Ypres, when he kept from the government both his disagreements with Haig (over the likelihood of territorial gains, Germany's nearness to defeat and the necessity for serious French participation) and, in mid-June, Lt-Col Edward Spears' reports on the extent of the French Mutiny. Terraine, quoting Victor Bonham-Carter, argued that by the second half of 1917 the distrust between Robertson and Lloyd George was such that he felt that, if he did not stand solid with Haig, Lloyd George would lose the war by transferring resources to other fronts. Woodward describes Robertson's behaviour as "indefensible". Hankey tried to institute weekly breakfasts between Lloyd George and Robertson, but these had failed as Lloyd George liked to sit talking for a long time after breakfast. Although he cultivated a myth that he never read, Lloyd George was in fact a very early riser, who would have already have completed much of the day's paperwork before breakfast, and therefore preferred to do business at breakfast meetings rather than in the evening. Austen Chamberlain found the practice equally irritating. Family Late in 1894, after his return from Chitral, he married Mildred Palin, the daughter of Lt-Gen Charles Thomas Palin of the Indian Army, but her family did not approve of the match. Their first child, a son, died in infancy, but they then had two daughters and two more sons. His elder surviving son, Brian Hubert (1896–1974), succeeded to the baronetcy, rose to become a general in the British Army and was raised to the peerage as Baron Robertson of Oakridge in 1961. His younger son John (1909–28) predeceased him, a tragedy which clouded his final years. Notes References Further reading External links Sir William Robert Robertson, 1st Bt (1860–1933), Field Marshal (National Portrait Gallery) William Robertson at The Online Library of Liberty Outline of career Life story of Field Marshal Sir William Robertson at Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museums) |- |- 1860 births 1933 deaths People from North Kesteven District Robertson, William Robert, 1st Baronet 16th The Queen's Lancers soldiers 3rd Carabiniers officers 3rd Dragoon Guards officers Royal Horse Guards officers Royal Scots Greys officers British field marshals British military personnel of the Chitral Expedition British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army cavalry generals of World War I Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Order of