mptation" which Maubeuge offered to him at the time of the
retreat from Mons. If Maubeuge suggested itself as an asylum for the
hard-pressed Expeditionary Force, Antwerp would assuredly suggest
itself still more strongly as an asylum for King Albert's field army,
confronted as it was by an overwhelming hostile array and not in
direct contact with the troops under Joffre and Sir J. French.

It was then that those who were directing the British operations as a
whole suddenly intervened and induced the Belgians to alter their
plan. The very recently improvised Naval Division was set in motion
for Antwerp. Mr. Churchill, a bolt from the blue, appeared in the
city. And, instead of King Albert's forces getting clear in good time
and moving off, practically unmolested, to join the Anglo-French host
in Western Flanders, they only escaped by the skin of their teeth
after being roughly handled, and the all-important junction was
delayed so long that a most critical situation arose. Moreover, the
Seventh Division and a Cavalry Division were packed off in a hurry
from this country to help the Belgians out of a mess which they would
not have got into had they been left alone, instead of being sent to
join the Expeditionary Force where they were badly wanted. That is how
I read the proceedings at the time, and how I read them still.

War Office procedure did not at that stage conform to the methods
which had held good previous to mobilization, and which had been
devised to hold good in time of war; something further will be said on
the subject in a later chapter. The Director of Military Operations
did not on this particular occasion hear about the Seventh Division
and the cavalry being diverted to the Belgian coast until after
instructions for the move had been issued and the troops were
preparing to proceed to the port of embarkation. How far my chief, Sir
C. Douglas, concurred in this disposition of our limited available
fighting forces, how far he was consulted and what part he performed
in giving the orders, I do not know. I have no recollection of ever
discussing the matter with him. But there was a circumstance in
connection with the transaction which does suggest that the C.I.G.S.
did not play a very prominent role in the business.

Some time after I had learnt what was going forward--it was next day,
I think--the idea occurred to me to find out what steps had been, or
were being, taken to provide the necessary organization