Wellington House Wellington House is the more common name for Britain ' s War Propaganda Bureau , which operated during World War I from Wellington House , a building located in Buckingham Gate , London , which was the headquarters of the National Insurance Commission before the War . The Bureau , which operated under the supervision of the Foreign Office , was mainly directed at foreign targets , including Allied nations and neutral countries , especially ( until 1917 ) the United States . The building itself has since been demolished , and its former site is now occupied by a block of flats . History . In August 1914 , after discovering that Germany had a Propaganda Agency , David Lloyd George , the Chancellor of the Exchequer , was given the task of setting up a British War Propaganda Bureau . Lloyd George appointed the writer and fellow Liberal MP , Charles Masterman to head the organization , whose headquarters were set up at Wellington House , the London headquarters of the National Insurance Commission , of which Masterman was the chairman . The Bureau began its propaganda campaign on 2 September 1914 when Masterman invited 25 leading British authors to Wellington House to discuss ways of best promoting Britain ' s interests during the war . Those who attended included William Archer , Arthur Conan Doyle , Arnold Bennett , John Masefield , Ford Madox Ford , G . K . Chesterton , Henry Newbolt , John Galsworthy , Thomas Hardy , Rudyard Kipling , Gilbert Parker , G . M . Trevelyan and H . G . Wells . All the writers who attended agreed to maintain the utmost secrecy , and it was not until 1935 that the activities of the War Propaganda Bureau became public knowledge . Several of the writers agreed to write pamphlets and books that would promote the government ' s point of view ; these were printed and published by such well - known publishers as Hodder & Stoughton , Methuen , Oxford University Press , John Murray , Macmillan and Thomas Nelson . The War Propaganda Bureau went on to publish over 1 , 160 pamphlets during the war . One of the first significant publications to be produced by the Bureau was the " Report on Alleged German Outrages " , in early 1915 . This pamphlet documented atrocities both actual and alleged committed by the German army against Belgian civilians . A Dutch illustrator , Louis Raemaekers , provided highly emotional drawings which appeared in the pamphlet . One of Masterman ' s early projects was a history of the war to be published as a monthly magazine , for which he recruited John Buchan to head its production . Published by Buchan ' s own publishers , Thomas Nelson , the first installment of the " Nelson ' s History of the War " appeared in February 1915 . A further 23 editions appeared regularly during the war . Buchan was given the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Intelligence Corps and provided with the necessary documents to write the work . General Headquarters Staff saw this as very good for propaganda as Buchan ' s close relationship with Britain ' s military leaders made it very difficult for him to include any criticism about the way the war was being conducted . After January 1916 the Bureau ' s activities were subsumed under the office of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs . In May 1916 Masterman recruited artist Muirhead Bone . He was sent to France and by October had produced 150 drawings . After Bone returned to England he was replaced by his brother - in - law , Francis Dodd , who had been working for the " Manchester Guardian " . In 1917 arrangements were made to send other artists to France including Eric Kennington , William Orpen , Paul Nash , Christopher R . W . Nevinson and William Rothenstein . John Lavery was recruited to paint pictures of the home front . Nash later complained about the strict control maintained by the Bureau over the official subject matter , saying " " I am no longer an artist . I am an artist who will bring back word from the men who are fighting to those who want the war to go on forever . Feeble , inarticulate will be my message , but it will have a bitter truth and may it burn their lousy souls . " " In February 1917 the government established a Department of Information . John Buchan was promoted to Lieutenant - Colonel and put in charge of it at an annual salary of £1 , 000 . Masterman retained responsibility for books , pamphlets , photographs and war art , while T . L . Gilmour was responsible for telegraph communications , radio , newspapers , magazines and the cinema . In early 1918 it was decided that a senior government figure should take over responsibility for propaganda and on 4 March Lord Beaverbrook , owner of the " Daily Express " newspaper , was made Minister of Information . Masterman was placed beneath him as Director of Publications , and John Buchan as Director of Intelligence . Lord Northcliffe , owner of " The Times " and the " Daily Mail " , was put in charge of propaganda aimed at enemy nations , while Robert Donald , editor of the " Daily Chronicle " , was made director of propaganda aimed at neutral nations . Following the announcement , in February 1918 , Lloyd George was accused of creating this new system to gain control over Fleet Street ' s leading figures . References . Malvern , Sue . " Modern Art , Britain and the Great War , " New Haven and London : Yale University Press , 2004 .