The Trench Warfare Department Turns Full Circle.
In the summer of 1916, the Ministry of Munitions embarked upon an overhaul of the design and manufacture of all trench warfare materiél aimed at reducing costs.
Compared to conventional munitions, trench warfare supplies were cheap. Still, the large production volumes of some, such as grenades and pickets to support barbed wire, incurred high costs and could be a drain on materials that were expensive and in short supply. General Jackson pointed out that most of the changes likely to be proposed, while making significant savings, would be straightforward technical issues relating to design and manufacture, so there was no compelling reason for them to be dealt with by the full Ordnance Committee, which was already overworked dealing with more important matters. He proposed the creation of a new sub-committee to deal with all matters relating to the re-evaluation of trench warfare supplies and act in an advisory capacity to his Munitions Design (Trench Warfare) Committee. This suggestion was adopted and, on Jackson's advice, was dominated by officers recalled from France with current experience in the fighting on the Western Front. The chair was Brigadier-General Currie, in charge of heavier artillery for the Canadian Corps, and among its members were Captain Henry Newton, head of the 2nd Army Workshops, and Major R. C. Dodgson, Commandant 1st Army Mortar School.[1]
This committee was reformulated in February 1917 as the Trench Warfare Committee, absorbing Jackson’s Munitions Design (Trench Warfare) Committee, to become responsible for all matters relating to trench warfare previously handled by the Ordnance Committee.
When Winston Churchill became Minister for Munitions in July 1917, he found an organisation of over seventy departments and sub-departments. This structure had evolved over the previous two years for no other reason than to satisfy individual vanity and whims of powerful personalities, or as a political compromise to accommodate the War Office or powerful industrial interests. Each Head of Department had direct access to the Minister, overwhelming him with a mass of administrative trivia, and competed with one another for labour and resources; their staff loyalties focused on the success of their own department rather than the Ministry as a whole.
Churchill ruled the organisation not fit for purpose and undertook a root-and-branch reorganisation. He grouped departments into divisions or committees under one head and re-established civil servant control over departmental procedures, with the power and authority of the Minister invested in a single coordinating body termed the Munitions Council that functioned on lines analogous to the Board of the Admiralty, the function of which was very familiar to Churchill.[2]
With the establishment of the Munitions Council in August 1917, Major-General F. R. Bingham, who had succeeded Du Cane as Director-General of Munitions Design in September 1916, became a member of the Council for Design, responsible for four of the new departments,
Design Department: Controller, Brigadier-General A.C. Currie.
Trench Warfare Research Department: Controller, Brigadier-General L.C. Jackson.
Inspection Department: Controller, Mr A.H. Collinson.
Inventions Department: Controller, Colonel Goold Adams.
In October 1917, the organisation of the Design Department was revisited, and the distinction between trench warfare munitions and conventional weapons was once again made. Research and development into gas masks and other means of protection were transferred from the War Office and amalgamated with Jackson’s chemical warfare research section. Trench mortars and most other items of equipment for trench warfare became the responsibility of the newly constituted Trench Warfare Department.
Soon after, for political and practical reasons, control of chemical warfare became the responsibility of the military establishment and General Henry Thuiller, Director of Gas Services at GHQ, became the Controller of the Chemical Weapons Department. This removed one of Jackson’s leading roles, and Churchill decided that he had done his bit and requested that he retire,
Dear General Jackson,
The amalgamation of the defensive and offensive gas services – of which you are aware – and the appointment of General Thuiller as their common head has led to an extensive reorganisation and extension of the Department, of which you have been in charge. I endeavoured in the minute I issued on Wednesday last to convey to you and your colleagues my appreciation of the distinguished services which you have rendered and my assurance that the changes taking place carry no reflection on your past work. These changes entail, as I suspect you have foreseen, your retirement from the active position you have hitherto occupied. But I trust it will be possible for you, in an advisory capacity, to be associated with the labours of the new department and to give General Thuiller, at any rate in the early stages, the benefit of your accumulated knowledge and experience.
It will also be my duty to make a recommendation to the Prime Minister, which I have no doubt he will submit to His Majesty, for the recognition of your service by some mark of Royal favour at an early opportunity.
Ever faithful, Winston Churchill.[3]
From the ashes of Jackson’s department, an independent Chemical Warfare Department was formed to deal with both the offensive and defensive aspects of chemical warfare, and the remaining functions of the Trench Warfare Research Department amalgamated with the Trench Warfare Committee to form a new Trench Warfare Department with Major-General G.T.M. Bridges as Controller and Captain Henry Newton as his deputy. This was predominantly a research and development department divided into four sections,
Body Armour and Service Stores
Cross-Country Transport & Supply, etc
Trench Mortars, Projectors & their ammunition and components.
Grenades.
So that its work would feed more quickly into manufacturing it was once again housed in the same offices as the Trench Warfare Supply Department and supported by an advisory committee that contained experienced members of the Outside Engineering Branch such as Captains Lister and Leeming with officers brought over from France such as Captain W.H. Livens of the Special Brigade, reviving Jackson’s concept of having research and development linked to manufacturing and informed through feed-back from officers on active service.
In early 1918, the War Office recalled Bridges for a special mission. Brigadier-General A. H. Asquith became Controller of the Trench Warfare Department. In October, the Trench Warfare Department absorbed the Trench Warfare Supply Department, restoring in one department all functions compatible with Jackson’s original vision for the Trench Warfare Department.
[1] TNA: WO142/275. Account of the Development of Weapons used in Trench Warfare. Prepared by Lt. Col. O. F. Brothers.
[2] History of the Ministry of Munitions. Vol. II/I. General Organisation for Munitions Supply. Part I. Administrative Policy and Organisation. pp.174-189
[3] Jackson was appointed Knight and Commander of the British Empire in January 1918.