THERE is a sombre note in the letters I wrote at the beginning of December, 1917. Although we were pinning our hopes on the million American "doughboys" to be ready by next summer, the immediate future was not very hopeful. October and November had been black months. We had been led to suppose that the war of attrition was wearing down the Germans. If German man-power was in the desperate straits that our optimists asserted, how was it possible for Germany to spare seven divisions for the Italian front? These troops, trained in mountain warfare, played a vital part in bringing about the débâcle of Caporetto (24 October), which very nearly knocked Italy out of the war. Italy was known to be war-weary, and the German-directed blow on the Isonzo was one of the master-strokes of the war. The Central Powers failed, however, to drive home their staggering blow, and in spite of the holocaust Italy, by a superb effort on the Piave, stood firm and the supreme peril was averted.(1)

In November the Bolshevist coup d'état in Russia took place and our worst fears were realised. Russia was out of the war for all practical purposes. And the immediate consequence to Great Britain---then bearing the chief weight of responsibility for the defence of the Western front---was the liberation, so it was expected, of many German divisions for the spring campaign in 1918. A journalist friend, who had been an optimist in January, wrote in December:

We have to admit that 1917 did not realise all that we hoped. The people of Great Britain dreamed at the beginning of the year that the German armies on the Western front would be smashed and that our troops would force their way right through them. This dream was not realised, and the German fighting strength is apparently as I write unaffected. The disintegration of the Russian army has released an enormous number of German and Austrian troops from the Eastern front . . . . It is expected that the Germans will make a serious attempt to break through on the Western front.

The prospect of my doing some really constructive work at the Air Board seemed remote. I had now settled down as a captain on Jenkins's staff, and while my work was useful it gave little scope for initiative. On Rothermere's appointment I wondered if perhaps he might ask me to help in his task of creating the new Air Force. To him was entrusted as first Air Minister the difficult job of blending the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in a single new Service.

A week passed and I had no further direct contact with Rothermere. I tried to do my routine job for Jenkins with enthusiasm, but it was beginning to pall. Only at lunch-time and in the evenings, when I was amidst my Overseas affairs, could I expend my pent-up energy.

I hear that Lord R. is interviewing all the heads of Branches. I am sure he will do very well, tho' whether I shall see anything of him I rather doubt. There are rumours that we are all going to be moved to Kensington in a couple of months' time. I only hope they are not true as it would be an awful nuisance to me as the great advantage of being here is that I can go round to the Overseas Club at lunch time.

I expect W. will have told you the news about the Babies scheme and our dinner at the Dawsons, which really went off very well. They are all getting quite keen about it and Lady Plunket is so nice to work with. I hope Dr. Truby King won't be torpedoed on the way, after all the expectations which have been roused

The Russian news is awful. (Letter.)

3 December.

Yesterday when on Sunday duty I went into Miss K's room next door, she was also up doing Sunday work and I found her doing her typing and smoking a cigarette; just think, a lady secretary in a government office smoking What are we coming to ? (Letter).

Just while I was going through one of the periodic waves of depression, from which I have suffered all my life when I have considered that my latent energies were not being utilised, Fate was in reality taking an interest in my problems. Henceforth till the end of the war my services were made full use of.

4 December.

As my wire will have told you, I have been appointed Rothermere's Private Secretary.

I lunched at the Marlborough Club and afterwards went round to the Burlington Arcade to my bootmaker to order a second pair of long boots, and was a little late back at the Air Board. I was actually talking on one telephone when the other one rang. It was a woman's voice to say would I go down to see Lord Rothermere. He could not have been nicer. He said: "Would you like to be my private secretary?" to which I replied, "I should love to be," so he said "Right." While I was waiting to go in to see him I had felt a little bit nervous!

Lord R. went on to say that he wanted to get two or three able men around him who have worked at the Air Board and know the inner working. He wants me to start right away and will arrange everything with General Jenkins. I am to be his principal secretary. You can imagine what I felt. It was the first really happy thing that has taken place for a long time. It means that I have now got a really important job which will put me right in the centre of things.

When R. was appointed I was so happy as I had an extraordinary conviction that in some way I would work with him. Then as there was a delay of some days and nothing happened the reaction set in, and as he did not send for me I thought perhaps that after all he would not care to employ me and that he might feel I was rather an Empire "crank." For several days I was rather depressed.

Later.

At 6.30 the General rang for me and told me that he had had a long talk with Rothermere and that as a special exception he would let me hand over to my successor to-morrow so that I could start with Rothermere the day after. (Letter.)

Wednesday, 5 December.

During the day I went round to the various departments that I deal with and told them that I was starting to-morrow in Room 125 as Lord R.'s secretary. They were all very nice and I was congratulated all day. Everyone seemed to think it is a great chance. I sit in a nice little room with a carpet next door to Rothermere, and the window looks towards Charing Cross and the Embankment.

General Jenkins told Rothermere that the Foreign Office and various other departments had tried to get hold of me but that so far he had always managed to keep me, but that now he realised he was up against a brick wall!

I was woken this morning by rather loud firing, it went on for about half-an-hour then gradually died away. The "All Clear" signal has not yet gone. (Letter.)

I actually took over my new duties on 6 December, the day on which the Armistice on the Russian Front was proclaimed. I had no time, however, for indulging in depression about the Russian collapse. I was suddenly thrown into one of the most interesting jobs in London. British ascendancy in the air was growing and the importance of the new combined Air Force was growing too, and if the war lasted another two years there was no knowing the part we might not play in the final act of the war drama. The air raids which Germany had been carrying out with her Gothas over Great Britain during the past year would be insignificant compared with the raids we hoped to organise over Berlin and other German cities before another year had passed.

My Empire work was booming. My plans for the launching of the English-Speaking Union were steadily taking concrete shape and now at last the country was going to make use of me in office hours. From being a subordinate, one of many hundreds of captains on the organising side of the Royal Flying Corps, I suddenly found myself in a key position-as principal "Private Secretary to the President of the Air Board." Generals who had hardly noticed me when I stood to attention as they passed their humble junior in the passages of the Hotel Cecil suddenly cultivated my acquaintance. Wherever I went I was greeted with friendly smiles. Rothermere appointed as my colleagues Major Segrave(2) and Colonel Philippi.

As the first Air Minister Rothermere had one of the most interesting jobs of the war. During the next five months I worked very hard. I kept R.'s private papers. The scarlet leather-covered boxes with Cabinet secret despatches emblazoned with "G.R." came to me. I collated the reports and only gave to my chief the really important papers. Documents labelled "very secret" had to be kept in a special file of which I alone had the key. I dreamt one night that a spy was trying to worm information from me---an Irish Republican emissary of Germany who had got into my room when I was working alone at night---and just at the critical moment as the documents were being wrested from me I woke up in a cold sweat

I retain very happy memories of my work as R.'s secretary. During the five months he never said an unkind word to me, although he went through a great personal sorrow at the time. I never had the frightened feeling that I used sometimes to have when I was on Northcliffe's staff. During my many years with Rothermere's elder brother I could count on the fingers of my two hands the occasions on which he jumped on me. Nevertheless, there was always an atmosphere of uncertainty. I knew I was one of Northcliffe's favourites, but the life of the favourite is sometimes precarious and I had seen favourites pass out of favour. With Rothermere I was dealing with a normal human being, a just employer who treated me as an equal. In him there was not that elusive something which made his brother an individual who could not be regarded as an ordinary mortal.

For the second time Rothermere became my chief and I worked in intimate association with him. For several years when I was Sales Manager of the Amalgamated Press I used to see him almost daily. When I had difficulties with Northcliffe in extricating myself from Carmelite House in order to devote myself to my Empire work in 1912, Rothermere helped me. I have never forgotten his kindness on that occasion. He warned me not to be quixotic, he pointed out to me that when the first flush of enthusiasm had passed ideals were not very substantial things to live on ; that before working for causes it would be well to assure for oneself a moderate income. He asked me to think twice---no three times---before giving up one of the best positions in Fleet Street. But when he saw that my mind was made up he made my withdrawal easy and treated me generously.

The following extracts are taken from letters written at the time and show how Rothermere appeared to his secretary:

Thursday, 6 December.

