[2] Henry Spurrier II's period in charge saw a series of a disastrous decisions, including an attempt to increase the value of Leyland vehicles by purchasing large quantities of war surplus stock, and inviting onto the board two men who subsequently turned out to be a bankrupt and a swindler.
The younger Henry was distracted by an affair and Leyland's chief creditor, the Manchester and Liverpool District Bank, thought he had more interest in his yachting hobby than the car business.
During World War I he was a pilot lieutenant with the Royal Flying Corps, serving in Mesopotamia and the Middle East, where he contracted typhoid and dysentery, and India.
This period was a formative experience, giving him a lifelong concern for cost control and a tendency to fear the worst when assessing the firm's future prospects.
[7] The 1950s were a period of stability as the company continued its frugal profitability under a triumvirate: Spurrier was in overall charge (knighted in 1955 and chairman from 1957), but his proteges Stanley Markland and Donald Stokes ran the firm's production and marketing respectively.