Page:EB1922 - Volume 30.djvu/250

214

wode, and the desert column under Maj.-Gen. Sir H. G. Chauvel. In the early part of 1918 further reorganization became necessary, and in Aug. 1918, prior to the final offensive, the forces were or- ganized as: G.H.Q. troops; Desert Mounted Corps (Lt.-Gen. Sir H. G. Chauvel), 4th and 5th Cav. Divs., Australian and New Zealand Mounted Div., Australian Mounted Div. ; XX. Army Corps (Lt.-Gen. Sir P. W. Chetwode), loth, 53rd, 6oth Divs.; XXI. Army Corps (Lt.-Gen. Sir E. S. Bulfin), 3rd (Lahore), 7th (Meerut), 54th and 75th Divs.; Palestine lines of communications; forces in Egypt force troops (including Sollum District), Alex- andria District.

Saltnika. The Allied forces, in anticipation of the Greek nation joining the Entente Powers, commenced to assemble in this theatre of war in Oct. 1915, under the command of Gen. Sarrail of the French army. In this first phase of operations (the attempted relief of Serbia, and the withdrawal to and the defence of the Salonika region), the British forces engaged were under the command of Lt.-Gen. Sir B. T. Mahon, and included the loth, 22nd, 27th and 28th Divs. The 27th Div. was transferred to Egypt at the end of Oct. but returned to Salonika in Nov. 1915. These were followed by the 26th Div. from France in Jan. 1916. In April 1916 the British forces were organized as: Army Troops (including Royal Flying Corps and a mounted brigade) ; XII. Corps (Lt.-Gen. Sir H. F. M. Wilson), 22nd, 26th and 28th Divs.; XVI. Corps (Lt.-Gen. Sir G. Milne), loth and 27th Divs.; garrisons of the islands of Mudros, Imbros, Tenedos and Thasos. Gen. Sir G. Milne assumed command of the British forces in May 1916, and Lt.-Gen. Sir C. J. Briggs took command of the XVI. Corps. The 6oth Div. was transferred to Salonika from France in Jan. 1917 for the spring offensive of that year, but proceeded to Egypt in June of the same year. In Aug. 1917 the force was further reduced by the withdrawal of the loth Div. to Egypt. Other transfers and changes of organization did not affect the major formations; but the strength of the divisions re- maining was of course diminished when the brigades, as in other theatres, were reduced from 4 to 3 battalions in the spring of 1918.

These 4 divisions later formed the " Army of the Black Sea." They were gradually diminished by the course of demobilization, and as the result of events and decisions on Middle Eastern policy. During 1918 and 1919 various British forces operated in the Cau- casus, Persia and Transcaucasia, and a military mission accom- panied Gen. Denikin's (afterwards Gen. Wrangel's) operations in South Russia in 1919-20.

Mesopotamia. Early in Feb. 1915 an Indian Expeditionary Force (known as " Force D ") was dispatched from India under the command of Lt.-Gen. Sir A. A. Barrett (who was shortly suc- ceeded by Gen. Sir J. E. Nixon). This force seized Basra as a base and advanced on Bagdad. The total strength of the force at this period was 6,717 British and 19,245 Indian combatants, 5,895 non- combatants and 11,000 animals, including camels and mules. In Jan. 1916 Lt.-Gen. Sir P. H. N. Lake succeeded to the command, and the 3rd Lahore and 7th Meerut Divs. were transferred from France. Then followed the battle of Ctesiphon, the retreat to Kut and the surrender there of the 6th Poona Div. in April 1916. The force (6th Cav. Bde., 3rd, 7th and later I3th Indian Divs.) or- ganized to relieve Kut was commanded by Lt.-Gen. Sir F. J. Ayl- mer, who was shortly succeeded by Lt.-Gen. Sir. G. F. Gorringe. On Aug. 28 1916 Lt.-Gen. Sir Stanley Maude was appointed com- mander-in-chief of the force. It was now organized as: base and lines of communication; Bushire detachment; Euphrates line I5th Indian Div.; Tigris Corps -(Lt.-Gen. A. S. Cobbe), comprising 6th Indian Cav. Bde., 3rd Lahore and 7th Meerut Divs., I3th and I4th Indian Divs. Shortly afterwards the Tigris Corps was re- organized as the I. Indian Corps (Cobbe), comprising 6th Indian Cav. Bde., 3rd Lahore and 7th Meerut Divs.; and the III. Indian Corps (Lt.-Gen. Sir W. R. Marshall), comprising the I3th and I4th Indian Divs. On Nov. 18 1917 Lt.-Gen. W. R. Marshall was ap- pointed commander-in-chief owing to the death of Sir Stanley Maude. The 3rd Lahore and 7th Meerut Divs. were transferred to Egypt in April and Jan. 1918 respectively. Various reenforcements had been added to the force from time to time. By Nov. 1918 there were present an Indian cavalry div. (6th, 7th, nth, and later 3rd Indian Cav. Bdes.); I. Indian Army Corps (Cobbe), l?th and l8th Indian Divs.; III. Indian Army Corps (Sir R. G. Egerton), I3th and I4th Indian Divs.; I5th Indian Div.; North Persian Force (Maj.-Gen. L. C. Dunsterville), 36th and jgth Indian Inf. Bdes.

