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The unsung heroes of the British Army in the Great War - the ASC, Ally Sloper's Cavalry - were the men who operated the transport. Soldiers can not fight without food, equipment and ammunition. In the Great War, the vast majority of this tonnage, supplying a vast army on many fronts, was fetched from England. Using horsed and motor vehicles, railways and waterways, the ASC performed prodigious feats of logistics and were one of the great strengths of organisation by which the war was won.  
 
This is work in progress. The details you will find are accurate but incomplete at present.
   
Organisation
 

Much of the transport in the early days was requisitioned for war service, and carried familiar namesAt peak, the ASC numbered an incredible 10,547 officers and 315,334 men. In addition were tens of thousands of Indian, Egyptian, Chinese and other native labourers, carriers and stores men, under orders of the ASC. Yet this vast, sprawling organisation merits just four mentions in the Official History of the war.

 

The ASC was organised into Companies, each specialising as Horsed Transport, Motor Transport or one of various reserves, depots etc.
 
How goods were moved to supply the front-lines
 
An ASC columnThe Army had to be constantly supplied with prodigious amounts of food, clothing, equipment, armaments and ammunition. The static nature of the front-lines on the Western Front allowed for develoment of a huge, complex but efficient supply line to be established. Click here for details of how the ASC moved mountains to the front-line troops in France and Flanders.
 
Battlefield Transport
 

Each Division of the army had its own horse-powered transport, called the Divisional Train. It was the 'workhorse' of the Division in terms of carrying stores and supplies, providing the main supply line to the transport of the Brigades, Battalions, and Artillery and other attached units. Click here for a list of the Divisional Trains.

 

The Division was also supplied by ASC Companies using motorised transpotrt, and the Britiah army was the most advanced in its use - even in 1914. Using typically confusing terminology, these were called Divisional Supply Columns and Divisional Ammunition Parks.
 
   
Remounts Service ASC
The Remounts Service was responsible for the supply of horses: details here .
 
Labour Companies ASC
A number of ASC Companies were formed to provide hands for manual labour.
 
RASC?
By Royal Warrant, the Army Service Corps added Royal to its title in late 1918.
The modern descendant of the ASC is the Royal Logistics Corps.