Ardtaraig

This September marks the l25th anniversary of the birth of Sir Eric Geddes, and Major John Buchan chose the life of this most remarkable man as the subject for our main talk of the evening. Geddes was born in 1875, at Agra in India where his father was involved in the construction of the Indian railways. The family returned to Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1880, but young Geddes education led to him being expelled from 6 of the 7 schools he attended. All these schools later regarded him as one of their most distinguished former pupils. His eventual career in railways started in 1895, in India, with narrow gauge Systems. He returned to the UK in 1904 to join the North East railways, where his superb organizing ability and dynamic personality resulted in a meteoric rise by 1911 to Deputy General Manager. In May 1915 he was released to join Lloyd George in the establishment of the much-needed Ministry of Munitions. In June, when assessing machine gun requirements, Lord Kitchener documented for him that the 1892 levels of 24 guns per battalion “should remain”. Geddes, the non-soldier, ignored that instruction and arranged large orders and subsidies to increase production. In December 1915 he headed the National Filling Factory Programme for artillery shell production, and his successful implementation of this to meet the deadline of the Somme offensive (1 July 1916) earned Geddes a knighthood.
Then Kitchener’s death, in June 1916, resulted in Lloyd George replacing him as Secretary of State for War. A precondition of his appointment was that Geddes and his team would join him. Over initial army opposition, Geddes was appointed Director of Military Railways and a member of the Army Council. Haig shortly requested Geddes to have added responsibility as Director of Transport in France with the rank of Major General. This resulted in large-scale improvements to harbour facilities, inland waterways, roads, mainline railways and the introduction of a narrow gauge railway system between the railhead and the front. In December 1916, Lloyd George – now Prime Minister – created a Ministry of Shipping as a response to the increasing losses from U-boats. When, in April 1917, a visit by Lloyd George to the Admiralty highlighted the unacceptable conditions in naval dockyards and the shipbuilding program, he decided to bring in a civilian with a proven record. Geddes was appointed Controller of the Navy in May 1917, with the added responsibility for civilian shipbuilding as well. The post involved a seat on the Naval Board and at Jellicoe’s insistence, naval rank. As Haig still requested transpert advice for the pending Passchendaele offensive, Geddes was, for a few months, both an Admiral and a General.
The continued decline in naval affairs led to Geddes being installed on 17 July 1917 as First Lord of the Admiralty in place of Carson, and as a result convoy systems were extended and general efficiency improved. At this time Geddes also found the time to be elected as MP for Cambridge. In 1918 Geddes