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ANNEX.
PROPOSED REPLY TO GENTRAL MILES.
(DRAFT)
196
General Miles' request to the War Office for
information was made orally, and the reply should be given
in the same manner. It should be on the following lines,
which should also be followed by the other two Service
Ministries should they receive requests of a similar nature
from the American Service Attachés:-
"(i) We are at present engaged in active hostilities
with the enemy. General Miles, as a soldier,
will be the first to appreciate that in these
circumstances details of our present or future
order of battle, or of our expansion programmes,
are of the most secret character, which are
only in the possession of a very limited
number of Ministers and high officials in
this country. They could not be imparted to
the representatives of any foreign power
except of an ally actively engaged in the war
on our side, and even then only in so far as
their disclosure might be essential to ensure
the most effective co-ordination of our joint
war effort. For example, the French do not
tell even the British General Staff their exact
order of battle other than that of the
formations operating in the close vicinity of
the British Expeditionary Force. This is in
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