The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-11-26
BIRMINGHAM AGEHERALD WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26 1919

in regular morning and evening reports, but continuous reports were furnished when anything unusual occurred.
 The telephone formations. belonging To the staff of the commander-in-ch chief Tn the east, and the field telegraph service of general headquarters, which were responsible for the details or intercommunica ton, worked extra ordinarily we'll
 On the one hand it was necessary 10 obtain a clear idea of all events that took place on any part of the enormously extended fronts. but, on the other hand, it was uncommonly difficult to feel the pulse of the fight ing lmmediately But it was absolutely essential that general headquarters should be informed of all important events at once, as only too often the shortage of reserves obliged us to make immediate decisions of the very great est importance
 COULD NOT LOOK INTO FUTURE
 The work of commanding the troops, looking after the welfare of the army and maintaining fighting efficiency at home took procedure of everything else. Questions of future military and political policy were regarded as sec ondary.
 The working hours were absorbed by my own work, reports by my subordi- nate directoSs and heads of depart ments and services, and discussions have the pleasant memories of our work and social fife together, both on my staff in the east and at general headquarters.
 The enormous amount of work and velved upon me made it imperative for me to surround myself with independ- ent, upright men, on whom l could call to express their opinions freely and frankly. They certainly did so--very emphatical too, on occasions,
 Our cooperation was based on mu- tual confidence and my collaborators ever stood faithfully and firmly by me They were my active and devoted as- sistants, imbued with the e,highest sense of duty The final decision, of course rested with me, for responsibility per mitted of no hesitation. War de- manded rapid action.
 NEVER HURT AIDES FEELINGS
 But decision did not mean despotism and when I did disagree with the pro- posals of my assistants, 1 never hurt
 their feelings In such cases, and when divergent views had to be recon ciled, I endeavored, without being vague, to recognize the justification for different opinions. The fame and great reputation of my associates has always been matter for sincere sat isfaction to me.
 I always was, and am still, of the opinion that this war was so tremend- ous and made such great demands that one man alone could not possibly cope with it. It gave plenty of opportunity for brilliant work
 My chief assistant in the. east was eut.-Colonel now Major-General Hoff- mann, an intellectual and progress sive officer. My opinion of him as a soldier is best shown by the fact that l suggested him as my successor wher l was appointed to general headquar- ters at the end of August, 1916. Ir that position he justified his selection as brilliantly as he had when acting as my senior officer.
 Ct was Gen. Hoffman who domi-
 mated the Brest Litovsk peace con. ference and compelled the German | and Austrian civilian delegations tc force upon Russia the programme oi vast sessions of territory and enor. nous indemnities which startled tho world and caused wide protest ever in Germany and in the Reichstag This peace, engineered by Hoffman had decisive influence in causing the entente to reject German and Aus trian peace feelers)
 WHO HELPED BEAR BURDEN At general headquarters I selected Lieut. Colonel Wetzel to supervis, operations I had met him previousl, and knew his value He was ia miliar with the western front wher, he had distinguished himself as sen
 for officer and chief of the gen eral staff of the third corps and hat done particularly well before Verdun He has splendid soldierly piri- and strong and faithful character 1 With his enterprising and fertil, mind and the care to put into hi. work, he proved an excellent ant valued assistant In September 1918, l found 1t necessary to redis. tribute the staff in order to allow myself little more leisure; for this i reason. and no other, Lieut.-Colone Wetzell had to leave me We sepa. rated with the highest regard on botf sides.
 He vas succeeded by Colonel Heye and Major von Stulpnagel. The lat. ter had served on my staff in Berlin for long time They were both strong minded and clear headed sol.
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