Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎99r] (197/544)

3
B 2
[365—26]
Leakage of
Information,
General Macdonogh said that instructions had been sent to
discover the whereabouts of the Greek division and to divert it,
when found, to the defence of Baku. Bather disquieting information
had been received that seventeen German aeroplanes had been landed
at Poti, which meant that they were going to Baku. The Air
Service had been informed and had been requested to supplement
the numbers of our own planes in Persia and Mesopotamia.
Apparently, the Germans and Turks had managed to compose their
difficulties in regard to Baku, whither some German Staff officers
were proceeding in order to take over the control of the oil-fields.
Mr. Montagu thought that the Admiralty were proceeding on
the favourable assumption that we should be able to get hold
of the fleet; if, on the other hand, it got into German hands, we
ought to have in the Caspian Sea submarine chasers or some special
vessels which could operate in shallow waters. He thought that our
naval designers should be set to work at once to invent some special
craft to meet the particular conditions of the Caspian.
Admiral Hope undertook on behalf of the Admiralty to see what
could be done and to report in due course to the Committee. He
thought that the main difficulty in getting any vessels built in
sections up to Enzeli lay in the bad roads and frequent sharp
turnings. Moreover, the maximum load that could be taken on
our lorries was 3 tons. A carrier with seaplanes was now on its
way to Purd Said, and these might be sent up to the Gulf. I he
Admiralty, unfortunately, had no charts of the Caspian, which was
liable to violent storms.
The Committee requested Admiral Hope to send regularly to
the Secretary, for the information of the Committee, copies
of any telegrams he might receive containing information
in regard to the Caspian fleet, &c., which might be useful
to the Committee, and to investigate and report on the
possibilities of constructing special vessels suitable for
naval operations in the Caspian Sea.
(Admiral Hope withdrew)
The Chairman said that on the previous triday he had drawn
the attention of the War Cabinet to a communique which had
appeared that morning in the press, giving a full account of our
movements at Baku and Krasnovodsk, in Trans-Caspia and in Bussian
Turkestan. It had always been understood that the Proceedings
of the Eastern Committee were to be regarded as most secret, and
especially this recent extension of our front, and the Committee had
been particularly anxious, that nothing should leak out about our
effort at Krasnovodsk. Our operations on both shores of the
Caspian involved a very considerable, it legitimate, element of
risk, and failure or disaster, either of which was quite possible,
would be all the worse because of a premature divulgation of our
aims. It might be true that we could not altogether conceal such
movements from our enemies, but it was highly desirable that some
of our friends should not get wind of them, z.g. the Amir of
Afghanistan, who was always alarmed about ary movement of troops
in Central Asia. “ The Times ” had further commented on the fact
that we had now a Persian Government favourable to us, a statement
which could not fail to be embarrassing to Yossugh, whose position
was not too strong. The Cabinet had directed the Director of
Military Operations to enquire into the circumstances and submit an
explanation. This had now been received, but it could not be
regarded as satisfactory.
General Macdonogh said that the Staff Officer at the War
Office deputed to give lectures on current military affairs almost
invariably consulted him before being interviewed by the press. On