I have had a long and strenuous day. First of all there was the air raid as you know. We got two of the raiders down. On arriving at the Air Board I walked round first of all to say a final good-bye to my old friends and then went downstairs and started in Room 125 straight away. I am in and out of R.'s room all day and he could not be nicer to work for and always calls me Evelyn as he used to do.

The work is extraordinarily interesting and I am right at the heart of things and know everything that is going on, and I really think I shall be able to make good. I am going to do my level best. At first it is a little bewildering but it is just the position I would have chosen for myself. Northcliffe's private secretary rang up during the day and asked for Rothermere's Private Secretary. It was rather a surprise to him when he found it was I. I think I am one of the very few individuals who have been private sec, to both brothers!

Friday, 7 December.

I had a terrific amount of work to get through to-day, but it was absorbingly interesting, I have never had more interesting work and I am right in the know and General and Admirals have been rushing in and out of my office all day. I took over from Cowdray's secretary to-day and am now the only person sitting in this ante-room. The man who occupied this room before kept it rather untidily and there were stacks of papers scattered about, so I am trying to get everything ship-shape to-day.

I could not be working for a nicer man and he treats me so nicely and consults me about everything and does not a bit make me feel that I am just a secretary. He practically leaves all his letter-writing to me. I don't think there is any job of the kind I would change with just now and I really feel I can be of tremendous use. I went round to the Cock Inn for a hurried lunch and then went over to the Overseas Club for half-an-hour.

All the secret documents, that come in those red cases, I have to make a synopsis of, so as to be able to tell him about them. My window looks over the Adelphi Terrace. My tea is brought up on a tray from the staff refreshment room downstairs, tea and those little dull round biscuits.

Saturday, 8 December.

Another very busy and extraordinarily interesting day. It is so funny suddenly being let inside all the secrets and knowing just what is going on after being just a cog in the wheel. I intend to cultivate the art of never knowing anything, already I find people trying to pump me.

At present Rothermere is just learning all he can from everyone and I think I have been able to help him quite a lot already. So far I have walked to the office every morning.

Saturday, 8 December.

R. takes me absolutely into his confidence and discusses everything with me and says, "Do you think we can do this," etc. The hours are of course pretty long, if anything longer than before, yesterday I was there from 9.30 till 8.0, but I do not mind as I feel the work is really worth while.

Yesterday I was in his room during two very interesting conferences.

I think the Air Service will become more and more important so we are bound to have exciting times. I am afraid we are in for an anxious spell for the next six months till the U. States get busy.

Sunday, 9 December.

I had a good night, which was rather surprising as I felt quite worn out last night. Before going to bed I read a chapter of Dr. Horton's life. I did two hours of Overseas work before I got up this morning.

I had a very good lunch at the Ritz with R., and Lima, the man who runs the Sunday Pictorial and Daily Mirror. R. could not be more friendly, and then after lunch we went up to his sitting-room and discussed all his future schemes. I had brought a lot of important official papers with me which we went through all Sunday afternoon.

10 December.

I walked down to the Air Board but left my flat in extra good time as I knew R. would be early. I was down there by 9.25 and he turned up about ten minutes later, so I was glad I was in such good time. I had another extraordinarily interesting day. What is so nice about him is that he treats me always as a friend and there is not one-twentieth the ceremony that there was with my late boss (Jenkins), none of the clicking of heels, etc. He discusses everything with me and really makes me feel that I am being of use to him.

Tuesday, 11 December.

I am not going to Church to-day as I wanted to have time to read my papers about the capture of Jerusalem. You know what it all means to me and how happy it has made me. I think it is a wonderful thing to have happened to the British Empire, no matter what happens afterwards.

Of course R. is extra busy now as the future amalgamation of the two Air Services is being built up. The present is really quite an abnormal time as a crisis in the war has arrived and the whole new amalgamation of the Air Forces is going on and R. is working extra long hours. (Letters.)

The capture of Jerusalem was one of the great events of the war. After three years of disillusionment, of repeated disappointments on the Western Front, where Germany seemed impregnable, the cold print of the official despatches recorded a feat of arms which had all the glamour of old-time warfare---an achievement which captured the imagination of mankind. Jerusalem, the city of the Eternal, after seven hundred years was once more in Christian hands. As a boy the story of the Crusades had fascinated me. I had never thought that I should live to see another Crusade, this time a crusade of soldiers from all parts of the British Empire under a British leader. All my belief in the civilising mission of the English-speaking people, the People of Destiny, reasserted itself. We had drawn inspiration from the precepts propounded by Christ among the hills of Judea that debt could never be repaid. We might at least as guardians of the Holy Land give enlightened rule and the blessings of the Pax Britannica to the cradle of our Faith. Allenby's troops had marched during these dramatic days over the stones and hillsides where had walked the Saviour of the world. To be entrusted with the keeping of this small piece of the earth's surface on behalf of mankind was a stupendous charge. By reason of its age-long experience in colonial administration and in holding the scales between the peoples of all faiths the British Empire was well fitted for the task.

Wednesday, 12 December.

R. breakfasted with the Prime Minister so was late. It was another very interesting day and among other things I had to ring up G.H.Q. in France on the telephone; it was extraordinarily clear. I had a quick lunch at Fullers' in the Strand and then went into the O.S. Club for half-an-hour. The money has been pouring into our Hamper Fund and our suppliers have made a special rush to get all the hampers out to-night, the last day on which they can leave so that they will be delivered to the troops by Christmas.

I have got an article on Jerusalem for the January issue of Overseas from Dr. Horton. Although I am very tired every evening it is quite a different kind of tiredness from that caused by just shouting on the telephone all day long with pilots rushing in and out of my room, as in my late job.

I loved what you said about personal ambition, because I do so want to keep it in the background. And I really think that I am, and having no personal ambition gives one such a free feeling and not trying to get any special job and not wanting anything except to be able to do my own Overseas work afterwards or whatever other work comes my way.

Friday, 14 December.

Government officials and important people are always ringing up and I have to fit in their interviews. Very often when R. is in the middle of interviewing someone he will want some special paper or letter and I have to produce it at a moment's notice.

Most of the people who come to see him pass through my room and I talk to them so that I know what is going on and then there are others whom I dispose of without their seeing him. (Letters.)

Sir Frederick Smith,(3) the Attorney-General, as Treasurer of the Bench of the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, gave a dinner in honour of the Prime Minister and proposed the toast of the recently unified Air Service. To this toast Rothermere responded in a speech which was loudly applauded. The historic ball of Gray's Inn made a wonderful setting for the occasion. Inter alia Rothermere said:

At the Air Board we are wholeheartedly in favour of air reprisals. (Loud cheers.) It is our duty to avenge the murder of innocent women and children. As the enemy elects, so it will be the case of "eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," and in this respect we shall slave for complete and satisfying retaliation. (Loud cheers.) General Ludendorff proclaims the war a war of nations, suggesting that the civilian population is as much a mark for the airman's bombs as the fighting man. We detest these doctrines, holding them to be grossly immoral. But in fighting for our lives and the lives of our women and children we cannot, and we will not, consent to their one-sided application. (Cheers.) We have too much at stake in this contest to concede any advantage to a treacherous enemy. He has to learn in this as in larger things that it does not pay. We are determined, in other words, that whatever outrages are committed on the civilian population of this country will be met by similar treatment upon his own people.(4) (Loud cheers.)

Saturday, 15 December.

I went to the dinner at Gray's Inn, in the hall where Queen Elizabeth came and where one of Shakespeare's plays was performed. It really was very interesting. Lloyd George spoke for over an hour and spoke extremely well, and you could have heard a pin drop, then the heads of the Air Force, Rothermere first and then Sir David Henderson and others. I sat at a little round table just at the back of where the P.M. was. There were six at my table, including Harold Smith (" F.E.'s " brother), Davies, (the P.M's secretary) and Warden Chilcott, who is a bosom friend of Winston's. Rothermere read his speech, of course he lacks practice and is inclined to go too fast, but with experience he will improve---it was the speech in which he talked about air reprisals ---"an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." I could not help wishing they all talked more ideals---I hate reprisals.

I am sorry to say R.'s son is wounded and in hospital. (Letter.)

