'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME I.' [‎38r] (80/454)

ARMY IN INDIA: PRE-WAR MILITARY POLICY 55
situation in India in 1914. During the years 1900-1903
every branch of military policy and every part of the army
were submitted to exhaustive examination with a view to
putting matters on a more efficient basis. Some of the most
pressing deficiencies were rectified forthwith, but most of the
larger questions, with the material collected for their proper
consideration, were kept pending the arrival of Lord Kitchener,
who had been nominated as Commander-in-Chief in India as
soon as his services could be made available after the South
African war.
Shortly after his arrival Lord Kitchener intimated officially
his disagreement with the system of military administration
and suggested radical changes ; but within a few days he
withdrew his memorandum and continued his investigations
for the reorganisation and redistribution of the army. A
year later, however, he returned to the charge and his scheme
and memorandum on the subject were communicated to His
Majesty’s Government in the summer of 1904 by Lord Curzon
when he proceeded home for some months before assuming
his extension of office as Viceroy. The question was raised
on Lord Curzon’s return to India by the Secretary of State
and resulted in a complete change of system. As the Govern-
. ment of India considered that to avoid a military autocracy
it was essential that they should possess a second expert
opinion upon matters of military importance and as in the
system decided upon by His Majesty’s Government there
was no such provision, Lord Curzon found himself unable to
undertake the responsibility of introducing a system which
he considered unsuitable and mischievous ; and he resigned.
The Mesopotamia Commission Report considered this system
as contributing to the errors of judgment and shortcomings
in the conduct of the operations and their opinion is to some
extent supported by the evidence of the two General Officers
who succeeded Lord Kitchener as Commanders-in-Chief—
Sir O’Moore Creagh and Sir Beauchamp Duff. The Report
describes the position as follows : “ The whole of the adminis
trative and executive work of the army became concentrated
in the hands of one man, who has a duality of responsibility,
for he is both Military Member of Council and Commander-in-
Chief. Being the only military representative on the Viceroy’s
Council it is his duty to be present at the meetings of the
Executive Council. The two Army Departments, namely,
that of which the Commander-in-Chief in his capacity as such
is the head and that of which the Commander-in-Chief in his