suggested that they spent too much time at headquarters and not enough time visiting the front lines. Robertson was sceptical of suggestions that Russia's war effort would be reinvigorated by the Fall of the Tsar, and recommended that Britain keep up the pressure on Germany by attacking on the Western Front. He thought the USA, which had declared war on Germany, would do little to help win the war. Even if President Wilson sent troops to Europe which was by no means certain, it would take until summer 1918 for 250,000 US troops to be available. Robertson prepared another General Staff appraisal (28 March 1917) stressing how the Allied position had deteriorated since the previous summer, and again recommending diplomatic efforts to detach Germany's allies, although he chose not to circulate it to the civilians. Germany had freed an extra 1.7m men for military service, and by the summer of 1917 the German Army would be an extra 1.25m men stronger, an extra 89 divisions (albeit reduced from 12 infantry battalions to 9). The day after the Nivelle Offensive began, Robertson circulated another paper (17 April) warning that Nivelle would be sacked if he failed – which is indeed what happened – and urging the end of the Calais Agreement. Robertson was awarded the French Croix de Guerre on 21 April 1917 and appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus on 26 May 1917. Other fronts: Spring 1917 Lloyd George wanted to make the destruction of Turkey a major British war aim, and two days after taking office told Robertson that he wanted a major victory, preferably the capture of Jerusalem, to impress British public opinion. Robertson thought the capture of Beersheba should suffice as more divisions were needed to allow Haig to take over more line in France, although he told Murray (31 January 1917) he wanted him to launch a Palestine Offensive, to sustain public morale, in autumn and winter 1917, if the war was still going on then. A January 1917 paper, probably drafted by Macdonogh, argued that, with a compromise peace leaving Germany in control of the Balkans increasingly likely, Britain should protect her Empire by capturing Aleppo, which would make Turkey's hold on Palestine and Mesopotamia untenable. Aleppo could be more easily reached from Palestine than from Mesopotamia, provided Murray had 9–10 infantry divisions, and it was argued that