After a lull in the early months of 1915, national excitement around the Gallipoli landing in April, indignation and horror around the sinking of the "Lusitania" in May 1915, and an imperial call for reinforcements – in the form of a letter from the King George V to state premiers – kept the recruiting officials busy. In September 1915 the federal government undertook a war census which required completion by all males between the ages of 18 and 60. The census was followed in December by a call to arms – an enlistment appeal in the form of a letter from the Prime Minister addressed to all eligible men inviting them to enlist and asking "If they were not prepared to do so, why not?". The Queensland Recruiting Committee – which included members of parliament, clergymen and local government officials – was formed in June 1915, and, unlike their counterparts in other states, was initially an independent and privately funded body of citizen volunteers. It was chaired by prominent Brisbane lawyer Andrew Joseph Thynne. In October 1915 it came under the aegis of the recently appointed Queensland War Council.