Volume 1

Minutes of evidence taken before the Royal Commission on the War in South Africa.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on the South African War, 1899-1900
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Minutes of evidence taken before the Royal Commission on the War in South Africa. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Viscount Kitchener of Khartowm, G.C.B., 0.M., G.C.M.G., R.E. 14 Oct. 1902. Men who had received training in riding were good horsemen, but tne care of horses required much wore attention. ae lt is difficult in time of war to instruct men in horse- manship or in horse management, and for this reason more of our men, I think, should receive careful in- struction in horse management during peace time. In the latter stages of the war men improved very much in the matter of looking after their horses. The instructions for the construction of intrench- ments contained in the drill books which were in force at the beginning of the war did not sufficiently accen- tuate tne lmportance of adapting the actual work to the conformation of the ground, and to the topography of the surrounding country. This defect has, however,, been remedied in the drill books now in use by the troops. ; ; Many valuable lessons have been learnt in this respect during the war; they should, I think, be taken advan- tage of in the future training of the Army. The importance of the use of cover under modern con- ditions of rifle fire has been brought prominently forward, whilst the great value of even very nasty entrenchments has been proved over and over again. I am of opinion, that all infantry and artillery should carry with them sufficient tools to enable them to con- struct hasty entrenchments, for as the accuracy of weapons improves, so in equal degree will the value of such entrenchments increase. 174. What is your opinion as to the quality of the officers ? There appears to be too often a want of serious study of their profession by officers who are, I think, rather inclined to deal too lightly with military questions of moment. The junior officers were, in my opinion, better than the senior officers. . The officers on the staff were very mixed. Some were excellent, whilst others had no staff training, and had everything to learn. There was no reserve of qualified staff officers to fill vacancies. The tendency on the part of some generals and commanders to do their own staff work was noticeable, and should be discontinued. I consider that the training of officers to fit them for war can best be provided by manceuvres, which should be made to follow as closely as possible every characteristic detail of war up to the actual contact between the com- batants. War training other than manceuvres should be made as interesting and up-to-date as possible; the independent instruction of squadrons, troops, companies, half-com- panies, and even sections, should form the fundamental principle of our training. Captains and subalterns should be real commanders, and battalion and brigade commanders should confine themselves to supervision, while they refrain from meddling with details. Officers who show marked professional zeal and ability should be considered for special substantive promotion. I am of opinion that field exercises should be kept up. Hunting and polo are the best and quickest means of exercising and developing the qualities and muscles re- quired in the field, and there is no reason why such field exercises should unduly interfere with an officer’s serious and »roper study of his profession. A strong constitution and good health are of the greatest importance, and weakly oijicers who cannot stand real hard work should be carefully eliminated from the field army. Lives of men should not be en- trusted to the care of officers who may fail in war, not from want of training or knowledge, but from physical inability to stand the strain of a campaign. Officers should be trained to take responsibility. They should be induced to exercise their brains and to strike out ideas for themselves, even at the risk of making mistakes, rather than to stagnate, or to follow the dull routine which at present affects the officers in our service and moulds them into machines of very limited capacity. The habit of acting on their own initiative should be fostered among officers in every way, and I deprecate taking the judgment on an officer in the field for carelessness or for other fault, out of the hands of the General Officer Commanding, either. by public opinion or otherwise. Such action affects officers in a most serious and vital manner by cramping their initia- tive, and by making them shun responsibility—thus de- priving them of two great essentials for command. Lhe commanding officers of Regular battalions have not taken a prominent part in the conduct and progress of the war. This is probably accounted for hv the fact that thev sometimes obtain the command of their battalions at EVIDENCE such an age that their powers of endurance cannot Withsiand the physical and moral strain which the re- sponsibility of command in modern war necessarily en- tails. This applies also to brigadiers. It was found on more than one occasion that the reputation of officers acquired in peace time, and even in other wars, was not sustained under the more modern conditions of South Africa. I had some difficulty, even with the experience of a year of the war to guide me, in obtaining a sufficient number of competent officers to command the columns in the later stages of the war. The prolongation of hostili- ties without interruption or rest, and under the con- tinuous moral strain which modern war entails, wears out the individual commander in a remarkably short space of time, and it was often not easy to replace him. I should like to point out, further, that in the higher ranks also there seems to be a want of that professional- ism which is essential to thorough efficiency. 175. You mentioned a want of qualified staff officers, I think ; what did you particularly mean by using the word “ qualified ” ?—Officers who have practised staff work, and know thoroughly their duties as staff officers. 176. Does that mean the Staff College ?—Not neces- sarily; officers can be thoroughly qualified for staff work by practice in manceuvres or in former wars. 177. Do you look upon the Staff College as an 1m- portant element of qualification ?—I do not know that I had much experience in the war which would give me the right to form an opinion upon that point. 178. Is there any other way you would suggest for the training of Byes for the staff than that which is now followed by the Staff College, or otherwise ? —It is rather difficult to answer questions as to how officers should be trained for staff employment. The Staff College, of course, is a very useful one, and turns out some very good staff officers. It certainly is of great assistance to officers when learning staff duties to go through the Staff College. 179. But there are other elements in the training of a staff officer for the staff which you would also like to see ?—lI think the practice of staff work is perhaps more instructive than studying the theory. 180. In order to get that, must an officer be taken away from his regiment P—Yes, he must be taken away. 181. Does that not amount to this, that there must be a limited number of officers in the Army who are qualified for staff work ?—Certainly, everyone cannot be qualified for the staff; but there are a considerable number of officers available. 182. Would it not be possible so to arrange the train- ing of the officer in his regiment as to bring him up to a point in qualifying for staff work, and thereby increase the number from whom you would be able to draw eventually ?—Instruction in a regiment might make an officer more suitable for staff employment than it does now, but it never could absolutely qualify him for staff work, or to be considered as a safe reserve to fall back upon for staff duties. An officer who has never done staff work in the field really does not know the difficul- ties there are before him. 183. I quite understand that there might be a rotation’ of officers from regiments; two things might happen, either you might take a man definitely from his regi- ment and employ him continuously on staff work, or you might have a rotation of officers from regiments, each getting a term of staff work ?—I think it ought to be a rotation of officers, that they should come from their regiments and learn staff duties, and if they have been thoroughly satisfactory in those duties, they might go back to their regiments with promotion. Then they would be available as a reserve to call upon at any time. 184. (Sir George Taubman-Goldie.) As a matter of fact. was there a large or a small proportion of your staff officers who had gone through the Staff College P— T really could not say what number had passed through the Staff College, but you could easily see from a list of the staff. 185. (Chairman.) What have you to say as to the Medical Service? The criticisms on the medical service during the war were, in my opinion, unfair. An army marching in a new country cannot be supplied with medical appliances to meet more than the recognised proportion of sick and wounded. tt 18 tne old question of “bullets or pills,” and the proportion laid down cannot be altered without affecting the efficiency of the army. If, then, an epidemic
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