Naval secrecy and the absence of a shared war plan

The traditional British approach combined financing continental armies with landing a smaller British force where it could cause disproportionate trouble. The navy's planning staff had grown out of its intelligence organisation, with a strong habit of restricting information. The criticism is that this left ministers, including Churchill, poorly informed about naval strategy. As First Lord, Churchill needed enough knowledge to explain the navy's plans to Parliament and defend them in Cabinet. The army supplied a plan centred on moving forces to northern France, while the navy failed to make an equally accessible case. Gallipoli and landships are presented as later efforts to escape a strategic position that had not been sufficiently considered across the services. Calling the army's plan a ferry timetable is acknowledged as a deliberate simplification.