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44-507: After the last order for an additional fifty Mark I vehicles in April 1916, it was not certain that any more tanks were to be produced. Everything would depend on the success of the new weapon. William Tritton , co-designer and co-producer of the Mark I, thought he already understood what would prove to be its main weakness. A direct hit by a shell would destroy the vehicle, a major drawback on

88-627: A Cabinet job. He was not, however, solely responsible for the Army; the Commander-in-Chief had a virtually equal degree of responsibility. This was reduced in theory by the reforms introduced by Edward Cardwell in 1870, which subordinated the Commander-in-Chief to the Secretary for War. In practice, however, a large influence was retained by the conservative Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge , who held

132-429: A battlefield saturated with artillery fire. Tritton decided to design a tank that would be immune to medium artillery fire in April 1916. Tritton was unsure what this would entail. He did not know how thick the armour should be to ensure complete protection. The same month Lieutenant Kenneth Symes began to test 2 inch (51 mm) armour plate by firing at it with various captured German guns. In June, this programme

176-610: A completed prototype. Albert Gerald Stern , the head of the Tank Supply Department, wrote that the War Office ordered the end of the project late in 1916, because it deemed mobility more important than protection. Historian David Fletcher speculated that the project ran into trouble because the vehicle was grossly underpowered; top speed was estimated at two miles per hour, and it seems unlikely that it could have worked itself free when stuck in mud. The fact that

220-477: A contract to exist between two parties: agreement, voluntary, consideration, capacity, and legality. A sixth requirement of "in writing" sometimes applies. The main concern for commercial orders is that there must be agreement (offer and acceptance) for the order to be a contract. Prior to this, businesses often record the details of negotiations by using a request for quotation , request for bid, sales quotation, or sales bid. Quotations are non-binding and part of

264-652: A number of independent offices and individuals were responsible for various aspects of Army administration. The most important were the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces , the Secretary at War , and the twin Secretaries of State ; most of whose military responsibilities were passed to a new Secretary of State for War in 1794. Others who performed specialist functions were the controller of army accounts,

308-536: A political office. In political terms, it was a fairly minor government job (despite retaining a continued right of access to the monarch) which dealt with the minutiae of administration, rather than grand strategy. The Secretary, who was usually a member of the House of Commons, routinely presented the House with the Army Estimates, and occasionally spoke on other military matters as required. In symbolic terms, he

352-661: A separate Minister of Defence for the first time in 1947. In 1964, the present form of the Ministry of Defence was established, unifying the War Office, Admiralty, and Air Ministry. As early as 1718 letters from the Secretary at War were addressed from "The War Office". His department had several headquarters in London until it settled at Horse Guards in Whitehall during 1722. It remained there until 1858. Then, following

396-400: Is a stated intention, either spoken or written, to engage in a commercial transaction for specific products or services. From a buyer's point of view it expresses the intention to buy and is called a purchase order . From a seller's point of view it expresses the intention to sell and is referred to as a sales order . When the purchase order of the buyer and the sales order of the seller agree,

440-540: The Albert Stern archive at King's College London , featured two six-pounders in sponsons either side of a bulbous nose equipped with no fewer than five machine guns. Each side had two machine-gun positions on the flanks, with two more at the rear (the original Foster drawings make this quite clear; the reproduction of the drawings in David Fletcher's book British Tanks 1915–19 is cropped and makes

484-1070: The Army Medical Board , the Commissariat Department, the Board of General Officers, the Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces , the Commissary General of Muster , the Paymaster General of the forces , and (particularly with regard to the Militia ) the Home Office . The term War Department was initially used for the separate office of the Secretary of State for War; in 1855, the offices of Secretary at War and Secretary of State for War were amalgamated, and thereafter

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528-703: The Crimean War . This powerful independent body, dating from the 15th century, had been directed by the Master-General of the Ordnance , usually a very senior military officer who (unlike the Secretary at War) was often a member of the Cabinet. The disastrous campaigns of the Crimean War resulted in the consolidation of all administrative duties in 1855 as subordinate to the Secretary of State for War,

572-743: The East India Company and then the India Office ) was divided by the War and Colonial Office into the following administrative departments: NORTH AMERICA WEST INDIES MEDITERRANEAN AND AFRICA EASTERN COLONIES The War Office, after 1854 and until the 1867 confederation of the Dominion of Canada , was to split the military administration of the British Empire much as the War and Colonial Office had: In February 1855,

616-449: The Mark I . However, the weight was estimated at a hundred tons , much heavier than the 28 tons of the Mark I. The huge increase in weight came from the enormously thick armour for the time (three inches at the front, two inches on the sides). The hull roof consisted of a horizontal half-cylinder, apparently also with a uniform armour two inches thick. The front was a vertical half-cylinder,

660-583: The Secretary of State for War after the creation of that more senior post in 1794 (though the latter was also responsible for Britain's colonies from 1801, and renamed Secretary of State for War and the Colonies , an arrangement which only ceased with the establishment of the Colonial Office in 1854). From 1824, the British Empire (excepting India , which was administered separately by

