KITCHENER'S TASK.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 April 1920, Page 5

KITCHENER'S TASK.

A STRIKING TRIBUTE. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. London, April 25. . Mr. Winston Churchill, in an article in the Sunday Herald, states that the most extraordinary fact about Lord Kitchener was the amount of responsibility, work a.nd power thrust on him- He had to carry oh the war during its most convulsive period and create a mighty army out of a population destitute of military training and equip and supply it, though the available machinery was utterly "inadequate. It was a tragic and magnificent spectacle to see this valiant, faithful giant advancing at the call of duty to grapple with problems utterly out of relation to the personal capacity of any human being. Scarcely loss 'striking were the limitations under which the unparalleled task was undertaken. Kitchener was greater as a man that as a general. He had displayed the highest qualities as administrator, diplomat and commander while ruling provinces find lending armies enough to be personally directed and controlled. But he had not. made a scientific professional study of war, on its largest scale and did not understand the staff or organisation connected therewith, as it is understood: in the great European armies. A decisive ancjr fatal dilemma of his war administration arose at the Dardanelles. Another reason was that his profound instinct and the current of events drew him to the East. He appreciated better than any other Allied soldier the immense possibilities of success or failure in the East, but General .Toffre and General French were writing and telegraphing appealing day after day for overv man, gun and fill ell that could be found-