Apart from Sir George Sutton, I do not think that there are many who have worked in such intimate personal relationship with the two brothers Northcliffe and Rothermere as I have. It was always an interesting experience to compare their characters and reactions to current events. In Uphill I have sought to give a fair picture of Northcliffe as he appeared to me during my fourteen years' close association with him. To give an accurate picture of Rothermere is not easy. His outlines are not so clear cut. The first time I ever met him was in Room 2 at Carmelite House in 1903, during my postcard career. Whereas Northcliffe had a palatial room with a huge velvet sofa, heavy curtains, Empire furniture, super-pile carpet and rich ornaments--Rothermere's room was simplicity itself. There was an utter lack of ceremony and no display. His room was only a third the size of his brother's. There was a desk, and a couple of armchairs. There were very few papers lying about.

A young-looking, rather thick-set man in the middle thirties with a friendly handshake and a hearty laugh reclined in an arm chair studying a financial paper. I soon felt at ease. Could this be one of the two alarming Harmsworth brothers whose names could cause hearts to quake in Fleet Street? Could this friendly man be the financial wizard who had largely helped to create the Harmsworth fortunes and on whose judgment Northcliffe relied? I do not think Rothermere as a very young man ever mapped out in advance the position he wished one day to occupy. His primary preoccupation as a badly-paid civil servant was to escape from the restricted life of an official career and to succeed commercially. If I had to criticise Rothermere, I would say that he overestimates the power of the money-bags in life and does not make sufficient allowance for the ideal side of men's natures.

"Mr. Harold," as he then was, gave the impression of being just an ordinary clear-sighted mortal, devoted to his family of three boys and his life on the Norfolk Broads. He was the antithesis of his brother in many things. He hated the limelight. He had no political ambitions. He had no desire for public office. I once asked him, "What do you consider the biggest thing you have ever done?" and he replied, "I do not think I have ever done anything very big, but then I am really rather contemptuous of worldly success." Now with most men if they had made this statement I should have regarded it as an affectation. Not so with Rothermere. I believe he was quite sincere in what he said. He is essentially a modest man despite his detractors.

Rothermere had an amazing flair for figures and for getting to the core of intricate commercial problems. On one occasion an astute American business magnate came over to England to effect a large deal. He waited in Northcliffe's outer room. Busy assistants, an elegant lady typist and an office boy in Eton jacket darted in and out of the great man's room. The American visitor was shown in to see Northcliffe, sitting in state, in a room which even Mr. Rockefeller could not have outdone. He was impressed. At the end of the interview the onyx electric push-button was pressed thrice. The Eton-jacketed office boy appeared:

"Take Mr. Blank to see Mr. Harold."

The visitor was led across the passage. In the tiny anteroom to Room 2 was one young male clerk in the twenties. Without ceremony he passed into Mr. Harold's small office overlooking the Graphic building in Carmelite Street. He found a young-looking man sitting back in an armchair reading Dickens. He was perplexed. At first he thought there must be a mistake. But when, before very long, he began to discuss his proposal, which involved a large sum of money, he found that the young-looking man in the armchair had every detail of the scheme at his finger tips !

Rothermere never indulged in personal spite. If you were in his entourage you might not have so spectacular a career as with his elder brother, but your feet were on firmer ground. I want to be entirely fair to Northcliffe. He was to me a generous and kind chief. I retained his friendship till his death. But there was a hard side to his nature, which increased as the years passed. I think that this irritability in Northcliffe's latter years was due to the illness from which he died.

To be with Rothermere was reposeful after being with his brother. Rothermere was not a journalistic genius like Northcliffe. He had not that uncanny news sense which put Northcliffe in a class apart among the newspaper men of his day. He had not the originality of mind of his brother. He could never have created the vast Harmsworth undertaking by himself. But as a team the two Harmsworth brothers made a unique combination. Rothermere could not interpret the public mind as his brother, and yet he had very necessary qualities---qualities which his brother lacked. Without his sane business judgment and knowledge of finance the Associated Newspapers and the Amalgamated Press would never have become such gigantic concerns. The successful establishment of the vast paper-making undertaking in Newfoundland was largely due to Rothermere. The younger brother had the supreme gift of organising. He refused to be enmeshed in detail. He looked straight through a mass of figures to the essential facts in any scheme. When he took over The Daily Mirror from his brother he instantly made it a great financial success. During the war he established the Sunday Pictorial which subsequently became one of the wonders of Fleet Street.

When he got to the Air Ministry he found two services, the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps, jealous of each other and with no uniformity of engines and methods. He at once set about co-ordinating the two services and standardising the types of engines used.

No one connected with the Air Force had a greater admiration for the pilots than Rothermere. I frequently heard him say that "all our previous standards of bravery will have to be revised in face of the deeds of our boys of nineteen and twenty." During his term of office he wrote:

I wonder if those who read the daily bulletins issued by the Air Force as regards the fighting on the various fronts have any idea of what is entailed by the simple statement "twelve enemy aircraft were brought down" ? Spinning nose-dives, tail-slides, side-slips, "falling-leaf," looping the loop, and the many other stunts entailed, almost take our breath away . . . Only human beings of perfect physique, of matchless bravery or of extra- ordinary quickness of brain can have any chance of distinguishing themselves in aerial warfare in 1918. And here is the miracle--- the British Empire possesses thousands, not hundreds, of these supermen.(5)

I continue the extracts from my letters:---

17 December, 1917.

The lunch at the Marlborough to the American Aviation delegation went off very well and was very interesting. Winston Churchill and the Duke of Westminster were there and also lots of Flying Corps big-wigs. This afternoon I have been perpetually in and out of R.'s room. He said "As soon as I get things all fixed up here I will make you a Major." It was very nice of him and shows that he is pleased.(6)

Thursday, 20.

The raid on Tuesday night was a fairly bad one although it did not make nearly as much noise as on other occasions. They got two bombs quite close to Cleopatra's Needle and one in Eaton Square and several in Chelsea.

I had a very busy day at the office and people were coming in and out and interesting things were happening. R. took me to lunch with him at the Savoy Hotel with a naval man who is in charge of squadrons which are always bombing Belgium. I dined at the Beefsteak Club.

Friday, 21

R. said to-day he wanted me to be secretary of the Committee he is going to appoint on reorganisation of the Flying Corps, with General Salmond and two or three others on it.

Saturday, 22.

To-morrow I have got to lunch with R. at the Ritz Hotel and go out to Hendon to see one of the aircraft acceptance parks.

I could not possibly be working for a nicer Chief. Just at the moment he is rather worried about his son, as he may have to go thro' another operation.

Saturday, 5 January, 1918.

Our chief excitement has been the appointing of the new Air Council and everyone thinks General Trenchard's promotion as Chief of the Air Staff is a good move. He has been head of the R.F.C. in the Field since the early days of the war. One day last week I had to go to see Northcliffe at the British War Mission, which is now at Crewe House in Curzon Street.

Saturday, 12 January.

I shall lay in a supply of soap, as I hear it is going to get very short. . .(7)

On Thursday evening I went to dine with R. at the Ritz. There were eight in all, R., Winston Churchill, Sir William Weir and Sir Arthur Duckham (of Ministry of Munitions), St. John Harmsworth (the invalid), a General Huggins, and Joynson-Hicks.

The party was small enough for everyone to join in and it really was most interesting and one heard a lot of inner history about the early days of the war. I think Winston is just the right person at the Ministry of Munitions.

The day the debate on Women's Suffrage was on I had to go down to the House of Lords. It was wonderful their carrying the vote by such a large majority. I had never been in the House of Lords before.

FOR two months all went well at the Air Ministry. Rothermere worked unceasingly to push through the great task of co-ordinating the two services into one harmonious whole---an achievement for which I think he has never received his due. As I watched him during those first weeks I was sure that he would be remembered as the creator of the Royal Air Force and that he would continue to occupy that great position till peace came. I saw myself as a vital link in the organisation and when ultimate victory came I was convinced that all associated with the Rothermere regime would come in for their share of praise. The sequel turned out very different from my anticipations. I had not reckoned with the hand of death nor with a broken heart.

A reference to the illness of Rothermere's eldest son Vyvyan is contained in this letter, written on 20 January "Lord R. has been rather worried about his boy, who has been wounded and who has had three operations since his last wound. They seem to be afraid of blood poisoning." From now onwards Rothermere was a changed man. He worked just as assiduously, although he usually spent a couple of hours with his son at the nursing home during the afternoon, but there was a lack of concentration about him, which only those who have watched the lingering illness of a loved one will understand. He was face to face with one of the great moments of life, when nothing counts save keeping that one life from the clutches of death.

