Albert Gerald Stern

Sir Albert Gerald Stern (24 September 1878 – 2 January 1966) was a banker who became the Secretary of the Landship Committee during World War I, where his organisational ability assisted the Committee in creating the first British tank.

During the war he came into conflict with the War Office 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.

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 as "The Holy Terror". Although he negotiated a large loan to the sultan of Morocco, Albert Stern had no real flair as a merchant banker.

At the outbreak of the First World War 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 at the end of 1914, when he joined the Armoured Car Division of the Royal Naval Air Service.

Landship Committee Stern originally became involved with landships as an assistant to Flight Commander Thomas Hetherington, RNAS. In 1915 he became Secretary of the Landship Committee. In February 1916 David Lloyd George appointed him head of what became known as the Mechanical Warfare Supply Department, under the Ministry of Munitions, which controlled the procurement and supply of tanks. Stern was transferred to the Army where he eventually attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. 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 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.

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.