Papers of Lt Col Sir Albert Gerald Stern, KBE, CMG (1878-1966)
[STERN: 1] Papers relating to Stern's service during World War One, 1915-1918
[STERN: 1/1/1-8] Bound volumes of official correspondence and memoranda relating to Stern's service, 1915 Feb-1919 Dec
[STERN: 1/1/1]
1915 Feb-1915 Dec
Bound volume entitled 'Confidential Memoranda', containing papers, chiefly correspondence and memoranda, relating to the work of the Landships Committee at the Admiralty and War Office, Feb-Dec 1915.
[STERN: 1/1/2]
1916 Jan-1916 Dec
Bound volume entitled 'Confidential Memoranda', containing papers, chiefly correspondence and memoranda, relating to the work of the Tank Supply Committee, Tank Supply Department and Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions, Jan-Dec 1916.
[STERN: 1/1/3]
1917 Jan-1917 May
Bound volume entitled 'Confidential Memoranda', containing papers, chiefly correspondence and memoranda, relating to the work of the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions, Jan-May 1917.
[STERN: 1/1/4]
1917 May-1917 Oct,1917 Aug
Bound volume entitled 'Confidential Memoranda', containing papers, chiefly correspondence and memoranda, relating to the work of the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions, May-Oct 1917 and a loose copy of a typescript unofficial report entitled 'The tactical employment of tanks, 1918', by Col John Frederick Charles Fuller, Aug 1917.
[STERN: 1/1/5]
1917 Oct,1919 Dec
Bound volume: 'Confidential Memoranda', chiefly containing correspondence and memoranda relating to the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions, Oct 1917, including letter from G J H Lloyd, Director, Historical Records Branch, Ministry of Munitions to Stern requesting access to the memoranda volumes to obtain Stern's own account of his service, Dec 1919.
[STERN: 1/1/6]
1917 Oct-1918 Feb
Bound volume entitled 'Confidential Memoranda', containing papers, chiefly correspondence and memoranda, relating to Stern's removal from the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions, including copies of correspondence between Stern and the Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer), Minister of Munitions, Stern's subsequent service with the Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies Department), Ministry of Munitions and papers relating to the initiation of Allied cooperation in tank production, Oct 1917-Feb 1918.
[STERN: 1/1/7]
1918 Feb-1918 Jul
Bound volume entitled 'Confidential Memoranda. 1918', containing papers, chiefly correspondence and memoranda, relating to Stern's service with the Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies Department), Ministry of Munitions, including papers relating to the Anglo-American Commission, dealing with tank production, and the establishment of the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France, Feb-Jul 1918.
[STERN: 1/1/8]
1918 Aug-1918 Oct
Bound volume containing loose papers, chiefly correspondence and memoranda, relating to Stern's service with the Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies Department), Ministry of Munitions, including papers relating to the Anglo-American Commission, dealing with tank production, and the establishment of the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France, Aug-Oct 1918.
[STERN: 1/2/1-3] Bound volumes of official minutes, memoranda, reports and correspondence, tracing the development of the tank, 1915 Feb-1917 Oct
[STERN: 1/2/1]
1915 Feb-1915 Dec
File of papers tracing the history of the development of the tank in 1915, through copies of official minutes, memoranda, reports and correspondence of the Landships Committee, Admiralty and War Office.
[STERN: 1/2/2]
1916 Jan-1916 Nov
File of papers tracing the history of the development of the tank in 1916, through copies of official minutes, memoranda, reports and correspondence of the Tank Supply Committee, Tank Supply Department and Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions.
[STERN: 1/2/3]
1917 Jan-1917 Oct
File of papers tracing the history of the development of the tank in 1917, through copies of official minutes, memoranda, reports and correspondence of the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions.
[STERN: 1/3/1-3] Bound volumes of minutes of meetings of the Landships Committee, Admiralty and War Office and Tank Supply Committee, Ministry of Munitions, 1915 Jun-1916 Aug
[STERN: 1/3/1]
1915 Jun
Bound volume of papers relating to the work of the Landships Committee, Admiralty and War Office, consisting of copies of progress reports, agenda, minutes of meetings and 47 photographs of two Caterpillar tractors manufactured by the Bullock Tractor Company of Chicago, US, serving as prototype land battleships, taken at Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, Jun 1915.
[STERN: 1/3/2]
1916 Feb-1916 May
Bound volume of minutes of meetings and reports of the Tank Supply Committee, Ministry of Munitions, Feb-May 1916.
[STERN: 1/3/3]
1916 May1916 Aug
Bound volume of minutes of meetings and reports of the Tank Supply Committee, Ministry of Munitions, May-Aug 1916.
[STERN: 1/4/1-3] Bound volumes of minutes of meetings of the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions, 1916 Oct-1917 Oct
[STERN: 1/4/1]
1916 Oct-1917 Apr
Bound volume of minutes of meetings and reports of the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions, Oct 1916-Apr 1917.
[STERN: 1/4/2]
1917 Apr-1917 Oct
Bound volume of minutes of meetings and reports of the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions, Apr-Oct 1917, including a report and minutes of meetings relating to a visit to France to assess the performance of tanks Mark I, II, III at the Battle of Arras, Western Front, Apr 1917.
[STERN: 1/4/3]
1917 Apr-1917 Oct
Bound volume of minutes of meetings and reports of the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions, Apr-Oct 1917.
[STERN: 1/5/1-28] Bound volume of papers, chiefly official correspondence and memoranda, relating to Stern's service as Commissioner for Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies), Ministry of Munitions and British Commissioner, Anglo-American Commission, Apr-Aug 1918
[STERN: 1/5/1]
1918 Apr 18
List at the front of a bound volume of papers, chiefly of official correspondence and memoranda, relating to Stern's service as Commissioner for Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies), Ministry of Minutions and British Commissioner, Anglo-American Commission, Apr-Aug 1918, briefly detailing twelve of the documents. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/2]
1918 Apr 18
Letter from Stern to the Right Hon Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, Secretary of State for War, advocating use of tanks on the Western Front. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/3]
1918 Apr 18
Memorandum by Stern: 'Mechanical warfare', setting out his view of the opposition to him from senior British Army officers (Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General, Tank Corps, Maj Gen Sir William Thomas Furse, Master General of Ordnance and Maj Gen Sir Richard Harte Keatinge Butler, Deputy Chief of General Staff, Western Front) which resulted in his removal from the post of Director of the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department. The memorandum sets out what he saw as the failure to capitalise early enough on the invention of the tank and describes the circumstances of his appointment as British Commissioner of the Anglo-American Commission. Stern further recommends the establishment of a British and French instruction camp at the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France, to match the American camp which he had been asked to build there. 2pp
[STERN: 1/5/4]
1918 Apr 26
Cover letter from Stern to the Rt HonWinston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Minister of Munitions, relating to rough notes of a scheme (to centralise tactical training in tank warfare at the Allied Tank Factory, Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France) previously discussed between them. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/5]
1918 Apr 26
Memorandum [by Stern] proposing that the standardisation of the production of tanks at the proposed Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France should be accompanied by a centralisation of training at the site for British, French and American tank battalions and mentioning that French Gen Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain and French Gen Ferdinand Foch had given their support to the proposal and that the scheme was about to be put to FM Sir Douglas Haig. 2pp
[STERN: 1/5/6]
1918 Apr 27
Letter from Stern to the Rt HonWinston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Minister of Munitions, asking to be appointed as one of the two British representatives on the Inter-Allied Expert Committee at Versailles, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/7]
1918 May 6
Telegram from Stern to Sir Arthur McDougal Duckham, Member of Council, Ministry of Munitions, requesting clarification about his position in view of the appointment of Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General, Tank Corps as representative of the Ministry of Munitions on the Inter-Allied Expert Committee at Versailles, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/8]
1918 May 6
