Allward had initially hoped to use white marble for the memorial's facing stone, but Percy Nobbs suggested this would be a mistake because marble was unlikely to weather well in northern France and the memorial would have a "ghost like" appearance. Allward undertook a tour of almost two years to find stone of the right colour, texture, and luminosity. He found it in the ruins of Diocletian's Palace at Split, Croatia; he observed that the palace had not weathered over the years, which Allward took as evidence of the stone's durability. His choice—Seget limestone—came from an ancient Roman quarry located near Seget, Croatia. The difficulties with the quarrying process, coupled with complicated transportation logistics, delayed delivery of the limestone and thus construction of the memorial. The first shipment did not arrive at the site until 1927, and the larger blocks, intended for the human figures, did not begin to arrive until 1931.