The War Office at War, by Sir Sam Fay

EP Publishing, 1973. Facsimile of 1937 ed. Hardcover. Very Good. VERY UNCOMMON. 1973 U.K. hardcover with dust jacket. Clean, well-preserved UNREAD COPY with unmarked, crisp-edged pages & tight binding. Jacket very minor shelf-rubbing only. Nice copy! This is a facsimile republication of the 1937 original. Both the 1937 and 1973 editions are scarce. 288 pp. Sir Sam Fay (30 December 1856 - 30 May 1953), born in Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire, England, was a career railwayman who joined the the London and South Western Railway as a clerk in 1872 and rose to become the last General Manager of the Great Central Railway after a successful stint in charge of the almost bankrupt Midland and South Western Junction Railway. He also played an important role during the First World War as part of the Railway Executive Committee and eventually as Director of Movements and then Director-General of Movements and Railways at the War Office, roles that carried a general's rank. "The author's acquaintance with the War Office extends from 1886 -- when as a young railway official he endeavoured unsuccessfully to find a regiment which the government had mislaid -- to the final stages of the Great War, when he was Director-General OF Movements and Railways and a member of the Army Council. The greater part of his book deals with the stupendous effort made by the British Empire in transporting and provisioning the millions of men it sent to the various fronts. Extracts from the author's war diaries reflect the fevered atmosphere of 1914-18, and tell too of rivalry and intrigue behind the scenes. Fresh light is cast upon the supplanting of Sir William Robertson by Sir Henry Wilson, and the retirement of Lord Derby. As a civilian in the War Office, Sir Sam Fay had a unique opportunity of forming an unbiassed opinion upon the bitter wartime controversy between soldiers and politicians. This opinion he expressed in no uncertain terms. Not the least interesting in this remarkable book are the transport statistics sent each quarter to King George V, and the revelation of how closely His Majesty studied this branch of the national endeavour.