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 organisational and tactical change. The Best of All Appointments? illustrates 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 first examines the identity, structure and principal roles of the brigadier general and his staff as it existed in 1914. The profiles of a new generation of brigade staff are then established to illustrate how an increased demand for tactically proficient commanders generated a process of renewal based on merit and experience. The author demonstrates that the reasons behind this process were varied, deliberate and otherwise.
Two avenues of research were adopted in the writing of the book, 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 their brigade sector and its configuration with the enemy lines. In order to challenge the orthodox interpretation that the role of the brigadier and his staff was unduly narrow, the scope of the book addresses two fundamental questions. First, the author focuses on the extent to which brigade command’s response to trench warfare reflected the British Army’s capability for flexibility and innovation is assessed. Through an in depth analysis of brigade operations conducted during 1915-1918, it becomes evident that the measures implemented by brigade staff substantiated their role as agents of organisational and tactical change. These measures were manifested through various spheres of activity, the benefits of which were manifold.