After British tanks went into action on 15 September 1916, the German Army immediately demanded their own landships. Following the appearance of the first British tanks on the Western Front, the War Ministry formed a committee of experts from leading engineering companies, answerable to the Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, Abteilung 7, Verkehrswesen ("General War Department, 7th Branch, Transportation"),[6] The project to design and build the first German tank was placed under the direction of Joseph Vollmer, a leading German automobile designer and manufacturer. He was chosen to design the World War I German tanks A7V, and the Großkampfwagen or K-Wagen.