11
Liaison
[loth January', 1340]
WHEN one sees described in the books of,
for example, General Spears, that Saint-
Simon of liaison, the relations between
the French and British High Commands from 1914
to 1917, and compares them with the supple
harmony of 1939, the long, painful quarrel of the old
days seems like an evil dream.
There is a group of men to whom this success is
very largely due. They are the agents of the Mission
Francaise de Liaison. They are officers, -both com-
missioned and non-commissioned, and privates who
are attached to the various British units. They speak
English, of course, but it would be a great mistake
to regard them merely as interpreters. The liaison
agent is, above all, a soldier and a combatant who,
by his knowledge of the two languages, has been
called upon to act as a connecting link at every
point of contact between the two armies. At head-
quarters, the liaison officer ensures that orders are
transmitted correctly. If French and English are
working in the same anti-tank ditch, where the
cross-section must be the same throughout and the
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