Von Schlieffen writes
Sir: Both Colonel Mallinson and Mr R.C. Taylor completely missed the point (Let- ters, 8 and 15 March).
My great-grandfather's plan failed in 1914 because it had been fatally weakened by the incompetent meddling of the Chief of Staff, von Moltke.
The true Schlieffen Plan required 90 per cent of all available mobile forces to be committed to the 'right hook' through Bel- gium; von Moltke disastrously reduced this to 60 per cent. Again, in Lorraine and East Prussia, where my great-grandfather was prepared to sacrifice ground, von Moltke insisted on wasting forces on irrelevant counter-attacks.
Had the original plan been followed we would hardly have heard of the BEF, or von Kluck for that matter, and the war would have been over by late October 1914. Plenty of time to celebrate Christmas!
Alice von Schlieffen
57 Great Cumberland Place, London W1
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