In July 1939, the Special Vehicle Development Committee was drawn up for future tank designs suitable for
Great War conditions under Sir
Albert Gerald Stern; who had been on the original
Landship Committee and head of the Tank Supply Depot during
World War I. The committee included others who had been instrumental in the development of the tank during the Great War: former
Director of Naval Construction, Sir
Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt, Major-general (retired) Sir
Ernest Swinton, engine designer
Harry Ricardo, the gearbox and transmission expert Major
Walter Gordon Wilson. Unsurprisingly they got the nickname "The Old Gang" and the initials TOG were applied to their designs. Together, they proposed the development of a
heavy tank design, which they entrusted to another of the first tank's developers and builder of the first tank, Sir
William Tritton of
Foster's of Lincoln. Their specification was comprehensive. As well as being able to operate across ground waterlogged and broken up by shelling, it was expected to resist 47-mm anti-tank guns and 105-mm field guns or howitzers at . Main armament would be a field gun mounted in the front – effective against thick reinforced concrete – and two 2-pounder guns, the latter in sponsons. For use against infantry, there would be
Besa machine guns covering "all arcs" Design work by Fosters began in December 1939, resulting in a wooden mock-up. Designed with trench crossing abilities to the fore and the capability to carry infantry as well, the design as built was a large hull with side doors supported on broad tracks, with a 2-pdr-gun-armed
Matilda II infantry tank turret. The front plate of the hull carried the 75 mm gun and mounting as used on the French
Char B1 tank. Neither of the planned sponson designs was ever actually installed on the prototype hull. It was realised that running the track drive over the top of the hull was not necessary and work began on a follow-up design in June 1940. The prototype TOG I was delivered in late September 1940. Testing began on September 27th of 1940, with an official public demonstration of the vehicle on October 6th. This public demonstration did not have the
QF 2-pounder gun installed in the turret. It is unknown if the gun was installed into the turret at any point during testing. Due to the weight,
electrical drive was used – the engine driving two generators connected to an electrical motor for each track. The steering wheel was connected to a
potentiometer that varied the voltage to the track motors. This strained the drive and track. Due to these problems, it was converted to a
hydraulic drive designed by Fluidrive Engineering, a process that took until May 1943 after which it was called TOG 1A. The fluid drive was not satisfactory either. ==Notes==