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Haldane's reform of the regular army: scope for revision
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 October 2009
Extract
The reputation of Haldane as an army reformer has rested largely on his own writings. In his published memoirs, Before the War (London, 1920) and An Autobiography (London, 1929), Haldane, the former Secretary of State for War, argues that the perception of a new strategic purpose had underpinned his reform of the regular army. Meeting Sir Edward Grey a month after assuming office, in January 1906, he was informed that a Franco-German conflict was possible, and that Britain might be requested to assist France. A preliminary investigation by the Army Council was to reveal that it would take two months to mobilize and transport 80,000 men to France. Appalled by this calculation, Haldane claims that he resolved to provide a more prompt and sizeable contribution to the defence of France and the Channel ports. The new strategy depended upon a revision of mobilization planning; it also required the replacement of peacetime formations by an Expeditionary Force, whose size and organization reflected the military requirements of a Continental commitment. That January meeting had been fundamental. Haldane affirms:
I became aware at once that there was a new army problem. It was, how to mobilize and concentrate at a place of assembly to be opposite the Belgian frontier, a force calculated as adequate … to make up for the inadequacy of the French armies….
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References
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page 71 note 4 See the pathetic letters Haldane wrote to his mother: 5 Oct., 3, 23 and 24 Nov. and 16 Dec. 1915 and 26 Jan. and 16 Mar. 1916, Haldane Mss., N.L.S., Ms. 5,994, ff.99–100, 141, 173, 176, 209–210 and Ms. 5,995, ff.17, 86.
page 72 note 1 Haldane to his mother, 16 Mar. 1916, Haldane Mss., N.L.S., Ms. 5,995, f.86.
page 72 note 2 Haldane, ‘Memorandum of events between 1906–1915’, n.d., Haldane Mss., N.L.S., Ms. 5,919.
page 72 note 3 That Haldane used the terms interchangeably is evident from Haldane to Gosse, 18 May and 24 June 1918, Gosse Mss., Brotherton Library, Leeds University.
page 72 note 4 Baron Islington to Gosse, 4 Mar. 1918, Sir F. Ponsonby to Haldane, 30 Nov. 1918, Viscount Knutsford to Gosse, 8 Sept. 1917, and Knutsford to Haldane, 10 Sept. 1917, Gosse Mss.
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page 73 note 1 For Haldane's speeches in the City and Dtmbar, see The Times, 5 Jan. 1906, and The Scotsman, II Jan. 1906. See also Haldane, R. B., An Autobiography (London, 1929), p. 186Google Scholar, Haldane to Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman, 5 Jan. 1906, Campbell-Bannerman Mss. B[ritish] M[useum] Add[itional] Ms. 41,218, ff.163–168.
page 73 note 2 Falls, op. cit, p. 248.
page 73 note 3 A. J. Balfour to the King, 15 June and 13 July 1904, CAB[inet Papers] 41/28/20, W.St. J. Brodrick to Lord Kitchener, 29 April 1904, Kitchener Mss., P[ublic] R[ecord] O[ffice] 30/57/22.
page 73 note 4 Haldane, ‘A Preliminary Memorandum on the present situation. Being a rough note for consideration by members of the Army Council’, 1 Jan. 1906, Haldane Mss., N.L.S., Ms. 5,913, para. 4. See also Haldane, ‘The Second Memorandum’, 1 Feb. 1906, para. 6 and ‘The Third Memorandum’, 23 Mar. 1906, para. 2 and 15, Haig Mss., N.L.S., 32a. Note that the first memorandum pre-dates Haldane's campaign speeches. He acknowledged that these speeches were for military consumption only, to ally any fears regarding the purpose of a Liberal government. Haldane to Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman, 5 Jan. 1906, Campbell-Bannerman Mss., B. M. Add. Ms. 41,218, f.167.
page 73 note 5 K. Robbins, op. cit., p. 178.
page 73 note 6 Haldane in Gullane, The Scotsman, 7 Apr. 1904.
page 74 note 1 Haldane in Glasgow, The Glasgow Herald, 15 Oct. 1904.
page 74 note 2 Haldane to Asquith, 25 Dec. n.d. (but probably 1905), Asquith Mss., Ms. 10, f.237.
