Item STERN 2/36/1 - Papers, 1940-1945, relating to a memo, 'The scandal of the British tanks: a demand for an enquiry', 1943

File of papers relating to a typescript memorandum bearing manuscript annotations entitled 'The scandal of the British tanks. A demand for an enquiry', Dec 1943, containing criticism of the performance in the field of the British Army's tanks and of those responsible for tank development, together with an account of the work of the Special Vehicle Development Committee, Ministry of Supply and calling for an enquiry into the full facts about British tank production, 1939-1943, including an appendix containing quotations from Hansard, Jul 1942-Nov 1943. The file also contains a set of copies of official memoranda and correspondence by Stern with the Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill, Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister of Defence, the Rt Hon Sir Andrew Rae Duncan, Minister of Supply, the Right Hon Oliver Frederick George Stanley, Secretary of State for War and others, expressing his concerns over the state of mechanical warfare development, 1940-1943; a note by members of the Tank Committee, stating that, following consideration of the memorandum, in their opinion an early secret debate on British tanks was necessary, 15 Dec 1943; a note by Stern requesting legal advice about the possibility of libel in the memorandum and a letter from G F Pitt-Lewis, Coward, Chance and Company Limited, London to Stern, 19 Jun 1945, relating to the return of the memorandum to Stern and mentioning that the document had been discussed at a meeting between them of 22 Dec 1943. 9 documents