Evening star., 1940-01-07
Eliot
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her land forces as is the case today
with Ironside at the war office and
Lord Gort as commander in chief
in France.
Did Many Badly Needed Things.
The selection of really capable
British commanders has usually re-
suited from long process OF trial
and error, as in the cases OF Wolfe
and Wellington, or Of the dispatch
of Lord Roberts to South Africa.
This is said with no intention
of belittling the very real and i'm
portant debt which Britain owes to
Mr.. Hore- -Belisha for his energetic
and intelligent handling Of the war
Office during his term Of service
MANY of the things he did needed
badly to be done. There was a
great deal of dead wood to be cleared
away. Officers long past their USE
fulness cluttered up high positions,
blocking the promotion Of Juniors
OF greater powers. His selection OF
Lord Gort, a Junior major general
Of but two years service as gen.
eral officer, to be commander OF the
field forces, showed not only a
courageous willingness to depart
from precedent, but remarkable
ability to select capable subordinates.
While 1t is true that Lord Gort's
qualities and personality probably
better fit him for his present COM
mand in the field than for staft
duty, his appointment was tonic
for the whole army, and the changes
which accompanied it revivif1ed the
service at a time when it was badly
in need of just such stimulant.
It is, indeed, fortunate that all
this was accomplished in time OF
peace, rather than waiting until
war compelled such changes-as has
been the case with the admiralty,
where Mr.. Churchill and Sir Dudley
Pound are only now beginning to
get matters running efficiently.
Mr.. Hore-Bensha's measures for i'm
proving the pay and promotion OF
officers and men and for bringing
about decided and beneficial changes
in the conditions Of service for the
latter, were long overdue and will
long be gratefully remembered by
Thomas Atkins.
But with the coming of war, it
was not difficult to foresee the need
for a change. Mr.. Hore-Belisha Is
not the sort of war secretary who
would be content to accept unques-
tioningly the advice of his chief of
staff on military matters, yet he
had little military background OF
his own which enabled him to assert
his own views with authority. With
in the war cabinet itself, he was the
responsible military member. It is
true that as to matters affecting the
army solely he was supposed to be
advised by his chief Of staff, and
that the chief Of stairs subcommit-
tee of the Committee of Imperial
Defense is charged with the duty of
advising the government on broad
strategical and military problems.
Close Relationship With Hart.
The function Of decision, how
ever, remains a prerogative Of the
cabinet and not Of the sub-com-
mittee, and in the final formulation
of such decisions Mr.. Hore-Belisha's
voice was heard, not that of Iron
side. Here it is necessary to speak
frankly of the very close relations
which have long existed between
Mr.. Hore- -Belisha and the distin-
guished British military writer and
theorist, Capt. B. H. Liddeu Hart.
Some quotations from Capt. Harris
most recent book, "The Defense OF
Britain" may give an idea Of the
nature Of these relations:
Page 10-"Some 1s months ago I
was given-through the progressive
spirit and receptive mind Of the
new secretary Of state for war-an
opportunity Of contributing more di-
rectly to the modernization Of our
defenses."
Page 25e-"I was prompted by a
suggestion Of Sir Thomas 1nskip's
in May, 1887, to write q paper on
army reorganization which became
the starting point of Mr.. Hore-
Belisha's reforms"
Page 27s-"His (the Prime Min
Ister's) views as to the broad lines
of defense policy were in agreement
with those expressed in my book,
Europe in Arms So were Mr..
Hore- Belisha's."
Page 4l2-"When Mr.. Hore-
Belsha became secretary of state
for war, he was quick to take up,
and to carry through, a series Of
measures which I suggested to en-
nance the status of the territorial
army ="
The whole book is shot through
with remarks Of this nature, and
with lengthy quotations from mem
orands submitted to Mr.. Hore-
] naNsha hv Cant Hart covering not