Shell Crisis of 1915 - "The Times" Attacks Kitchener

"The Times" Attacks Kitchener

Lack of shells had been a serious problem since autumn 1914, and the British Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Sir John French gave an interview to The Times (27 March) calling for more ammunition. Lord Northcliffe, the owner of The Times and the Daily Mail, blamed Kitchener (Secretary of State for War) for the recent death in action of his nephew. On the basis of an assurance from Kitchener, Asquith stated in a speech at Newcastle (20 April) that the army had sufficient ammunition.

After the failure of the Battle of Aubers Ridge (9 May 1915) The Times war correspondent, Colonel Charles à Court Repington sent a telegram to his newspaper blaming lack of High Explosive shell. French had, despite Repington’s denial of his prior knowledge at the time, supplied him with information, and sent trusted officers (Brinsley Fitzgerald and Freddy Guest) to London to show the same documents to Lloyd George and senior Conservatives Bonar Law and Balfour.

The Times headline (14 May 1915) was: “Need for shells: British attacks checked: Limited supply the cause: A Lesson From France”. It commented "We had not sufficient high explosives to lower the enemy's parapets to the ground ... The want of an unlimited supply of high explosives was a fatal bar to our success". This clearly pointed the finger of blame at the government.