Telegram from Stern to the Rt HonWinston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Minister of Munitions, requesting clarification about his position in view of the appointment of Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General, Tank Corps, as representative of the Ministry of Munitions on the Inter-Allied Expert Committee at Versailles, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/9]
1918 May 6
Letter from Stern to Maj Gen Charles (John) Sackville-West, British Military Representative of the Allied Military Committee of Versailles explaining that he could not attend the Inter-Allied Expert Committee at Versailles, France, in his capacity as Joint Commissioner of the Anglo-American Commission, without a request from the Inter-Allied Expert Committee itself and expressing surprise that Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General, Tank Corps, and not he, had been invited as the representative of the Ministry of Munitions. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/10]
1918 May 6
Letter from Stern to the Rt HonWinston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Minister of Munitions, requesting confirmation of the appointment of Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General, Tank Corps as representative of the Ministry of Munitions at the Inter-Allied Conference, Versailles, France and referring to astonishment on the part of the French and US representatives at the appointment. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/11]
1918 May 7
Letter from Stern to Maj Gen Charles (John) Sackville-West, British Military Representative of the Allied Military Committee of Versailles relating to the placing of an unspecified memorandum before the Supreme War Council at Versailles, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/12]
1918 May 7
Letter from Stern to Miss Stephenson, for submission to the Rt Hon David Lloyd George, Prime Minister, setting out Stern's achievements in the field of mechanical warfare, protesting at the appointment of Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General, Tank Corps as representative of the Ministry of Munitions at the Inter-Allied Conference, Versailles, France and warning about the impact of mismanagement on the course of the war. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/13]
1918 May
Summary account by Stern of his service between 24 Apr 1918 and 8 May 1918, entitled 'Diary from April to May 1918', including a note of a discussion with French Gen Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain, concerning the importance of using tanks in large numbers. 4pp
[STERN: 1/5/14]
1918 Jul 12
Letter from Stern to Maj Gen the Rt Hon John Edward Bernard Seely, Deputy Minister of Munitions, relating to the arrangements for a visit by him to the Headquarters of French Gen Jean Baptiste Estienne, Commander, French Tank Corps, at Mortigny sur Loing, France and to the Allied Tank Factory, Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France.1p
[STERN: 1/5/15]
1918
Memorandum by Stern to an unnamed recipient referring to an earlier memorandum of 9 Jul 1918. The memorandum relates to the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy Pailloux, Châteauroux, France and includes a reference to the proposal by Louis Loucheur, French Minister of Munitions, that he take over the factory and the vetoing of that proposal by the Right Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Minister of Munitions. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/16]
1918 Jul 12
Paper by Stern entitled 'Explanatory notes for Gen Seely before proceeding to Neuvy-Pailloux, July 14th', addressed to Maj Gen the Rt Hon John Edward Bernard Seely, Deputy Minister of Munitions, prior to his visit to the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France. The paper describes the nature of the delays in the construction of the factory, and mentions the lack of assistance and the criticisms made of the scheme by the French. It also contains a negative assessment of the prospect of achieving large scale production at the Factory during 1919. 3pp
[STERN: 1/5/17]
1918 Jul 12
Report by Lt R Minton-Taylor, Anglo-American Commission, describing the accommodation requirements for the civilian workforce at the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France and pointing out that the sort of arrangements made for troops would not be suitable for civilians. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/18]
1918
List of fifty-four officers and officials, together with their job titles, associated with the work of the Anglo-American Commission. 3pp
[STERN: 1/5/19]
1918 Jul 12
Report, (no indication of authorship), referring to a meeting held on 6 Jul 1918, indicating the extent of the work required to prepare the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France for production. The report estimates Mar 1919 as a likely completion date, or the end of 1918, if two thousand militarised labour and emergency accommodation facilities were to be made available. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/20]
1918 Jul 12
Memorandum of a meeting between Paul Munich, Chef adjoint de Cabinet, French Ministry of Munitions, Maj Frank Goldsmith, Liaison Officer with Allied Government Departments, Paris, France, Mechanical Warfare, (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, Anglo-American Commission and Lt Kenneth P Symes, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Section Director (Production), Mechanical Warfare, (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, Assistant Controller, Anglo-American Commission (Armour Plate), 12 July 1918, relating to a delay in the supply of steel by the UK to the French Government for use as armour plate in Renault tanks. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/21]
1918 Jul 14
Report by Stern of a visit by Maj Gen the Rt Hon John Edward Bernard Seely, Deputy Minister of Munitions, Admiral Sir Archibald Gordon Henry Wilson Moore, Controller, Mechanical Warfare Department, Ministry of Munitions, Sir Percival Lea Dewhurst Perry, Assistant Controller and Director of Production, Mechanical Warfare Department, US Lt Col James A Drain, US Commissioner, Anglo-American Commission, Capt Norman Edward Holden, Deputy Commissioner, Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, Controller, Anglo-American Commission and Stern to the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France, including a reference to Seely being dumbfounded at the lack of method and equipment on the site. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/22]
1918 Jul 14
Memorandum by Stern, relating to a meeting between Maj Gen the Rt Hon John Edward Bernard Seely, Deputy Minister of Munitions and French Gen Jean Baptiste Estienne, Commander, French Tank Corps, at Estienne's Headquarters at Mortigny sur Loing, near Fontainbleau, France, at which the French Government's demand for three hundred heavy tanks from the UK was discussed and it was made clear to the French that it was unlikely that there would be any surplus British Army tanks available until Sep 1918. 2pp
[STERN: 1/5/23]
1918 Aug 27
Letter from Sir Edward Ernest Pearson, Director of S Pearson and Son, contractors for public works, to Maj Gen the Rt Hon John Edward Bernard Seely, Deputy Minister of Munitions, passing on a request from Frederick Thomas Hopkinson, S Pearson and Son, at the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France, that Mr Gibson, Air Board, should be sent out to the factory urgently. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/24]
1918 Aug 31
Notice from Stern announcing the appointment by the Anglo-American Commissioners of Frederick Thomas Hopkinson as Controller of the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/25]
1918 Aug 29
Letter from Stern to Edward Riley Stettinius, Special Representative, US War Department, informing him of letters authorising Stern to represent the Ministry of Munitions. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/26]
1918 Aug 30
Letter from Stern to [Maj Gen the Rt Hon John Edward Bernard Seely, Deputy Minister of Munitions], reporting on a meeting with Edward Riley Stettinius, Special Representative, US War Department, at which Stettinius's position was discussed in the light of his explanation that he had ceased to be US Deputy Minister of War. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/27]
1918 Sep 2
Letter from Stern to Sir Charles (Edward) Ellis, Representative of the Ministry of Munitions in Paris, France, informing him that Frederick Thomas Hopkinson, S Pearson and Son, had agreed to take up the position of Controller at the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France, on condition of the release of Mr Gibson, Air Board. 1p
[STERN: 1/5/28]
1918 Aug 31
Report of the Anglo-American Commissioners relating to the consolidation of the separate staffs of the Anglo-American Commission, the Factory Construction Department, Ministry of Munitions and the contractors, Messrs Holland and Hannen, through the appointment of Frederick Thomas Hopkinson, S Pearson and Son, contractors for public works, as Controller, Allied Tank Factory, Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/1-82] Official correspondence and reports relating to the Landships Committee, Admiralty and War Office, and the Tank Supply Committee, Tank Supply Department and the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions, 1915 Mar-1916 Nov
[STERN: 1/6/1]
1915 Mar 2
Instruction from Capt Murray Fraser Sueter, Director of Air Department, the Admiralty, to Flight-Cdr Thomas Gerard Hetherington, Transport Officer, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, concerning the ordering of materials for three new squadrons of armoured cars. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/2]
