The Best of All Appointments?

Explores the evolution of British infantry brigade command during WWI, highlighting organizational and tactical changes and the influence of higher command structures on brigade performance.

The Best of All Appointments? examines the evolution of infantry brigade command in the British Army during the First World War. Through a series of case studies, the author demonstrates that the response of brigade staff to the challenges of the Western Front reflected the army’s capacity for organizational and tactical change. This volume demonstrates how the influence of the corps or division under which a brigade served was fundamental to its battlefield performance and success.

In constituting a key component in the chain of command, the infantry brigade’s role was subject to a progressive but irregular transformation in responding to the challenges of static warfare. The author examines the identity, structure and principal roles of the brigadier general and his staff as they existed in 1914.

Reflecting the varied interrelated dimensions and conceptual planes within which brigade command operated, on a macro level, brigade operations were shaped by political, economic, topographical and technological factors. On a micro level, the influence of the brigade staff was largely determined by the irregularities of brigade sectors and their configuration with the enemy lines opposite. In order to challenge the orthodox interpretation that the role of the brigadier general and his staff was unduly narrow, the scope of this volume addresses two fundamental questions. First, the author focuses on the extent to which brigade command responses to trench warfare reflected the British Army’s capability for flexibility and innovation. Through in depth analysis of brigade operations conducted during 1915-1918, it is evident that the measures implemented by brigade staff substantiated their role as agents of organizational and tactical change. These measures were manifested through various spheres of activity, the benefits of which were manifold.

Although brigade commanders had little control over the broad parameters in which they operated, given the establishment of the organizational and logistic pre-conditions for success, they were able and willing to respond to the challenges of static warfare and subsequent transition to mobile operations. This process reflected the ethos of the prewar British army officer caste and its capacity for learning and adaptation. These values were sustained and applied to effect through the creation of a new generation of brigade staff officers who possessed the intellectual capacity to control large-scale operations. The Best of All Appointments? is a lasting testament to their professionalism and courage.