Major-General Sir Edward Louis Spears, 1st Baronet, (7 August 1886 – 27 January 1974) was a British Army officer and politician. He served as a liaison officer between British and French forces during both World Wars. From 1917 to 1920, he was head of the British Military Mission in Paris, concluding the First World War as a brigadier-general. Between the wars, he was a Member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. During the Second World War, he resumed his role as an Anglo-French liaison officer, holding the rank of major-general.
Family and early life Spears was born on 7 August 1886 at 7 Chaussée de la Muette in the Passy district of Paris. His parents, Charles McCarthy Spiers and Melicent Marguerite Lucy Hack, were British residents of France. His paternal grandfather, Alexander Spiers, was a lexicographer known for publishing an English-French and French-English dictionary in 1846, which was widely used in French colleges.
During his childhood, his parents separated, and his maternal grandmother played a significant role in his upbringing. He moved frequently with his grandmother, including to Menton, Aix-les-Bains, Switzerland, Brittany, and Ireland. As an infant, he contracted diphtheria and typhoid and was considered physically delicate. However, after two years at a boarding school in Germany, his health improved, and he became a strong swimmer and athlete.Egremont, pp. 4, 6. His friends referred to him by the name Louis.
In 1918, Spears changed the spelling of his surname from Spiers to Spears. He stated that this change was due to frequent mispronunciations of his original name, though it has been suggested that he sought a name that appeared more English, particularly given his rank as a brigadier-general and his position as head of the British Military Mission to the French War Office. He denied having Jewish ancestry, but his great-grandfather, Isaac Spiers of Gosport, was married to Hannah Moses, a shopkeeper from the same town.Egremont, pp. 2, 82. His ancestry was known at the time; in 1918, the French ambassador in London referred to him as "a very able and intriguing Jew who insinuates himself everywhere".Julian Jackson, The Fall of France, Oxford 2003, 91.
Army service before First World War
In 1903, Spears joined the Kildare Militia, the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. He acquired the nickname "Monsieur Beaucaire", a reference to the protagonist of a novel by the same name. The nickname remained with him, used by both of his wives, with his first wife often shortening it to "B."
In 1906, he was commissioned into the regular army with the 8th Royal Irish Hussars. That same year, he published a translation of Lessons of the Russo-Japanese War, a book by a French general. His upbringing, which involved instruction from a series of tutors, had not prepared him for socializing in military circles, and he struggled to adapt to life in the officers' mess. He was known to be tactless and argumentative, often positioning himself as an outsider—something that characterized much of his life.
In 1911, Spears worked at the War Office on the development of a joint Anglo-French codebook. He continued his interest in military translations, publishing Cavalry Tactical Schemes, another translated French military text, in 1914. In May of that year, he was sent to Paris to work at the French Ministry of War, tasked with establishing contact with British agents in Belgium.
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Spears left Paris for the front on the orders of his colonel at the War Office. He later claimed that he was the first British officer to reach the front lines.Egremont, pp. 6–22.
First World War Linguistic barriers Language barriers significantly hindered cooperation between the British and French armies during World War I, with many officers lacking proficiency in each other's languages.Egremont, p. 23. British soldiers who had difficulty pronouncing French place names developed their own versions of these names. French place names also posed difficulties for senior officers. In the spring of 1915, Spears was instructed to pronounce French place names in an anglicized manner so that General Sir William Robertson, the newly appointed Chief of Staff, could understand them.Egremont, p. 41.
On the French side, few commanders were fluent in English. In this linguistic environment, the bilingual Spears played a significant role. Despite holding the junior rank of lieutenant in the Hussars, he established connections with senior British and French military and political figures, relationships that would later prove influential in his career.Egremont, pp. 6, 22, 41, 43.
Early liaison work On 14 August 1914, Spears was sent to the Ardennes to act as a liaison between Field Marshal Sir John French and General Charles Lanrezac, commander of the French 5th Army. His role was complicated by Lanrezac’s secrecy and dismissive attitude toward the British. With the German advance moving rapidly, allied commanders had to make quick decisions without consultation, while their constantly relocating headquarters made coordination difficult. To relay crucial information, Spears traveled by car between headquarters on roads crowded with refugees and retreating troops.Egremont, pp. 23, 25, 30. Telephone communications were unreliable, with Spears describing frequent delays; on occasion, he was mistakenly connected to advancing German forces. In such cases, he attempted to pose as a German to gather intelligence, but his language skills were insufficient to maintain the deception.
