a good relationship. He was appointed Director of Military Training at the War Office on 9 October 1913. Early in 1914, at an exercise at Staff College, Robertson, acted as Exercise Director, while Wilson acted as chief of staff. Edmonds later wrote that he said to French in a stage whisper "if you go to war with that operations staff, you are as good as beaten." Had war not broken out, French had promised him command of 1st Division at Aldershot in the summer of 1914, in succession to Samuel Lomax. Curragh incident With the Cabinet apparently contemplating some kind of military action against the Ulster Volunteers, it was unclear whether the Director of Military Operations (responsible for operations abroad), the Adjutant-General (responsible for domestic aid to the civil power) or the Director of Military Training (DMT, responsible for home defence) was responsible for drawing up deployment plans. On the evening of 18 March, Robertson, who had asked practical questions throughout, was told that it was his responsibility as DMT. After Hubert Gough and other officers had threatened to resign in the Curragh incident, Robertson also supported Wilson in trying in vain to persuade French (CIGS) to warn the government that the Army would not move against Ulster. The affair led to hatred between senior officers and Liberal politicians. Robertson contemplated resigning, but unlike French or Wilson he emerged without any blot on his reputation. First World War: 1914–15 Quartermaster General, BEF Robertson was expected to remain Director of Military Training on the outbreak of the First World War, or to become chief staff officer to the Home Defence Forces. Instead he replaced Murray (who was promoted to be BEF Chief of Staff) as Quartermaster General of the British Expeditionary Force (under Field Marshal French) from 5 August 1914. Robertson was concerned that the BEF was concentrating too far forward, and discussed a potential retreat with Major-General Robb, Inspector-General of Lines of Communication, as early as 22 August (the day before the Battle of Mons) when French and Wilson were still talking of advancing. He arranged supply dumps and contingency plans to draw supply from the Atlantic rather than the Belgian coast, all of which proved invaluable during the retreat from Mons. He became known as "Old Any-Complaints?" as this was his usual question when checking on troops at mealtimes. In Dan Todman's view, the excellent performance of BEF logistics