SIR HENRY WILSON.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 February 1918, Page 5

SIR HENRY WILSON.

! THE NEW HUmSTT C'FTIEF OF GENERAL STAFF. (From a Military Correspondent of the I Manchester Guardian). i Lien tenant-General Sir Henry Wilson i (wm> succeeds Sir William Robertson as Chlci' of the imperial General Staff must he included among the many distinguished soldiers that Ireland bus given to the r.-.ilitary service of the Empire. In laet, there are many who believe that Henry Wilson in certain circumstances might have been the greatest soldier of his (lay. In these controversial times no purpose is served by dealing in comparisons, and the General's Irish temperament. made for him as many enemies as he could count friends. History has shown us that by some peculiar current of the law of chances certain periods produce particular batches of men of a mentality superior to the usual standards. In the period of reorganisation that followed the Boer War Wilson served it the War Office, and likewise did a period of Commandant of the Staff' College, Camberley His term at the Staff College had a particular bearing upon his future career. It is interesting to remark that 'both General Robertson ami General Rawlinson held this command after the Boer War. General Rawlinson was orthodox, but both General Robertson and General Wilson inculcated a particular school of thought of their own. Wilson was master of the Continental system. Early in the eelturv he put it upon record that he was positive that the great Prussian menace would materialise- This conviction was the foundation of all his effort. He knew the French frontier as no other British officer knew it. Wilson went out with the Expeditionary Force on tile operations side of Lord French's Headquarters Staff. His intimacy with and knowledge of the French General Staff were of the greatest vjlue to the Commander-in-Chief during those first strenuous days of gigantic war. It was, however, during the retreat from Mons that Wilson's sterling qualities as a soldier reached high-water mark. It is probable that no contemporary history will tell the true story of that retreat—will truthfully chronicle the happenings of those "dies irae," when the Cabinet at home was warned to expect the worst. Then it was that Wilson was seen at his very best. He was the backbone of the Staff. No matter how black the outlook, or desolate the suggestion, he nevw lost Ins cheerful demeanour in public or his clear head in the council chamber. His clear brain probed deep into the prohaD'HtiGa of the enemy intention, and his quick and instant wit produced order out of chaos and confidence out of despair. w^ S til< ; ar| ny expanded in size Wilson found the preferment that was his due, and lie was appointed to the command of an army corps. As the commander of an army corps he was never engaged in any of the major operations of the war. In 1916 he undertook a mission to Russia. He then went back to France as a special senior liaison officer at the French Guartier General. It was generally thought that this appointment presaged a high command abroad, but he was appointed to the Eastern Command at home. General Wilson's last post was us British member of the Allied Council for the Western front!