James Edward Edmonds, Military Operations, France and Belgium… (1937)
“ On a modern battlefield, however, knowledge of events is extraordinarily local, and the transmission of information difficult ; in addition important witnesses only too often become casualties. Though written orders and messages are absolutely reliable evidence of the matters with which they deal, war diaries and reports of actions, written up immediately after events, are liable to contain mistakes. ”
James Edward Edmonds, Military Operations, France and Belgium… (1937)
“ The British records comprise not only the war diaries of every staff and unit engaged, with their voluminous appendices containing all orders, intelligence, etc., received and issued, and detailed reports of actions, but they include also the General Headquarters files, the Commander-in-Chief's diary, and practically every telegram and message despatched and received. These official documents have been supplemented by private diaries and papers which have been kindly lent, by regimental records, and by interviews with officers who took part in the operations. ”
James Edward Edmonds, Military Operations, France and Belgium… (1937)
“ The British Expeditionary Force in France in 1914 was not acting independently, and formed only a small part of the Allied Armies engaged; it has therefore been necessary to include an account of the action of the French and Belgian forces sufficient to provide a proper framework for the British operations. ”
