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Transport during WWI

• Message 1.Μύ

  Posted by Miss_C_1982 (U2621579) on Monday, 5th December 2005

  What transport was used during World War I?
  
  (Questions that I am posting at the moment are from the students in my Yr9 History class. All replies will be greatly appreciated).

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  Posted by OUNUPA (U2078829) on Monday, 5th December 2005

  Interesting question...
  I guess the horse-drawn vehicles were mostly used. Surprisingly,perhaps,the use of horse-drawn transport persisted long after the invention of motor transport and all the western armies used large ammount throughout 1918,Miss.
  
  On the Eastern front during the 1914-18 war railroads played a decisive role,with horse-drawn transport almost universally used from the railheads.Tactically the effectiveness of the East Prussian rail system had to be contrasted with the strategic disadvantages of the poor railroad network of Poland and Russia which made it difficult for the Germans to turn tactical advantage into strategic success.
  
  In the Middle East ,particulary in Gallipoli in 1915,the successful use of amphibious craft allowed the navy to support the army's landing in absence of suitable port facilities.The failure of the army to gain a victory shouldn't detract from the success of the transportation methods employed.
  
  Failure of the British campaign in Mesopotamia in 1916,aimed at the relief of the garrison at Kut al-Imara has been attributed very clearly to poor logistic planning,with unsufficient river and land transport.

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  Posted by TonyG (U1830405) on Monday, 5th December 2005

  Strategically, railways to move large numbers of troops over long distance. Tactically, i.e. near the battle front, motorised transport such as cars and lorries for example by the British to move troops from the Channel ports to near the front line. The nearer you got to the front, though, the more horse drawn transport there was. A lot of supplies and most artillery wer moved by horses. They were less prone to getting stuck in the mud than motor cars and lorries.
  
  Away from the Western Front there was more reliance on animals. The Mesopotamian campaign has been mentioned and showed the difficulties of supply using animals. I can't remember the figures, so please don't quote me, but say, for the sake of argument, that a battalion of infantry needed twenty mules just to carry their water and food for the day, those twenty animals needed another twenty animals to carry their fodder. And those twenty needed another twenty to carry their fodder, and so on.

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  Posted by arnaldalmaric (U1756653) on Monday, 5th December 2005

  To add further, I believe the British built a narrow gauge rail network to supply artillery positions with shells. (My source is the C4 Salvage Squad programme where they restored one of the engines).
  
  Of course there were the Zeppelin Airships, Gotha and Handley Page Bombers, they were used to transport high explosives to targets. Then there were the reconnaisance planes and fighters.
  
  Ships (both warships of all classes and merchant), submarines.
  
  Although I can't recall any mention of it I'm sure that the canal and river systems would also have been used.
  
  Don't forget good old fashioned walking.
  
  Cheers AA.

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  Posted by OUNUPA (U2078829) on Monday, 5th December 2005

  Tony,the Palestine campaign of 1916-18 was a real masterpiece of planning and execution,with the use of a 140-mile standard-gauge railway and a 12-inch water pipeline built from the Suez Canal across theSinai Desert,with the water being transported to the army from the head of the pipeline at Beersheba by means of 35,000 camels,thus combining ancient transportation methods with the wonders of modern technology.

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  Posted by arnaldalmaric (U1756653) on Monday, 5th December 2005

  Miss_C
  
  P.S. What's next on the syllabus? I like to get ahead on my work
  
  Cheers AA.

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  Posted by Mike Alexander (U1706714) on Monday, 5th December 2005

  London buses were armour plated and used as troop carriers. One such (restored to its former state) can be found at the Imperial War Museum. Some of these ran on solid tires; you can imagine how uncomfortable they must have been.
  
  Early in the war many businesses such as furniture companies and department stores donated vehicles for France, and some were deployed still with their commercial livery; it was quite odd for the soldiers to see Harrods vans and suchlike in the middle of France!
  
  Ambulances were generally open-fronted, with no windscreens, and canvas backs. This was very cold for all concerned in the winter, not least the driver (often a woman) and the 'sitting patient' on the seat next to her. For the 6 stretcher cases in the back it must have been a tight fit, as well as a bumpy ride. Ambulances would also often come under shell fire or bombing, particularly whilst collecting casualties from the train stations, which were considered a valid tactical target.
  
  Railways were chiefly employed to move troops around, as well as bringing the wounded back from casualty-clearing stations to hospitals. Narrow gauge railways were used for shifting munitions.
  
  On the more primitive side of things, horses were used in their thousands, often drawing 'limbers', which were two-wheeled carriages designed to carry guns, but also used for moving ammunition, food, wounded men and just about everything else. On their way to the front, officers would ride on horses whilst the men marched. In the early stages of the war, men would often be marched hundreds of miles over several days. With heavy equipment and ill-fitting boots this must have been a nightmare.
  
  In the air you had aeroplanes, used initially for reconnaissance, then for bombing. Also airships - the notorious Zeppelins which bombed UK cities from 1915-1917. Observation balloons were also used, chiefly to spot artillery targets.
  
  Then you had shipping, and the U-boats that attacked it - the list goes on!

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  Posted by Miss_C_1982 (U2621579) on Monday, 5th December 2005

  haha
  
  Next on the syllabus is...the Christmas break. -I
  

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  Posted by TonyG (U1830405) on Monday, 5th December 2005

  
  Early in the war many businesses such as furniture companies and department stores donated vehicles for France, and some were deployed still with their commercial livery; it was quite odd for the soldiers to see Harrods vans and suchlike in the middle of France!
  
  Μύ
  
  Dear Mik,
  
  I had forgotten about that. Indeed, in the early days of the war, while the BEF were retreating, the pilots of the RFC often took off on a mission and had to find the new airfield some miles further back at the end of the flight. They were aided in this, in the days before concealment was an issue, by the fact that one of the squadron vans was brightly painted and advertised, I think, Bovril, or some similar product.
  
  The French fanously used buses and taxis to get troops to the battle of the Marne.

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