 Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, had privately agreed to commit the Army to the aid of France, if attacked, and Haldane began to consider how best to accomplish this.He quickly concluded that there was a need for a regular Expeditionary Force, specifically prepared and trained for use as a continental intervention force.The question now became how to provide this force, and after a short period Haldane settled on a strength of six twelve-battalion infantry divisions with supporting arms.