North-West Frontier of India. From 1914 to 1917 frequent risings took place on the N.W. frontier, followed by punitive ex- peditions which in many cases were of considerable strength (one or two mixed brigades and sometimes more). Three divisions were maintained as war strength on the frontier throughout the period of the World War, and these divisional headquarters acted as con- trolling headquarters or groups of columns formed substantially by their respective divisions, though the order of battle was modified as required. The 1918 operations in Persia and in the Caspian region were carried out very largely by forces working under the orders of the 4th Quetta Div. of the Indian Army.

North Russia. Operations in this theatre took the form, initially, of occupying Kela and various points along the Murman railway and adjacent regions in the spring and summer of 1918, in order to

prevent the Germans and the Finns from doing so. The Allied forces were small, and were to form a nucleus for an army to be created from Russian and Czechoslovak sources. In Aug. 1918 operations extended to Archangel and to the Archangel-Vologva railway by another force. This too, though larger than that on the Murman line (numbering some 14,000 organized troops), was meant chiefly as a nucleus upon which a Russian army could be built up for opera- tions against the Soviet Government. In May 1919 two reenforcing brigades, specially formed, were sent to Archangel, and somewhat later a small additional force was dispatched. In the spring of 1919 it had been decided to evacuate both North Russian theatres of operations, and Gen. Lord Rawlinson was sent as commander-in- chief to coordinate the two operations of withdrawal. The evacuation was successfully completed on Sept. 27 for Archangel and on Oct. 12 for Murmansk.

Other Theatres. It is unnecessary here to deal in detail with the organization of the British forces in other theatres of war. Under DARDANELLES, EAST AFRICA, and similar headings, the facts are given elsewhere. Some idea of the variety and complexity of the tasks which British and British Dominion military organization had to cope with in the years 1914-20 is afforded by the fact that the sub- sidiary theatres included Cameroon, Togoland, German South- West Africa, Tsingtau (China), South Russia, the Caucasus, North and South Persia, Aden, the Gulf of Oman, Baluchistan, Burma, Samoa, and New Guinea.

Statistics. In Aug. 1914 the total strength of the British army, in all theatres of action, was as follows: regular army, officers 10,800, other ranks 236,632; army reserve, 145,347; special reserve, officers 2,557, other ranks 61,376; Channel Isles and militia, officers 176, other ranks 5,437; territorial force, officers 10,684, other ranks 258,093; territorial force reserve, officers 661, other ranks 1,421; Bermuda and Isle of Man volunteers, officers 18, other ranks 312 a total of 24,896 officers and 708,618 other ranks.

In Nov. 1918 the army figures showed a grand total of 193,102 officers and 4,755,242 other ranks (excluding 388,599 Indian troops). The expeditionary forces alone comprised 112,200 officers and 3, 1 14, 679 other ranks; among the officers were 93,608 British, 13,382 Colonial, 4,991 Indian native, and 217 Egyptian; and among the other ranks were 1,981,667 British, 291,018 Colonial, and 254,457 Indian native. In the United Kingdom there were 61,694 British officers, 1,321,617 British troops of other ranks, 9,720 Colonial officers and 210,353 Colonial troops of other ranks. The remainder were in India and foreign gar- risons and dependent ports.

The total casualties reported up to March 14 1920 comprised: killed (including died from wounds and other causes, but not including 101,000 among the "missing" now "presumed dead "), 42,348 officers and 724,500 other ranks; wounded, 97,908 officers and 1,993,081 other ranks; and "missing," 4,211 officers and 242,772 other ranks (of these 101,000 had been "presumed dead" on lapse of time, but are not included in the figure for " killed "). (B. B.-H.)

Demobilization. Practically the whole man-power of the nation had been mobilized during the years of the World War. Demobilization was not therefore an exclusively military problem. It was as much an economic and industrial one; and the reestablishment of particular industries on a peace foot- ing would depend on the order of priority of release observed. It is, indeed, impossible, in formulating a modern scheme of demobilization, to reconcile entirely the antipathetic claims of the individual and of the State; and the War Office Army Demobilization Committee which was representative of civil as well as military interests decided, after considering all phases of the problem, that in the national interest a soldier's entitle- ment to priority of release must depend on his civil occupation rather than on the nature and length of his service with the Colours (see DEMOBILIZATION AND RESETTLEMENT). The Com- mittee went further. They decided that two particular classes of men called " Demobilizers " and " Pivotal Men " respectively must be released in advance even of the period of general demo- bilization. To the early release of " Demobilizers " that is, the men actually required in putting through the demobiliza- tion process no objection was, or could be, raised; but the release of " Pivotal Men " that is, men either of special tech- nical or administrative capacity or belonging to " key " indus-