WAR LEADERS' AGES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2687, 5 February 1916, Page 3

WAR LEADERS' AGES

BRITISH TEN YEARS BELOW GERMAN AVERAGE

ONLY ONE GENERAL OVER 60

Sir John French,. in taking over tho Home Command, is relinquishing the post of Commander-in-Chief of tho Expeditionary Force to a man nine years Lis junior. The new viscount is 63, and liis : successor, Sir Douglas Haig, only 54. On this ground alone the. change will doubtless bo welcomed by' certain' critics who have been complaining that the war, so far as Britain is concerned, is being .run by old men; yet if they .-look closely at the facts they will 'havo some difficulty in citing them to support their case..

It is probably true to say that, if the higher commands only are taken, the British Army will bo found to bein the hands of men at least as young as those who control the destinies of any of the,.great armies now in the. • field. Since the resignation of General ' French there would appear to be onty one British commander over 60 years' of age—General Codrington, who is 61 —holding a pposition of supreme responsibility in Franco."

■Most of General Haig's immediate colleagues in command are men of about his own years. / General Rawlinsoii. is 51,. General Piumer 58, General Alleiiby 54, General Bundle 59, General Pulteney 54. Sir Horace SmitliDorrien, who has been given tho command in German East Africa, is 57, and is therefore three years Sir Douglas Haig's senior.

British Generals. There is indeed a rdmarkable similarity in the ages of the British Generals commanding on the various fronts, as the.following list shows: — France:—General Haig 54 Eastern ■ 1 Mediterranean .—General Monro / 55 Egypt.—General Maxwell 56 Mesopotamia!— General Nixon ...... 08 East Africa Smith-Dor-rien ..... 57 S.W. -Africa.—General Botha ;. 52 .. Sir lan-.Hamilton, General Monro's predecessor, was 62 —the same ago as the new ! Chief of the Imperial-General Staff, Sir Jainos Wolfe Murray. These figures offer a striking con-, trast to those of the German higher Those two-idols of the German nation, V<Sn Hindenburg and Von Mackensen, -are men of 68, and 66 re-' .spectively. With the exception of Falkenhayn, the Chief of General Staff, who is 54, - and the Crown Princes of Bavaria and Prussia, who owe their positions .to birth rather .than ability, there is not & German commander under, 60 in a position of the first importance." Their ages run: — Haeseler 79 Von der Golt-z ....' ' 72 Von Bissing-. 71 VonJFalkenhausen 7] Voii Kluck 69 •Leopold of Bavaria '69 Voii'Bnloiv '...... 69 Von Hansen ! 69 Woyrsch G7 Eichhorn 67 Emmich ; 67 Moltke 07 •Linsingen .....*. 65 Heeringen- 65 Scholtz .*. 64 Gallwitz 63 Below ' 62 Einem 62

vlt will be seen that the German ay 7 erage is considerably more than ten years above the British.

Nor can the French army be described'as an army of .youne men so far as the posts of highest honour are concerned. Joffre is 63-f-the same age as i]?rerieli—Foch is about the same ape, and ■ has seen .46 years', service in the army;; Paii is. 67. and Gallieni one of the veterans of the '70. At the same time, it must, not be forgotten that the French army- has been drastically purged of "old Generals' of doubtful compe-. tence, and that the same thing is believed to have occurred in the German army.'

. The Navy and ths Cabinet. _ Turning to the British Navy, it is interesting' to 'note that the age le.vel in i the highest commands is only slightly lower than that.which prevails in the army. Admiral-Jellicoe and Admiral Sturdee are 56. Admiral Beat-ty, however, is onlv 44. For the AVar Council of the Cabinet ,tlie figures are: — Balfour 67 Kitchener . 65 Asquith ............ 63 Bonar Law 57 Lloyd George 52 M'Kenna ' ; .;. 52

Sir Edward Grey, who is called in by the Council when occasion demands, is only 53. The. average age cf the sixmembers' is just over 59. • The average age of the Cabinet Works . out 'at 56 for its 21 members, .which is probably lower than most people would guess. Lord Lansdowne is its "father," and Sir John Simon its "baby." '

' _ Giving precedence to age, the Council, should sit. in the following order,:— 'Lord Lansdowne, 70; Mr. Balfour, 67; Lord Kitchener, 65; Mr. Birrell, 65: Mr. A-sqiiifh, 63; Mr. Long, 61; Mr. M'Kinnon Wood, 60; Mr. Bonar Law, 57; Lord Grewe, 57; Lord. Selbourn'e, 56; Lord Curzoii, 56; Lord Buckmaster, 54 ; Sir Edward Grey, 53; Mr. M'Kenna, 52; Mr. Austen Chamberlain, 52; Mr. .Lloyd George, 52; Mr. Harcourt, 52; Mr. Henderson, 52; Mr. R-unciman,-45.; Mr. Samuel; 45; Sir John Simon, 42. What may be called the "governing age" in Great Britain, both in his ■-.Majesty's-.'Government and in his Majesty's Forces, is plainly botween 56 and 60. 1

Historical precedents are somewhat .startling. Wellington ■ fought his last battle at 46, Ney at 45, Nelson at 47. Alexander the Great was only 33 when ho died, Napoleon was 46 at Waterloo, and Hannibal the same age when he was finally defeated .by Scipio.