Rise of Neville Chamberlain in 1914 prevented implementation of his plans in Birmingham. With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Chamberlain became deeply involved in the war effort. In addition to his duties as councillor, Chamberlain helped recruit men for the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and set up funds for injured soldiers. Late in 1914, he became an alderman of Birmingham, and the following year, became Lord Mayor. Chamberlain's biographer, Robert Self, suggested that as Joseph Chamberlain had died the previous year, the honour was due to Neville Chamberlain's hard work rather than to any family influence. As a Lord Mayor in
Neville Chamberlain Minister, Churchill added less publicly, "Whatever shall I do without poor Neville? I was relying on him to look after the Home Front for me." Amongst others who paid tribute to Chamberlain in the Commons and in the House of Lords on 12 November were Lord Halifax, Attlee, and the Liberal Party leader and Air Minister, Sir Archibald Sinclair. Lloyd George, the only former Prime Minister remaining in the Commons, had been expected to speak, but absented himself from the proceedings. Ever close to his family, the executors of Chamberlain's will were his cousins, Wilfred Byng Kenrick and Sir Wilfrid