1915 Apr 2
Cover note from Wg Cdr Frederick Lewis Maitland Boothby, Royal Naval Air Service, officer commanding Armoured Cars (Aeroplane Supports) at Clement Talbot Works, Wormwood Scrubs, to Flight-Cdr Thomas Gerard Hetherington, Transport Officer, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, requesting weekly progress reports. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/3]
1915 Apr 14
Cover note from Sir (William) Graham Greene, Permanent Secretary, the Admiralty, to Maj Thomas Gerard Hetherington, Transport Officer, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Naval Air Shed, Airship Depot, Wormwood Scrubs, relating to a letter concerning payments to Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers, Consulting Engineer to the Landships Committee, and his assistant L A Legros. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/4]
1915 Apr 14
Letter from the Admiralty to Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers, Consulting Engineer to the Landships Committee, concerning fees payable to him as a consulting engineer and to his assistant, L A Legros, for work done on the design and construction of landships. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/5]
1915 Apr 15
Report entitled 'Land battleships', detailing visits by Maj Thomas Gerard Hetherington, Transport Officer, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service and Stern to the Rolls Royce Company, Derby, Derbyshire and to William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/6]
1915 Apr 22
Report by Lt Kenneth P Symes, Royal Naval Air Service, on tests carried out at Woolwich on the resistance of armour plating to bullet penetration. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/7]
1915 Apr 21
Memorandum entitled 'Particulars of tests made at Woolwich, 21.4.15', on resistance of armour plating to bullet penetration. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/8]
1915 May 28
Report entitled 'Admiralty land-ships, progress report', from Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers, Consulting Engineer to the Landships Committee, to the Directorate of Naval Construction, the Admiralty, relating to the role of the various companies involved in supplying parts for landships fitted with pedrail and creeper-grip Caterpillar tracks. 3pp
[STERN: 1/6/9]
1915 Jun 5
Letter from William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire to Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers, Consulting Engineer to the Landships Committee, on progress made in the design of armoured tractors. 7pp
[STERN: 1/6/10]
1915 Jun 11
Letter from Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers, Consulting Engineer to the Landships Committee, on the design of landships. 3pp
[STERN: 1/6/11]
1915 Jun 14
Minutes of a meeting of the Landships Committee, 8 Jun 1915. Incomplete. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/12]
1915 Jun 21
Memorandum by Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers, Consulting Engineer to the Landships Committee, on the landship experiments carried out using giant tractors at McEwan, Pratt and Company, Burton-on Trent, Staffordshire, Jun 1915. Incomplete. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/13]
1915 Jun 24
Cover note, Stern to P Dale-Bussell, Director of Naval Constructions Committee, Contract Department, the Admiralty, relating to Landships Committee reports for the Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/14]
1915 Jun 23
Progress report of the Landships Committee, covering constructional work and experimental work. 3pp
[STERN: 1/6/15]
1915 Jun 25
Typescript statements of estimated costs of one complete landship (without armament) and pedrail and creeper grip, with manuscript notes. 10pp
[STERN: 1/6/16]
1915 Jun 29
Letter from P Dale-Bussell, Director of Naval Constructions Committee, Contract Department, the Admiralty, to Stern concerning proposed visit by the Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty and the Rt Hon David Lloyd George, Minster of Munitions, to Headquarters, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, Wormwood Scrubs. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/17]
1915 Jun 29
Instruction from Wg Cdr Frederick Lewis Maitland Boothby, Inspecting Commander, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, to Maj Thomas Gerard Hetherington, Transport Officer, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, Stern and others, emphasising that all responsibility for armoured cars and landships lay with him. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/18]
1915 Jun 30
Summary of visit of inspection by the Rt Hon David Lloyd George, Minster of Munitions and the Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, to Headquarters, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, Wormwood Scrubs, 30 Jun 1915. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/19]
1915 Jul 1
Instruction from Wg Cdr Frederick Lewis Maitland Boothby, Inspecting Commander, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, to Maj Thomas Gerard Hetherington, Transport Officer, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, Stern and others placing Lt Walter Gordon Wilson, Royal Naval Air Service, in charge of the Bullock Caterpillar tractors at Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire and authorising Lt Cdr R W McGrath, officer commanding 20 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service to place the necessary men at his disposal. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/20]
1915 Jul 1
Covering letter from Wg Cdr Frederick Lewis Maitland Boothby, Inspecting Commander, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, to Eustace Henry William Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction, the Admiralty, relating to a letter detailing responsibility for experimental landships at Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/21]
1915 Jul 1
Instruction from Wg Cdr Frederick Lewis Maitland Boothby, Inspecting Commander, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, to Maj Thomas Gerard Hetherington, Royal Naval Air Service Stern and others placing Lt Walter Gordon Wilson, Royal Naval Air Service, in charge of the Bullock Caterpillar tractors at Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire and authorising Lt Cdr R W McGrath, officer commanding 20 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, to place the necessary men at his disposal. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/22]
1915 Jul 5
Proposal by Wg Cdr Frederick Lewis Maitland Boothby, Inspecting Commander, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, to Capt Murray Fraser Sueter, Director of Air Department, the Admiralty, for the detailing of 20 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service, and certain officers of the Armoured Car Force, to work directly under the orders of the Director of Naval Construction (Eustace Henry William Tennyson-d'Eyncourt). 1p
[STERN: 1/6/23]
1915 Jul
Nominal list of the composition of 20 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service. 7pp
[STERN: 1/6/24]
1915 Jul 6
General Order number 216, of Wg Cdr Frederick Lewis Maitland Boothby, Inspecting Commander, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, for 20 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, detailing appointments and responsibilities of officers. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/25]
1915 Jul 6
Covering letter from Stern to P Dale-Bussell, Director of Naval Constructions Committee, Contract Department, the Admiralty, relating to letters concerning the hire of a field at Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire and the contract with the Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company Limited, Oldbury, Birmingham, Warwickshire. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/26]
1915 Jul 5
Letter from Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers, Consulting Engineer to the Landships Committee, to Stern, concerning the landships contract with the Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company Limited, Oldbury, Birmingham, Warwickshire. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/27]
1915 Jul 2
Letter from Lt Walter Gordon Wilson, Royal Naval Air Service, to G Loverock, Sinai Park, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, concerning the hire of a field belonging to him on behalf of the Admiralty. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/28]
1915 Jul 2
Letter from G Loverock, Sinai Park, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, to Lt Walter Gordon Wilson, Royal Naval Air Service, accepting the Admiralty's terms for the hire of his field. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/29]
1915 Jul 12
Letter from Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers, Consulting Engineer to the Landships Committee, to William Ashbee Tritton, of William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, asking whether the company would be prepared to construct the Landships Committee's proposed Machine-Gun Destroyer. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/30]
1915 Jul 13
Order number 220 of Wg Cdr Frederick Lewis Maitland Boothby, Inspecting Commander, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, appointing Lt Cdr R W McGrath as Officer Instructor (temporary) and second-in-command, 20 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/31]
