Item CLIVE, GS 2/3 - Detailed personal diary, 1916-1917

Personal diary, giving an extremely detailed account of day-to-day activities whilst Head of British Missions at the French General Headquarters, especially liaison between the British and French Higher Commands, with regard to operations on the Western Front, notably discussions and negotiations concerning a proposed offensive in Salonika, involving British and French troops, based on the possible mobilisation of the Romanian army, complicated by extreme reluctance on the part of the British command, Mar-Jun 1916; a visit by Clive to Verdun, to gather reports from various commanders on the progress of operations, and his descriptions of conditions and events at the front, April 1916; reports of events in Gallipoli; the death of FM Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome, Jun 1916; discussions between Clive, Reginald Balliol Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher and others about possible armistice conditions, throughout 1916; preparation for, and beginning of, the 1916 offensive, the Battles of the Somme, with periodical description of the progress of operations, including correspondence between Gen Sir Douglas Haig, French Gen Ferdinand Foch and French Gen Joseph Jaques Cesaire Joffre concerning tactics and employment of troops in various sectors; negotiations leading to Rumania's entry into the war on the Allied side, Aug 1916; attempts by Clive and Esher to improve liaison between Gen Sir William (Robert) Robertson and Haig; the first use of tanks in war, at Flers-Courcelette, Battle of the Somme, Sep 1916; conferences between the commanders in chief regarding plans for the winter and for the 1917 offensive; the start of the first Battle of Verdun, Oct 1916; arguments between the Allied governments and military commands concerning the demands of the Eastern Front, as opposed to concentrating forces on the Western Front, including an Allied Paris conference on Greece and Poland, Oct-Nov 1916; the replacement of Joffre by French Gen Robert Georges Nivelle, Dec 1916, Clive's views on Joffre's future, and his first meeting with Nivelle; description of the Allied Rome Conference, which Clive attended with Robertson, Jan 1917. 1 vol.