ABSTRACT
The 1912 Staff Manual provided a guide to the duties that a general staff officer was expected to perform in the field. The activities of the staff permeated into most aspects of the life of a military formation and their workload was demanding. A prominent feature of the lives of many staff officers was the heavy workload, long hours and considerable pressure the role entailed. The shortage of trained staff officers in the British army only served to increase that pressure. Errors in staff work could lead to serious consequences for the fighting troops. At the end of the war one staff officer wrote to his wife about the lifting of that burden:
Staff duties necessitated working closely with the commander of a formation in terms of planning and drafting orders but staff officers were also out in the field gathering information. Much of this work continued unnoticed but formed an essential part of any operation.
