How the Army is Creating a New Race of Drivers
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WITH the complete mechanisation ot the Army, and the calling up of men in age groups starting with the early twenties, it is necessary that large numbers of men shall be trained in driving heavy motor vehicles. To this end, special drivers' training centres have been set up by the Royal Army Service Corps. Men who are called up under the Military Service Act and who are destined to be drivers are sent to these schools, where they receive intensive training to fit them for the special demands made by the modern army.
On arrival, the recruits are divided into " sheep " and "lambs." The former are men who have had some experience of motor driving, whilst the latter are the raw beginners. They spend two months at the school, but seven or eight hours actual driving will suffice for the instructor to judge whether a particular pupil is going to respond quickly enough to tuition for him to be a "proposition." If he be unduly nervous as a driver, and will take a considerable time to settle down to the work, it is probable that he will be transferred to some other branch.
Among the instructors at a training centre in the Northern Command, visited recently by a representative of The Commercial Motor, was a number of former L.P.T.B. drivers who have taken over the task of moulding the men who are to be responsible for the transport of the Army's supplies.
Almost without exception, it is reported, the young men are very keen to make good at their new job and they are obviously disappointed when something arises to prevent them from carrying out the usual programme of days on the road.
Of course, the novice must first be instructed in the principles of the internal-combustion engine and the general construction of motor vehicles. 'Then he is put on the road in charge of an instructor.
The particular centre visited has natural advantages for instructional purposes, for a wide variety of country is easily accessible, including long, steep hills and awkward winding roads. Various routes have been plotted in the district, so that the learner's knowledge and skill can be developed gradually.
Each man has a log card on which his progress is entered, so that if he be put in charge of a new instructor the exact tuition he has already undergone is quite clearly recorded. When the learner-driver has overcome normal problems in connection with the actual handling of a motor vehicle he passes— or, perhaps, does not passl—a special test which he has to perform satisfactorily before being finally certified as competent. Apart from facing up to all normal road conditions, a man must satisfy the examiner that, even with the heaviest type of military vehicle, he can tackle intensive traffic in city streets. Since most of them are enthusiastic, they usually come through with flying colours. During the recent period of exceptionally hard weather the men showed every desire to carry on with their training and the first hatch of drivers to be passed out actually undertook their final tests under snowy conditions.
Training, of course, does not end with competence in driving, for the man who is to take his place in a modern mechanical-transport unit must, at least, have sufficient knowledge to diagnose ordinary engine troubles. Occasionally, they still come across the fellow who breaks down and merely sends a message to his headquarters: " In trouble, send help."
Nowadays, it is impressed upon the men that if they cannot overcome trouble—and they are not encouraged to tackle anything but straightforward running repairs—they should send a clear indication of the precise assistance required, specifying whether it is de-ditching tackle that is needed, if the vehicle will have to be towed, or, otherwise, the kind of spare part that must be sent.
Training Severely Practical Brief mechanical training is carried out so that the driver may confidently deal with any minor trouble, as well as carry out all necessary maintenance. Instructions are given under fieldworkshop conditions and the knowledge acquired is that most likely to he valuable in this sphere when abroad. Former barns have been converted to repair shops and junk-yards have been combed for the necessary demonstration pieces.
Where repairs of a heavy nature are necessary they are not undertaken in the unit's workshops, but are passed to the motor-trade establishments in a neighbouring city.
Apart from becoming a driver and something of a motor mechanic, the recruit to the R.A.S.C. must also be trained as a soldier, so that parts of the course include general drills, the handling of a rifle and Bren gun, and other purely military work.
The drill hall, which is the centre of the particular unit's life, houses the administrative staff, and provides dining halls and other necessary accommodation for the SOO men who form the centre's quota. The town where it is situated is, in some respects, a little "off the map," but every endeavour has been made to develop the social side and the vast dining hall is provided with a stage that has proper lighting and scenery, so that the various parties who offer to entertain the troops can do so in really professional surroundings.
Many of the men are billeted in private houses in this corner of England, but, in most respects, the recruits are given a fairly accurate foretaste of the various conditions likely to be experienced on active service . . . and they are responding splendidly.