THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
English and American war correspondents on
the subject of his department. His is the highly
important and most formidable task of transporting
the whole army and providing it with food, clothing,
boots, and munitions. The journalists, enthralled,
found in him a man young, brilliant, and dynamic,
who remained standing with one foot on a chair
while he spoke to them easily and without notes.
This is what he said, more or less:
'Our task is far from simple. We've got to bring
over to France a first expeditionary force of about
160,000 men (Don't worry, lots more will follow
them), carry them a distance of several hundred
miles, and while we are doing it, see that they have
all they require. We have to provide 25,000 vehicles
with petrol and a considerable number of field and
machine guns with ammunition. We can say to-day
that this initial operation has been completely
successful. More than just successful, in fact, for
when our troops took up their final positions, they
had three days' food in advance.
'You must appreciate that never in the whole of
military history has transportation been undertaken
on such a scale. The positions of our French allies
and our German enemies are very different. They
are operating on their own territory and their civil
organization in time of peace is a great help when
mobilization comes. Even our own position was
easier in 1914, because we were nearer our bases and
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