In view of the formal recognition now accorded, as explained by the First Lord in his statement in the House of Commons on the 1st November, to the principle of the division of the work of the Board under the two heads of Operations and Maintenance, the Members of the new Board (other than the First Lord) may be grouped as follows:—
OPERATIONS. MAINTENANCE.
First Sea Lord Second Sea Lord.
and (Vice-Admiral Sir H.L. Heath.)
Chief of Naval Staff.
(Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss.)
Deputy Chief of Naval Staff. Third Sea Lord.
(Rear-Admiral S.R. Fremantle.) (Rear-Admiral L. Halsey.)
Assistant Chief of Naval Staff. Fourth Sea Lord.
(Rear-Admiral A.L. Duff.) (Rear-Admiral H.H.D.
Tothill.)
Deputy First Sea Lord. Civil Lord.
(Rear-Admiral G.P.W. Hope.) (Right Hon. E.G. Pretyman,
M.P.)
Controller.
(Sir A.G. Anderson.)
Second Civil Lord.
(Mr. A.F. Pease.)
Financial Secretary.
(Right Hon. T.J. Macnamara, M.P.)
Permanent Secretary.
(Sir O. Murray.)
The principle of isolating the work of planning and directing naval war operations from all other work, in order that it may receive the entire attention of the Officers selected for its performance, is now being carried a stage further and applied systematically to the organization of the Operations side of the Board and that of the Naval Staff.
In future the general distribution of duties between the Members of the Board belonging to the Naval Staff will be as follows:—
FIRST SEA LORD AND CHIEF Naval policy and general direction
OF NAVAL STAFF of operations.
DEPUTY CHIEF OF NAVAL War operations in Home
STAFF Waters.
ASSISTANT CHIEF OF NAVAL Trade Protection and
STAFF anti-submarine operations.
DEPUTY FIRST SEA LORD General policy questions and
operations outside Home
Waters.
The detailed arrangements have been carefully worked out so as to relieve the first three of these officers of the necessity of dealing with any questions not directly connected with the main operations of the war, and the great mass of important paper work and administrative detail which is inseparably and necessarily connected with Staff work, but which has hitherto tended to compete for attention with Operations work generally will under the new organization be diverted to the Deputy First Sea Lord.
The grouping of the Directors of the Naval Staff Divisions will be governed by the same principle.
The only two Directors that will work immediately under the First Sea Lord will be the Director of Intelligence Division (Rear-Admiral Sir Reginald Hall) and the Director of Training and Staff Duties (Rear-Admiral J. C. Ley), whose functions obviously affect all the other Staff Divisions alike.
Under the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff will be grouped three Directors whose duties will relate entirely to the planning and direction of operations in the main sphere of naval activity, viz.:—
Director of Operations Division Captain A.D.P. Pound.
(Home)
Director of Plans Division Captain C.T.M. Fuller,
C.M.G., D.S.O.
Director of Air Division Wing Captain F.R. Scarlett,
D.S.O.