Minister, but with the
half-partition usual in our English dining-cars intervening. Cabinet
Ministers certainly are quaint people.

I attended more than one Conference with the Allies on the subject of
munitions and supplies at a later stage of the war. They had a rather
inconvenient habit, some of them, of springing brand-new proposals
upon one without any warning, and they would without turning a hair
raise questions the discussion of which was wholly unforeseen and
had not been prepared for. A good deal of trouble was, for instance,
caused on a certain occasion owing to the question of armament for
Russia being brought up at one of the Chantilly Conferences which used
to take place from time to time, without our having a delegate present
who was posted up in the actual situation with regard to this
particular problem. The Russians had, shortly before, put forward
requests that we should furnish them with a very big consignment
indeed of heavy guns and howitzers--somewhere about 600 pieces of
sorts. We had no intention of falling in with this somewhat
extravagant demand; but we had more or less promised about 150.
However, at a meeting of a Sub-Committee on munitions delegated by
this particular Chantilly Conference, only General Maurice, who was
not concerned in munitions details nor aware of the actual facts,
represented us; and at this meeting the Russians and French mentioned
in the course of the discussion that we had promised 600 pieces. Not
fully acquainted with the position, General Maurice did not contradict
the assertion. This caused some difficulty, because on later occasions
the French and Russians would say, "But you agreed to furnish 600 at
Chantilly," and would produce the protocol of the meeting. Similarly,
we were regularly rushed into a Conference at Paris over Greek
supplies in the autumn of 1917--the subject has already been mentioned
on p. 216, and it will be referred to again farther on in this
volume--without knowing what the business was about. Greek supplies
and our connection with them were consequently in a shocking tangle
for months to come.

There was one of these international gatherings, one that was held in
Mr. Lloyd George's room in the War Office about November 1916 when he
was Secretary of State for War, of which I have a vivid recollection.
M. Albert Thomas and General Dall' Olio, the respective Munitions
Ministers in France and Italy, had come over, accompanied by several
assist