THE EX-CHIEF OF STAFF

Otago Witness, Issue 3338, 6 March 1918, Page 24

THE EX-CHIEF OF STAFF

'" SIR W. ROBERTSON'S CAREER. ' Sir William Robertson, K.C.V.0., K C. 8.. EhS.C, late Chief of Imperial General Staff, and now in charge of the Eastern Home Command, had a most remarkable career from the ranks to Chief of Staff of the Army. A powerfully-built country boy, he went to London at the age of 19 and enlisted in the 9th Lancers. Promotion from the ranks is not frequent. The- great majority of officers come from the military school at' Sandhurst. But the door is kept open for a private of good education and character. By passing a stiff examination lie may secure a commission. Young 'Robertson had had only an elementary cation; but he set out to make up for the deficiency by study. He invested his shilling a clay, which is the pay of a British private, in books. As a British regular trooper has none too . Uch time to himself, he used to get comrades to read to him from Bacon and the English classics while be was grooming his horse or cleaning his equipment. Not until he had eor\ed 10 years did ho pass his examination which gave him a commission, in the 3rd Dragoon Guards. He was t'.ien 29, and the average second lieutenant had about eight years the start of him on the Army List. Li the course of lineal promotion he could ne\&er hope to be more than a major. Special promotion could come only through distinguishing himself. Macdonald, who won lame by his .charge at Omdurman. and other eminent British commanders who had risen from the ranks, had won their Way as natural leaders of men in the field. Robertson's career is the more striking, officers say, because it is due to excellence in organisation and in the application of the methods.of modern war which presupposes the grounding of a thorough scientific military education. .Four years after he had received his commission ho had won enough attention to be assigned to the intelligence branch of the quartermaster's department in India. In India he found his opportunity. Rewards are .given officers for learning native dialects. To the average officer there is .nothing very attractive in spending hours with a native "muhshi " or tc-aeher in acquiring a tongue which can be of use •Vith only some frontier tribe. Robertson offered his munshi a quarter of the reward ■•Vhen ho was proficient enough to enrn it by passing an \ examination. This gained for him another opportunity, which was to ipplv his knowledge by explorations on the ■north-west frontier. When the ChitraJ

trouble came his linguistic accomplishments and his knowledge of the country wore invaluable. He came out of the Ohitral campaign with the Distinguished Service Order tor services which included gallantry in action when he was severely wounded. Now he was a '.'marked man" in the service, marked by "stubborn application which had brought him from the ranks and his demonstrated ability. On the staff throughout the South African campaign he earned the praise of Roberts and Kitchener by his capacity for getting things done when others sometimes failed. When in 1910 he was placed' in command of the Army Staff College, even those who agreed that he had shown himself to bo the man for the place were - amazzci at the thought that a man who had been for ten years a private without ahy groundwork of regular academio education, should become the director of an institution which gathers the ablest offioers of the army for instruction. Meantime he had kept on with his languages. He now knew French and German and he had studied the Continental army systems. As Director of Military training at the War Office ho later had much to do the preparation of the Br'tish Expeditionary'Force. He went to Franoe with it as the Quartermaster-general who was responsible for keeping that army overseas supplied. His success in this led to his appointment as Chief of '.f.taff in December, 1915.