From the day of arrival at G.H.Q. I had resolved in my mind how we were to meet the trench mortars and hand-grenades used by the enemy. I had some years previously foreseen that these instruments would assuredly take a foremost place in the next war, and when on short leave home from India, whilst I was in command of the Peshawar Division, I had spent several days examining and seeing the “Hale’s” hand- and rifle-grenades used. After learning their mechanism I had myself thrown and fired these grenades against roughly constructed wooden stockades, and been much impressed by their destructive effects. It appeared to me that when once troops reached within a certain distance of a position held by an enemy who did not mean to quit it, it became a matter of hand-to-hand fighting, and the one who possessed some weapon other than the rifle alone would gain an immense advantage, which would carry him forward or stop his opponent. With this in view I was determined, to the best of my limited power, to introduce the “Hale’s” grenades into the Indian Army; but, as I shall show, I received little or no encouragement from our conservative administration. At that time there were in England several officers of the Spanish Army who were testing these grenades with a view to their use in North Africa, and I was present when large numbers were being tried by them. On my return to India from leave I took out a certain number which Mr. Hale kindly placed at my disposal, and reported the fact to Army Headquarters. I instructed squads of Sappers and Miners in my Command in their use, and made a practical demonstration by myself firing several rounds from one of our service rifles. Later I had them tested by squads before the Chief of the General Staff in India, and it was obvious how useful they would prove. But there the matter ended, and no further notice was taken of the experiment so far as I ever knew. Again, one of the officers who had served with me in Africa, Major A. L. McClintock, R.E., who was then in command of Sappers and Miners in Madras, invented and made grenades of his own pattern, and obtained permission to bring them up to Agra to be used before me and other officers quartered there, but there his experiment ended also. And now arrived in France I found the Army still practically unprovided with them, except a few rifle-grenades, and I had no difficulty in obtaining the small supply available; but of hand-grenades I could find none. In those days it was a case of “God helps those who help themselves,” and I immediately set the Sappers and Miners to work to manufacture jam-tin hand-grenades, and gas and other pipe trench guns. Black powder was at first used for the latter, but the smoke emitted gave away their position, and later other devices were brought into play.