In 1922 or 1923 Loyd met self-taught engineer Sir John Carden, with whom he founded the small Carden-Loyd Tractor Company in Chertsey near London.
Carden and Loyd rapidly took the lead in development and managed to get the British Army interested in their vehicle for reconnaissance purposes as well as for a weapons carrier.
By doing so they blurred the original concept, for the Army called Carden-Loyd’s carriers “Tankettes” and thus gave the impression that the Tank Corps and not the Infantry had a vested interest in them.
This was the essence of the “All Armoured Idea”, which few at the time really understood, and which many more traditionally minded soldiers reviled as the “All Tank Idea.” Steadily, these versatile little Carriers were improved and for lack of anything better, played an important part in reconnaissance and protection duties for the main force of medium tanks during the first British Armoured Force experiments of 1927 and 1928.
[6] The Carden-Loyd carriers grew into Light Tanks, while foreign purchasers came forward to buy the basic vehicle and adapt it in their own factories to suit their own requirements.