Army Manoeuvres of 1913

The Army Manoeuvres of 1913 was a large exercise in the Midlands in September 1913. Learning from the Army Manoeuvres of 1912, many more spotter aircraft were used. [ [http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/milestones-of-flight/british_military/1913.html British Military Aviation in 1913] ] [ [http://www.rafhalton.co.uk/html/history.html Royal Air Force Halton] ] The Manoeuvres highlighted Sir John French's deficiencies as a commander.

Forces

;Brown ForceThis comprised two infantry corps and a cavalry division.
* Commander: Sir John French
* Chief of the General Staff (CGS): James Grierson
* Corps commanders: Lt. General Sir Douglas Haig, General Sir Arthur Paget
* Cavalry commander: Major-General Edmund Allenby

;White ForceThis was an inferior force consisting largely of Territorials and Yeomanry.

Events

Douglas Haig noted in his diary, "Sir John French's instructions for moving along the front of his enemy (then halted on a fortified position) and subsequently attacking the latter's distant flank, were of such an unpractical nature that his Chief of the General Staff demurred. Some slight modifications in the orders were permitted, but Grierson ceased to be his CGS on mobilization, and was very soon transferred to another appointment in the BEF." [Warner, Philip "Field-Marshal Earl Haig" (London: Bodley Head, 1991; Cassell, 2001) pp110–111]

"Sir John French had problems at the 1913 manoeuvres, when his two Corps diverged, and his opponent, Gough, refused to stay still." [Travers, Tim "The Killing Ground: The British Army, The Western Front and The Emergence of Modern War 1900-1918" (Allen & Unwin 1987) p42 quoted in [http://www.johndclare.net/wwi3_travers.htm#4 Tim Travers’s Haig: A Deist Being] ]

Literature

* Report on the British Manoeuvres, 1913’ (unsigned) (cited in English translation in Patricia E. Prestwich, ‘French Attitudes Towards Britain, 1911–1914’ (Ph.D. thesis, Stanford University, 1973) p297.)

References

External links

* [http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/la/DaysofPride/docs/partone.html Days of Pride - the story of Wolverton & New Bradwell 1913-1918 Part One]