page 74 note 3 Haldane, ‘The Third Memorandum’, 23 Mar. 1906, para. 15, Haig Mss., N.L.S., 32a.
page 74 note 4 Sir F. Maurice, op. cit., I, p. 176.
page 74 note 5 Lord Haldane, Before the War, op. cit., pp. 171–175.
page 75 note 1 R. B. Haldane, ‘Considerations governing the Peace Strength of the Regular Army’, 1 Feb. 1907, P.R.O., GAB 37/86/11.
page 75 note 2 Haldane, Before the War, op. cit., p. 31.
page 75 note 3 Field-Marshall Robertson, Sir W., Soldiers and Statesmen, 1914–1918, 2 Vols. (London, 1926), I, p. 31.Google Scholar
page 75 note 4 Compare Sir H. Wilson, ‘Action to be taken in the event of intervention in a European War’, 23 Aug. 1911, CAB 2/2/114 with Sir H. Wilson to Lord Roberts, 17 April 1910, Roberts Mss., P.R.O., W.O. 105/45.
page 75 note 5 Sir D. Haig to Haldane, 4 Aug. 1914, Haldane Mss., N.L.S., Ms. 5,910, ff. 251–252.
page 75 note 6 S. R. Williamson, op. cit., p. 100.
page 76 note 1 Lt.-Gen. Ellison, G. F., ‘Reminiscences’, Lancashire Lad (Nov. 1935), pp. 8–9.Google Scholar
page 76 note 2 A. J. Balfour, ‘Draft Report on the Possibility of Serious Invasions’, 11 Nov. 1903, P.R.O., CAB 3/1/18A.
page 76 note 3 Sir W. G. Nicholson to Lord Roberts, 29 Nov. 1903, Roberts Mss., National Army Museum, R/52/108 and Nicholson, ‘Remarks on the Report on the Possibility of a Serious Invasion’, 7 Dec. 1903, P.R.O., CAB 3/1/19A.
page 76 note 4 Haldane to J. R. Thursfield, 25 Aug. 1901; see also Haldane to Thursfield, 16 Sept. 1901, 5 Mar. 1905 and 13 May 1905, Haldane Mss., N.L.S., Ms. 5,905, ff.101, 106 and Ms. 5,906, ff. 162, 167.
page 77 note 1 Haldane, ‘A Preliminary Memorandum… ’, op. cit, para. 2.
page 77 note 2 Haldane, Before the War, op. cit., pp. 31–32.
page 77 note 3 Haldane, ‘The Second Memorandum… ’, op, cit., para. 9.
page 77 note 4 Nicholson had doubts on the issue which his colleagues did not share. See the 77 Meeting of the Army Council, Precis No. 278,21 June 1906, P.R.O., W.O. 163/11. Clarke, however, had always been enthusiastic. See Haldane to Lord Esher, 4 Feb. 1906, Haldane Mss., N.L.S., Ms. 5,907, f. 23.
page 78 note 1 Haldane, ‘A Preliminary Memorandum… ’, op. cit. para. 8
page 78 note 2 Haldane, ‘The Second Memorandum… ’, op. cit. para. 19.
page 79 note 1 Parl[iamentary] Deb[ates], Fourth Ser., CLX (12 July 1906), cols. 1088–1098 and 87 Meeting of the Army Council, 1 Feb. 1907, P.R.O., W.O. 163/12.
page 79 note 2 S. R. Williamson, op. cit., p. 100.
page 79 note 3 Disease and sickness had taken its toll, 48% and 4% respectively, but the proportion of war-wounded was much higher than ever experienced by the British Army. ‘Memorandum drawn up in M.T.I on Wastage in War’, 27 April 1906, P.R.O., W.O. 32/8813.
page 80 note 1 Ibid.
page 80 note 2 Parl.Deb., Fourth Ser., CLX (12 July 1906), col. 1098.
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page 80 note 4 Parl.Deb., Fifth Ser., LIX (11 Mar. 1914), cols. 1245–1256.
page 81 note 1 This article has only been concerned with the relevance of a Continental strategy for the Regular army reforms of Haldane. For an examination of how these reforms were implemented see Summerton, N. W., The Development of British Military Planning for a War against Germany 1904–1914. (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1970)Google Scholar.