WAR MEMOIRS OF DAVID LLOYD GEORGE 1917

THE CABINET'S DILEMMA 449
sional glasses he could see more clearly than most soldiers;
but when intuition and genius were necessary for vision, he
did not possess the requisite intellectual equipment. But
which of them did? Had we removed Haig, we might have
set up in his place a man who had not his mastery of the
profession, with no other and greater gifts to make up for that
deficiency. When I was considering the problem I sent General
Smuts and Sir Maurice Hankey around the front to
report to the War Cabinet on the condition of affairs generally,
and I confidentially asked them to look and see for
themselves whether amongst the generals they met, there
was one whom they considered might with advantage attain
and fill the first place. They came back with a very
disappointing report as to the result of their investigations.
Since the War I have been told by men whose judgment I
value that the only soldier thrown up by the War on the
British side who possessed the necessary qualities for the
position was a Dominion General. Competent professional
soldiers whom I have consulted have all agreed that this man
might and probably would have risen to the height of the
great occasion. But I knew nothing of this at the time. No
report ever reached me either as War Secretary or Prime
Minister, which attributed any special merit to this distinguished
soldier. The fact that he was a civilian soldier when
the War broke out may have had something to do with the
tardiness in recognising his exceptional abilities and achievements.
There were eminent generals in the British Army who had
shown conspicuous gifts in their spheres of leadership, but
none of them was fitted to lead an army five times as large
as Napoleon ever had under his command, in a military
undertaking which would have tested even his genius to its
utmost.
With regard to Sir William Robertson, he was not a