In 1943, United States Lieutenant General Brehon B. Somervell, head of the Army Service Forces that oversaw the US logistical efforts and lend lease shipments, argued for the United Kingdom to cease domestic tank production and rely solely on American. Somervell reasoned that British tanks were inferior to the M4 Sherman medium tank, and that this would free up British factory space particularly for trucks, machinery, and trains (as British demands for these items via lend-lease had increased). British tank production was reduced, but domestic construction was maintained. By mid-1944, the majority of armoured brigades were equipped with the Sherman, as a result of British cruiser production being unable to meet the numbers required of the Royal Armoured Corps. The lack of quality and reliability, among the British designs, was also a factor in the increased use of American models. Of the nine British armoured brigades deployed to France, in 1944 as part of the Northwest Europe campaign, only the 22nd Armoured Brigade, of the 7th Armoured Division, was primarily equipped with British tanks (the Cromwell). The number of brigades equipped with British tanks, in northwest Europe, doubled over the winter of 1944/45. In October 1944, the 29th Armoured Brigade, of the 11th Armoured Division, was selected to be re-equipped with the new British Comet tank. The process was started in December, but delayed through to January 1945 as a result of the Battle of the Bulge.