I never knew Vyvyan Harmsworth intimately although I had met him several times. I recall a splendid young man who was as devoted to his father as his father was to him. I took a special interest in the son because when Rothermere decided to send him to Eton I went down to see Hubert Brinton, an old friend for whom I had a great admiration, and arranged with him that Vyvyan Harmsworth should go to his house. Many years later, after young Harmsworth had left Eton, Brinton told me that he was one of the finest young men that he had ever come across during his Eton career. It was a tragedy that this young man was not spared to fill the great position that awaited him. Beaverbrook once said to me about the relationship of father and son, "The death of Rothermere's son---his eldest son---had an enormous effect upon him. The boy had been at home shortly before he died. He was staying with his father at the Ritz Hotel. He was rather like a watch-dog in an outer room, guarding his master. The boy, I expect, was showing more devotion to Rothermere than he had ever known." During the last weeks of his son's illness I never asked Rothermere for tidings. But frequently during the day I would have to receive for him telephone-bulletins from the Nursing Home. If he were in the middle of a conference with the Air Board chiefs I would hand him a slip with the message written down. The gnawing anxiety never left him. He had already lost one son and he knew how quickly death can intervene. Sometimes I would enter his room unnoticed. He was restlessly pacing up and down. He would suddenly stop by the big window overlooking the Embankment and stand with his back to the room deep in thought. There was nothing I could say or do except to try and distract his mind by placing some important problem of administration before him or urge him to grant an interview to some clamouring caller.

On 12 February the end came.

Sunday, 17 February.

Lord R. was absent from the office all week on account of his son's death, excepting for one hour when he came down on Wednesday afternoon. He is very much cut up and I only hope he will go away for a couple of weeks an get really well. If only he could be induced to go to Italy now I am sure it would be the thing for him. Of course I went to the funeral on Friday. I had to show everyone into their seats. It was a very nice service at St. Mary's, Bryanston Square, and afterwards we motored up to Hampstead where the boy was buried with military honours. Yesterday I went round to the Ritz to see R. and talked to him about things in general for nearly an hour. The Dr. is anxious about his heart. (Letter to parents.)

Sunday morning, 24 February, 1918.

I had a telephone message from Northcliffe yesterday evening asking me to come down to Broadstairs for the day, so I am going. 1 am glad to say R. is decidedly better and has been working quite hard the last three days at one time I really began to fear that he might try to chuck it all up. (Letter to parents.)

After his son's death Rothermere was no longer concentrating his whole being on his task. I don't think at the time he realised that he was different. His sub-conscious self was otherwise absorbed. He had no time for introspection. If only he could have become engrossed in his work I knew it would help him through the valley of desolation. But it is easy for onlookers, who have not drunk of the cup of despair, to make plans for those stunned by sorrow. To their eyes the stricken mortal looks the same, he goes about his daily task as usual, his routine work is punctiliously carried out but something is different. Rothermere tried to carry on as usual immediately after his son's death. He did not reckon with an impaired nervous system that time alone could restore.

Rothermere had always taken a great interest in the pilots in the Air Force. He recognised the necessity for a large ground-personnel but I think he regretted the fact. He hoped by degrees to fill all the important positions at the aerodromes and aircraft parks with flying officers who had done their share of fighting and who could no longer stand the terrible strain of the Western Front. He made a point of talking to flying officers home on leave. He wanted to find out at first hand what the average pilot was thinking of the organisation of the Force and of the Air Board hierarchy; he took into his confidence two or three young Colonels. Now in the fighting services there is rigid etiquette and seniority counts for much. Rumours began to circulate that the President of the Air Board was listening to-nay even seeking-the views of junior officers. Such action on the part of the official head of the Air Force horrified some of the more punctilious generals and admirals connected with the Force; it was "subversive of discipline." From the standpoint of the head of one of the largest and most successful commercial undertakings in Great Britain what could have been more natural?

In his quarter of a century in Fleet Street during which he directed the business side of the Northcliffe enterprises, Rothermere, like his brother, was always on the look out for subordinates of promise. At Carmelite House the junior of twenty-five, if possessed of exceptional gifts, who had hitherto been earning three or four hundred pounds a year, might suddenly find himself in a position of responsibility with a salary running into four figures. He had been promoted by Rothermere or Northcliffe over the heads of many employees years his senior. Undoubtedly one of the reasons for the success of the Harmsworth brothers was their ability to select the right young men for key positions. Carmelite House was an Eldorado for young men with brains and initiative. Was it surprising that Rothermere found the rigid military caste system in force at the Hotel Cecil uncongenial ? He once said to me:

I found the Air Ministry was simply a nest of intrigue. To use an American expression there were all kinds of ex-infantry officers "gunning" for high service positions to which their qualifications by no stretch of imagination entitled them. The matchless valour of the individual pilot has even up to the present day screened from public knowledge the wrong-headed organisation of the Air Force and its palpable inadequacy to meet the requirements of the present day.

The inevitable happened. Rothermere aroused the hostility of General Trenchard---"Boom" we called him because of his deep voice---and his friends. Part of my duties used to be to go up into the sanctum of General Trenchard or some other magnate and say, "Will you please come down to see Lord Rothermere?" "Three" enjoyed the sensation of giving commands to the demi-gods! I was back again in my first year at Carmelite House fourteen years previously, summoning Kennedy Jones, Tom Marlowe, Hamilton Edwards or even on occasion "Mr. Harold" himself to Northcliffe's presence.

Evidently increasing resentment was felt in the opposition camp. Rothermere sent minutes to the Chief of the Air Staff. Even my Chief, who was free from red-tape and had never written a minute in his own business, had to bow before the goddess of army custom. All my life I have distrusted minute writing---necessary though it may be. On paper, controversy becomes more acute, the breach widens, each side seeks to score off its opponent. General Trenchard had skilled advisers; on his staff were distinguished parliamentarians like Sir John Simon and Lord Hugh Cecil. Rothermere appointed General Trenchard to an important command in France, Sir Frederick Sykes was made Chief of the Air Staff at the Hotel Cecil. The fat was in the fire. Questions were asked in Parliament.

Just when the controversy was becoming acute early in April I got a severe attack of mumps and a temperature of just on 105! I disappeared from the stage.

The following extracts are taken from letters to my parents written at this period

Office,                       
26 January, 1918.

On Monday last week Lord R. gave a lunch in honour of the French Minister of Aviation, M. Dumesnil, at the Marlborough Club. It was quite interesting---21 in all. I sat between General Livingstone and Sir. W. Weir. After the lunch I went round with Lord R. to Lord N's office and it seemed quite like old times. They have been very full of the question of giving the officers in the new army a greater share of the higher jobs.

On Wednesday I lunched with John Buchan(1), the Head of the Dept. of Information at the Foreign Office. He was very friendly and I always like him so much. He much appreciates what Overseas is doing and I hope to get him to help me with the question of paper supply which is getting very urgent.

I have been trying to rub up my shorthand in spare moments lately and I find it rapidly coming back to me. It is very useful as I have a lot of notes to make in a hurry.

Marlborough Club, Pall Mall,         
Sunday, February, 1918.

Most of the damage during the air raid on Monday night was done by the last lot of enemy aircraft which came over at 12.30 and 30 people were killed and 91 wounded in the air-raid shelter in the John Bull office in Long Acre. They and many others were in the basement there and the bomb burst down there and its explosion brought down all the floors above and you can imagine what happened. I went round to see it and it certainly must have been very dreadful. The next building to the Hotel Cecil was also hit, so I certainly think they are aiming at the Air Board.

The chief excitement at the Air Board has been the appointment of Sir Henry Norman on the Air Council. I think it is a very good appointment as he is a much-travelled man who is very receptive of new ideas and should have a good influence on some of the "cut and dry" military minds.

Office,                        
Saturday, 10 February, 1918.

Lord R. told me that he might be going to Italy in a month's time and that he would take me with him. He expects to go to the Italian Front. It will be very interesting if he goes, but it may come to nothing---of course I should like to have seen it for myself. I don't suppose he will be gone for more than 10 days.

87, Victoria Street, S.W            .
1 March, 1918.

