| Home > Army Organisation > How supplies reached the front lines | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The
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 development
of a huge, complex but eventually efficient supply line to be
established. The diagram below shows the main stages in the progress
of goods from a dockside in Great Britain, to the front-line troops
in France, Flanders and other theatres. |
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| Base Depots were established at the Channel Ports and other places on the lines of communication. Here goods arrived in bulk and were broken down into wagon-loads and sent on by rail to the Regulating Stations. General Base Depots were the centres for collecting, sorting and despatching reinforcements. Many of the places selected for Bases became centres of very considerable industry, with hospitals, workshops, stores, etc. The bases established were:
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| Regulating Stations were established at Abbeville (First Army) and Rivière Neuve (near Calais, Second Army). Here the train-loads of commodities were unloaded and reorganised into mixed quantities for each Division, before being sent on (again by rail) to the Railhead. Experience showed that the maximum capacity of a regulating station was supplies for 20-24 Divisions, and thus the French system of one station per Army became the norm. When Third Army was formed in July 1915, it took Abbeville as its regulating station, and Boulogne was established for First Army. Romescamps was established for Fourth Army in February 1916. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Railheads were established at various points within reasonable distance of the front-lines. Here goods were taken from the train, reorganised into lorry-loads and sent by road to the Divisional Refilling Points. From this point the goods were under the control of Divisional or Brigade Supply Officers, and carried by the transport of the Divisional Supply Column. Railheads were usually 10-15 miles from the front if possible; at times of rapid advance however, the distance stretched motor transport to the limits. In September 1914 after the advance from the Marne, the lead troops were 40 miles form the railheads. In the victorious advance of 1918, the pace of railway reconstruction could not keep up and was an important factor in determining the ability of the Allies to continue the move eastwars. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Refilling Points were sometimes located at the same place as the Railhead, especially if the railway came up close to the front lines. At the Refilling Point, goods would be broken down into a number of 'dumps'; one for each unit to be supplied. Horse Transport wagons would be loaded up with goods destined for a Brigade, Battalion or other Divisional unit. From this point the goods were under the relevant Quartermaster, who was responsible for the supply to the front line or position. In many cases, goods were taken up to the communication trenches by light railway, mule, cart or manually; once into the trenches everything was carried up by hand. All operations up to and including the Refilling Point were carried out by units of the Army Service Corps; after that by the Transport echelons of the infantry, artillery or whichever unit was being supplied. Once into the front lines goods were carried up by the infantry, gunners etc themselves. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supplying the Western Front | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All armies depend on the maintenance of supply through their Lines of Communication, to be able to sustain a fighting ability. For the British Army of 1914-1918, this meant a reliance upon the railway. Virtually all goods were moved from the Channel Ports to the Railheads by broad gauge rail. The key lines that were operating in April 1916 are shown in this diagram. In the earliest days of the war, all rail operations were under the control of the French allies. They ran unfamiliar equipment, using different principles to those of the British. For example, in Britain an infantry battalion would be carried on two medium-sized trains at 25mph; in France they preferred one long train at 12mph. This created considerable confusion and disruption - especially as the enemy overran important rail centres including Amiens (temporarily). Soon, however, a British staff of 30 officers under an Inspector-General of Communications was installed to work in liaison with the French railway authorities, and matters for the BEF began to improve. Authority for control of the railways was moved to the Quartermaster-General (who was already responsible for troop movements) at GHQ in November 1914, where a Director of Railways was installed. The Supply Directorate also moved to GHQ in September 1915. |
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| The IGC was relieved of responsibility for rail traffic. Gradually British railway operating and construction strength increased, to some 76,000 men in mid 1917. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tonnages and trains: Monthly issues of foodstuffs and basic supplies on the Western Front | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Keeping the supply going | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transport and the lines of communication were the largest areas for which labour was needed. At the date of the Armistice, 41,000 men were engaged in labour on the roads behind the Western Front, 29,000 were on railway construction, 11,000 in the docks and 8,000 on other duties associated with transportation, making 89,000 in this theatre alone. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Up to the front | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| With increasing demand for unbroken supply of huge tonnages of materials and ammunition, the roads and horsed transport soon became a bottleneck. From the earliest days, but especially from early 1917, the light railways became a vital factor. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||