to a Conservative proprietor would be anathema, Donald tried to form a rival consortium to buy the paper. This failed but the dealings between him and Lloyd George were irretrievably tainted by underhand behaviour on the prime minister's side of the negotiations. In 1918, events unexpectedly turned Lloyd George's way, albeit rather uncomfortably. He had assured Parliament on 9 April that the number of British troops facing the German onslaught in March had not been reduced. Frederick Maurice, the general in charge of statistics on the Western Front, was greatly concerned by the inaccuracy of this statement. He wrote to the new Chief of Staff asking whether it should not be exposed, but received no reply. After some days examining his conscience, he decided to write a letter to all the major newspapers. Four of them published the letter on 7 May. Maurice was forced to resign and Parliament debated the matter on 9 May. Lloyd George won the vote, partly by counterattacking Maurice's figures but largely because there was no obvious successor and the war was at too sensitive a point to risk a governmental crisis. The Chronicle reported the debate factually. However, a few days later, it recruited Maurice as its military correspondent. This move infuriated the prime minister. Lloyd George was now determined to buy the paper and set about raising the finance from friends of the party and by selling peerages. Beaverbrook was excluded, as were the Berry brothers of Allied Newspapers. The prime mover was Sir Henry Dalziel who already owned Reynold's News. He was rewarded by a knighthood in 1918 and a peerage in 1921. Wartime inflation had lifted Frank Lloyd's price from £900,000 to £1.1m. In the end, Lloyd George paid £1.6m – probably for a quick sale. He was already planning the early general election that was announced immediately after the Armistice (he won). Donald and the Chronicle knew nothing of these negotiations. He and Maurice heard a rumour on 3 October 1918 and Frank Lloyd confirmed the following day that the sale had gone through. A new regime was due to come into effect at 6 p.m on 5 October. Both men were obliged to resign. Later years The new editor was Ernest Perris, formerly the news editor. Some suspected him of having been complicit in Lloyd George's negotiations. He was the source of the rumour passed on to Donald and