1915 Jul 19
Letter from Sqn Cdr Thomas Gerard Hetherington, Landships Committee, to Stern, requesting that Lt Kenneth P Symes, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, be detailed to the work of mounting two pounder guns in the turret of the proposed landship. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/32]
1915 Jul 19
Letter from Lt Kenneth P Symes, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Royal Naval Air Service Talbot Works Depot, Ladbroke Grove, to Maj Thomas Gerard Hetherington, Royal Naval Air Service, concerning the mounting of two pounder guns in the turrets of the land battleships, and the design of the turrets themselves. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/33]
1915 Jul 27
Telegram from William Ashbee Tritton, of William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, to Stern, concerning a lack of accurate drawings. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/34]
1915 Jul 28
Letter from Lt Kenneth P Symes, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, to Stern, concerning the refusal of Wg Cdr Frederick Lewis Maitland Boothby, Inspecting Commander, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, to agree to his transfer. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/35]
1915 Aug 5
Cover letter from Sir (William) Graham Greene, Permanent Secretary, the Admiralty, to Stern, relating to a letter of 5 Aug 1915, to Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers, Consulting Engineer to the Landships Committee, concerning the construction of landships. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/36]
1915 Aug 5
Letter from O A R Murray, the Admiralty, to Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers, Consulting Engineer to the Landships Committee, concerning the termination of his employment on the design and construction of landships. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/37]
1915 Aug 9
Letter from Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers, Consulting Engineer to the Landships Committee, to Stern, concerning the transfer of his papers on the termination of his appointment with the Landships Committee. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/38]
1915 Aug 9
Draft minutes of a meeting of the Munitions Inventions Department, Ministry of Munitions, consisting of a discussion of the procedure relating to inventions made by the Landships Committee, the Trench Warfare Committee and members of the public. 3pp
[STERN: 1/6/39]
1915 Aug 11
Cover note from the Munitions Inventions Department, Ministry of Munitions, to J A Barlow, on alterations to the minutes of the inventions discussion. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/40]
1915 Aug 8
Memorandum from the Munitions Inventions Department, Ministry of Munitions, containing comments on the minutes of a meeting of the Munitions Inventions Department, 9 Aug 1915. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/41]
1915 Aug 13
Progress report by Lt Walter Gordon Wilson, Royal Naval Air Service, on tests on the Bullock Caterpillar tractors at Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/42]
1915 Aug 19
Memorandum by Stern on conversation with J A Barlow relating to 20 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/43]
1915 Aug 20
Letter from Stern to Wg Cdr Frederick Lewis Maitland Boothby, Inspecting Commander, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, on recall of 20 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, to Headquarters 1p
[STERN: 1/6/44]
1915 Aug 25
Telegram from Capt Murray Fraser Sueter, Director of Air Department, the Admiralty, to Wg Cdr Frederick Lewis Maitland Boothby, Inspecting Commander, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, concerning loan of 20 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, to Ministry of Munitions for duty under the Landships Committee. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/45]
1915 Aug 26
Letter from Eustace Henry William Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction, the Admiralty, to Stern, concerning the holding of a conference on landships at the Committee of Imperial Defence, Whitehall. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/46]
1915 Aug 27
Letter from Eustace Henry William Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction, the Admiralty, to Stern, containing remarks on the landship project. 4pp
[STERN: 1/6/47]
1915 Aug 27
Letter from Lt Col Ernest Dunlop Swinton, Assistant Secretary, Committee of Imperial Defence, to Stern concerning the holding of an interdepartmental conference on landships at the Committee of Imperial Defence, Whitehall, on 28 Aug 1915. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/48]
[1915 Aug]
Reply to conference minute recording acceptance of the offer of Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers, to be Honorary Advisor to the Technical Committee on Landships. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/49]
[1915 Aug]
List of those to be present at an interdepartmental conference on landships, including Maj Gen Sir George Kenneth Scott-Moncrieff, Director of Fortifications and Works, War Office, Stern and representatives of the Ministry of Munitions and Committee of Imperial Defence. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/50]
1915 Aug 121915 Aug 29
Minute and supporting papers relating to the transfer of work on landships from the Admiralty to the Ministry of Munitions. 10pp
[STERN: 1/6/51]
1915 Sep 2
Letter to [Col W D ] Bird relating to the transfer of men formerly of the Royal Naval Air Service back to 20 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/52]
1915 Sep 3
Cover note to [Lt Col W Dally] Jones, Senior Assistant Secretary, Committee of Imperial Defence, relating to the return of a proof of a secret document. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/53]
1915 Sep 5
Cover letter from Sir (William) Graham Greene, Permanent Secretary, the Admiralty, to Eustace Henry William Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction, the Admiralty, relating to a letter to Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/54]
1915 Sep 5
Letter from O A R Murray, the Admiralty, to Col Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton, Royal Engineers, confirming his appointment as Honorary Advisor to the Admiralty Landships committee. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/55]
1915 Sep 22
Letter to Lt Col Ernest Dunlop Swinton, Assistant Secretary, Committee of Imperial Defence, returning two secret documents and pointing out, in response to the concerns of Ernest William Moir, Comptroller, Munitions Inventions Department, Ministry of Munitions, that 20 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service remained under the control of the Admiralty. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/56]
1915 Sep 23
Letter to P C Tempest, South Eastern and Chatham Railway, expressing gratitude for the supply of a book detailing the clearance gauges of various Continental railway systems. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/57]
1915 Oct 1
Note from P Dale-Bussell, Director of Naval Constructions Committee, Contract Department, the Admiralty, to Stern, of contract reference numbers for William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire 1p
[STERN: 1/6/58]
1915 Oct 5
Letter to William Ashbee Tritton, of William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, containing a note of the dimensions of the gun fittings in the sponsons (projecting gun platforms) of the landships. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/59]
1915 Oct 8
Letter to Lt Col Ernest Dunlop Swinton, Assistant Secretary, Committee of Imperial Defence, acknowledging receipt of gun and ammunition. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/60]
1915 Oct 15-1915 Oct 16
Typescript report by Lt George K Field, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, entitled 'Report on Lemons wheel and rotating machine' (a self-propelled machine tested against barbed wire and trench emplacements and thought suitable only as a means of sending a form of high explosive into enemy trenches) 3pp
[STERN: 1/6/61]
1915 Oct 15-1915 Oct 16
Manuscript report by Lt George K Field, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, on Lemons wheel and rotating machine, (a self-propelled machine tested against barbed wire and trench emplacements and thought suitable only as a means of sending a form of high explosive into enemy trenches). 6pp
[STERN: 1/6/62]
1915 Oct 30
Telegram from P Dale-Bussell, Director of Naval Constructions Committee, Contract Department, the Admiralty, to Stern, advising him of the intended visit of Maj Gen Sir George Kenneth Scott-Moncrieff, Director of Fortifications and Works, War Office and Eustace Henry William Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction, the Admiralty, to the Wembley Park test ground. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/63]
1915 Oct 30
Letter from Stern to [Maj Gen James Aylmer Lowthorpe] Haldane, relating to the sending of special steel tipped bullets for experimental purposes. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/64]
1915 Sep 301915 Dec 7
Papers relating to the transfer of the landship project from the Admiralty to the Ministry of Munitions, including a list of officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve discharged from the Royal Naval Air Service Armoured Car Division on its disbandment and thought to be possible volunteers for landship service. 11pp
