In early June 1915, the political scene was changing back in London. The beginning of the shells scandal, amongst other problems, had toppled the Liberal government; although Asquith continued as Prime Minister in a newly formed coalition government, Winston Churchill was forced to leave his position as First Lord of the Admiralty. The War Council, in charge of the strategic direction of the war, was reformed under Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, and was meaningfully named the Dardanelles Committee. Hamilton had a request pending for three more divisions in total, in addition to the 52^nd (Lowland) Division that Kitchener had already promised him. Initially he would have had to make do with this division, but then a change of tack fell in Hamilton’s favour. Kitchener and the War Council’s focus was Gallipoli and they needed an early conclusion to the campaign. For this Hamilton received his three additional divisions as well as the 52^nd. The three New Army divisions consisted of the 10^th (Irish), 11^th (Northern) and 13th (Western) Divisions, who were volunteers who had answered Kitchener’s ‘Your Country Needs You’ recruitment campaign of 1914. These were mainly civilians, but what they lacked in training and experience was made up for by enthusiasm and determination to get to the fighting before the war was over. Christmas 1914 had come and gone, but there was still talk that it would all be over soon. Hamilton did not have to think long about how the extra resources should be deployed, and agreed to General Birdwood’s proposal.