it had been established that the failures were due to faults
in manufacture, and from that time forward these _contretemps_ became
extremely rare in the case of the 18-pounder. The question caused
acute anxiety at G.H.Q. and in the War Office for some weeks; the
French had had a very similar experience, but on an even worse scale.
The difficulty arose just after the Ministry of Munitions became
responsible for manufacture, and I do not suggest that the destruction
of the guns was the fault of that department, for the ammunition used
in the field during that period and for many months later was
ammunition ordered by the Master-General of the Ordnance. But similar
trouble arose later in the case of the field howitzer; there were no
less than 25 of these damaged between April and June 1916, nearly a
year after the Munitions Ministry had been set up.

It should be mentioned that some other statements regarding munitions
which appear in "_1914_" are inaccurate. In discussing Lord
Kitchener's memorandum written at the beginning of January 1915, which
intimated that H.M. Government vetoed the Belgian coast project, Lord
French declares that two or three months later, viz. in March and
April, "large train-loads of ammunition--heavy, medium, and
light--passed by the rear of the army in France _en route_ for
Marseilles for shipment to the Dardanelles." The Admiralty may
possibly have sent some ammunition by that route at that time, but it
is extremely unlikely. As for munitions for Sir I. Hamilton's troops,
the Dardanelles force did not land till the end of April, and its war
material was sent by long sea from the United Kingdom; very little
would have been gained, even in time, by adopting the route across
France. No great quantities of ammunition were sent from the United
Kingdom across country at any juncture to the Gallipoli Peninsula, but
G.H.Q. in France was once called upon to sacrifice some of its
reserve, and Lord French makes especial reference to this incident.

He says that on the 9th of May--the date on which he launched his
political intrigue--he was directed by the Secretary of State for War
to despatch 20 per cent of his reserve supply of ammunition to the
Dardanelles. Now, what are the facts? Sir I. Hamilton had urgently
demanded ammunition for a contemplated offensive. A vessel that was
loading up at Marseilles would reach the Aegean in time. To pass the
consignment through from the United Kingdom (where a larg