7th Division, which date the
Commander-in-Chief is not in a position to decide.

"The Indian Divisions will join the British Army as soon as desired by
Marshal French.

"In order to strengthen the forces in this part of the theatre of
operations the request made to the French Government by His Excellency
Lord Kitchener has been responded to by sending to Dunkirk two
Territorial Divisions, one going from Havre by sea and the other
railed from Paris without in any way retarding the movement of the
British Army.

"These are the dispositions that have been made with regard
to the movements to be carried out in the immediate future. The
Commander-in-Chief, however, wishes to lay particular stress on the
following considerations. The operations in progress necessitate the
constant reinforcement of our left wing by troops taken away from
different portions of the front. The movements carried out at Marshal
French's request, which can only be effected in succession will
result--

"_Firstly._--In temporarily dividing the British Army in two.

"_Secondly._--In preventing for nearly ten days all movement of
French troops to the north and, in consequence, creating a
serious delay in the realisation of the operations contemplated.

"Now it is of capital importance for the success of the operations
that all movements made to the north, either English or French, should
immediately contribute to the same object, viz., to arrest and
outflank the German right wing. The result will certainly not be
achieved should His Excellency Marshal French propose to defer his
action until all his forces are concentrated. It would be advantageous
to have time enough to complete the English movement so that the
British Army could be engaged all at once, but it appears certain that
events will decide otherwise.

"The Commander-in-Chief may be forced to ask Marshal French to
co-operate with British Divisions as they detrain and without waiting
for the whole of the detrainment to be carried out. He would be
obliged to consider the case of the retreat of the left wing, the
extent of which he would not be in a position to limit, if with the
object of carrying out a concentration which, though certainly
advantageous, is not indispensable, some Divisions remained inactive
at the time when the fate of the campaign was being decided; moreover,
it is to be noted that the enemy on his side engages as he detrains;
we cannot act diffe