Experiences of a Dug-out, 1914-1918 | Page 6

The Grand Duke Nicholas' difficulties in the early months -- Great improvement effected in respect to munitions subsequent to the summer of 1915 -- Figures -- Satisfactory outlook for the campaign of 1917 -- Political situation goes from bad to worse -- Russian mission to London; no steps taken by our Government -- Our representatives in Russia -- Situation at the end of 1916 -- A private letter to Mr. Lloyd George -- The Milner Mission to Russia -- Its failure to interpret the portents -- Had Lord Kitchener got out it might have made all the difference -- Some excuse for our blundering subsequent to the Revolution -- The delay in respect to action in Siberia and at Vladivostok.
CHAPTER XVI
CATERING FOR THE ALLIES................................. 293
The appointment of Colonel Ellershaw to look after Russian munition supplies -- His remarkable success -- I take over his branch after his death -- Gradual alteration of its functions -- The Commission Internationale de Ravitaillement -- Its efficiency -- The despatch of goods to Russia -- Russian technical abilities in advance of their organizing power -- The flame projector and the Stokes mortar -- Drawings and specifications of Tanks -- An early contretemps in dealing with a Russian military delegate -- Misadventure in connection with a 9.2-inch howitzer -- Difficulties at the northern Russian ports -- The American contracts -- The Russian Revolution -- This transforms the whole position as to supplies -- Roumania -- Statesmen in conflict -- Dealings with the Allies' delegates in general -- Occasional difficulties -- Helpfulness of the United States representatives -- The Greek muddle -- Getting it disentangled -- Great delays in this country and in France in fitting out the Greeks, and their consequences -- Serbian supplies -- The command in Macedonia ought on administrative grounds to have been in British hands.
CHAPTER XVII
THE PRESS............................................... 310
The constant newspaper attacks upon the War Office -- Often arise from misunderstandings or sheer ignorance -- The mistake made with regard to war correspondents at the start -- The pre-war intentions of the General Staff -- How they were set on one side -- Inconvenience of this from the War Office point of view -- A breach of faith -- The mischievous optimism of newspapers in the early days -- Tendency of the military authorities to conceal bad news -- Experts at fault in the Press -- Tendency to take the Press too seriously in this country -- Some of its blunders during the war -- A proposal to put German officer prisoners on board transports as a protection -- A silly mistake over the promotion of general-officers -- Why were Tanks not adopted before the war! -- A paean about Sukhomlinoff -- A gross misstatement -- Temporary officers and high positions in the field -- A suggestion that the Press should censor itself in time of war; its absurdity -- The Press Bureau -- Some of its mistakes -- Information allowed to appear which should have been censored -- Difficulties of the censors -- The case of the shell shortage -- Difficulty of laying down rules for the guidance of censors -- The Press and air-raids -- A newspaper proprietor placed at the head of the Air Service -- The result -- The question of announcing the names of units that have distinguished themselves -- Conclusion.
CHAPTER XVIII
SOME CRITICISMS, SUGGESTIONS, AND GENERALITIES.......... 328
Post-war extravagance -- The Office of Works lavish all through -- The Treasury -- Its unpopularity in the spending departments -- The Finance Branch of the War Office -- Suggestions -- The change with regard to saluting -- Red tabs and red cap-bands -- A Staff dandy in the West -- The age of general-officers -- Position of the General Staff in the War Office -- The project of a Defence Ministry -- No excuse for it except with regard to the air services, and that not a sufficient excuse -- Confusion between the question of a Defence Ministry and that of the Imperial General Staff -- The time which must elapse before newly constituted units can be fully depended upon, one of the most important lessons for the public to realize -- This proved to be the case in almost every theatre and in the military forces of almost every belligerent -- Misapprehensions about South Africa -- Improvised units could not have done what the "Old Contemptibles" did -- Conclusion.
CHAPTER I
THE OUTBREAK OF WAR
Unfair disparagement of the War Office during the war -- Difficulties under which it suffered owing to pre-war misconduct of the Government -- The army prepared, the Government and the country unprepared -- My visit to German districts on the Belgian and Luxemburg frontiers in June 1914 -- The German railway preparations -- The plan of the Great General Staff indicated by these -- The Aldershot Command