THE OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 42, 18 February 1918, Page 7

THE OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

[AUSTRALIAN-NEW ZEALAND CABLB ASSOCIATION AND BETTTEB.) LONDON, 16th ■ February.

"HierPress Bureau states : The extension of the functions of the perma. 'tieni"military representative Was decided at the last ' meeting of _ the War Council at Versailles, and this necessitated a limitation of the special powers hitherto exercised by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. The Government, therefore, thought it right tc offer General Sir William Robertson the choice of becoming the British military representative on'the War Council at Versailles, or continuing as Chief of the General' Staff under the new conditions. Sir William Robertson, for reasons which the Prime Minister will explain in the House of Commons early next week, was unable- to accept either position, arid the Government regretfully accepted' his resignation. Six Henry Wilson has accepted the .position of Chief of the General Staff. The appointment of the British representative at Versailles will be aftnctinced shortly.

Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Wilson is-one of the many distinguished soldiers that Ireland has given to the Empire, and there are many who believe that Henry Wilson in certain circumstances might have been the greatest soldier of his day. In the period of reorganisation that followed the- Boer War Wilson served at .the War Office, and for a time was Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley. It is interesting) to remark that both General Robertson and General Eawlinson held, this command after , the Boer War. General Rawlinson was orthodox, but both General Robertson and . General Wilson inculcated a particular school of thought of their own. Wilson was master of the Continental system. Early in the-.century he put it upon -record that he was positive that the great Prussian menace would materialise. This conviction was the foundation of all his effort. He knew the' French frontier as no other 'British officer knew it. .

Wilson went out "with the Expeditionary Force on the operations side of. Lord French's Headquarters Staff. His intimacy with and knowledge of the French General Staff were of the greatest»value to the Commander-in-Chief. It was, however, during the retreat from Mor^ that Wilson's sterling qualities as a .soldier reached high-water mark. He was the backbone of the Staff. No matter how black the outlook, or desperate the suggestion, he never lost his cheerful demeanour in public or his clear head in the council chamber. His fertile brain probed deep into the probabilities of the enemy intention, and his quick and instant wit produced order out of chaos and confidence out of despair. As the British Army expanded, in size, Wilson found the preferment that was his due, and was appointed to the command of an army corps, but as the commander of an army corps he was never engaged in any of the major operations of the war. In 1916 he undertook a mission to Russia. He then went back to France as a, special senior liaison officer at the French Quartier General. It was generally thought that this appointment presaged a high command abroad, bat he was appointed to the Eastern Command at home. General Wilson became the British military representative on the Allied Council at Versailles in November.

Lieutenant-General Sir William Robertson became Chief of .the Imperial General Staff on 21st December, 1915. He is popularly notable for being one of the comparatively few high officers who have risen from the ranks. He is reputed to be one of the thinkers of the Army, and his appointment to the post he has just vacated was justly hailed at the time as a sign' that the importance of the posi' '.on had been recognised in a way that had not been the case in the earlier si ..ges of the war. _ General Robertson was previously Sir John ; French Chief of Staff, and is said to have been second choice, after Sir ' Douglas Haig, for the Command-in-Chief. ' . -