British amphibious doctrine began developing during the interwar years, then expanded rapidly under the pressure of the Second World War. The Royal Navy entered the postwar era with a large proportion of senior officers experienced in amphibious operations. That abundance encouraged an assumption that formal specialization and standardization were unnecessary. As wartime experience faded, Korea and especially Suez exposed the weakness of relying on personal memory, leading eventually to a more durable specialist command structure around 1971.
Chapter · 11:05-14:10
Why amphibious experience still needed institutions
Britain's vast Second World War amphibious experience initially obscured the need to preserve doctrine and professional expertise.