find this study vital. Our General Staff took the
same view, and at the request of Sir Edward Grey, who had written to
him, I saw Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman at his house in London in
January, 1906. He was a very cautious man, but he was also an old War
Minister. He at once saw the point, and he gave me authority for
directing the Staff at the War Office to take the necessary steps. He
naturally laid down that the study proposed was to be carefully guarded,
so far as any possible claim of commitment was concerned, that it was
not to go beyond the limits of purely General Staff work, and further
that it should not be talked about. The inquiry into conditions thus set
on foot was conducted by the three successive generals who occupied the
position of Director of Military Operations--the late General Grierson,
General Ewart, and General Wilson. Each of these distinguished soldiers
from time to time explained the progress made in working out conceivable
plans for using the Expeditionary Force in France and in more distant
regions, to the full Committee of Imperial Defense, and obtained its
provisional approval.

I should like to say how much the Committee of Imperial Defense, which
was originally a very valuable contribution made by Mr. Balfour, when
Prime Minister, to the organization of our preparedness for war, owed
to its secretaries. To such men as Admiral Sir Charles Ottley and, after
his time, to Colonel Sir Maurice Hankey, the nation is under a great
debt, and it was the least that could be done to include the latter in
the thanks of Parliament to the sailors and soldiers to whom our actual
success was due. It was he who, assisted by a brilliant staff on which
the late Colonel Grant Duff was prominent, planned and prepared that
remarkable War Book, which was completed in excellent time before the
outbreak of hostilities, and which contained full instructions for every
department of Government which could be called on to assist if war broke
out. Not only the drafts of the necessary orders, but those of the
necessary telegrams, were written out in advance under Sir Maurice
Hankey's instructions. He and Sir Charles Ottley, themselves sailors,
formed real links between the navy and the army, and did an enormous
amount of work in co-ordinating war objectives.

Of the Navy I need say nothing, for its preparations are well
understood. Nor need I say much of the details in the reorganization of
the army. The general prin