The X Committee was established during World War I by Lord Alfred Milner as a way of managing and providing strategic direction to the Great War. Its members included Prime Minister Lloyd George, Lord Milner, General Henry Wilson, and Maurice Hankey as its Secretary. Hankey delegated his responsibility to Leo Amery. Meetings were held at 10 Downing Street, sometimes once, sometimes twice daily. Amery says the X Committee "really ran the war during the critical spring and summer months" of 1918.Amery, Leo, ''My Political Life, Volume II, War and Peace, 1914-1918''
''pgs. 157-158''
/ref> The X Committee's first meeting was held on 15 May 1918, and its last meeting on 25 November 1918.UK National Archives, ''CAB 23-17, X Committee Minutes''
''pgs. 2 thru 138 of 206''
/ref> From a biography written about his father, the son of ''

Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Af ...

'' revealed that the words "X Committee" stood for "Executive Committee", and that Lord Milner must have learned about it during his time in South Africa (1899–1905).

References

Sources

* * {{cite book, last=Amery, first=Leo , url=https://archive.org/details/mypoliticallife0002amer/page/n7/mode/2up , title="My Political Life, Volume II, War and Peace 1914–1929", location=London, publisher= Hutchinson, date= 1953
UK National Archives
1918 establishments in the United Kingdom 1918 disestablishments in the United Kingdom United Kingdom in World War I Committees