Laszlo 's studio it might have ruined him. He refused help and 1917] LASZLO'S FIRST ENGRAVING 621 informed the police. He is very keen about the pictures in which a friend is to figure. Laszlo also told me of his first study. It was to illustrate a Spanish poem translated into Hungarian. A young man lying on a bank of a lake sees the misty vapours materialise into a beautiful woman, and a conversation between them begins. She has a veil round her and a belt. She offers the youth all above the belt or all below it. He chooses the upper half, and she gives him all as a reward. How would we portray this episode ? We all guessed wrong. Laszlo 's engraving showed the belt and the vanishing veil alone and left the rest to the imagination. Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty at the Edinburgh University Press UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. k-H 6 '6«i; JUL 1 3 %^ <^ 2 1951 .>?^ ^ ,^ V ID- FEB 5 \»tS m. (ECO it) 23 Form Ly-30i«-ll,'58(,8268s4)444 RECEIVED JUN 81986 91' «68 3 1158 00464 9652 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 840 488 l