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 essential, the scope of the Railway Executive Committee, now in supreme control, became greatly extended.

The official chairman of the Railway Executive Committee was the President of the Board of Trade, but the real presiding chief was the acting chairman, Mr. H. A. (afterwards Sir Herbert) Walker, general manager of the London and South-Western Railway. Working in co-operation with the acting chairman were twelve general managers of leading British lines. They were Mr. J. A. F. Aspinall, of the Lancashire and Yorkshire; Mr. Guy Calthrop, of the London and North-Western; Mr. C. H. Dent, of the Great Northern; Mr. (afterwards Sir) F. H. Dent, of the South-Eastern and Chatham; Sir Sam Fay, of the Great Central; Mr. (afterwards Sir) William Forbes, of the London, Brighton, and South Coast; Sir Guy Granet, of the Midland; Sir A. Kaye-Butterworth, of the North-Eastern; Mr. Donald A. Matheson, of the Caledonian; Sir Robert Turnbull, of the London and North-Western; and Mr. A. Watson (assistant to general manager), Lancashire and Yorkshire. The secretary was Mr. Gilbert L. Szlumper. Under the central body were groups of committees, each made up of railway experts. The War Office and the Director-General of Transport were in touch with the Central Committee. There was a constant interchange of ideas, but from the beginning there was no attempt to supersede the railwaymen in carrying out their work.