[STERN: 1/6/65]
1915 Dec 7
Letter from Stern to Maj Thomas Gerard Hetherington, Royal Naval Air Service, relating to landship trials at Hatfield Park, Hertfordshire. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/66]
1915 Dec 14
Cover letter to Maj Wheeler, War Office, requesting the handover of a Lewis gun to the bearer of the letter. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/67]
1915 Dec 14
Letter from Lt Kenneth P Symes, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, to Deputy Director of Ordnance Stores, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, relating to the return of a Mountain Gun. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/68]
1915 Sep 17
Two vouchers issued by the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, to the Landships Committee, the Admiralty, for the loan of a Mountain Gun. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/69]
[1916]
Manuscript notes by Stern, entitled 'Queries', providing a brief chronological summary of events in the landship project, Dec 1914 to Dec 1915. 3pp
[STERN: 1/6/70]
1916 Jan 27
Typescript draft notes entitled '"Tank" trial', relating to the trials of the prototype heavy tank with all round track, (known as 'Mother'), at Hatfield Park, Hertfordshire, including specifications, notes on steel plate and programme of trials. 3pp, 77 copies
[STERN: 1/6/71]
1916 Jun 28
Requisition by Lt Col Ernest Dunlop Swinton, Assistant Secretary, Committee of Imperial Defence, for one hundred copies of '"Tank" trial'. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/72-74]
1916 Jan 27
Official report entitled '"Tank" trial', relating to the trials of the prototype heavy tank with all round track, (known as 'Mother'), at Hatfield Park, Hertfordshire, including specifications, notes on steel plate, programme of trials and plan. 3 copies
[STERN: 1/6/75]
1916 Jan 29
Draft list of persons present at the first tank trial at Hatfield Park, Hertfordshire, 29 Jan, 1916. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/76]
1916 Feb 2
Draft list of persons present at the second tank trial at Hatfield Park, Hertfordshire, 29 Jan, 1916. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/77]
1916 Feb 2
List of persons present at the second tank trial at Hatfield Park, Hertfordshire, 29 Jan, 1916. 2pp
[STERN: 1/6/78]
1916 Apr
Official report (by Lt Col Ernest Dunlop Swinton, Assistant Secretary, Committee of Imperial Defence) entitled 'Notes on the employment of "tanks"'. 8pp
[STERN: 1/6/79]
1916 Apr 15
Letter from Frederick William Black, Director General Munitions Supply, Ministry of Munitions, to William Ashbee Tritton, of William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, requesting that he interview the managing directors of previously agreed firms concerning the joint design and building of a large number of tractors. 1p
[STERN: 1/6/80]
1916 Apr 15
Letter to William Ashbee Tritton, of William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire and attached schedule of weights for carriage wheels, limber, carriage, transporting wagon with howitzer, gun and cradle, girders and beams. 3pp
[STERN: 1/6/81]
1916 Aug 21-1916 Aug 22
Papers relating to the dissolution of the Tank Supply Committee and the transference of its powers to the Tank Supply Department, including a list of staff of the Tank Supply Department and a list of the names of the members of the Tank Supply Committee. 6pp
[STERN: 1/6/82]
1916 Nov
Official report for the use of the Cabinet by the Right Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Minister of Munitions, entitled 'Mechanical power in the offensive.' 6pp
[STERN: 1/7] Papers relating to hire of an office for the Landships Committee, 1915 Jun-1916 Jan
[STERN: 1/7 ]
1915 Jun-1916 Jan
File of papers relating to the hire of Room 59, 83 Pall Mall, London, as an office for the Landships Committee. 1 file
[STERN: 1/8/1-14] File of papers relating to official recognition of the work on tank design of Maj Walter Gordon Wilson, Director of Engineering, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, 1915 Nov-1917 May
[STERN: 1/8/1]
1915 Nov 3
Letter from Lt Walter Gordon Wilson, Royal Naval Air Service to Stern, detailing his qualifications, in response to a request from Stern for that information. 2pp
[STERN: 1/8/2]
1916 Feb 10
Letter from Bertram Blakiston Cubitt, the War Office, to Sir (William) Graham Greene, Permanent Secretary, the Admiralty, requesting that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty convey the thanks of the Army Council to Lt Walter Gordon Wilson, Royal Naval Air Service, and others, for their work on the design and construction of the tank. 1p
[STERN: 1/8/3]
1916 Mar 30
Letter from Stern to the Rt Hon David Lloyd George, Minister of Munitions, commending the work of Lt Walter Gordon Wilson, Royal Naval Air Service, and William Ashbee Tritton, of William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire on the design and construction of the tank and recommending that both should receive special financial remuneration. 2p
[STERN: 1/8/4]
1916 Mar 30
Minute by Stern, commending the work of Lt Walter Gordon Wilson, Royal Naval Air Service and William Ashbee Tritton, of William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire on the design and construction of the tank and recommending that both should receive special financial remuneration. 1p
[STERN: 1/8/5]
1917 Feb 26
Letter from Edmund Bampfylde Phipps, General Secretary, Ministry of Munitions, to Stern concerning the question of recognition given in Parliament to Maj Walter Gordon Wilson, Director of Engineering, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department and others responsible for the development of the tank. 1p
[STERN: 1/8/6]
1917 Mar 16
Memorandum from Sir (William) Graham Greene, Permanent Secretary, the Admiralty, to Eustace Henry William Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction, the Admiralty, concerning official recognition for the work of Maj Walter Gordon Wilson, Director of Engineering, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, on the development of the tank. 1p
[STERN: 1/8/7]
1917 Mar 14
Letter from Edmund Bampfylde Phipps, General Secretary, Ministry of Munitions, to Sir (William) Graham Greene, Permanent Secretary, the Admiralty, concerning official recognition for the work of Maj Walter Gordon Wilson, Director of Engineering, Ministry of Munitions, as an engineer, on the development of the tank. 2pp
[STERN: 1/8/8]
1917 Mar 20
Letter from Eustace Henry William Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction, the Admiralty, to [Sir (William) Graham Greene, Permanent Secretary, the Admiralty], regarding the issuing of a statement in Parliament to the effect that Sir William Ashbee Tritton of William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire and Maj Walter Gordon Wilson, Director of Engineering, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, contributed jointly to the successful design of tanks and recommending that both be considered for financial remuneration in the light of the difficulty of establishing patents. 1p
[STERN: 1/8/9]
1917 Mar 20
Letter from [Sir (William) Graham Greene, Permanent Secretary, the Admiralty] to Edmund Bampfylde Phipps, General Secretary, Ministry of Munitions, communicating official resistance to making special mention of Maj Walter Gordon Wilson, Director of Engineering, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, in the House of Commons, but support for the award of financial remuneration to him and Sir William Ashbee Tritton of William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, on condition of assigning to the Government any claims in connection with their work on the development of the tank. 1p
[STERN: 1/8/10]
1917 Mar 28
Letter from Stern to the Rt Hon Christopher Addison, Minister of Munitions, submitting the names of Maj Walter Gordon Wilson, Director of Engineering, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, and Sir William Ashbee Tritton of William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire for a financial award in return for their services in the development of the tank. 1p
[STERN: 1/8/11]
1917 May 22
Letter from Edmund Bampfylde Phipps, General Secretary, Ministry of Munitions to Stern indicating that Maj Walter Gordon Wilson, Director of Engineering, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, was being considered for the award of the OBE. 1p
[STERN: 1/8/12]
1917 May 22
Cover letter from Eustace Henry William Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction, the Admiralty, to Stern, relating to letters to and from Sir (William) Graham Greene, Permanent Secretary, the Admiralty concerning the remuneration to be paid to Maj Walter Gordon Wilson, Director of Engineering, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, and Sir William Ashbee Tritton of William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire. 1p
[STERN: 1/8/13-14]
1917 May 22
Letter from Eustace Henry William Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, Director of Naval Construction, the Admiralty, to Sir (William) Graham Greene, Permanent Secretary, the Admiralty, recommending that Maj Walter Gordon Wilson, Director of Engineering, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department and Sir William Ashbee Tritton of William Foster and Company Limited, Lincoln, Lincolnshire both receive remuneration of £10,000 in connection with their work on the design and construction of tanks. 2p
