In late 1914, Royal Naval Air Service armoured-car operations on the Western Front encouraged Army officers to seek armoured vehicles of their own. The overloaded War Office rejected their proposals. A joking complaint that the Army already had too many machine guns illustrates its reluctance to support another new weapon. The officers approached their naval armoured-car colleagues, who could take the proposal to Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty. Churchill formed the Landships Committee and put Director of Naval Construction Eustace Tennyson-d'Eyncourt in charge. Personal contacts between the services brought battleship design experience into a land-warfare project.
Chapter · 2:03-3:59
RNAS armoured cars lead to the Landships Committee
Army officers seeking armoured vehicles in late 1914 used their naval contacts to reach Churchill after the War Office rejected their proposals.