704-778: 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 (MoD). It was at that time, equivalent to the Admiralty , responsible for the Royal Navy (RN), and (much later) the Air Ministry , which oversaw the Royal Air Force (RAF). The name 'War Office' is also given to the former home of

748-661: The First World War, a fact illustrated by the drastic reductions of its staff numbers during the inter-war period. Its responsibilities and funding were also reduced. In 1936, the government of Stanley Baldwin appointed a Minister for Co-ordination of Defence, who was not part of the War Office. When Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940, he bypassed the War Office altogether, and appointed himself Minister of Defence (though there was, curiously, no ministry of defence until 1947). Clement Attlee continued this arrangement when he came to power in 1945, but appointed

792-476: The Mark I series turned out to be a success removed one of Tritton's main motives for building the heavier tank. However, John Glanfield writes that Tritton, in an effort to lighten the machine and make it more practicable, halved the thickness of the armour, reducing the overall weight to a still hefty 50–60 tons. Its appearance would have remained unchanged. Furthermore, the role of the Flying Elephant

836-534: The Mark I, but were flatter and 61 centimetres wide, while a pair of additional, narrower tracks were fitted to the underside approximately 6 inches higher than the main tracks. They were not intended to be used for normal driving but were to be engaged to give extra traction over rough ground and would have helped to prevent "bellying", i.e. the tank becoming stuck on higher ground between the two outer tracks. All four tracks could be simultaneously driven by two Daimler 105 horsepower (78 kilowatt ) engines, positioned on

880-523: The US Census Bureau publishes statistics for "new orders", shipments, "unfilled orders" and inventories for manufactured durable goods. This gives an indication whether trade is increasing or decreasing for manufactured durable goods in the US. War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations in history, all relating to the army. It was a department of

924-690: The War Office was hampered by persistent disputes between the civilian and military parts of the organisation. The government of H.H. Asquith attempted to resolve this during the First World War by appointing Lord Kitchener as Secretary for War. During his tenure, the Imperial General Staff was virtually dismantled. Its role was replaced effectively by the Committee of Imperial Defence , which debated broader military issues. The War Office decreased greatly in importance after

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968-430: The building required five years to complete, at a cost of more than 1.2 million pounds. The building is somewhat oddly shaped, forming a trapezoid in order to maximise the use of the irregularly shaped plot of land on which it was built: its four distinctive domes were designed as a decorative means of disguising the shape. It has around 1,100 rooms on seven floors. After 1964 the building continued to be used, under

1012-422: The buyer with a receipt for the payment. In legal terms, this form of business order is an " implied in fact contract ". In commerce, various business documents are used to record the negotiation of an agreement to buy and sell, record the agreement itself, and record compliance with the agreement and closure of the contract. An agreement to buy and sell is a form of contract. There are five basic requirements for

1056-400: The buyer's actions. Taking a shopping cart of merchandise to a check-out counter is an implied intent to buy the merchandise. Placing a take-out or eat-in order at a restaurant is a spoken purchase order. Putting gasoline in one's tank at a filling station is an implied order. The seller usually expects immediate payment by cash, check or credit card for these purchases, and the seller provides

1100-444: The centre-line, with the inner tracks connected to the main units via dog clutches . Each engine had its own primary gearbox , both of which drove into one single differential . This differential powered two secondary gearboxes, one for each main track. This differs from the solution chosen for the later Whippet in which each engine drove its own track. It is certain that construction was started at some point, but did not result in

1144-400: The department, located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. The landmark building was sold on 1 March 2016 by HM Government for more than £ 350 million, on a 250 year lease for conversion into a luxury hotel and residential apartments. Prior to 1855, 'War Office' signified the office of the Secretary at War . In the 17th and 18th centuries,

1188-415: The difference between a present sale (recorded as a sales order) and a sale (recorded as a transfer of title to the buyer). (1) In this Article unless the context otherwise requires " contract " and "agreement" are limited to those relating to the present or future sale of goods. "Contract for sale" includes both a present sale of goods and a contract to sell goods at a future time. A "sale" consists in

1232-787: The dissolution of the Board of Ordnance, the War Office moved into the Board's former offices in Cumberland House , Pall Mall . Over the ensuing years it expanded into adjacent properties on Pall Mall before it was relocated to purpose-built accommodation, in what is now known as the Old War Office Building, in 1906. Between 1906 and its abolition in 1964 the War Office was based in a large neo-Baroque building designed by William Young , completed during 1906, and located on Horse Guards Avenue at its junction with Whitehall in Central London. The construction of

1276-499: The name The Old War Office, by the Ministry of Defence . On 1 June 2007 the building, other than the steps that give access to it, was designated as a protected site for the purposes of Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 . The effect was to make it a specific criminal offence for a person to trespass on the building. In August 2013 it was announced that the building would be sold on

1320-483: The negotiation process. A request for bid can be binding or non-binding, depending on the terms of the bid. Once an agreement or contract is in place, businesses record these as confirmed purchase orders and confirmed sales orders. In the US, Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code covers commercial contracts, and section 2-103 gives definitions of terms under this code. Section 2-106 describes

