THE WAR NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24255, 25 March 1940, Page 6

THE WAR NEWS

WHAT IT MEANS' ~ SYSTEM OF ARMY COMMAND; By Major-gen. Sir Charles Gwyriri. •■-V LONDON, Feb. 2. ’ Before considering the system; by which the British Army is commanded and , admiriistered, Several points, on which there. is frequently misunderstanding, need appreciated. , ■ The Secretary of State and the Army Council are, mot , responsible for the conduct' -of operations. That is the responsibility ’ of - the; CommandetririChief in-the field: tinder- general direction;;, of, the : War Cabinet. Thus a change in the Secretary of State does not mean a change in' policy. ■';' ." ;: Commanders or higher formations can seldom .intervene personally in' battle once-it is joined.' Division commanders are, as a. rule. the. highest executive officers responsible for the actual conduct of the fight. The staff, though it has three main branches; does not 'work in water-tight' compartments-, : There -is much:'give:,,and take attdV'.perspnal collaboration necessary.- 1. .GS*; Thgr&ite^^rib/Comrijarid^Ma-Cb#e^. pf the : .-Army ?j®ere, as in mariy.othemarmies; : ;- Alsmgte Chief of the Staff. The Army-is rated in peacetime by. the Army Council, presided over by the. Secretary of statet ■. v;:'V’v There are five military members- of the Committee: (1) The Chief of’the Imperial General Staff is the . chief military adviser to the Government, and his department is responsible for strategic planning; iritellfgence, training, and co-ordinatibn of ' all staff duties; (2) The Adjutant-general deals ; : .With man power,-; mobilisation, . and medical services; Quarter-master-general deals with moyemqnt. quartering, supplies; ; and, transport: (4) The'Director-general of Munitions Production: ; (5) The Director-general of the Territorial Army. - :. v The titles of the last two explain their function; the other three-are the heads of the three branches ■of the staff. Each of them-Is responsible ;;tp the Secretary of State and to the Council for the work' of his own The Army normally is split, up mto a number of groups or “ commands of varying size and composition, 'as dictated by strategical ' and geographical conditions. Each group has its commander and a staff, on which ate representatives of, all. branches of the staff. The commander gives effect to the orders and policy of the Army Council. ■■■, - In war the position changes somewhat; A Commarider-in-Chief -is appointed' in each, theatre of therWar, Who becomes directly .responsible to the War Cabinet—not to the. Army Council. The strategic policy of the War Cabinet is transmitted, to the Commander-in-Chief by of the Imperial General Staff,,but .he is solely responsible for the method by which he gives effect to it and for the operations he conducts. ■>«.*. The Commander-in-Chief in each field is given his own Chief of the General Staff, his own Adjutentgeneral, and his own' Quartermastergeneral, each of whom has direct access to him. and each of whom can deal directly with the head of the corresponding department of the; War--Office. The Commander-in-Chief. in addition, is • given a number of technical advisers, who supervise specialised arms and. services.. As a rule, they work ,in collaboration with the appropriate heads of the staff departments, but are directly in touch with the Commander-in-Chief; for example, there is an Artillery Adviser, a Chief Engineer, and so on. The Commander-in-Chief and his staff, of course, make the general strategic plans arid regulate the scope of operations. Modern war, in its scale and complexity, makes much delegation _of authority necessary. As m, the_lasi war, when the Commander-in-Chief commanded a very large force, it may be divided into a number of : armies. Each, army is then responsible, for the administration of its own area and for its paticular share in the operations undertakeri. The boundaries between armies • are - often arbitrarily .defined and., may be altered according to circumstances. . '■ . .. . In delegating authority, thegiading principle is that no commander should have to deal with an excessive number of subordinate . commanders; Following this principle, each army consists of a limited number of army corps, rarely exceeding, six. An army ■- corps in turn may consist ;of from ; four divisions.' Divisions, ; brigades, • arid units are permanent brgariisations which do riot vary their composition. A division! has characteristics which give it special importance ; as a tactical instrument. It is ' the largest-force which has a permanent constitution, i.e., nine battalions of infantry-three regiments of artillery (72 guns); RB. companies, and so oh , . , It is the smallest formation which, being composed of all arms, and-:hay-ing its own administrative services, is capable ,of independent! action. , .It is the. largest body ‘over which'- its commander can exercise personal executive control in battle. - *-• In the British Army , the- -strength of a division all told is about 12,000 men, but in a major section other, troops, notably additional artillery from corps or army r^eryes^. are generally attached to it. The strength . of an army or of a force used, for an operation is, for the above reasons, generally measured, inv -terms ;of divisions... .. •*