With our republication of the Official History of the
Munitions 1915–1919, we are making available to a wide public an important yet
rare work from the Great War which, owing to its original restricted
availability, even many experts have never seen before. If you're serious about
your Great War history this set of 12 volumes is a must. Originally only 250
copies were produced and distributed to university and special libraries
throughout Great Britain. Four libraries in each Dominion and legislature
libraries in the USA also held sets, meaning that very few are held now by
private individuals, collectors or historians. The foundation of the Munitions
Ministry was a revolutionary step, coinciding with the ‘shells scandal' in which
the failure of a series of British attacks: Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge,
Festubert and Loos – was blamed on inadequate supplies of munitions. A press
outcry was followed by questions in Parliament which threatened to bring down
the Government. The Ministry was set up in response. Previously, the War Office
had been responsible for designing, ordering and inspecting ammunition factories
and stores. But a year of war on a scale never foreseen, the creation of armies
larger than ever contemplated, and the demand for unprecedented quantities of
matériel showed the absolute necessity of providing centralised direction of
mass war production. The Great War completely upset normal industrial
conditions. The individual was giving way to mass collective organisation, and
society was rapidly changing from the leisurely pre-war Edwardian era to the
modern epoch of mass mobilisation and production. Preparing this history of the
Ministry of Munitions was started during the War itself. It was felt that
consulting the officials concerned whilst they were still in post was vital,
particularly as many such posts were temporary, and while the questions with
which the history would deal were vividly present in their minds. The scope of
this work forms the cornerstone of any serious study of the Great War covering
both the Theatres of War and the Home Front, and we are pleased to bring it to a
wider audience some 86 years after its first, highly restricted,
publication.