[STERN: 1/9/1-19] Papers relating to Stern's visit to France, Apr 1917, to assess the performance of tanks Mark I, II, and III at the Battle of Arras, Western Front, 1917 Apr
[STERN: 1/9/1]
1917 Apr 16
Manuscript notes of a conference held at the Tank Corps Headquarters, Bermicourt, France, between Maj Gen Sir Richard Harte Keatinge Butler, Deputy Chief of General Staff, Western Front, Brig Gen Hugh Jamieson Elles, Commander, Tank Corps and Stern to assess the performance of tanks Mark I, II, and III at the Battle of Arras, Western Front, Apr 1917. 3pp
[STERN: 1/9/2]
1917 Apr 17
Notes made by Stern at the Tank Corps Central Workshops, Erin, France, of problems encountered with the Mark III tank and improvements required to tanks Mark IV and V. 2pp
[STERN: 1/9/3]
1917 Apr 17
Telegraph message providing authority for the passes of Stern and his party to remain valid until 21 Apr 1917. 1p
[STERN: 1/9/4]
1917 Apr 18
Notes for meeting at Paris, France, 18 Apr 1917, of proposed improvements to tanks Mark IV and V in the light of experience gained by the use of tanks Mark I, II and III at the Battle of Arras, Western Front, Apr 1917. 1p
[STERN: 1/9/5]
1917 Apr 18
Report, in French, of firing tests of 75 millimetre and 47 millimetre guns. 1p
[STERN: 1/9/6]
1917 Apr 19
Invitation to lunch from J L Breton, French Under Secretary of State for Inventions, Ministry of Munitions, to Stern. 1p
[STERN: 1/9/7]
1917 Apr 19
Letter to Stern detailing times of trains to St Chamond, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/9/8]
1917 Apr 20
Letter from Percy Anderson, Ministry of Munitions, to Stern, notifying him of a conference of the General Staff at Lincoln, Lincolnshire, 30 Apr 1917. 1p
[STERN: 1/9/9]
1917 Apr 20
Telegram from Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions to Stern in Paris, France, concerning the proposed visit of F Skeens, Director of Armament, Mechanical Warfare Department, Ministry of Munitions, to Tank Corps Headquarters, Bermicourt, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/9/10]
1917 Apr 22
Telegram to Lt O Thorneycroft, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions, containing the words "Girl arrived very well-Thorneycroft." 1p
[STERN: 1/9/11]
1917 Apr 22
Two telegrams from Maj Gen Sir Richard Harte Keatinge Butler, Deputy Chief of General Staff, Western Front to Stern in Paris, France, arranging a meeting at Amiens, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/9/12]
1917 Apr 23
Manuscript notes by Stern of meeting on tanks with French officers and officials at Paris, France, including J L Breton, French Under Secretary of State for Inventions, Ministry of Munitions. 1p
[STERN: 1/9/13]
1917 Apr
Covering note and list of drawings of tank components handed to J L Breton, French Under Secretary of State for Inventions, Ministry of Munitions. 2pp
[STERN: 1/9/14]
1917 Apr 23
Menu card of dinner attended by Stern bearing the signatures of those present on the reverse. 1p
[STERN: 1/9/15]
1917 Apr
Notes in French by Stern on tank design. 4pp
[STERN: 1/9/16]
1917 Apr
Report by Stern of his visit to France, 13-20 Apr 1917, to assess the performance of tanks Mark I, II, and III at the Battle of Arras, Western Front, Apr 1917. 5pp
[STERN: 1/9/17]
1917 Apr
Typescript notes of a conference held at the Tank Corps Headquarters, Bermicourt, France, between Maj Gen Sir Richard Harte Keatinge Butler, Deputy Chief of General Staff, Western Front, Brig Gen Hugh Jamieson Elles, Commander, Tank Corps and Stern to assess the performance of tanks Mark I, II, and III at the Battle of Arras, Western Front, Apr 1917. 3pp
[STERN: 1/9/18]
1917 Apr 17
Typescript report, with manuscript annotations, of meeting held at the Tank Corps Central Workshops, Erin, France, to discuss problems with the Mark III tank and proposed improvements to the Mark IV tank. 3pp
[STERN: 1/9/19]
1917 Apr 23
Report of meeting held at the French Ministry of Inventions, Paris, France, relating to the first use of French tanks at Juvencourt, France, during the Nivelle Offensive, Western Front, Apr 1917. 2pp
[STERN: 1/10/1-9] Papers relating to the work of the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions, 1917 Jul- Aug
[STERN: 1/10/1]
1917 [Jul]
Telegram from Maj Walter Gordon Wilson, Director of Engineering, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, at the Ritz Hotel, Paris, France, reporting that no orders had been received for that week. 1p
[STERN: 1/10/2]
1917 Jul 9
Telegram to Stern at the Ritz Hotel, Paris, France, reporting that Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General, Tank Corps would be at Headquarters, France on Tuesday. 1p
[STERN: 1/10/3]
1917 Jul 9
Telegram to Stern at the Ritz Hotel, Paris, France, requesting a decision about the division of rooms at 20 Cockspur Street, London, in use by the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department. 1p
[STERN: 1/10/4]
1917 Jul 11
Card from A Leisy to Stern inviting him to dine with J L Breton, French Under Secretary of State for Inventions, Ministry of Munitions. 1p
[STERN: 1/10/5]
1917 Jul 11
Letter from A Leisy to Stern inviting him to lunch with French Gen Jean Baptiste Estienne, Commander, French Tank Corps 13 Jul 1917. 1p
[STERN: 1/10/6]
1917 Jul 12
Invitation to Stern to dine with J L Breton, French Under Secretary of State for Inventions, Ministry of Munitions, at the Ritz Hotel, Paris, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/10/7]
1917 Jul 13
Telegram from the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department to Stern at the Ritz Hotel, Paris, France, informing him of the dispatch of a Stokes Gun and ammunition to Paris, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/10/8]
1917 Jul 15
Telegram from Headquarters, Machine Gun Corps, Heavy Branch, to Stern at the Ritz Hotel, Paris, France, mentioning the absence of Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General, Tank Corps and Brig Gen Hugh Jamieson Elles, Commander, Tank Corps 1p
[STERN: 1/10/9]
1917 Aug 22
Report by Lt J Rackham, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions of a visit to France, 7-21 Aug 1917, containing recommendations for the design of the Supply Tank Mark I. 8pp
[STERN: 1/11/1-3] Papers relating to a visit by George Watson, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions to France to investigate tank design in the light of the use of tanks in combat, 1917 Sep
[STERN: 1/11/1-2]
1917 Sep 26
Two copies of a report by George Watson, Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Ministry of Munitions setting out his view of the problems with existing tank design, from personal observation at the British front in France and Belgium, and making recommendations for improvements. 4pp
[STERN: 1/11/3]
1917 [Sep]
Note of distribution of report by George Watson, for the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, Sep 1917, setting out his view of the problems with existing tank design, from personal observation at the British front in France and Belgium, and making recommendations for improvements. 1p
[STERN: 1/12] Unofficial report 'The tactical employment of tanks in 1918', 1917 Aug
[STERN: 1/12]
1917 Aug 8
Unofficial report entitled 'The tactical employment of tanks in 1918', by Col John Frederick Charles Fuller. 32pp
[STERN: 1/13/1-111] Papers relating to Stern's service with the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department and Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, especially the proposed Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France, 1917 Jun-1918 Dec
[STERN: 1/13/1]
1917 Jun 28
Letter from Dugald Clerk, consulting engineer, to the Hon Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, Chairman, C A Parsons and Company, Newcastle on Tyne, Northumberland, approving the design of the Ricardo engine, (later used in tank Mark V). 1p
[STERN: 1/13/2]
1917 Aug 23
Letter from Stern to Philip Hanson, Ministry of Munitions, making a series of general points in relation to unspecified differences between them concerning expenditure. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/3]
1917 Oct 19
Cover note from Stern relating to a letter forwarded to the Rt Hon David Lloyd George, Prime Minister. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/4]
1917 Nov 22
Manuscript draft and two typescript drafts of a letter from Stern to the Rt Hon David Lloyd George, Prime Minister, relating to the joint production of tanks by the UK and the US. 3 items
[STERN: 1/13/5]
1917 Nov 23
Typescript letter from Stern to the Rt Hon David Lloyd George, Prime Minister, relating to the joint production of tanks by the UK and the US. 2pp
[STERN: 1/13/6]
1917 Dec 11
Letter from Capt Norman Edward Holden, Deputy Commissioner, Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, to Stern supplying news about developments in the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department and the Anglo-American Commission, including problems with the rate of production of Hotchkiss machine guns for use in tanks. 3pp
[STERN: 1/13/7]
1918 Jan 2
Draft letter from Stern to Capt Norman Edward Holden, Deputy Commissioner, Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, relating to the cancellation of an order from the US Tank Service for Mark V tanks for training purposes. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/8]
1918 Jan 28
