nd
he was duly instructed to come and report himself to me. He was by no
means enthusiastic on his being informed of the proposal to divert him
from the work that he had arrived to take over and which particularly
appealed to him, and he displayed a diffidence for which, it speedily
became apparent, there were no grounds whatever, for he proved himself
to be absolutely made for the Russian job. As a result of his
practical knowledge, of his genius for administration, of his driving
power and of his personal charm, he gained the complete confidence of
Lord Kitchener and of all Russians who were brought into contact with
him. I kept him in a manner under my wing till the end of the year,
although his work was not, properly speaking, General Staff work; but
his little branch was transferred to General von Donop's department
when Sir W. Robertson arrived and reorganised the General Staff
arrangements at the War Office.

Ellershaw formed one of the party which accompanied Lord Kitchener on
the ill-fated expedition that terminated off the Orkneys, and he was
drowned with his Chief. His death, like that of Colonel Fitzgerald and
Mr. O'Beirne, was a real loss to his country, and it was greatly
deplored by the many highly placed Russians who had had dealings with
him and who had been enormously impressed by his work on their behalf.
For some weeks after the _Hampshire_ catastrophe his place was not
filled up; but General von Donop eventually asked me to take charge of
his branch, which I agreed to by no means willingly, the work being
entirely out of my line and my technical knowledge being virtually
non-existent. Ellershaw, however, had everything in such good order
and had got together such efficient assistants that the duty of
superintendence did not, as it turned out, prove so difficult as had
seemed likely. General Furse, on succeeding General von Donop some
months later, objected to having under him a branch which was not a
supply branch, but a liaison branch between the Russians on the one
hand and his department and the Munitions Ministry on the other hand,
so it was then settled that we should come directly under the
Under-Secretary of State--a very appropriate arrangement.

As all armament for Roumania had to pass through Russia, it became
convenient that my branch should look after this as well, and we
gradually came to be co-ordinating the supply of armament to all the
Allies. Then, early in 1918, as a consequence