To pass to the development of the organisation.
Almost the first question was that of Staff and Staff work. In the days before the War, the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleets consisted of the following officers:
(a) A Personal Staff, comprising a Flag-Commander, Flag-Lieutenant, and Secretary. The Flag-Captain was also, in a sense, on the Personal Staff.
(b) A General Staff, comprising a Captain of the Fleet with his Secretary, a Wireless officer, a Signal officer, and the clerical staff of the Secretary.
In addition, the organisation provided for the appointment of two War Staff officers, on mobilisation for war.
This was the Staff which, together with an additional Signal officer, I found in the Iron Duke, on assuming command of the Grand Fleet.
It had always been my intention, on relieving Sir George Callaghan in December, 1914 (as was originally arranged before the War broke out, as I have explained), to add to the above, a Captain, for the operational side of the Staff, leaving the Flag-Captain responsible only for the Command of the Fleet-flagship, this being, in my opinion, sufficient work and responsibility to occupy his whole time; and I had prepared an organisation of the Staff of the Fleet-flagship in accordance with which the work should be divided into two distinct branches, the operations and the matériel side, each with a secretariat. I had communicated my views to the officers selected for the Staff. This, in my judgment, was the correct line for any Naval Staff organisation, and it was later introduced by me into the Admiralty Naval Staff.
When informed, just prior to the declaration of War, that I might be required to take over the command of the Fleet, I decided to ask, as the first step, for the services of Rear-Admiral Charles E. Madden as Chief of the Staff.
I had brought with me from London on my own Staff, as Second in Command of the Grand Fleet, a Captain (Captain Bentinck), with the title of Captain on the Staff, a Secretary with assistants, a Flag-Lieutenant, a Signal officer, a Wireless officer, a War Staff officer, and a Signal Boatswain. These, with the exception of Captain Bentinck (who joined Vice-Admiral Sir George Warrender’s Staff), I took to the Iron Duke, and my Staff then comprised:
- A Rear-Admiral as Chief of the Staff.
- A Commodore as Captain of the Fleet.
- Two Secretaries, with the necessary clerical staff.
- A Flag-Lieutenant.
- Three Signal officers.
- Three Wireless officers (very soon reduced to two).
- Three War Staff officers.
- Two Signal Boatswains.
- A Fleet Coaling officer also joined the Staff.