Minutes of a Conference Between the Belgian Chief of the General
Staff, Gen. Jungbluth, and the British Military Attaché Lieut. Col.
Bridges
(Lieut. Col. Barnardiston, British Military Attaché in Brussels, was
succeeded in his office by Lieut. Col. Bridges. Likewise, Gen. Ducarme
was succeeded, as Chief of the Belgian Staff, by Gen. Jungbluth. A
conversation between Col. Bridges and Gen. Jungbluth was committed to
writing, and that writing was also found at the Belgian Foreign
Office. The document, which is dated April 23 and is presumed to
belong to the year 1912, is marked "confidentielle" in the handwriting
of Graf v.d. Straaten, the Belgian Foreign Secretary. This is the
translation:)
"_Confidential._
"The British Military Attaché asked to see Gen. Jungbluth. The two
gentlemen met on April 23.
"Lieut. Col. Bridges told the General that England had at her disposal
an army which could be sent to the Continent, composed of six
divisions of infantry and eight brigades of cavalry--together 160,000
troops. She has also everything which is necessary for her to defend
her insular territory. Everything is ready.
"At the time of the recent events the British Government would have
immediately effected a disembarkment in Belgium (chez nous) even if we
had not asked for assistance.
"The General objected that for that our consent was necessary.
"The Military Attaché answered that he knew this, but that--since we
were not able to prevent the Germans from passing through our
country--England would have landed her troops in Belgium under all
circumstances (en tout état de cause).
"As for the place of landing, the Military Attaché did not make a
precise statement; he said that the coast was rather long, but the
General knows that Mr. Bridges, during Easter, has paid daily visits
to Zeebrugge from Ostend.
"The General added that we were, besides, perfectly able to prevent
the Germans from passing through."