Francis Dodd

“ THIS small portrait gallery of British generals represents, in fair epitome, the drama of British history. Each of the officers who figure here has behind him a varied story of fighting in strange places, under all sorts of conditions, as well as in the tense atmosphere of modern scientific war; each of them has first had to struggle against heavy odds before arriving at the conditions which at present obtain on the Western front. Infantrymen, cavalrymen, artillerists, they have come through a fiery trial to command large bodies of troops in the most terrible struggle of our history. ”

“ Sir Douglas Haig, while possessing every technical quality of a soldier, has the mind as well of a statesman, and of a great captain of industry. The organisation of modern war, indeed, requires qualities of which the soldier of other years had no conception. The gigantic industrial activities behind the British front, on which our fighting line depend, the gigantic educational schemes necessary to train our new Armies, demand from the Commander-in-Chief an administrative talent not less high than that required from a Prime Minister or a Pro-Consul. ”

“ Scotland has given an innumerable host of soldiers to British and foreign armies, but, with the possible exception of Montrose and Sir John Moore (if Moore can be counted a Scotsman) , there has been none who stands in the very front rank of the profession of arms. To-day there is such an one. It has been truly said that the biggest soldiers of all have not the specific military mind, but have a brain indistinguishable from the brain which makes a great statesman or any other great man of action. ”

“ They have come triumphantly through the ordeal, winning a grudging praise from the enemy, and the more unmistakeable approval of attempts at imitation. They have shown themselves as resourceful in devising new machines and methods of attack as they are experienced in the orthodox fighting of other days. The war may have new experiences for them, but it cannot daunt or check them. They have seen the worst. They have come through dark places to the approaching light of day. ”

“ Now he would place a curtain straight across this valley or that till the sky and landscape were blotted out, except for fleeting glimpses seen as through a lift of fog Day and night the men worked through it, fighting the horrid machinery far over the horizon as if they were fighting Germans hand to hand; building up whatever it battered down ”

“ Wholly free from formality and red tape, and willing to find in every soldier a man and a brother, he could yet maintain a perfect battle discipline and keep the hearts of his men steady under the most desperate conditions. To his cool brain, also, were due many of the details of the brilliant withdrawal from the Peninsula, which he carried out as Commander of the Dardanelles Army.
The Anzac record on the Somme was equal to their record at Gallipoli. The capture of Pozieres and Mouquet Farm was an Australian achievement, and Flers fell to the New Zealanders. ”

“ The assaulting troops had the advantage of only a limited surprise. The Ridge overlooked the British positions, and little could be done between Arras and La Bassee that was not detected by the German observers. Yet in two days the position was carried with 11,000 prisoners and 100 guns. And it was but three weeks since the enemy had carried out the retreat that was to cut the ground from under the British plans. The British losses were comparatively light; everyone could see that if the battle were to become a precedent, the decisive defeat of Germany was assured. ”

“ In such tasks Sir Douglas Haig has shown himself pre-eminent, and to this capacity he adds the swiftness in design and precision in performance of the foremost captains of history. Britain has entrusted her manhood to one who has nobly justified her confidence. ”

“ Only consummate leaders could have taken an army to the Marne. The army ought to have been wiped out long before. The Germans had fully resolved upon it, they had the men and guns to encompass it, their long-perfected plans depended upon it. The British, wearied by the pressure of a hurried retreat, fought almost without cover against a great concentration of guns. ”

“ In June Sir Edmund Allenby was transferred to the command of the British forces in Egypt.
In the European War some of the most brilliant infantry leaders have come from the Cavalry—Haig, Gough, Kavanagh, Allenby. Sir Edmund is a personification of the traditional qualities of an English soldier patient, tenacious, resolute; and his record in many fields has shown that he possesses admirable military judgment and wide military knowledge. ”

“ He has that flair for the decisive moment which no training can give, and his high spirits, stout heart, and steady confidence in himself and his men have made him an ideal Commander, both for the tedious war of positions, and any future war of movement. ”

“ German critics have said that this army was one of non-commissioned officers, and certainly not even the racial stubbornness could have saved the situation if it had not been wedded to high ability, if undaunted courage had not been equalled by the resolute skill of the command. The first battle of Ypres was the first in which the Germans and the British fought b. entrance, and no one to-day is ignorant of the result. The Germans broke off the engagement and thereby acknowledged their defeat. The British had not turned the line. ”

“ They have seen every type of fighting. The war of movements with its swift changes and long hazards was their first experience, an experience that none of those who took part in it will ever forget. For some terrible days the British army stood between the Allies and disaster; but the experience it bought was handed on to the enemy in a series of engagements, the lesson of which he softens by proclaiming the first seven divisions to have been unique. The admission is sufficiently revealing, for the handful of troops ought to have been crushed at Mons ”

“ The Second Army was not engaged during the Battle of the Somme or the first stages of the Battle of Arras, but on Thursday, June 7th, 1917, attacking on the whole front from the Ypres salient to Ploegsteert Wood, it carried all its objectives, with the vital Wytschaete-Messines Ridge, put an end to the embarrassment of the Ypres salient, took over 7,000 prisoners, and accounted for at least 30,000 of the enemy, the whole at a small expense of British lives. ”

“ For months he attempted to reach Mafeking from the north, and, after the happy relief of that historic town, he was one of the most active and resolute of column commanders in the Transvaal. This "small, quiet, resolute man," as a historian describes him, had the power of enforcing discipline and inspiring confidence in the diverse elements under him. ”

“ He entered the Inniskilling Dragoons, with whom he served in the Bechuanaland Expedition of 1884-5. He fought in Zululand in 1888, and in the South African War was a dashing and successful Column Commander. ”

“ SIR HUBERT GOUGH was born on August i2th, 1870; the eldest son of the late Sir Charles John Stanley Gough. He was educated at Eton and Sandhurst, and, in 1889, obtained a commission in the i6th Lancers. He served in the Tirah Expedition and in the South African War. ”

“ He has seen many campaigns besides the present. Apart from South Africa he served in the Hazara Expedition of 1891, the Isazai Expedition of 1892, and the Tirah Campaign of 1897-98. In South Africa he was severely wounded, and five times mentioned in despatches. In 1908 he was the Chief Staff officer of the Mohmand Expedition. ”