Military Motor Transport

MOTOR TRANSPORT, MILITARY. Transport by mo tor vehicles has profoundly modified the art of war. The use of it enables a commander, despite the unwieldiness of modern armies, to achieve surprise effects which give him victory. In the following account, illustrated by practical examples taken from the use of motor vehicles during the operations of the Allied Armies on the French front, there will be discussed the general principles underlying (I) transport of troops, (2) transport of materiel and (3) intensive traffic on roads.

The Vehicle.

Troops have sometimes been carried in ordi nary touring cars. During the battle of the Marne (Sept. 9, at the moment when the French Army of Gen. Maunoury was massing outside Paris, there were grouped together all available taxicabs to take direct to the front half the infantry of a division which, arriving by rail from the Vosges, was detraining in the stations of the northern suburbs of Paris. This method can only be employed in exceptional cases, because the car or taxicab has so small a carrying power, requiring one driver for every three or four combatants carried, while such vehicles for the most part differ in speed. On the other hand, such motor vehicles as are designed to convey a larger number of passengers in peace time, e.g., motor-omnibuses or chars-d-bancs, are eminently serv iceable. Another vehicle is the common motor-lorry (or truck, as Americans call it). It is necessary to adapt it, i.e., to place in it movable benches, which can be very rapidly installed when it is necessary to carry men, and can be removed without difficulty when it is necessary to carry materiel. A lorry, according to its capacity, can carry from 16 to 25 men with their arms and equip ment. During the World War not only were units of infantry transported but also artillery formations; likewise, in some ex ceptional cases, cavalry with their horses. When horses are to be carried the body of the lorry must be as large and the bottom as low as possible, to make the loading more easy, and the ceil ing must be high enough to prevent the horses being injured by striking their heads. The horses may be placed either lengthwise or crosswise. But they should be close to one another, to save them from bumping; and there should be no difficulty of access to their heads, in order that they may eat and drink on the road. These precautions taken, it has been found that horses travel as well by motor-lorry as in a railway wagon.

Organization of Lorries.—Lorries move grouped in forma tions of varying importance, but two essential conditions must be observed : efficient control and effective maintenance. The basic unit, the smallest formation to be placed under the orders of an officer, may consist of 15 to 3o vehicles. The officer who com mands this unit is the veritable sheep-dog of his troop of lorries ; he must himself have a touring car so as to enable him to follow his lorries when they are on the move, and above all when they are formed into a large column. The officer himself should not drive, but be able to keep his attention free and to jump quickly from his car and speak to his drivers. Next above the basic unit, the "section," is placed the "company" or the "group," normally comprising three or four sections. The commander of the group or company is no longer the sheep-dog of his lorries; he is the shepherd. It is he who guides them in their itineraries, places them in billets and allots them to their work. The second point in an organization is to ensure effective maintenance. Automobiles require constant care on a long journey, e.g., 200 kilometres. Some will have breakdowns, some even fall out ; and if the work shop is to move with the group, it must be on lorries, and have a stock of tools and spare parts.

As soon as large transport movements have to be carried out, higher control above the group must be organized. To move the infantry of a division in war required 12 groups. Placed in a column on the road, this would make a file 36kilo. in length, a reasonable distance for each group being 3 kilometres. This mass would be formless and incapable of manoeuvring unless vivified by organization. It is a common saying that the action of a commander ought to be limited to directing four immediate sub ordinates and no more. Experience of large demands on transport during the War shows, however, that six groups could be united under one control, if the commander in charge was supported by a fully qualified staff. Such was the composition of the grouping in the French Army; such or something very near it was the com position of the "Bus Park" of the British Army. The grouping of six groups had a capacity for 6,000 infantry; the automobile service of the French Army comprised 25 groupings in 1918. Organization of Troop Transports.—Let it be supposed that a grouping is ordered to carry out the transport of 6,000 in fantry, to take them up in their billeting area, and to bring them to the field of battle some Iookilo. from billets. To accomplish this mission efficiently the staff must first fix the embarkation points, i.e., the points at which the infantry will be loaded into lorries. In order that this operation may be carried out quickly loading must take place at a number of points simultaneously; to embark one battalion (i,000 men) into a group (8o lorries) re quires from 20 to 3o minutes. When the commander of an auto mobile grouping has prepared the organization of his embarka tion-points, he must come to an agreement with the infantry head quarters concerned as to the time and place of embarkation of each battalion. The work which devolves upon the command of the lorry grouping in the disembarkation of the troops is gen erally similar to the above; but there is an additional difficulty, caused by uncertainty as to the exact points of disembarkation, which often depend on the military situation at the moment. Nevertheless, the procedure must be arranged as early as possible, in close touch with the higher staff which has to fix the disem barkation zone; and an understanding must be arrived at with headquarters as to the probable alternatives, between which a de cision will be made later, when the lorries are quite near to the arrival zone. The itinerary between the two zones must be reconnoitred and marked out. The "route officer," with his own staff, marks the itinerary by posting up placards (and, for night work, hanging lanterns) bearing the distinguishing mark of the grouping and an arrow indicating the direction of the march and the route to take. Further, the commander of a grouping must organize the movement of his service lorries, supply lorries, workshop lorries, etc.

Transport of Complete Divisions.

An interesting example occurs when, together with the infantry of a division, it is neces sary to transport all or part of their artillery with its horses. With horse-drawn artillery it may be a very serious matter for a general not to be able to bring up to the battlefield, in support of his infantry, the artillery who are accustomed to manoeuvre with him. It is thus very desirable to be able to transport artillery with horses. The loading of guns and limbers on lorries does not present any special difficulty; it is sufficient to have fixed rules for putting the materiel in place, and these are similar to the loading-rules for the same materiel on railway wagons.