nprepared -- My visit to German districts on the Belgian
and Luxemburg frontiers in June 1914 -- The German railway
preparations -- The plan of the Great General Staff indicated by
these -- The Aldershot Command at exercise -- I am summoned to
London by General H. Wilson -- Informed of contemplated
appointment to be D.M.O. -- The unsatisfactory organization of
the Military Operations Directorate -- An illustration of this
from pre-war days -- G.H.Q. rather a nuisance until they
proceeded to France -- The scare about a hostile maritime descent
-- Conference at the Admiralty -- The depletion of my Directorate
to build up G.H.Q. -- Inconvenience of this in the case of the
section dealing with special Intelligence services -- An example
of the trouble that arose at the very start -- This points to a
misunderstanding of the relative importance of the War Office and
of G.H.Q. -- Sir J. French's responsibility for this, Sir C.
Douglas not really responsible -- Colonel Dallas enumerates the
great numerical resources of Germany -- Lord Kitchener's
immediate recognition of the realities of the situation -- Sir J.
French's suggestion that Lord Kitchener should be
Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force indicated
misconception of the position of affairs.

In a record of experiences during the Great War that were for the most
part undergone within the War Office itself, it is impossible to
overcome the temptation to draw attention at the start to the
unreasonably disparaging attitude towards that institution which has
been adopted so generally throughout the country. Nobody will contend
that hideous blunders were not committed by some departments of the
central administration of the Army in Whitehall during the progress of
the struggle. It has to be admitted that considerable sums of money
were from time to time wasted--it could hardly be otherwise in such
strenuous times. A regrettable lack of foresight was undoubtedly
displayed in some particulars. But tremendous difficulties,
difficulties for the existence of which the military authorities were
nowise to blame, had on the other hand to be overcome--and they were
overcome. Nor can the War Office be robbed of its claim to have borne
the chief share in performing what was the greatest miracle of all the
miracles performed during the course of the contest. Within the space
of