An army is saved On 23 August 1914, General Lanrezac abruptly decided to retreat, a move that would have left the British flank exposed. Spears relayed this information to Sir John French just in time, saving the army. The next day, he urged Lanrezac to counterattack, warning that if his decision led to the destruction of the British Army, England would never forgive France, and France, in turn, would not be able to afford to forgive him.
In September, Spears again asserted himself when General Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, Lanrezac's successor, reacted to an incorrect report of a British retreat by making disparaging remarks about the British and their commander. Spears demanded an apology from Franchet d’Espèrey’s chief of staff, which was granted. He also suggested that Sir John French meet with Franchet d’Espèrey to resolve the misunderstanding, which took place a few days later. Spears remained with the French Fifth Army during the First Battle of the Marne, riding on horseback behind Franchet d’Espèrey when Reims was liberated on 13 September.Egremont, pp. 28–29, 34.
Liaison duties – French Tenth Army Spears remained with Franchet d’Espèrey after the Battle of the Marne until late September 1914, when he was assigned as liaison officer to the French 10th Army under General Louis de Maud’huy near Arras. The two developed a strong rapport, and at Maud’huy’s recommendation, Spears was made a "Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur".
In January 1915, he was wounded for the first time and repatriated to London to recover. He was mentioned in despatches and again commended by Maud’huy, leading to his award of the Military Cross.Egremont, pp. 38–40.
Again on the front in April 1915, Spears accompanied Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, on a tour of inspection.Egremont, p. 81. Often the only Englishman in a French officers’ mess, Spears experienced isolation and criticism of Britain, as many in France believed the British should be doing more.Egremont, pp. 42, 50.
After recovering from a second wound sustained in August 1915—one of four he would suffer during the war—Spears returned to France to find tensions between General Sir Douglas Haig, commanding the British First Army, and General Victor d’Urbal, the new commander of the French Tenth Army. Spears was tasked to improve their cooperation.
On 5 December 1915, following the failure of the Dardanelles Campaign, Churchill arrived in France seeking a military command after losing his position as First Lord of the Admiralty. The two men became friends, and Churchill suggested that if given a brigade, Spears might serve as his brigade major. However, Churchill was instead assigned a battalion, and Spears, whose liaison work was highly valued, was not permitted to join him.Egremont, pp. 43, 48, 49.
Spears became acquainted with General Philippe Pétain. Before the Battle of the Somme, Spears hoped British performance would silence French criticism, but after heavy losses, some suggested the British could not withstand shell fire. This led Spears to question whether his countrymen had lost the strength and resilience of previous generations. By August 1916, caught between conflicting pressures from both sides, he feared he might suffer a breakdown.Egremont, p. 48.
General Staff – liaison between French Ministry of War and War Office in London In May 1917, Spears was promoted to major and appointed General Staff Officer 1st Grade before assuming a liaison role in Paris between the French Ministry of War and the British War Office. Over the previous three years, he had established connections with influential figures in both countries. Paris at the time was characterized by political and military rivalries, with competing factions within the French military and government. Spears navigated this environment and established an independent role within the liaison structure.Egremont, pp. 53–54. His role required him to report directly to the British War Office, bypassing the military attaché.
On 17 May, General Pétain, who had recently been appointed French Commander-in-Chief, informed Spears that he wanted Lieutenant-General Henry Wilson removed as the chief British liaison officer due to Wilson’s previous association with General Robert Nivelle, Pétain’s dismissed predecessor. Spears objected, recognizing the potential consequences of Wilson’s removal, but his protests were unsuccessful.Egremont, p. 55.
Reports on French mutinies and resentment By 22 May 1917, Spears had learned of mutinies within the French Army and traveled to the front to assess the situation. Spears was summoned to London to brief the War Policy Cabinet Council on French morale.
Spears recorded in a 1964 BBC interview that Prime Minister David Lloyd George asked repeatedly for assurances that the French would recover. At one point Spears said "You can shoot me if I am wrong – I know how important it is and will stake my life on it." However, Lloyd George continued to question him, asking if he could give his word of honor as an officer and a gentleman. Spears, feeling insulted by the remark, responded that the question itself showed a lack of understanding of both concepts.Egremont, pp. 56–58.
Spears also became aware of growing French dissatisfaction with the level of British commitment to the war, which was raised in a secret parliamentary session on 7 July. Left-wing deputies argued that while France had suffered 1,300,000 casualties, British losses stood at 300,000. They also pointed out that the British sector of the front covered , whereas the French held .Egremont, p. 59.
In the wake of the Russian Revolution, efforts were made to revive the Eastern Front and detach Bulgaria from the Central Powers. In Paris, Spears worked to support these objectives and was additionally tasked with liaising with the Polish army.Egremont, p. 66.
Introduces Churchill to Clemenceau