Sir Albert Gerald Stern (24 September 1878 – 2 January 1966) was a banker who became the Secretary of the

Landship Committee 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 Febru ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, where his organisational ability assisted the Committee in creating the first British tank. During the war he came into conflict with the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD ...

but had the advantage of direct access to the Prime Minister, and no civil service career to protect. He was removed from direct involvement in the production of tanks and sidelined.Glanfield, J ''The Devil's Chariots – The birth and secret battles of the first tanks'' Sutton Publishing, Stroud 2001

Early life

Born the second son of James Julius Stern, a part of the Jewish European Stern Banking dynasty, Albert Stern was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford before entering the family business, becoming known in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

as "The Holy Terror". Although he negotiated a large loan to the sultan of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

, Albert Stern had no real flair as a merchant banker. At the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

he tried to join the armed forces but experienced difficulty doing so due to a weak ankle. He offered to supply the Admiralty with an armoured car at his own expense and was eventually commissioned as a lieutenant in the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, ...

at the end of 1914, when he joined the

Armoured Car Division Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...

of the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

Landship Committee

Stern originally became involved with landships as an assistant to Flight Commander Thomas Hetherington, RNAS. In 1915 he became Secretary of the

. In February 1916

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...

appointed him head of what became known as the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, under the

Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis o ...

, which controlled the procurement and supply of tanks. Stern was transferred to the Army where he eventually attained the rank of

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. Stern believed in the application of business methods to war production with the minimum of interference from professional soldiers. Stern and the chairman of the committee, Eustace d'Eyncourt (

Director of Naval Construction The Director of Naval Construction (DNC) also known as the Department of the Director of Naval Construction and Directorate of Naval Construction and originally known as the Chief Constructor of the Navy was a senior principal civil officer resp ...

and designer of many of the Royal Navy's latest ships), attempted to use their influence with Lloyd George to influence the employment of tanks. However, neither had a military background nor had they spent much time on the frontline, and GHQ became irritated at their interference in their affairs. Stern was removed from his post and given the task of co-ordinating an Allied tank, which resulted in the Tank Mark VIII, a few of which were built towards the end of the war.

Special Vehicle Development Committee

Until the creation in 1939 of the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for air ...

, the

had issued specifications for weapons it required and then chose from the proposals submitted in response by manufacturers. In the case of tank production there were only two manufacturers with the required skills:

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in ...

and the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the Br ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thro ...

Leslie Burgin Edward Leslie Burgin (13 July 1887 – 16 August 1945) was a British Liberal and later Liberal National politician in the 1930s. Biography Born to Edward Lambert Burgin, a solicitor, Burgin studied law at the University of London, graduating ...

, the

Minister of Supply The Minister of Supply was the minister in the British Government responsible for the Ministry of Supply, which existed to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to the national armed forces. The position was campaigned for by many sceptics of the for ...

, was worried about the ongoing expansion of the German armoured forces and realised that he needed the help of an expert in tank warfare who could understand the army's requirements. He therefore selected Stern, who was now 62. Stern was on the boards of the

Midland Bank Midland Bank Plc was one of the Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birmingham, England in August 1836. It e ...

, the Clydesdale Bank, and the Bank of Romania. He was also helping to prevent the Germans' attempts to take over the Romanian oil industry. When he was approached to talk to Burgin about tanks, he seized the opportunity since he too had been worrying about the type of tank that the army would need in the forthcoming war. He met General Sir

Maurice Taylor Maurice De Shawn Taylor (born October 30, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He played power forward and center positions. Originally from Detroit, Taylor played college basketball at Michigan and was selected by the ...

, the Ministry's chief military advisor, but the meeting did not go well since Taylor said he was satisfied with the state of Britain's tank development. However, Taylor's assistant, General Davidson, told Stern of his concerns about the lack of investment in tank production in a private meeting. When Stern reported back to Burgin, he appointed Stern the head of the Special Vehicle Development Committee. Stern then began selecting the members of the committee, including many people who had been part of the development of the tank during World War I, including former

, Eustace d'Eyncourt, Sir Ernest Swinton (now a director of

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...

), engine designer

Harry Ricardo Sir Harry Ralph Ricardo (26 January 1885 – 18 May 1974) was an English engineer who was one of the foremost engine designers and researchers in the early years of the development of the internal combustion engine. Among his many other works, ...

