Evening star., 1932-12-27
BRITAIN FINISHES
g WAR VOLUMES
Far Ahead Of Other Nations
in Recording History
of Conflict.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

LONDON, December 27.-With 20 OF
the probable 40 volumes Of its history
Of the World War now completed,
Great Britain Is well ahead OF all the
other belligerent powers in the prepa-
ration Of an official story of the events
Of the years 19l4-1918 for the benefit
Of the living as well as of posterity. It
is thought that the last volume will be
ready 20 years hence. but that is really
more Of guess than certainty.
From the historical section OF the
Committee OF Imperial Defense. under
whose aegiS Britains comprehensive
memorial Of the past and guide for the
future is being prepared, this corre-
spondent has just obtained a detailed
account Of how this herculean task Is
being handled So far it has cost
100000 pounds sterling, though that
total includes the cost OF archival work
which would have to be done anyway.
Wide Range Of Books.
OF the histories completed there are ):
Naval Operations, volumes; Merchant
Navy, 3; Seaborne Trade, 3; Gallipoli
Campaign, 2; Egypt 2; Meso-
potamia, 4, and Togoland and Came
rooms, l. In addition to these 20 vol
umes there have also been issued five
Of the contemplated twelve dealing with
the Western front, three of the five
dealing with the war In the air, and
another-in diary form-entitled "Prin-
cipal Events Of the War"
No other belligerent nation, 1t Is as
serted, can show such progress with
their histories, although many are
said to employ far larger stats at much
greater cost. Those who carp at the
cost Of the work are reminded that
to date the expenditure represents,
roughly. half an hours expenditure by
the British in warfare during the last
year of the conflict Besides producing
section has to deal with thousands Of
inquiries from other departments, regi-
mental historians. staff colleges and
the War Graves Commission, many of
which require protracted reference to
the records. The circulation of draft
chapters Of the history entails alone
the writing Of 1000 letters.
Actual Beginning in 1916.
It was explained to this correspond
ent that even in 1914 steps were taken
to collect and arrange the records as
they were received for the subsequent
compilation Of the official histories,
and the actual writing was begun in
1915. The number of records which
have to be consulted Is stupendous. On
the military side alone the historians
have Immediately at hand at least
30,000,000 sheets Of documents and
95, 1000 maps. All Of these are from the
theaters of operations and do not In
clude any of the multitude of home"
papers, such as War Office files and
the untotaled accumulation OF other
records. These are stored in another
building and constant reference has to
be made to them.
In one particular instance, it was
declared, 1t was necessary for one assist
ant to study 10000 closely typed
foolscap sheets to arrive at vital figures
The job lasted six months, but the
result was recorded in one sentence
occupying no more than eight lines in
the appropriate volume.
At the outset of the war the British
sea service numbered $50 vessels OF all
kinds. But by November, 1918, this
force had been increased to 5,08l. Each
unit kept exact records. Of the events
and movements of every hour of the
day in their logs. which never num-
bered fewer than six in current use,
and often as many as IA in a flagship.
1,25o,ooo Naval Logs Kept.
It is estimated that the total number
of naval logs kept during the war ap-
proximates 1,250,000. But except in
the preparation Of narratives Of the
major actions recourse is not had to
these original documents, for the salient
points in each have been entered on
cards for more easy reference. It has
to be remembered, too. that kilograms
passing in and out of the admiralty
amounted to at least 1000 daily, or
1,750,000 during the war. There were,
besides, countless reports and admiralty
papers.
The records Of the air service are
only less formidable than those of the
admiralty.
This vast mass Of material at the
disposal of the official historians has
to be arranged and sized by a staff
OF archival experts. one Of whose tasks
is to discard tons Of papers dealing with
matters Of no permanent historical I'M
portance.
The authors appointed have the
assistance OF small staff OF technical
specialists, including photographers. Ihe
4O-volume history will be illustrated by
hundreds of maps, plans, diagrams,
sketches and charts, apart from photo
graphs of the outer theaters Of the war
without which it would be almost i'm
POSSIBLE to visualize the types Of country
in which the operations took place.
Checking Closely Done.
When once the narrative IS com.
mitted to paper In chapter form 1t
underpoes the minutest checking. Hun
dreds of copies are dispatched to- ofh-
GERS who took part in the particular
action dealt with, and after their criti-
cisms and suggestions have been con-
sidered and, in many instances, adopt
ed. the chapters are forwarded to the
appropriate service department for re-
marks. In one instance chapter was
submitted to 573 officers.
SWEDEN ASKED TO PROBE