Letter from Capt Norman Edward Holden, Deputy Commissioner, Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, to Stern relating to the concerns of Le Marquis de Chasseloup Laubat, French Commission in England, Bureau Interallié des Cuirassés Terrestres, (Inter-Allied Tank Bureau) concerning the continued existence of the Inter-Allied Tank Bureau. 2pp
[STERN: 1/13/9]
1918 Jan 29
Letter from Stern in Paris, France, to Capt Norman Edward Holden, Deputy Comissioner, Mechanical Warfare, (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, containing his initial impressions of the problems involved in the implementation of the Anglo-American Agreement on tank production. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/10]
1918 Feb 4
Letter from Capt Norman Edward Holden, Deputy Commissioner, Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, to Stern relating to the reported opinion of the Army Council that tanks for the British Army should be made under the aegis of the British Ministry of Munitions. 2pp
[STERN: 1/13/11]
1918 Feb 5
Letter from Capt Norman Edward Holden, Deputy Commissioner, Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, to Stern, concerning the building of the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France. 2pp
[STERN: 1/13/12]
1918 Feb 4
Letter from B O Jenkins, British War Mission to the United States of America, to Capt Norman Edward Holden, Deputy Comissioner, Mechanical Warfare, (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, on having a representative for the Mechanical Warfare, (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, in the US. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/13]
1918 Feb 5
Letter from Stern to Capt Norman Edward Holden, Deputy Comissioner, Mechanical Warfare, (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions on the mock-up of the Liberty (Mark VIII) Tank. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/14]
1918 Mar 18
Letter of introduction for Stern from Sir John Hunter, Administrator of Works and Buildings, Air Ministry, Department of Works and Buildings, to Maj Gen Travers Clark, Quarter Master General, France, on the question of the receipt of requisitioned items for the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/15]
1918 Mar 19
Note from J S Sangster, Ministry of Munitions, to Stern of the points to be raised with Maj Gen Travers Clark, Quarter Master General, France on the question of the receipt of requisitioned items for the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/16]
1918 Mar 26
Cover letter from Stern to John Thomas Davies, Private Secretary to the Rt Hon David Lloyd George, Prime Minister. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/17]
1918 Mar 26
Letter from Stern to Lt Col Dawson, Royal Airboard Transport Service, concerning the provision of an open car and driver for the Anglo-American Commission in Paris, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/18]
1918 Mar 28
Letter to Sir Arthur McDougal Duckham, Member of Council, Ministry of Munitions, relating to the resignation letter of a man named Thomas who had complained about what he described as Stern's bullying methods. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/19]
1918 Mar 28
Letter from the Anglo-American Commission to Sir John Hunter, Director of Factory Construction, Ministry of Munitions, mentioning liaison with J S Sangster, Ministry of Munitions,in relation to construction at the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy Pailloux, Châteauroux, France and expressing regret at any interference on the part of the Anglo-American Commission in the work of his department. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/20]
1918 Mar 30
Letter from Stern and US Lt Col James A Drain, US Commissioner, Anglo-American Commission, to Sir John Hunter, Director of Factory Construction, Ministry of Munitions, requesting the appointment of J S Sangster, Ministry of Munitions, to superintend the construction of the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy Pailloux, Châteauroux, France . 1p
[STERN: 1/13/21]
1918 Apr 3
Receipt to US Lt Col James A Drain, US Commissioner, Anglo-American Commission, for 40 French francs and two £1 notes. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/22]
1918 Apr 3
Copy of telegram from Stern and US Lt Col James A Drain, US Commissioner, Anglo-American Commission, to the Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Minister of Munitions, asking him to impress on Sir John Hunter, Director of Factory Construction, Ministry of Munitions, that on him was dependent the success of the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy Pailloux, Châteauroux, France . 1p
[STERN: 1/13/23]
1918 Apr 5
Letter from Sir John Hunter, Administrator of Works and Buildings, Air Ministry, Department of Works and Buildings, to Stern on the relative roles of J S Sangster, Ministry of Munitions and Capt Freeman, Engineer, Factory Department, Ministry of Munitions. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/24]
1918 Apr 12
Telegram from Stern to Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General, Tank Corps, relating to the refusal of General Headquarters to allow him to attend a meeting at Tank Corps Headquarters, Bermicourt, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/25]
1918 Apr 12
Letter from Maj Somerset J Saunderson, Liaison Officer with Allied Military Authorities, Mechanical Warfare, (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, Deputy Commissioner, London, Anglo-American Commission, to Capt Norman Edward Holden, Deputy Comissioner, Mechanical Warfare, (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, Controller, Anglo-American Commission, concerning passes. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/26]
1918 Apr 11
Letter from Maj Frank Goldsmith, Liaison Officer with Allied Government Departments, Paris, France, Mechanical Warfare, (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, Anglo-American Commission, to Maj Somerset J Saunderson, Liaison Officer with Allied Military Authorities, Mechanical Warfare, (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, Deputy Commissioner, London, Anglo-American Commission, relating to the requirement that officers on duty travelling from France to England should carry passes. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/27]
1918 Apr 12
Telegram from Stern to Brig Gen Hugh Jamieson Elles, Commander, Tank Corps on the refusal of General Headquarters to provide passes for himself and US Lt Col James A Drain, US Commissioner, Anglo-American Commission. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/28]
1918 Apr 13
Telegram from Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General, Tank Corps, to Stern stating that it was inadvisable at that time for Stern and US Lt Col James A Drain, US Commissioner, Anglo-American Commission to attend a meeting at General Headquarters. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/29]
1918 Apr 13
Telegram from Stern to the Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Minister of Munitions, relating to the difficulty encountered through the failure to issue passes to the commissioners of the Anglo-American Commission. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/30]
1918 Apr 15
Copy of telegram from Stern to the Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Minister of Munitions, confirming an earlier telegram of 13 Apr 1918 and enclosing a copy of a telegram received from Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General, Tank Corps. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/31]
1918 Apr 16
Letter from Stern to Sir Arthur McDougal Duckham, Director General of Aircraft Production, Ministry of Munitions, advocating recognition for the work of Mr T M Service of Beardmore and Company Limited and criticising the methods of Sir John Hunter, Director of Factory Construction, Ministry of Munitions. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/32]
1918 Apr 17
Letter from Stern to Percival Lea Dewhurst Perry, Assistant Controller and Director of Production, Mechanical Warfare Department, Ministry of Munitions thanking him for his letter and a schedule. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/33]
1918 Apr 18
Letter from G Marsh, on behalf of the Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Minister of Munitions, to Stern, expressing satisfaction at the issue of a White Pass to Stern. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/34]
1918 Apr 24
Letter from Sir John Hunter, Director of Factory Construction, Ministry of Munitions, to Stern relating to the appointment of J S Sangster, Ministry of Munitions, to take charge at the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy Pailloux, Châteauroux, France . 1p
[STERN: 1/13/35]
1918 Mar 3,1918 May 6
Copies of two memoranda between Maj Somerset J Saunderson, Liaison Officer with Allied Military Authorities, Mechanical Warfare, (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, Deputy Commissioner, London, Anglo-American Commission and Stern, concerning the refusal of the Director General of the Tank Corps (Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper) to issue copies of the report on the Battle of Cambrai, Western Front, 1917, to the Anglo-American Commission. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/36]
1918 May 5
Cover note from Sir John Hunter, Director of Factory Construction, Ministry of Munitions, to Stern, relating to a letter from Hunter to Sir Charles (Edward) Ellis, Representative of the Ministry of Munitions in Paris, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/37]
1918 May 5