My visit to Northcliffe at Broadstairs was very pleasant. He could not have been nicer and it was like old days. The only others at Elmwood were his mother, who is wonderfully active for over 70, and his private secretary. After lunch I went for a walk in the garden with him and he showed me their dug-out, where they all go during raids. They are always being bombed and are quite accustomed to being under fire. He wanted to talk over one or two matters connected with our air defences so that I could stir things up, and he got a naval officer to come up to see me. After a talk with the latter I went for a drive with Northcliffe and his mother and then had another talk with him on all sorts of subjects. He is very keen on his propaganda job(2) and I am sure he will do it very well.

He thinks the war is going on as well as we could expect, but as you know he has always felt it would be a slow business.

R. is much more like himself and has been working quite regularly and is showing more interest in things.

Sunday, 10 March, 1918.

I had to write to Healy of the Irish Times the other day and in his reply he said very nice things about you and said everyone thought you were doing so well and that Lord Rhondda ought to give you a freer hand.(3)

In practice I find one uses very few meat tickets. I only used two of mine last week. It is extraordinary how easily one adapts oneself to this vegetarian diet. Personally I don't miss meat at all!

There was quite a bad air raid on Thursday. My lady typist at the office arrived in quite a collapsed state on Friday as it had been close to where she lives and a number of houses had been entirely demolished.

R. is decidedly better and is taking a much more active part in things.

87, Victoria Street, S.W.           
St. Patrick's Day, 1918.

I understand that Dr. Truby King arrived last night and is being looked after by Jones, Acting-Secretary of the Overseas Club.

I have had a very busy week and R. is working full steam ahead again. I lunched with him on two different days and on Friday he had to entertain 6 Italian visitors who are connected with the Italian Aviation service. He took them to the Marlborough. We were 16 in all and it was quite interesting.

We have been doing very well in the air on the Western Front lately and are certainly keeping the Germans busy. It is very hard to find out whether their great offensive is going to take place or not.

When the new Air Force comes into being in 3 weeks' time, I believe I am to be a Major. R. has been very nice about it and from the moment I came to him told me he was going to see about making me one. I expect that is about as far as I shall get in the military scale!

Air Board Office, Strand, W.C.2.        
23 March, 1918.

I am spending Sunday here as I have to be on the spot so as to keep R. in touch with things. There is desperate fighting going on and it is too early to say what is going to happen. We have had to give ground but on the whole I think things are going as well as could be expected. It is a very anxious time and the weather seems to be favouring the Germans.

If we can hold out for the next two weeks without giving up too much ground we shall not have done badly.

Truby King came in to see me on Thursday and is going to lunch with me on Wednesday. He is full of energy, though he finds everyone very slow here after America.

Yesterday I had breakfast with Lady Sandwich to discuss a scheme for looking after the Americans who are at our aerodromes throughout the country.

Air Ministry,                               
Easter Sunday, 32 March, 1918.

I had hoped to have had days off duty but I only got Good Friday and was here yesterday and am here till lunch-time to-day. R. is away and so I have to be "on tap" to keep him in touch with things.

Everyone seems much more confident and I think we shall be able to hold them as reinforcements are coming up now. The Germans have had enormous losses and we have done wonderfully in the air.

I lunched one day last week with a Mr. Mawson, who is the British architect who is laying out the new Salonica, he is an interesting man and has ideas on town planning which interest me.

Of course we have all had very anxious times this past week but now that Foch is in command everyone seems much more confident.

87, Victoria Street, S.W.              
Sunday, 7 April,         
In bed.

I am in bed with an attack of influenza! Isn't it a nuisance? I came to bed on Wednesday evening and have had a temperature of about 101-102 ever since.

Dr. J. has just been. My complaint has now developed into mumps ! It really is the limit. It started by influenza and the mumps only showed itself yesterday. Temperature now over 104. (Letters to parents.)

The lack of fresh air and the double task of doing my Air Force work and directing the Overseas Club in my spare moments (in the evenings and at the week-ends) was beginning to tell. Long before I succumbed to mumps I had been feeling run down. I could not understand why work, which in ordinary times was such a joy, became burdensome. I have always hated office friction and the controversy with some of the military elements at the Air Board worried me. I wished it had not been necessary, although some of my colleagues seemed to enjoy the prospect of a good fight.

At this time Rothermere frequently saw Winston Churchill and Beaverbrook. I now got to know the latter. I liked his lack of ceremony, his breezy Canadian manner. Perhaps he would have to wait for ten or fifteen minutes while my Chief was finishing some urgent air conference. Beaverbrook would seat himself in the armchair by my desk and discuss current problems in a friendly way. I was impressed by his incisive manner and by the extraordinary nimbleness of his brain. In away he reminded me of Northcliffe. There was no need for long explanations; he had grasped your point before you had finished speaking. Till I saw Beaverbrook at close quarters I wondered how it was that he had obtained so great an influence in the inner councils of the nation, where he had been playing the rôle of Warwick the Kingmaker. He had been mixed up in many of the most vital discussions which finally resulted in turning out the Asquith administration. I now understood his success. He was an ideal negotiator. He had nothing less than a genius for bringing opposing sides together. The experience he had had in Canada in putting through big financial deals and arranging combines of divergent interests had been of great value to him. He understood the political game much better than Northcliffe.

The end of March was an anxious time. The great German offensive of 21 March, so long expected, had started. For ten days there were anxious consultations. The red boxes with the secret dispatches contained little of comfort. Some members of the Government got panicky and prophesied a German break-through and the capture of the Channel ports, though I was told that Lloyd George, Milner and Haig never wavered in their confidence. Members of the War Cabinet paid visits to my chief. I had to escort Smuts and Mimer from Rothermere's room after interviews, through the labyrinthine passages of the Hotel Cecil to the main entrance. By the beginning of April the reports from France were more reassuring. G.H.Q. said the Germans were held. Why need this severe attack of mumps have swooped down on me at one of the most vital moments of the war and when my chief was engaged in violent controversy with his opponents ? My stock at the Air Board was still going up. I was a person of influence. Whatever happened in the internal dissensions I would probably be in an important position, besides no one for an instant considered the possibility of Rothermere's resignation. After a fortnight in bed I was sent by the doctor to Bournemouth to recoup. Rothermere sent me kind messages. I was right out of the domestic crisis but apparently all was going well for he wrote me on 17 April:

Feeling better than I had for months and eagerly looking forward to the next six months at the Air Ministry, when I hoped Rothermere would be able to put through his various reforms now that he had overcome the opposition, I returned to London with high hopes. On the way from Waterloo to my flat I bought an evening paper. The first sentence that I read was "Resignation of Lord Rothermere." I could hardly believe my eyes. I was dismayed. I felt sure that had I been on the spot during those vital three weeks I could have altered my Chief's decision. Probably I was over-estimating my influence with Rothermere and forgetting that he was a sick man. Only at second-hand was I able to disentangle out of the jumble of events a coherent story---there had been comings and goings, midnight conferences with Winston Churchill and Beaverbrook, messages to Downing Street and finally resignation just when victory seemed assured.

Shortly after the resignation Northcliffe said to me "only my Mother and I know how ill Harold has been. At one time we feared a complete breakdown." In my view the only satisfactory explanation is that Rothermere's health was temporarily impaired by the overwhelming sorrow of the loss of his two sons---and especially of Vyvyan. If he had been well he would never have permitted himself to be manœuvred into an untenable position. By the time he resigned a debate in the House of Commons over the events at the Air Board was threatened. The Prime Minister had sufficient worries in other directions; sooner than face the embarrassment of a debate in the House of Commons he accepted Rothermere's resignation. Subsequently I discussed the events leading up to Rothermere's resignation with Beaverbrook. He confirmed my diagnosis. He said

"There was a conflict between Churchill and myself over Rothermere's resignation. Churchill wished Rothermere to resign on terms which would have continued the controversy and put Lloyd George in the position of maintaining a defence. I wished Rothermere to resign on the basis of putting an end to the controversy. My advice to Rothermere was to ‘stick it.’ But if he must resign, then the controversy must be killed by resignation; or it would have to continue to a conclusion followed by a resignation. Rothermere no doubt took his own course but it happened to coincide with my advice."

On 27 April I received this letter from my late chief:

Cherkley, Leatherhead, Surrey.     
26 April.

My dear Evelyn,

I was so sorry to go without seeing you. At one time I thought I could hold on.

