Page "Churchill tank" Paragraph 8

With German invasion looking imminent and the United Kingdom having lost most of its military vehicles in the evacuation from France, the War Office specified that the A22 had to enter production within the year.

By July 1940 the design was complete and by December of that year the first prototypes were completed ; in June 1941, almost exactly a year as specified, the first Churchill tanks began rolling off the production line.