, and the gearbox and transmission expert Major W G Wilson. Unsurprisingly they got the nickname "The Old Gang". It soon became obvious that the SVDC lacked power, but General Ironside, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, was helpful. Aware of the inadequacy of the tank designs currently in service, he assisted the committee in finding accommodation where they could produce an initial tank specification.

TOG 1 & TOG 2

Together they proposed the development of a "

heavy tank Heavy tank is a term used to define a class of tanks produced from World War I through the end of the Cold War. These tanks generally sacrificed mobility and maneuverability for better armour protection and equal or greater firepower than tanks ...

" design, the TOG 1, an acronym for "The Old Gang", which was the Committee's nickname for themselves. Production was carried out by another of the first tank's developers and builders, Sir William Tritton of Foster's of Lincoln. Designed with trench crossing abilities to the fore and the capability to carry infantry as well, the design was a large hull with side doors supported on broad tracks, with a small turret on top. The prototype TOG 1 was delivered in October 1940. After problems with the electro-mechanical drive, it was converted to

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

drive, a process that took until May 1943 after which it was called TOG 1A. The prototype was sent to

Chobham Chobham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England. The village has a small high street area, specialising in traditional trades and motor trades. The River Bourne and its northern tributary, the Hale, ...

and then seems to have disappeared into history. The second design to come out of the SVDC, the

TOG 2 The Tank, Heavy, TOG II was a British super-heavy tank design produced in the early part of World War II in case the battlefields of northern France devolved into a morass of mud, trenches and craters as had happened during World War I. When t ...

was similar to the TOG 1 and kept many of its features, but mounted the latest tank gun, the QF

17-pounder The Ordnance Quick-Firing 17-pounder (or just 17-pdr)Under the British standard ordnance weights and measurements the gun's approximate projectile weight is used to denote different guns of the same calibre. Hence this was a 3-inch gun, of which ...

(76.2 mm). Instead of the track path arrangement of the TOG 1 which was like that of the First World War British tanks, the track path was lower on the return run and the doors were above the tracks. It was ordered in 1940, and built by Foster's of Lincoln, and the prototype ran for the first time in March 1941. Although fitted with the same electro-mechanical drive as the TOG 1, the TOG 2 used twin generators and no problems were reported. It was modified to include among other things a change from the unsprung tracks for a torsion bar suspension and as the TOG 2* was successfully trialled in May 1943. No further development occurred, although a shorter version, the TOG 2 (R) was mooted. The TOG 2 can be seen at the

Bovington Tank Museum The Tank Museum (previously The Bovington Tank Museum) is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about north of the village of Wool and west of the major port of Poole. The collecti ...

. Unfortunately, once Winston Churchill – with whom Stern had had a blazing row in 1917 – took over as Prime Minister on 10 May 1940, Stern and the work of the SVDC were sidelined. Despite this, the SVDC went on to develop specifications for a

cruiser tank The cruiser tank (sometimes called cavalry tank or fast tank) was a British tank concept of the interwar period for tanks designed as modernised armoured and mechanised cavalry, as distinguished from infantry tanks. Cruiser tanks were develope ...

which was vigorously promoted by Stern. The Tog design was also sidelined by the good cross-country performance of the

Churchill tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill was a British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple bogies, its ability to climb steep slopes, ...

which had been designed by Harland and Wolff (and subsequently improved by Vauxhall Motors) to cross shelled ground.

Honours

Stern was made a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in hono ...

in the

1917 New Year Honours The 1917 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in several editions of ''The London Gazette'' in Ja ...

, and was made a Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

1918 Birthday Honours The 1918 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, 3 June a ...

. He became

High Sheriff of Kent The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (prior to 1974 the office previously known as sheriff)."Sheriffs appointed for a county or Greater London shall be known as high sheriffs, and any reference in any enactment or instrum ...

and a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent in 1952.

Personal life

In 1922 Stern married Helen Orr-Lewis, daughter of Sir Frederick Orr-Lewis, 1st Baronet, upon his permission after meeting her in the south of France on diplomatic business, since she was underage at the time. They had two sons and two daughters. His brother, Sir Frederick Claude Stern, was an accomplished horticulturist and botanist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Albert Gerald 1878 births 1966 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British Jews British bankers Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George History of the tank Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Eton College High Sheriffs of Kent Deputy Lieutenants of Kent Stern family (banking)