I do not know absolutely with certainty who is my successor, but I have done and am doing all I know to get Weir appointed. You should know by the time this letter reaches you.

He could not do better than appoint you his Secretary.

Yours always,
                                       ROTHERMERE.

I am here for two or three days---Lord Beaverbrook's country house.

On Saturday, 27 April I wrote to my parents:

As you can imagine the news of R.'s resignation came as a complete bombshell to me. I think he has been terribly weak and I feel dreadfully disappointed. Of course he really is far from well and the doctors feared a nervous breakdown if he went on. Sir W. Weir is bringing his own staff.

Jerkins was very nice and wanted to know if I would like to return to him and I said I would let him know.

I think my letter was unduly severe on my late chief. I did not know how ill he was. I did not realise then that personal sorrow can sweep all before it. Beaverbrook took the letter of resignation round to Downing Street. He left Rothermere dozing on the sofa in his room. For days Rothermere had been suffering from insomnia. When he got back to the Hyde Park Hotel at lunch-time Rothermere was in the same position on his sofa. Beaverbrook took Rothermere down to Cherkley, his lovely country place near Leatherhead, for a few days. But for some time Rothermere was almost beyond human comfort. Reaction had set in. He was no longer thinking of the Air Board, its human pygmies, of its problems : he was engulfed in his sorrow.

In proportion to the high hopes I had held was the depth of my disappointment. To this day I am convinced that had Rothermere gone away to the Italian Front for two or three weeks immediately after his son's death he would have triumphed over his opponents despite his ill-health. But it was not to be. Once, more my house of cards came tumbling down. For ten days even the rapid strides my Empire organization was making could not console me. For the only time in my life I went through the mortifying experience of offering my services and having them refused On Rothermere's advice I went to see " "Wullie" Weir,(4) the able Glasgow industrialist whom the Prime Minister had appointed as Rothermere's successor. Sir William Weir was a "canny Scot" and probably quite rightly decided to be quit of the "old gang." I had been Rothermere's principal secretary, therefore I would be persona non grata with Rothermere's opponents who were now chortling over their victory. In the circumstances I think Weir acted wisely. I was given a fortnight's leave. I brought my Overseas work up-to-date and took a few days off.

AFTER thirteen months in the Air Force I handed over my keys and secret files to Sir William Weir on 29 April---an event disposed of in my diary with the words, "Felt rather horrible!" My hopes that I would be associated with one of the most successful war-time ministries, directly responsible for bringing about victory, had been shattered. As I walked through the swing door of the Hotel Cecil for the last time I took with me grateful memories of my late chief and his unvarying kindness, but also a keen feeling of regret that he had resigned.

Mementoes of my private secretaryship to the first Air Minister were a gold-leafed cap ; and the Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus, which entitled me to wear a small white cross on a green ribbon on ceremonial occasions! I was now an outsider. No more red leather dispatch cases from Downing Street for me. "Everyone has been more cheerful," I wrote on 4 May, "about the war news this week, tho' I feel rather out of things as I no longer see the secret reports!"

But I was not to kick my heels for long. During my fortnight's leave two departments at the Air Board and the Ministry of Information, under Lord Beaverbrook, offered me positions. I was invited to join the staff of the department which was linking up the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. But when Lord Beaverbrook and Sir Roderick Jones invited me to take charge of the British Empire section of the Ministry of Information, I knew that here at last I had been offered a job for which I was specially fitted.

"The Ministry of Information job is much more after my own heart, but 1 don't know if the Air Ministry will let me go. Of course if they do it would be enormously interesting and I should love it." (Letter, 8 May.)

I went round to see Sir William Weir. He was kind and sympathetic. He knew that as private secretary to his predecessor I had only done my duty and that I had had nothing to say to the controversy which had been raging. When he learnt the nature of the position which awaited me at the Ministry of Information he realized at once that my first-hand knowledge of the Empire would prove invaluable. I think he was glad to show that he bore me no ill-will. Instructions were issued for my transfer. Brigadier General W. W. Warner wrote a kind letter to the new ministry ensuring that I did not suffer in rank or emoluments:

Air Ministry,                  
15 May, 1918.

The Master General of Personnel is quite willing to spare his services, but he feels that from the very good work Major Wrench has performed in the Royal Air Force, that in taking up these fresh duties, he should not in any way suffer . . . . You will understand that this is necessary before we officially place his services at your disposal, as we are anxious to look after our own officers when they go elsewhere.

W. W. WARNER, B.G.

On 14 May, Tuesday, my lucky day, I started on my nine months' career at the Ministry of Information and filled one of the most absorbing jobs in the Empire during that period. Normally Rothermere had been appointed Controller for the Dominions and the United States under Lord Beaverbrook, and I was to be his deputy, but in practice, owing to the state of his health, he came but rarely to the Ministry and during the last six months of the war I do not think I saw him half-a-dozen times. Subject to Lord Beaverbrook and Sir Roderick Jones, the control of this important section was left entirely to me. After I had been at Norfolk Street(1) three months I received this letter

Ministry of Information.                    
Norfolk Street,                           
STRAND, LONDON, W.C.2.

Dear Major Wrench,

So that your position may be regularised I confirm the arrangement which has been in operation for some months past whereby you act as Deputy to Lord Rothermere in his capacity as Controller for the Dominions and the United States, whenever Lord Rothermere is not available.

Yours sincerely                              ,
RODERICK JONES,                
Director of Propaganda.

The job of looking after British propaganda in the United States was in the hands of Major Ian Hay Beith, and I was delighted to have so charming and capable a colleague. There was no one better qualified for the position.(2) As author of The First Hundred Thousand, Ian Hay had a large following across the Atlantic, and he had recently returned from one of the most successful lecture tours in the United States ever undertaken by a British lecturer. If Ian Hay had been a smaller man he might have resented the fact that as deputy for Lord Rothermere I was in a position to interfere with him. But Ian Hay has nothing petty about him. He knew he and I were only working for the cause ; neither of us ever thought about our positions. As a result, till the end of the War we never had a moment's disagreement. We worked in the closest contact and one of the happiest memories I retain of the Ministry is working with him. To his sound judgment and commonsense I owe very much.

Marlborough Club,                     
Pall Mall, S.W.                       
Saturday, 18 May, 1918.

 . . . .  I started work at the Ministry of Information on Tuesday and have a nice room to myself overlooking Norfolk Street. Across the passage I have my secretary, whom I brought over from the O.S. Club, Miss McGowan.(3) You can't imagine the comfort of being able to dictate my O.S. Club letters and things if I want to. As far as all that side of things go, I have not been so happy since I joined up. As personal assistant I have such a nice young man, Eric Rice, who was at Rugby and is unfit for military service ; he is perfectly excellent at human relationships.(4)

Just at first I shall have to go slow and it is quite a difficult task finding out exactly where one's responsibility begins and ends. It is such a young Government office that there is a great deal of overlapping. But I am gradually getting the hang of things and I know I shall find the work very interesting.

I was down with Lord Beaverbrook this morning and find he has a very quick brain and I should think will do well in the position.

Of course all the time it is bringing me into touch with problems with which I am familiar.

87, Victoria Street, S.W.           
Sunday, 26 May, 1918.

On Friday Baden-Powell lunched with me at the Marlborough Club to discuss his idea of the O.S. Club working in close touch with the Boy Scouts Overseas. He wants me to look after the Scout movement overseas and I am thinking it over.(5) B-P came to lunch in his Scout uniform with bare knees, etc., and his Chief Scout ribbon tied round his neck. His work in forming the Scouts is really splendid, he is a genius, and very appreciative about the Overseas Club. . . (Letters to Parents.)

Northcliffe sent me a kind letter of good wishes

Canford Cliffs Hotel,          
Bournemouth.

My dear Evelyn,

I am so glad that you have got a new job to suit you.

I hope Harold is not returning yet. He has been a good deal worse than anyone except his Mother knows, and so have I.

I do not expect to be back for a month.

Yours affectionately,                
N.                         
15 May, 1918.

Three months later my work at the Ministry was referred to as follows in a leading article in the Daily Mail(6) at Northcliffe's instruction:

Lord Beaverbrook has been responsible for excellent work and several excellent appointments since he took over the task. For example, Mr. Arnold Bennett, who has taken charge of French propaganda, understands French thought, is a skilled organiser, and a most accomplished writer. Lord Rothermere, who is Director of American propaganda, has a thorough knowledge of American feeling.(7) Major Wrench, who is in control of Imperial propaganda, has proved his capacity by establishing the Overseas Club with a membership in the Dominions of 200,000. He has travelled in every part of the Empire, and is in close touch with Dominion sentiment.

