 His appointment as Director of the Survey coincided with the outbreak of World War I, and he was responsible for adapting the survey to meet wartime needs.These included preparation of maps for the war zones (particularly relevant for areas of trench warfare); provision of staff, as geologist were needed in the field; and exploiting mineral resources for the raw materials and energy sources needed for war production.This work became the basis for a series of reports entitled "Special Reports on the Mineral Resources of Great Britain", the first of which appeared in 1915