The proposal was negatived eventually by the influence of the corps commander. Quite naturally, he did not take kindly to the reduction of his corps from four to three divisions. His four divisional commanders did not relish having their commands reduced from twelve battalions of infantry to nine. A protest was lodged with Sir Edward Kemp, who had recently arrived in England as Minister of Militia Overseas. After consultation with Ottawa, Sir Edward Kemp decided that General Currie was right and the request of the British authorities was refused. The logical consequence of that refusal was the break-up of the infantry of the Fifth Division, since four divisions were sufficient for the one corps which it was decided to maintain. Its artillery and engineers were already in France, and its machine-gun companies also passed over intact. The artillery retained its identity until the end of the war. After the break-up of the Fifth Division, and because reenforcements for some months had exceeded casualties, the corps commander found himself with an abundance of troops. He therefore decided to enlarge his establishment, increasing the number of men in each infantry battalion, to change his pioneer battalions into engineer brigades with greatly increased strength, and to create machine-gun battalions instead of machine-gun companies. Even these changes left him with surplus men, and so came the creation of The Hughes Brigade (4,234), The McPhail Brigade (4,776), and Brutinel's Brigade, afterward known as the "Independent Force." The latter was composed largely of motor machine-gun units, cyclists, and cavalry, and was used as emergency corps troops. There was also an engineer motor-transport company, a tramway company, a field-survey company, several searchlight companies and various other corps accessories. Here is seen one of the difficulties of coordinating the military forces of the Empire, a problem which tried the patience of the higher command. The overseas troops were magnificent in their fighting qualities, but the overseas officers were not always as sympathetic with the higher military control as might have been expected. The overseas business man makes a good soldier and a good general, but in either case he is prone to exhibit those elemental qualities which make him a trenchant and resourceful warrior.