1364-469: The new Secretary of State for War was additionally commissioned as Secretary at War, thus giving the Secretary of State oversight of the War Office in addition to his own department. The same procedure was followed for each of his successors, until the office of Secretary at War was abolished altogether in 1863. In 1855, the Board of Ordnance was abolished as a result of its perceived poor performance during

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1408-624: The open market, with a goal of realising offers above 100 million pounds. On 13 December 2014 the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the building would be sold to the Hinduja Group for an undisclosed amount. The building was sold on 1 March 2016 for more than 350 million pounds, on a 250-year lease, to the Hinduja Group and OHL Developments for conversion to a luxury hotel and residential apartments. Hinduja and Raffles plan to open

1452-561: The orders become a contract between the buyer and seller. Within an organization, it may be a work order for manufacturing, a preventive maintenance order, or an order to make repairs to a facility. In many businesses, orders are used to collect and report costs and revenues according to well-defined purposes. Then it is possible to show for what purposes costs have been incurred. Businesses such as retail stores , restaurants and filling stations conduct business with their customers by accepting orders that are spoken or implied by

1496-494: The passing of title from the seller to the buyer for a price (Section 2-401). A "present sale" means a sale which is accomplished by the making of the contract. In their "Advance Monthly Sales for Retail Trade and Food Services", the US Census Bureau publishes estimates of US retail and food services sales. These "sales" are orders that have been filled; payment has been made or is an account receivable. In their "Preliminary Report on Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories and Orders",

1540-690: The post between 1856 and 1895. His resistance to reform caused military efficiency to lag well behind that of Britain's rivals, a problem that became obvious during the Second Boer War . The situation was only remedied in 1904, when the job of Commander-in-Chief was abolished, and replaced with that of the Chief of the General Staff , which was replaced by the job of Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1908. An Army Council

1584-512: The rear guns ambiguous in nature). Originally, the shell-proof tank was referred to simply as the Heavy Tank, then Foster's Battle Tank. Where the nickname 'Flying Elephant' came from no one knows for sure, though it was probably the result of the trunk-like nose gun, domed front, and enormous bulk combined with a traditional British lightheartedness. The tank was fitted with two pairs of caterpillar tracks . The outer tracks resembled those of

1628-474: The secretary to the Commander-in-Chief of the Army . In the latter part of the 17th century, the office of Commander-in-Chief was vacant for several periods, which left the Secretary at War answering directly to the Sovereign; and thereafter, even when the office of Commander-in-Chief was restored on a more permanent basis, the Secretary at War retained his independence. The department of the Secretary at War

1672-568: The terms War Office and War Department were used somewhat interchangeably. The War Office developed from the Council of War , an ad hoc grouping of the King and his senior military commanders which managed the Kingdom of England 's wars and campaigns. The management of the War Office was directed initially by the Secretary at War , whose role had originated during the reign of King Charles II as

1716-444: The transition between the two being a half-dome. Many sources claim that the main armament, a nose-mounted cannon, was a standard 57-millimetre 6-pounder gun . John Glanfield, in his history The Devil's Chariots , states that it was a 75-millimetre or 13-pounder gun. A 6-pounder main gun for such a heavy machine would have meant half the main armament of contemporary vehicles. The preliminary design, for which partial blueprints are in

1760-517: Was changed from a vague 'attack' role to that of a 'tank-buster' when it was feared that the Germans were developing their own armoured fighting vehicles . Apparently, Stern planned to build twenty of the machines, before the project was cancelled. Background: History of the tank , Tank classification , Tanks in World War I Order (business) In business or commerce , an order

1804-487: Was created with a format similar to that of the Board of Admiralty , directed by the Secretary of State for War, and an Imperial General Staff was established to coordinate Army administration. The creation of the Army Council was recommended by the War Office (Reconstitution) Committee, and formally appointed by Letters Patent dated 8 February 1904, and by Royal Warrant dated 12 February 1904. The management of

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1848-464: Was expanded by testing several types of plate at Shoeburyness , delivered by armour producer William Beardmore and Company . The Tank Supply Committee approved the production of a prototype on 19 June 1916, but the design was not to be finalised until late August 1916. Partial drawings have survived and show a vehicle 8.36 m (27 ft 5 in) long and about 3 m (9 ft 10 in) tall and three metres wide, not that much larger than

1892-481: Was referred to as the 'Warr Office' (sic) from as early as 1694; its foundation has traditionally been ascribed to William Blathwayt , who had accompanied King William III during the Nine Years' War and who, from his appointment as Secretary in 1684, had greatly expanded the remit of his office to cover general day-to-day administration of the Army. After Blathwayt's retirement in 1704, Secretary at War became

1936-487: Was seen as signifying parliamentary control over the Army. Issues of strategic policy during wartime were managed by the Northern and Southern Departments (the predecessors of today's Foreign Office and Home Office ). From 1704 to 1855, the job of Secretary remained occupied by a minister of the second rank (although he was occasionally part of the Cabinet after 1794). Many of his responsibilities were transferred to

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