RAILWAYS AND WAR before 1918. DEVELOPMENT OF FIELD RAILWAYS

RAILWAYS AND WAR before 1918. DEVELOPMENT OF FIELD RAILWAYS

Standard gauge railways rapidly proved insufficient for forward area supply, both on the Western and on the Eastern and Italian Fronts. The static war with its extensive trench lines soon produced a wide 'battle zone' in which the ground was so shell-torn and fought over that bad weather made it almost impassable. Hence, for the last two or three miles supplies and men had to be laboriously brought up on foot. As a result, all the major combatants rapidly developed some form of tactical field railway to improve their communications with the front line. As usual the Germans had thought it out well in advance and were able to put their South West African experience to good use; they already had standardised 6o-cm. gauge equipment in vast quantities and a network of light railways soon grew up behind their front line. The French, too, reacted quickly. They had for some years been using 6o-cm. gauge railways in fortified areas to serve the fortress artillery, and these were quickly developed and expanded. The British, typically, were initially caught completely unprepared and took a long time to conform; but by the end, again typically, they had probably the best system of all.

The British problem was that, with the Boer War in mind, its commanders believed that a war of movement would break out at any moment and that light railways were therefore unnecessary. Apart from isolated locally-built 'trench tramways' they did not take tactical railway communication seriously until late 1916 but from then on their railway web proliferated exceedingly fast. In France alone over 1000 km. were in use by the war's end, with more than 700 steam locomotives and over a thousand petrol tractors. Again they were on the 60 cm. gauge, although this was chosen mainly to conform with the French— previously the 2 ft 6 in. (760 mm.) gauge had been regarded as the ideal for what were then termed 'siege railways'.

These field railways on both sides produced some of the most interesting railway equipment ever used by the military and the following pages portray both them and it.