Letter from Sir John Hunter, Director of Factory Construction, Ministry of Munitions, to Sir Charles (Edward) Ellis, Representative of the Ministry of Munitions, in Paris, France, detailing the appointment of J S Sangster, Ministry of Munitions, to superintend construction at the site of the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France. 2pp
[STERN: 1/13/38]
1918 May 7
Memorandum from Stern to Sir Arthur McDougal Duckham, Member of Council, Ministry of Munitions, relating to the refusal of Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General of the Tank Corps, to supply the report of the Battle of Cambrai, Western Front, 1917, to the Anglo-American Commission. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/39]
1918 May 21
Letter from Sir John Hunter, Director of Factory Construction, Ministry of Munitions, to Sir Arthur McDougal Duckham, Member of Council, Ministry of Munitions, reporting his decision to place J S Sangster, Ministry of Munitions in charge of construction at the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/40]
1918 May 25
Letter to Stern making reference to the supply of labour at the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/41]
1918 Jun 5
Letter from Capt Norman Edward Holden, Deputy Commissioner, Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, Controller, Anglo-American Commission, to Stern, containing a report of a meeting with Col Buzzard, British Section, Supreme War Council, Versailles, Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General of the Tank Corps, Admiral Sir Archibald Gordon Henry Wilson Moore, Controller, Mechanical Warfare Department, Ministry of Munitions and French Gen Jean Baptiste Estienne, Commander, French Tank Corps, at Versailles, France, at which he communicated projected figures of the production of Liberty (Mark VIII) tanks, tonnage and trucks from the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy-Pailloux, Châteauroux, France, and at which the question of spares for tanks was discussed. 2pp
[STERN: 1/13/42]
1918 Jun 15
Letter from Stern to Le Marquis de Chasseloup Laubat, French Commission in England, Bureau Interallié des Cuirassés Terrestres, (Inter-Allied Tank Bureau), promising that the Department of Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies) would in future send the Bureau a fortnightly report of information about tank development. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/43]
1918 Jun 17
Letter from Le Marquis de Chasseloup Laubat, French Commission in England, Bureau Interallié des Cuirassés Terrestres, (Inter-Allied Tank Bureau), to Stern agreeing to his proposals contained in a letter of 15 Jun 1918. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/44]
1918 Jun 19
Notice of the official and private addresses in England of Le Marquis de Chasseloup Laubat, French Commission in England, Bureau Interallié des Cuirassés Terrestres, (Inter-Allied Tank Bureau). 1p
[STERN: 1/13/45]
1918 Jun 19
Letter from E C Hannen, of Holland, Hannen and Cubitts Limited, to Stern, in response to a letter from Sir John Hunter, Director of Factory Construction, Ministry of Munitions, relating to the proposal that the company withdraw from the contract to construct the Allied Tank Factory at Neuvy Pailloux, Châteauroux, France . 1p
[STERN: 1/13/46]
1918 Jun 21
Letter from Sir (William) Graham Greene, Secretary, Ministry of Munitions, to Stern, relating to the reorganisation of the Ministry of Munitions. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/47]
1918 Jun 25
Telegram from Stern to Maj A H Wood, Area Commandant, Candas, France, British Expeditionary Force (B E F), France, asking him to report to Paris, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/48]
1918 Jun 25
Memorandum from Stern to the Permit Office, General Headquarters, British Armies in France, requesting a three month extension to his White Pass, in order for him to proceeed to Tank Corps Headquarters, Bermicourt, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/49]
1918 Jun 25
Letter from Lt US Lt Col James A Drain, US Commissioner, Anglo-American Commission, to Maj Somerset J Saunderson, Liaison Officer with Allied Military Authorities, Mechanical Warfare, (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, Deputy Commissioner, London, Anglo-American Commission, on the proposed expansion of the tank Mark VIII production programme. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/50]
1918 Jun 25
Cover note to Col Buzzard, British Section, Supreme War Council, Versailles, France, relating to correspondence concerning the allocation of ten Renault tanks to England. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/51]
1918 Jun 4
Letter from Bertram Blakiston Cubitt, War Office, to Sir (William) Graham Greene, Secretary, Ministry of Munitions, relating to the decision of the military representatives of the Supreme War Council to refer questions of the allocation of tanks amongst the Allies to the Inter-Allied Tank Committee. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/52]
1918 Jun 8
Letter from Maj Gen Sir John Edward Capper, Director General of the Tank Corps, to Stern, requesting that he inform the French Government that sixteen of the twenty Renault tanks due to be supplied to the British Army should be suitable for a machine gun and the other four should be armed with a light gun. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/53]
1918 Jun 12
Ministry of Munitions, Commission for Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies) cover note relating to the supply by the French Government to the British Army of ten Renault tanks and ten machine gun tanks without machine guns. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/54]
1918 Jun 24
Ministry of Munitions, Commission for Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies) telegram concerning the date of delivery by the French Government of Renault tanks to the British Army. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/55]
1918 Jun 25
Ministry of Munitions, Commission for Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies) telegram concerning the date of delivery by the French Government of Renault tanks to the British Army. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/56]
1918 Jun 27
Letter from Le Marquis de Chasseloup Laubat, French Commission in England, Bureau Interallié des Cuirassés Terrestres, (Inter-Allied Tank Bureau), to Stern, concerning the abolition of the Bureau. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/57]
1918 Jun 27
Cover note to Col Buzzard, British Section, Supreme War Council, Versailles, relating to correspondence with Maj A H Wood, Area Commandant, Candas, France, British Expeditionary Force (B E F), France. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/58]
1918 Jun 21
Letter from Bertram Blakiston Cubitt, War Office, to Sir (William) Graham Greene, Secretary, Ministry of Munitions, relating to the holding by the Army Council of a conference on tanks policy chaired by the Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff (Maj Gen Charles Harington Harington) on 26 Jun 1918, at which it was thought that the Ministry of Munitions should be represented. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/59]
1918 Jun 26
Agenda of an Army Council conference on tanks policy, chaired by the Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff (Maj Gen Charles Harington Harington) and held in Room 219, War Office, London, 26 Jun 1918. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/60]
1918 Jun 27
Telegram from Furness, Care Welldeck, to Stern in Paris, France. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/61]
1918 Jun 27
Telegram from Maj A H Wood, Area Commandant, Candas, France, British Expeditionary Force (B E F), France, to Ministry of Munitions, Commission for Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies), Paris, confirming receipt of wire and indicating that he was awaiting instructions from General Headquarters. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/62]
1918 Jun
Telegram from Stern in Paris, France, relating to travel arrangements from France to London for Capt Freeman, Engineer, Factory Department, Ministry of Munitions and Mrs Freeman. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/63]
1918 Jun 28
Telegram from Stern in Paris, France, to Furness, Care Welldeck, London. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/64]
1918 Jun 28
Message from Maj A H Wood, Area Commandant, Candas, France, British Expeditionary Force (B E F), France, to Stern in Paris, France, announcing that he would arrive in Paris, France, the following evening. 1p
[STERN: 1/13/65]
1918 Jun 28
Letter from Lt Rudolph A Robertson, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Section Director (Inspection and Progress), Mechanical Warfare, (Overseas and Allies) Department, Ministry of Munitions, Anglo-American Commission, in Washington DC to Stern on progress in the US of production of components for the Mark VIII tank. 3p
[STERN: 1/13/66]
1918 Jun 29
Letter from Louis Loucher, French Minister of Munitions, to the Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Minister of Munitions, concerning the monthly quantities of raw materials that the French Government required from the UK for tank production. 2p
[STERN: 1/13/67]
1918 Jul 2
Telegram from Stern, in Paris, to Norman Hutchinson, requesting that he hand over his villa to the Ministry of Munitions, Commission for Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies). 1p