A month after taking up official duties, Macready came to London to demand eight extra battalions of infantry and 234 motor vehicles. Sir Henry Wilson only learned of the request the evening before the Cabinet meeting and thought Macready "a vain ass" for not seeking his advice first. The cabinet agreed on 11 May 1920 to supply the vehicles and as far as possible the extra technical personnel requested, but on Wilson's advice agreed only to hold the extra battalions "in readiness". In July an argument with Catholic Archbishop Gilmartin, led him to exclaim that men could not be tried in Tuam, because nobody was willing to come forward for Jury service, "the people at least indifferent".