The Washington herald., 1919-05-11
Faults and Virtues
OF Those Who Led

utterly unjust. and even the jaunty
young stan officer. with red tabs and
polished boots was often not quite
such a fool as he looked, but a gal
liant fellow who had proved his pluck
In the early days OF the war and was
now doing his duty-about equal to
the work OF a boy clerk-with real
industry and an exaggerated sense of
its importance. Personally and with
utter honesty. I can pay high tribute
to many of our staff officers at divi-
sional. corps and army headquarters.
because OF their industry. efficiency
and devotion to duty And during
the progress OF battle 1 have seen
them. hundreds of times. working
desperately for long hours. without
much rest or sleep. so that the fight
ing men should get their food and
munitions. so that the artillery should
support their actions. and the troops
In reserve move up to their relief at
the proper time and place.
All the administrative side of our
war was quite marvellous In its
method and organization, and the
armies were worked like the clock
work machines. The transport was
good beyond all words OF praise. and
there was one thing which never fail
ed to reach poor old Tommy Atkins,
unless he was cut of by shellfire. and
that was his food.
The motor supply columns and
ammunition dumps were organized
to the last item of efficiency. Our
map department was magnificent.
and the admiration of the French
Our intelligence branch was, as a
rule. excellent. and often almost un-
canny in the accuracy of its infor-
nation about the enemy's DISPOSE
tton and plans. So that the staff
was not altogether hopeless in it's
effect, as the young battalion off,
GERS. with sharp tongues and a sense
Of injustice in their hearts. made
out. with pardonable blasphemy. in
their dugouts.
Nevertheless, there was a good
deal to criticise justly enough. and
there is no doubt that British gen.
eralship and staff work made many
mistakes. some of them no doubt
because 1t is human TO
err. and some of them due to sheer.
simple. regrettable stupidity.
Early Desire to Gain worthless
Ground.
In the early days the outstanding
fault of our generals. II seems to me,
was their desire to gain ground
which was utterly worthless when
gained. They organized small at
tacks against strong positions.
dreadfully costly to take. and after
the desperate valor of men had
seized few yards OF mangled earth.
found that they had made another
small salient, jutting out from their
front in a V-shaped wedge, so that
it was death-trap for the men who
had to hold it. This was done again
and again. and I remember one dis
tinguished officer saying. with bitter
irony. remembering how many of his
men had died. Our generals must
have their little VS. at any price, to
justify themselves at G. II. O."
In the battles of the Somme they
attacked isolated objects on narrow
fronts. so that the enemy swept our
men with fire by artillery concen-
trated from all points. instead of hav-
ing to disperse his fire during a
general attack on a wide front. In
the days of trench warfare. when
the enemy artillery was much strong
er than ours and when his infantry
strength was enormously greater. our
generals insisted upon the British
troops adopting an aggressive" atti-
tude, with the result that they were
shot to pieces. instead of adopting.
like the French. a quiet and waiting
attitude until the time came for a
sharp and terrible blow. The battles
of Neuve Chapelle and Loos, in 1915.
cost fhnngandQ nF
gave us no gain of any account; and
both generalship and staff work were
in the opinion of most officers who
know anything of those battles,
grievously at fault.
Men Had to Die That They Might
Learn.
After all. our generals had to learn
their lessons. like the private soldier
and the young staff officer. in condi-
tons of warfare which had never
been seen beforehand it was bad for
the private soldier and the young
battalion officer, who died so they
might learn. AS time went on staff
work improved. and British general
ship was less rash in optimism and
less rigid in ideas. I am certain from
what l know of war that the general
ship and staff work of the Second
Army. commanded by Gen. Sir Her.
bert Plumer. was as near perfection
as any human organization may be.
and all British officers who served
in that army will agree.
Sir Herbert Plumer did, l think.
more nearly approach the position of
a leader of men by personality than
any other commander 1 can mention.
except perhaps Gen. Birdwood-known
to all his men as Birdie" because of
his dapper figure-who commanded the
Australian corps. Plumer's old bull
dog face and blue eyes were known
to his men, and they liked him and
had faith in him chiefly because he was
anxious for their comfort, and never
"let them down. in all the spade work
that must be done to insure success
in battle. The battles OF Wytschaete
and Messines, on June I, 1917. was the
most perfectly organized battle of
which I know anything, and was a
great and complete victory. owing en-
tirely to preliminary preparations OF
all details. Sir Herbert Plumer had
the advantage of being advised by a
Chief of Staff who had real genius,
and was. in my humble opinion. the
one sustaining brain of the British
armies in the fields. though unknown
to popular fame. This was Sir John
Harrington. who had brain like a
sharp sword. an immense grasp of de-
tail, and a fine nobility of character
which was like flame of burning
endeavor. Col. Mitchell. directing the
intelligence branch of the Second
Army. was also a man Of outstanding
ability, and many other staff officers