I was greatly touched by Northcliffe's action because, as related in Uphill, at one time he and I did not see eye to eye as to the necessity for making my league entirely independent of the Press.

At last I was doing a job that I really understood. My fourteen years' experience in Fleet Street, my long apprenticeship with Northcliffe and Rothermere, my first-hand knowledge of the British Dominions and of the United States, all came in handy. All my life, without knowing it, I had been a propagandist.

In my new job I had full scope for initiative. Beaverbrook was, of course, the head of the Ministry but like all good organizers he gave his departmental chiefs plenty of freedom. My immediate superior was an old friend, Sir Roderick Jones, one of the nicest chiefs possible---a fellow journalist, who had had a successful career. For many years he was Reuter's correspondent in South Africa, and in 1915 he succeeded Baron Reuter as head of Reuter's Agency. Although not possessed of a strong constitution, he was a demon for work. His firsthand knowledge of the Empire was a great bond. It was a pleasure to be summoned to his room---however overworked he might be he always had a friendly word. He gave me his unwavering support. Like Beaverbrook and many other good organizers he is physically a small man. I used often to wonder if Northcliffe was right when he once said to me, "Very tall men, men over six foot, are rarely good organizers. In my experience it is the small men who have the brains." He used to quote the names of Napoleon and Nelson. Certainly in the Ministry of Information his theory was borne out.

We lived hectic days at the Ministry. Can any other department have had such a motley crew ? Poets, Business Magnates, Music Hall Comedians, Soldiers, Bankers, Real Estate Dealers and Authors rubbed shoulders. Cheek by jowl sat professors who spoke the purest Oxford English that would have passed all the B.B.C. standards and successful cockney business men. One never knew what the day would bring forth. It was like being back at Carmelite House---the home of the Daily Mail. One morning my callers included Harry Lauder, the president of an American University, a newspaper cartoonist, Bishop Gore and Miss Elinor Glyn! In the course of the daily round I might have to run in to see Sir Hugo Cunliffe-Owen, of the British American Tobacco Co. and in charge of Far Eastern propaganda, Sir Henry Newbolt, Arnold Bennett, Sir William Jury, the film magnate, or Harold Snagge, a director of Barclay's Bank, the capable secretary of the Ministry. There must have been less red tape in our office than in any other government department. I sometimes wondered what the Air Board hierarchy would think of our methods. No doubt we wrote minutes and sent "jackets" circulating round but I have no recollection of them. When we wanted anything done in a hurry we went and got a "yes" or "no " straight away. Northcliffe once said to me, "every successful business has a 'yes-man,' whom one can get at without delay." There was always a "yesman" in Norfolk Street---in the last resort Beaverbrook himself.

What manner of man was the directing brains of this remarkable collection of humans, whose task it was to tell the world about the British aims and achievements in the Great War ?

There is an elusive something about Beaverbrook. Just when you think you have summed him up he does the unexpected. To present a correct picture is like trying to pick a bit of quicksilver off a plate! When I think of Beaverbrook I recall a remark of Northcliffe's, "Human beings do very surprising things. There is an unaccountable side to human nature which always keeps you guessing." Beaverbrook keeps you guessing.

One of the experiences I most looked forward to at the Ministry was the opportunity of watching him at close hand, of being able to compare him with Northcliffe and Rothermere, with whose careers his has some similarity: the initial struggles of the self-made man who acquired a large fortune at an early age. Beaverbrook started earning his living with the proverbial dollar a week wage---as a chemist's assistant---at thirty he possessed a fortune of over £1,000,000, when he entered British politics. I wished to observe the young Canadian who was largely responsible for turning out the Asquith ministry, which resulted in Mr. Lloyd George's premiership. Subsequently I asked Beaverbrook what he considered his greatest achievement. Without hesitation came the reply, "The destruction of the Asquith government, which was brought about by an honest intrigue. If the Asquith government had gone on, the country would have gone down."

Beaverbrook is a very small man, similar in build to his opponent in political outlook, Norman Angell! He has a wonderful forehead, arresting eyes, a staccato voice, very small feet, a delightfully infectious laugh and a rare sense of humour. He is a very unusual man. Beaverbrook at once puts you at ease. Despite my intimate friendship with Northcliffe, extending over nineteen years, there was a slight sensation of awe in my feeling towards him. With Beaverbrook I have always felt that I could say exactly what I thought. He has no frills. Unlike some men in the public eye he does not seek to impress by striking attitudes. He does not take himself too seriously, although sometimes when talking about a subject dear to his heart he will address you as though you were a vast audience !

Beaverbrook has less "side" than anyone I have ever met. He cares nothing about clothes. On one occasion he laughingly displayed the tailor's label in a thirteen-year old suit he was wearing which had been bought in a manufacturing town in the north. He is the only press magnate I know who does not make a point of dressing well. He is very fond of children and one of the happiest pictures in my gallery of mental portraits is of Beaverbrook laughingly upbraiding his little grand-daughter of five, who had just been away for a visit, and saying "If you leave me again I will never talk to you any more." This young lady is said to know how to manage Beaverbrook under all circumstances---a secret which some of our elder statesmen would doubtless like to possess!

Beaverbrook has never quite grown up. There is still a large element of the boy in him. In a recent biography(8) is a picture showing him, a lad of nine or ten, grinning from ear to ear and standing beside an elder boy in the snow-covered streets of his "home-town," Newcastle, New Brunswick. Young Max Aitken at that early age was facing life with a smile. He faces life with a smile to-day. Northcliffe would have been a much happier man if he had been endowed with Beaverbrook's sense of humour. The imp in Beaverbrook still enjoys practical jokes. In some moods he can be very lovable. Can this be the Machiavellian newspaper magnate who is painted in such sombre colours by his critics?

Beaverbrook has a wiry constitution. Like Mr. Lloyd George, he is a good sleeper. He does not take his problems to bed with him. He was taught by "Tim" Healy that the best way to discard a worry is to think of your last big worry ! Advice which I have tried to follow without success. He is extraordinarily frank about himself. I heard him once describe himself as possessing "a great desire to do right, impeded by and interfered with by lasting loves and abiding hates." Beaverbrook was never an intimate friend of Northcliffe as he is of Rothermere. A curious turn of the handle of fate put him into the position, on behalf of the Prime Minister, at the end of 1913, of "having to keep Northcliffe quiet"---a task which must have kept even resourceful Beaverbrook, with all his knowledge of human nature, more than busy!

Like Northcliffe, Beaverbrook is catholic in his friendships. He likes rubbing shoulders with life at all its angles. Undoubtedly one of the reasons for Northcliffe's uncanny flair for anticipating the wants of the public was his ability to understand the point of view of the ordinary man. I often heard him express his indebtedness to ideas derived from talks with his chauffeur Pine, with "Sandy" Thompson his golf "Pro," on the telephone with the lady supervisor of the Carmelite House exchange---who was I believe appointed to the job on account of her discretion---with sea captains and with the waiters who brought him his breakfast when travelling on the Continent. Beaverbrook's contacts with life are also very varied---Business magnates, film stars, Tory and Labour politicians, social celebrities and reigning beauties. You will meet them all under his hospitable roof at Cherkley near Leatherhead.

When I served under him at the Ministry of Information I chiefly saw the successful organizer. I did not know how much of the crusader there was in his make-up. I know he is sometimes described as an out-and-out opportunist. I do not agree. Beaverbrook is obsessed by the Empire. His devotion to it is every bit as genuine as his devotion to Bonar Law---one of the finest things in his life. Personally I think Beaverbrook's outlook is too limited. I have always been puzzled how so intelligent a man can preach a doctrine of "splendid isolation" in an age when you can fly from Britain to Baghdad in a day. I once asked him, "How would you prevent war?" I got this----to my mind---crude reply: "By avoiding all foreign commitments. By uniting the Empire in a common front. By developing the resources of the Empire to such an extent that our power to strike will give us freedom from molestation."

