also sent from Ceylon, the Fiji Islands, and other
outlying parts of the empire. The premier said that since the
beginning of the war the admiralty had transported 2,500,000 troops,
300,000 sick and wounded, 2,500,000 tons of stores and munitions, and
800,000 horses. The loss of life in the transportation of these troops
was stated to be less than one-tenth of one per cent.

On December 2, 1915, General Joffre was appointed commander in chief
of all the French armies, excepting those in North Africa, including
Morocco, and dependent ministry colonies. The appointment was made on
the recommendation of General Gallieni, the War Minister, who, in a
report to President Poincare, said:

"By the decree of October 28, 1913, the Government, charged with the
vital interests of the country, alone has the right to decide on the
military policy. If the struggle extend to several frontiers, it alone
must decide which is the principal adversary against whom the majority
of the forces shall be directed. It consequently alone controls the
means of action and resources of all kinds, and puts them at the
disposal of the general commander in chief of the different theatres
of operations.

"The experience gained, however, from the present operations, which
are distributed over several fronts, proves that unity of direction,
indispensable to the conduct of the war, can only be assured by the
presence at the head of all of our armies of a single chief,
responsible for the military operations proper."

General Joffre's new appointment possesses a historic interest, for it
created him the first real general in chief since the days of
Napoleon, independent entirely of the national ruler as well as of the
minister for war and any war council.

In the beginning of December, 1915, Field Marshal Sir John French was
relieved at his own instance and appointed to the command of the home
forces. He was given a viscountcy in recognition of his long and
brilliant service in the army.

From the landing of the British Expeditionary Force in France, Sir
John French had commanded it on the Franco-Belgian frontier along a
front that grew from thirty-two miles to nearly seventy in one year,
while the troops under his command had grown in numbers from less than
sixty thousand to well over a million. The son of a naval officer,
John Denton French began his career as a midshipman in the navy, but
gave that up after a three years' trial and joined the army