SIR HENRY WILSON.
[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] Sra,—A few days ago at the House of Commons various eminent persons spent some time in congratulating themselves ea the way in which they bad won the war. It was a happy
gathering arranged apparently by lord Duncannon, politician and soldier, in honour of Sir Henry Wilson, our modest C.I.G.S., who has been created Field-Marshal before Sir Herbert Plumer or any of our Commandere in the field,' presumably because in January, 1918, he, like almost every other soldier, realized the obvious and foresaw a great German offensive movement on the Western Front. I wonder whether it occurred to any one of that distinguished company that it was rather odd that, if the C.I.G.S. anticipated this overwhelming attack and knew exactly where it was coming, he should have agreed to our taking over so much of the threatened part of the line from the French, without at any rate sending out reinforcements from England to Sir Douglas Haig before, instead of after, the Germans had struck their blow. But this is past history : the point for us to remember to-day is that Sir Henry Wilson is still the military adviser of the Government and is the military authority responsible for our "side-show" in Northern Russia. If that expedition wore necessary, the people of this country will be interested to know why inaufficient troops were sent to ensure the safety of General Ironside's position without friendly Russian support; why the strength and efficiency of the Bolshevik Army were so much underrated; and why the Secretary of State for War, instead of publishing to the world in general that we intended to withdraw from Russia in the autumn, had not the courage to explain frankly to the House of Commons and the country the dangerous situation of our Army in Russia. The truth of, the matter is that our General Staff and our politicians banked on the IMICCOSS of Koltchak and gambled on a very uncertain quantity.
If the worst should happen and the humiliating catastrophe of 1885 be repeated, it seems to me that our new FieldMarshal, who appears to have so large an influence upon our politicians, must be considered largely to blame.—I an', Sir, &c., C.
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