Sir Henry Wilson's comments on the Archangel expedition of 1918-19,
in the Blue book published this week, are very much to the point. The North Russian campaign began with the landing of 150 Marines in April, 1918, at Murmansk, the ice-free port which the Germans were trying to seize. A thousand more men were sent in the next two months. The enterprise grew, until we had 18,000 men in North Russia. Similarly, we began the campaign against the Turks in Mesopotamia with two brigades, and ultimately had to employ 900,000 men there. Sir Henry Wilson draws the moral that, "once a military force is Involved in operations on land, it is almost impossible to limit the magnitude of its commitments," and that therefore the Government should be very chary a assenting to any appeal
for troops, however few, in any part of the world outside the Empire. We are reminded of Lord Salisbury's caustic remark, made with reference to the North-West Frontier, that "if you were to listen to the soldiers, you would have to fortify the Moon against a possible attack from Mars."
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