Experimental Mechanized Force The Experimental Mechanized Force was a brigade - sized formation of the British Army . It was officially formed on 27 August 1927 , and was intended to investigate and develop the techniques and equipment required for armoured warfare . As such it was the first armoured formation in the world . It was renamed the Experimental Armoured Force the following year . Over a period of two years , it participated in several exercises which proved the capabilities of mechanised forces against traditionally - organised and trained infantry and cavalry but also generated violent arguments within the Army . The Force was finally dispersed in February 1929 . It was followed by experiments in a " Mixed Tank Brigade " . Armoured warfare theory . In the aftermath of World War I , several theorists sought ways to avoid the indecisive nature of trench warfare , with its associated heavy casualties . One weapon which had shown promise was the tank . Colonel J . F . C . Fuller , formerly the Chief of Staff of the Tank Corps , proposed an all - tank force , which would operate independently against enemy headquarters and lines of communication . More moderate theorists such as the historian and former British Army officer Basil Liddell Hart advocated mechanised forces of all arms , able to carry out operations of war other than the all - out offensive . A third influential reformer , Colonel Giffard LeQuesne Martel proposed that tanks should nevertheless be subordinated to infantry formations , while the large number of influential cavalry officers maintained that the horse still had a part to play on a modern battlefield , in spite of all evidence to the contrary on the Western Front in World War I . Formation of the EMF . At the instigation of General George Milne , the Chief of the Imperial General Staff , the Secretary of State for War , Laming Worthington - Evans , decreed the formation of the Experimental Mechanized Force in October 1925 . Milne was already inclined against the pure tank theorists , and organised the force as a balanced force of all arms , so far as resources allowed . After the units concerned had completed their training on their new equipment , the Force officially came into existence at Tidworth on Salisbury Plain in August 1927 . Colonel Fuller had originally been considered for appointment as commander of the Force but he turned it down , as it was combined with command of an infantry brigade and the administrative responsibilities connected with the garrison of Tidworth . The War Office refused to allot extra staff to assist him , and Fuller believed he would be unable to devote himself to the Force and its methods and tactics . Instead , Colonel R . J . Collins , whose professional background was light infantry and was the commander of the 7th Infantry Brigade , was appointed to command the Experimental Force . The force was composed of : For a number of exercises , the 2nd Battalion Cheshire Regiment was attached to give an infantry component . When allocated , air support was provided by No . 16 ( Army cooperation ) Squadron , No . 3 ( Fighter ) Squadron and No . 11 ( Bombing ) Squadron of the Royal Air Force . Exercises and results . Over the two years following its formation , the Force participated in several exercises on Salisbury Plain , the traditional training area of the British Army , which was generally open with firm going and therefore ideal for mechanised units . The Force ' s operations were almost invariably judged to be successful by the umpires . Its all - arms composition generally vindicated Liddell Hart ' s concepts , as the Force was able to undertake operations such as opposed river crossings which would have been impossible for an all - tank force . Nevertheless , Liddell Hart complained that the Force ' s operations were too small in scope and always served as an adjunct to larger , traditionally organised forces , rather than demonstrating that mechanised forces could operate independently and be strategically decisive . Another shortcoming which the exercises highlighted was that the infantry ' s lorries could not keep up with the tanks on rough going . The solution , which would be to provide the infantry with tracked or half - tracked armoured personnel carrier s , was too expensive . After the Experimental Armoured Force was disbanded , the British Army formed ad hoc armoured forces in which the Tank brigades and Motorized Infantry brigades tended to operate independently of each other , a fault repeated in the early years of World War II .