he was appointed. Allenby arrived on 27 June 1917. Robertson (31 July) wanted him to keep active so as to prevent the Turks concentrating forces in Mesopotamia, although he scoffed at intelligence reports that the Germans might send as many as 160,000 men to that theatre. Allenby was eventually ordered to attack the Turks in southern Palestine, but the extent of his advance was not yet to be decided, advice which Robertson repeated in "secret and personal" notes (1 and 10 August). CIGS: Third Ypres Third Ypres begins Third Ypres, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele, began on 31 July, with Haig claiming that German losses were double those of the British. Robertson asked Kiggell (2 August) for more information to share with ministers. After the Inter-Allied conference in London (6–8 August 1917), at which Lloyd George had urged the creation of a common Allied General Staff, Robertson again joined with Foch in claiming that there was not time to send heavy guns to Italy for a September offensive. Robertson wrote to Haig (9 August) that Lloyd George would "put up (the useless) Foch against me as he did Nivelle against you in the Spring. He is a real bad 'un." Haig, at the urging of Whigham (Deputy CIGS), wrote to Robertson (13 August) congratulating him at the way he had "supported the sound policy" in London, but complaining that Macdonogh's "pessimistic estimates" of German losses might cause "many in authority to take a pessimistic outlook" whereas "a contrary view, based on equally good information (sic), would go far to help the nation on to victory". With the offensive already bogged down in unseasonably early wet weather, French (14 August 1917) claimed to Riddell (managing director of the News of the World, and likely to pass on French's views to Lloyd George) that Robertson was "anxious to get the whole of the military power into his own hands, that he is a capable organiser but not a great soldier, and we are suffering from a lack of military genius". Lloyd George suggested that all Robertson's plans be submitted to a committee of French, Wilson and one other, although Wilson thought this "ridiculous and unworkable". Robertson wrote to Haig (17 August) warning him of the shortage of manpower, and to "scrape up all the men (he could) in France". He also warned Haig that there were at that time less