Shell Crisis of 1915 facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The Shell Crisis of 1915 was a big problem during the First World War. It happened because the British army on the front lines didn't have enough artillery shells. This shortage caused a major political crisis back home in the United Kingdom.

At the start of the war, soldiers mainly used shrapnel shells. These were good for attacking enemy soldiers out in the open. But the war quickly turned into trench warfare, where soldiers fought from long ditches. For this type of fighting, a different kind of shell, called a high-explosive shell, was much better. These shells could destroy enemy trenches and defenses.

The army also changed its ideas about how to use big guns. At first, artillery was just there to help infantry (foot soldiers) attack. But soon, people believed that powerful guns could control the whole battlefield by themselves. Because the battle lines on the Western Front didn't move much, it was easy to build railways. These railways could deliver all the shells the factories could make.

The "shell scandal" happened in 1915 because no one expected the war to use so many shells for such a long time. The army's supply of shells quickly ran out. A terrible battle called the Battle of Aubers was a key moment. Reports said this battle failed because there weren't enough shells.

The news about the shell shortage spread widely in newspapers. The Times newspaper, working with David Lloyd George and Lord Northcliffe, wanted the government to create a national plan for making weapons. They wanted one central group to control everything. This led to a big change: the department in charge of weapons moved from the War Office to a new, more important government role. A new government was formed, and Lloyd George became the Minister of Munitions, in charge of making all the weapons. Later, in 1916, this crisis even led to Prime Minister H. H. Asquith losing his job. Lloyd George took his place in December 1916.

Newspapers Attack the Government
- The Battle of Aubers Ridge
A New Government Forms
- Newspaper Attacks on Kitchener
Ministry of Munitions
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Newspapers Attack the Government

A lack of ammunition had been a serious issue since late 1914. The British Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Sir John French, even spoke to The Times newspaper on March 27, asking for more ammunition.

However, Prime Minister Asquith said in a speech on April 20 that the army had enough ammunition. He said this because Lord Kitchener, who was in charge of the War Office, had told him so.

The Battle of Aubers Ridge

After the British attack at Aubers Ridge failed badly on May 9, 1915, a war reporter for The Times, Colonel Charles à Court Repington, sent a message to his newspaper. He blamed the failure on the lack of high-explosive shells.

General French had secretly given information to Repington. He also sent two people, Brinsley Fitzgerald and Freddie Guest, to London. They showed the same documents to Lloyd George and other important Conservative politicians like Bonar Law and Arthur Balfour.

On May 14, 1915, The Times had a big headline: "Need for shells: British attacks checked: Limited supply the cause: A Lesson From France". The newspaper wrote that the British didn't have enough high explosives to destroy the enemy's defenses. It said that not having an unlimited supply of high explosives was a "fatal bar to our success." The newspaper blamed the government for the battle's failure.

However, many British people still trusted Lord Kitchener because of his good reputation. This made them hesitant to question him. Because of this, the newspapers that criticized Kitchener actually lost readers, even though more and more people agreed that his political role was not working well.

A New Government Forms

The shell crisis continued to grow. The main reason for a change in government was when Admiral Fisher resigned on May 15. He was the head of the navy, but he disagreed with his boss, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. They argued about the navy's attack on the Dardanelles. This attack was a first step before the difficult landings at Gallipoli that got stuck.

Many Conservatives disliked Churchill because he had left their party more than ten years earlier. On May 17, 1915, David Lloyd George, who was in charge of the country's money, and Bonar Law, the Conservative leader, visited Prime Minister Asquith. After a very short meeting, Asquith wrote to his ministers, asking them to resign.

Then, Asquith formed a new government that included members from different parties. In this new government, he made Lloyd George the Minister of Munitions. This was a brand new government department created just for him to lead.

The Shell Crisis allowed Lloyd George to push for this new government where different parties worked together. The Liberal Party gave up some of its power, but the Conservatives still had less control. Since then, no government in the UK has been made up only of Liberal politicians. However, Liberal politicians have been part of other governments that included different parties.

Newspaper Attacks on Kitchener

While Asquith was still putting together his new government, a very dramatic version of the newspaper criticism appeared. The popular Daily Mail newspaper printed it on May 21. The headline was "The Shells Scandal: Lord Kitchener’s Tragic Blunder," and it blamed Kitchener.

Lloyd George had to warn Lord Northcliffe, who owned the newspaper, that his campaign was actually making people feel sorry for Kitchener. Kitchener wanted to let the Shells Scandal be forgotten. Stanley Brenton von Donop, who was in charge of army supplies, asked for an investigation to clear his name. But Kitchener convinced him to drop the request, as it would have led to General French being fired.

Kitchener was popular with the public, so he stayed in his job as Secretary of State for War. He was still in charge of training and equipping the volunteer soldiers known as New Armies. But he lost control over making weapons and was less involved in planning military strategy. General French also got into trouble for getting too involved in politics. This was one reason he was forced to resign in December 1915.

Ministry of Munitions

The Munitions of War Act 1915 helped solve the shell crisis. It made sure there was a steady supply of weapons, which the Germans could not match. The government's plan was clear:

No private business should stop the country's service or safety.
Rules for worker unions had to be paused.
Company profits had to be limited.
Skilled workers had to fight, either in the trenches or in the factories.
Manpower had to be saved by using less skilled workers and by hiring women.
Private factories had to be controlled by the government, and new national factories had to be built.

These new rules worked very well. The amount of weapons produced was huge, and they were finally delivered.

After the Ministry of Munitions was created, new factories started to be built. These factories were for making war materials in large amounts. Building these factories took time. To make sure there was no delay in getting weapons during the Shell Crisis, the government asked railway companies to make war materials.

Railway companies were good at making weapons and other war items. They had large workshops for trains and skilled workers. By the end of 1915, railway companies were making between 1,000 and 5,000 6-inch high explosive shells every week.

Besides parts for different types of shells, railway companies also made other important items. They built mounts for large artillery guns, water-tank carts, mining trucks, heavy wagons, and parts for howitzer carriages. They also made armored trains and ambulances. In 1916, when the many new factories built by the Ministry of Munitions started making lots of weapons, the railway companies actually increased their war work. They continued to produce many weapons throughout the war.

The official report, given to the government in May 1920, showed how much war work the railway companies did. It was 121 pages long, which shows how much they helped the country. Many companies did this important war work even though it meant they couldn't do as much maintenance on their own trains and wagons.

The Munitions of War Act 1915 also made it so that workers in weapons factories could not quit their jobs without their boss's permission. This showed that the whole country's economy had to work together for the war effort if the Allies wanted to win on the Western Front.

Supplies and factories in British Commonwealth countries, especially Canada, were also reorganized. This was done under the Imperial Munitions Board. Their job was to make sure there were enough shells and other materiel for the rest of the war. The Health of Munitions Workers Committee was set up in 1915. This was one of the first times anyone looked into safety and health at work. It was created to help factories make more products.

A very large weapons factory, HM Factory, Gretna, was built on the border between England and Scotland. It was built to produce cordite, which is a type of explosive. Sadly, there were at least three major explosions in such factories:

An explosion at Faversham in 1916 involved 200 tons of TNT and killed 105 people.
The National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell exploded in 1918, killing 137 people.
The Silvertown explosion happened in Silvertown (now part of London) on January 19, 1917. It killed 73 people and injured 400 others.

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David Lloyd George