I have tried to convert him to my point of view that allegiance to Great Britain, to the British Empire, need not conflict with allegiance to the other three-quarters of the world ; but in vain. It is a tragedy that Beaverbrook's undoubtedly great abilities are not used by the country. If I had my way I would give him the task of pulling down the slums of Great Britain or some other job that needs drive and initiative.

His friendship with Bonar Law---who also came from New Brunswick and was also a son of the Manse---was one of the most remarkable political friendships of our time. There never were two men more unlike and yet there were elements in the make-up of the two men that blended perfectly. Trilby required the magic presence of Svengali to exploit to the full her powers of song. Bonar Law would never have played the part he did during and after the war without Beaverbrook to urge him on---his natural diffidence and pessimistic outlook required an antidote. Beaverbrook first met the future leader of the Conservative Party in 1907, when he sought an interview in order to sell him some bonds in the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company. I asked Beaverbrook what his first impressions of Bonar Law were. This was the characteristic answer: "I knew he was big, but his head looked so small that he disappointed me. He bought some bonds Afterwards he said he did so in order to get rid of me." I then asked him if he thought that Bonar Law was the biggest man he had ever met. I got this reply : "I hold the view that John F. Stairs of Halifax, Canada, was the biggest man I ever met. He accomplished very little. He lived in a small community---like Bonar Law he was a good man. His bigness was thrown up by his goodness!"

This reply did not altogether surprise me, for I have always thought there were spiritual possibilities in Beaverbrook---just as there were in Cecil Rhodes. A friend once said to me, "I would never be surprised if Max had a religious ‘conversion' one of these days." Neither would I. Whether the Divine spark in him will ever flare up into a flame I do not know. He may lack that mysterious element which can change men's lives. I believe Beaverbrook in his heart of hearts is a disappointed man. I fear the poverty of his early home, the hard struggle of his mother---stern and upright but with a harsh outlook on life---made him attach too much importance to the acquisition of wealth and worldly power. But a man who could expand from his early narrow Canadian nationalism to enthusiasm for a Commonwealth around the seven seas shows capacity for development. Will Beaverbrook surprise us one day by further spiritual growth? I hope so.

How would I compare the three Press Magnates ? Northcliffe was undoubtedly much the greatest newspaper man and creative journalist. He was a genius in the world of newspaper presses and huge circulations. He was in a class apart. He understood popular journalism as it has never been understood before or since. At rare moments in his life he touched greatness. During the dark days of the war, when he determined to tell the country the truth about the shell shortage, cost what it might, he was great in his disinterestedness---the fact that he partially bowed before the storm of criticism does not detract from his initial act.

There was something missing in Northcliffe's make-up---he might have been so much greater. An extract from a letter written to my parents in June, 1919, will serve to illustrate my meaning

. . . On Friday I went to see the Chief as he sent for me to discuss Anglo-American relations. I found him full of energy and much concerned about our relations with U.S.A. and very anxious that we should appoint someone to Washington without delay. His operation takes place on Wednesday and apparently there is no need for anxiety. He is an extraordinary contrast; after discussing really big things he switched on to arranging details with a member of his staff as regards the "Golden Slipper'' he is offering in the Daily Mail for the actress with the smallest foot!"

I could not understand this lack of discrimination in Northcliffe's make-up. How was it possible for a mind which had been absorbed in discussing a vital problem like British-American relations, on which he was a real expert and to the consideration of which he always brought an understanding sympathy of the American point of view, suddenly to switch over to a newspaper stunt? On many occasions he baffled me. On this particular occasion the golden slipper was examined from all angles, the "write-up" announcing the competition for the next issue of the Daily Mail was minutely scrutinised and corrected, every detail concerning the display of the slipper---at Harrods I think---was discussed. He threw just as much energy into the slipper stunt as he did into the problem of British representation at Washington! While he was building up his great periodical business, planning "stunts" was a very necessary part of the day's work. When I was Sales Manager of the Amalgamated Press I had often to plan and carry out circulation schemes. But how was it possible for a man who capable of great acts in a national crisis and had been aiming at national leadership still to take an interest in so ephemeral a thing?

Beaverbrook is quoted in Mr. Middleton's biography as recounting the story, with which I was also familiar, that at the end of the war Northcliffe was making arrangements for his manifesto setting forth what the peace terms should be. The document was prepared by members of his staff.

As the reading of this vital document continued, it became increasingly clear that Northcliffe was not listening with attention. In reply to an enquiry as to whether he approved of the substance, he gave his staff to understand that his mind was fully occupied with distribution and means of attaining publicity. Thus a document of great importance to his reputation was given to the world with the utmost carelessness as to its meaning, but with vast ingenuity in securing that it should be read.(9)

I have every reason to think this is a true record of what occurred, but in fairness to Northcliffe it must be remembered that his brain worked like lightning, that he could absorb the contents of a column of The Times faster than anyone I ever knew, that he had an uncanny sense of paging through an article in typescript and "sensing" its contents in a very brief space of time. He also had complete confidence in the individuals who drew up his manifesto. On the other hand Northcliffe disliked irksome detail. He saw life largely in headlines, and provided he was satisfied with the broad outline of the document I think it is highly probable that it was published without being read, as recorded above.

Elsewhere I have tried to sum up Northcliffe impartially and have sought to give the picture of him as he appeared to a young man who was devoted to him. I have always thought that there was a marked deterioration in his character in the last ten years of his life. But if to win the war---which was to create a better order of things, as most of us believed in 1918---was a desirable object, undoubtedly Northcliffe played an important part in that achievement, although I think he was given a disproportionate amount of credit for the work of his department at Crewe House in stimulating the final German collapse. If Northcliffe had understood the moves of the political game as well as Beaverbrook he would certainly have been a member of the War Cabinet. Some day the inner history of his relations with Mr. Lloyd George will be published. It was a disaster from the national standpoint that when a strong hand was urgently required in 1915 to take over the Air Force Northcliffe was not offered the job. When the Prime Minister offered him the position in 1917 he was aiming higher. I think at that time he undoubtedly thought he was stronger than Mr. Lloyd George and had visions of himself as Prime Minister. He thought Mr. Lloyd George was going to take him to Paris as one of the peace delegates and he envisaged a "Lloyd George---Northcliffe peace." The only satisfactory explanation of the origins of the feud between Mr. Lloyd George and himself that I have ever heard is that on some occasion the Prime Minister may have expressed the hope that Northcliffe would able to come to Paris while the fate of Europe was being decided. Mr. Lloyd George had apparently no intention of taking him as one of the British delegation. Northcliffe certainly thought he had been let down by the Prime Minister. Mr. Bonar Law, I understand, always ridiculed the suggestion. But I am wandering from my theme.

Of the trio, Rothermere is in my view the most reliable. You always know where you are with him. He is endowed with a large measure of shrewd commonsense. He came to play the rôle of a newspaper magnate more or less by accident. If young Alfred Harmsworth had not started Answers and invited his younger brother Harold, then a clerk at Somerset House, to join him, Rothermere would probably never have come to Fleet Street. In all likelihood he would have struck out in business for himself. Rothermere has much the greatest financial brain.

One of the earliest pictures I had of him was as a happy carefree father at North End Place, his Hampstead home, or on the Norfolk Broads, surrounded by his family and playing tennis. Fate has dealt hardly with him, I am sure he would gladly give up his wealth and his power for that life, far removed from the limelight, of thirty years ago. Rothermere has a kind heart and does many acts of generosity the world never hears of. I remember once as a very young man going to stay with him at Monte Carlo. There were several other young men from the Harmsworth business in the party. On the day of our arrival we each found an envelope with £40 in it so that we should not be hampered for funds during our holiday.

Rothermere possesses an uncanny instinct for foretelling election results. I have several times known him to prophesy changes in the strength of parties with extraordinary accuracy. In foreign affairs I do not think his judgment is as good and I have frequently disagreed with his diagnosis of conditions in Europe. He is, I think, too apt to take an alarmist view of current events. I have heard Northcliffe say on several occasions, "Harold is inclined to be panicky." At the same time I think that Rothermere has not received his deserts in connection with the part he has played in recent years in interpreting nations to one another. He was one of the first English journalists to study Fascism and Nazism at first hand. In the Daily Mail he boldly explained the aspirations of Italy and Germany at a time when the majority of the British Press were hostile to both countries. Only last year Rothermere said to me, "I have given instructions that my papers are not to make any attacks on foreign countries."