Brass Hats in Red Tape
Brass Hats in Red Tape
By Wilfrid Bovey
February 1954
The task of the officers responsible for the administration of the Canadian troops in Britain in the early days of the First World War was complicated by enough red tape to tie us all up in knots.
The over-riding factor was that the only real authority was vested in the British War Office. The orders of the “G.O.C. Eastern Command” (or some other Command) were legally all that we had to go by. All appointments and promotions had to appear in the London Gazette as sent in by the proper officer of the proper Command staff. If we had to have a court martial–well, the Command would have to hold it. In other words, we Canadians, from the British Army point of view, were merely some casual additions to the British Forces. However,...