Paris 1918: The War Diary of the British Ambassador, the 17th Earl of Derby

384 Pages·2001·1.15 MB·English

by  David Dutton

PARIS 1918
The War Diary ofthe British Ambassador,the 17th Earl ofDerby
Liverpool Historical Studies
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PARIS 1918
The War Diary of the British Ambassador,
the 17th Earl of Derby
Edited by David Dutton
LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY PRESS
Liverpool Historical Studies, No. 18
General Editor: P. E. H. Hair
Published 2001 by
LiverpoolUniversityPress
4 Cambridge Street
Liverpool
L69 7ZU
Introduction and notes copyright © David Dutton 2001
Diary copyright © the Earl of Derby 2001
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the
publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A British Library CIP record is available
ISBN 0 85323 517 1 cased
ISBN 0 85323 657 7 paperback
Typeset by Northern Phototypesetting Co Ltd, Bolton
Printed in Great Britain by Bell and Bain Ltd, Glasgow
In memory of Jean and Ronald George
Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, 1924
(photograph by E. Chambré Hardman, reproduced by permission of the
E. Chambré Hardman Trust)
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations x
Introduction xi
Persons mentioned frequently in the diary xxxv
DIARY
May 1918 1
June 1918 29
July 1918 76
August 1918 111
September 1918 181
October 1918 234
November 1918 312
Index 338

Acknowledgements
I should like to thank the Right Hon. The Earl of Derby for encouraging
me to produce this edition of his great-grandfather’s diary, and also for
granting me access to the original text held in the library at Knowsley,
where I received much help and kindness from the Keeper of the
Knowsley Collection, Miss Amanda Straw. The bulk of the Derby papers
are held at the Liverpool Central Library Record Office, where the staff
were unfailingly helpful and responsive to my needs.
Material of which they own the copyright is reproduced by kind per-
mission of the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, the Earl Haig, Sir Ian Hogg
and Lord Robertson of Oakridge.
For assistance in elucidating references within the text I am pleased to
thank Philip Bell, Charles Esdaile, Naomi Evetts, Michael Hughes,
Gaynor Johnson, John Keiger, John Kentleton, William Philpott, and
Robert Williams, none of whom of course bears any responsibility for
remaining errors of fact, interpretation and assessment.
I am grateful to the Publications Committee of the School of History at
the University of Liverpool for supporting this project, and particularly
to Paul Hair, the General Editor of Liverpool Historical Studies, whose
keen eye and tactful comments have saved me from many slips. Robin
Bloxsidge has, as ever, proved an admirable publisher. Andrew Kirk
oversaw the later stages of production.
A formidable feat of word-processing was carried out by Alison
Bagnall, whose expertise commands the unstinting admiration of lesser
mortals such as the editor of this text.
David Dutton
Liverpool, 2000
[ix]
Abbreviations
ADC aide-de-camp
AG Adjutant-General
AJB Arthur James Balfour
ASC Army Service Corps
ASE Amalgamated Society of Engineers
BEF British Expeditionary Force
CIGS Chief of the Imperial General Staff
CMG Companion of (the Order of)St. Michael &St. George
DGT Director-General of Transport
DH Douglas Haig
DMI Director of Military Intelligence
DSO Distinguished Service Order
FO Foreign Office
GBE Knight Grand Cross (of the Order) of the British Empire
GHQ General Headquarters
GOC General Officer Commanding
GQG Grand Quartier Général
GSO General Staff Officer
MC Military Cross
M of FA Ministry of Foreign Affairs
OC Officer Commanding
PLM Paris–Lyon–Méditerranée (railway)
QMG Quartermaster-General
RA Royal Artillery
S of S Secretary of State
YMCA Young Men’s Christian Association
[x]