Landship Committee

Little Willie at the Tank Museum, Bovington (2006)

The Landship Committee was a small British committee formed during the First World War to develop armoured fighting vehicles for use on the Western Front. The eventual outcome was the creation of what is now called the tank. Established in February 1915 by First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, the Committee was composed mainly of naval officers, politicians and engineers.[1] It was chaired by Eustace Tennyson d’Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction at the Admiralty. For secrecy, by December 1915 the name was changed to "the D.N.C.'s Committee" to disguise its purpose.[2]

  1. ^ Miles 1938, p. 247.
  2. ^ Swinton, 1933. p304