It was just the same with the Artillery.  At the outbreak of war we had guns for eight divisions—­say 140,000 men.  And there was no plant wherewith to make and keep up more than that supply.  Yet guns had to be sent as fast as they could be made to France, Egypt, Gallipoli.  How were the gunners at home to be trained?

It was done, so to speak, with blood and tears.  For seven months it was impossible for the gunner in training even to see, much less to work or fire the gun to which he was being trained.  Zealous officers provided dummy wooden guns for their men.  All kinds of devices were tried.  And even when the guns themselves arrived, they came often without the indispensable accessories—­range-finders, directors, and the like.

It was a time of hideous anxiety for both Government and War Office.  For the military history of 1915 was largely a history of shortage of guns and ammunition—­whether on the Western or Eastern fronts.  All the same, by the end of 1915 the thing was in hand.  The shells from the new factories were arriving in ever-increasing volume; and the guns were following.

In a chapter of England’s Effort I have described the amazing development of some of the great armament works in order to meet this cry for guns, as I saw it in February 1916.  The second stage of the war had then begun.  The first was over, and we were steadily overtaking our colossal task.  The Somme proved it abundantly.  But the expansion still goes on; and what the nation owes to the directing brains and ceaseless energy of these nominally private but really national firms has never been sufficiently recognised.  On my writing-desk is a letter received, not many days ago, from a world-famous firm whose works I saw last year:  “Since your visit here in the early part of last year, there have been very large additions to the works.”  Buildings to accommodate new aeroplane and armament construction of different kinds are mentioned, and the letter continues:  “We have also put up another gun-shop, 565 feet long, and 163 feet wide—­in three extensions—­of which the third is nearing completion.  These additions are all to increase the output of guns.  The value of that output is now 60 per cent, greater than it was in 1915.  In the last twelve months, the output of shells has been one and a half times more than it was in the previous year.”  No wonder that the humane director who writes speaks with keen sympathy of the “long-continued strain” upon masters and men.  But he adds—­“When we all feel it, we think of our soldiers and sailors, doing their duty—­unto death.”

And then—­to repeat—­if the difficulties of equipment were huge, they were almost as nothing to the difficulties of training.  The facts as the War Office has now revealed them (the latest of these most illuminating brochures is dated April 2nd, 1917) are almost incredible.  It will be an interesting time when our War Office and yours come to compare notes!—­“when Peace has calmed the world.”  For you are now facing the same grim task—­how to find the shortest cuts to the making of an Army—­which confronted us in 1914.