How 1924 exercises anticipated World War II landings

The 1924 exercise requirements resemble a blueprint for later large-scale amphibious operations. Herbert Richmond's report noted that a four-knot tide could drive boats broadside onto the beach and demanded room to pull them clear. It called for self-propelled craft that could ride in a troop ship, carry a platoon, resist rifle fire, and draw no more than two feet six inches. The report also stressed controlled direct naval gunfire, the unloading of heavy transport and artillery, and anti-aircraft protection for the anchorage. In concept, one proposal for a jetty made from sectional barges resembles the later Mulberry harbours. Repeated exercises in Britain and Ceylon allowed constructors to observe these problems directly rather than relying on paper requirements alone.