BLACK DAYS OF 1918

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 170, 8 October 1927, Page 10

BLACK DAYS OF 1918

WAR CRISIS SECRETS OF THE CABINET CHIEF-OF-STAFF’S DIARY By Cable. —Press Association. — Copyright. LONDON, Thursday. Two volumes have just been published of trenchant notes made in a diary during the time of the Great War by the late FieldMarshal Sir Henry Wilson. who was Chief of the Imperial General Staff. 'J'HE volumes contain interesting: references to discussions at the meetings of the Imperial War Cabinet in 1918. At this period Sir Henry Wilson urged that the position at the front was so bad that the Empire must make the fuuuest possible sacrifice. When he was asked if conscription should be enforced in Ireland he said he was not sure. “The Prime Minister, Mr. Lloyd George, can see the gravity of the situation,” wrote Sir Henry. “The Prime Minister of South Africa, General Smuts, talked much academic nonsense. Mr. Winston Churchill is the real ‘gun’ in the crisis.” COMMENT ON TACTICS Healing with the meetings of the Empire Prime Ministers, beginning on June 13, 1918, Sir Henry wrote: “The Prime Minister of Canada, Sir Robert Borden, made very open remarks regarding our strategy and the tactics of the corps commanders and the staff. The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Mr. W. F. Massey, agreed, so I must answer as best I can on Tuesday.” On Tuesday Sir Henry Wilson gave a lecture lasting 70 minutes on the military situation, and for this explanation he was congratulated by the Prime Ministers.

On June 20 the Imperial War Cabinet discussed the question of the intervention of Japan in Siberia, and also a proposal to transfer troops from Palestine to the Western front. The diary continues: “Then the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. W. M. Hughes, wanted to know about the conduct of the war, the promotion of new army officers, the prospects of the future, and other matters. We had an interesting talk. Mr. Hughes said he was out for fighting on, even if we were driven from France.” DOUBTFUL OF VICTORY Referring to the meeting of the Prime Ministers on July 31. at which Sir Henry Wilson sent a memorandum outlining the probable course of the 1919 campaign, he wrote: “Lord Milner says it is clear that we will never thrash the Boche. I suggest holding them on the west with 35 to 36 British and French divisions, and the Americans, sending 10 British divisions to other theatres of the war. “Mr. Hughes thought we must smash the Germans in France. General Smuts agreed with Lord Milner. Mr. Hughes dissented, and said we must lick the Boches in the west. General Smuts, however; thought we would never beat the Boches. “In speeches made at a meeting the next day practically all the Prime Ministers showed that they are of the opinion that we cannot beat the Boches on the Western front, and so they went wandering, looking for fresh laurels. Mr. Hughes sees clearer than the others—he sees that we must beat the Boche army if we want real peace. MEN IGNORANT OF WAR “At a meeting of the Imperial War Cabinet on October 18 Sir Robert Borden proposed to hand over the captured German colonies to the United States. Mr. Hughes was straining at the leash, but discussion was postponed. Mr. Massey opposed handing over the colonies, and Mr. Hughes said: ‘lf you want to shift us, come and do it.’ He claimed the right to help to shape our foreign policy, adding that we had none.” Earlier chapters mention Sir Henry Wilson’s prophecy in 1910 concerning Marshal Foch. He said then: “This fellow is going to command the Allies’ armies when the big war comes.” Of the first War Council in 1914, at which the question of the Dominions sending contingents was discussed, Sir Henry Wilson says: “It was an historic meeting of men who mostly were entirely ignorant of their subject.”— A. and N.Z.

Field-Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson in February, 1918, succeeded Sir William Robertson as Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and had much to do with the later victory. At the end of the war he was promoted field-marshal. In 1922 he was elected to the House of Commons as one of the members for Northern Ireland,, as a Unionist. On June 23, 1922, he was murdered on the threshold of his Lonlon home, and two men, Reginald Dunn and Joseph O’Sullivan, were later executed for the crime. Sir Henry Wilson was on June 26 buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral.