"An Experiment in Mechanical Transport."
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A Battalion of Guards and Its Equipment are taken to Hastings and Back in 316 Touring Cars and Motorwagons.
Under the command of Lieut.-Col. J. F. Erskine, M.V.O., a composite l}attalion from the Brigade of Guards, mobilised to war strength, in full marching order and with the new web equipment, was transported in motor vehicles, from London to Hastings and back, on Wednesday last, the i7th Nlarch. Interested spectaters who witnessed the experiment at various points on the route, or who accompanied the column to Hastings, were Mr. Haldane, General French, Major-General Heath, Major-General Lawson, Colonel Paul, Major-General the Hon. Sir F. W. Stopford, Captain Bagnall-Wild and Captain Hayter.
Criticism of the experiment—as it was guardedly labelled by the military authorities—from a tactical point of view is not pertinent to the present account; it is, however, of interest to note that several military writers in the daily Press are not unduly impressed with the usefulness of the proceedings in the actual form in which they were carried out last week. It must be remembered, in this connection, that the force transported was only intended as a strong advance guard, and its rapid conveyance to the threatened point of invasion was supposed to have been necessitated by the temporary disorganisation of the railway connection to the district in question.
The credit for the initiation of this particular scheme must lie with the Automobile Association, although it is well to record that the genesis of the idea can undoubtedly be traced to the original suggestion of the Lincolnshire Automobile Club, that its members' cers should be held at the disposal of the Government under certain conditions.
The mechanical transport which was procured by the Association con
sisted in all of 4 ti vehicles, of which no fewer than 55 were told off for the use of the Press, and 40 more were reserved for distinguished visitors and War Office officials. It will be seen, therefore, that every care had been taken to ensure sufficient publicity for the undertaking. The troops—drawn
from the Coldstream, Grenadier and Scots Guards—were accommodated in 286 private pleasure cars, ranging in type from small-sized runabouts to luxurious limousines. The cartage of general stores and spare equipment was secured by the employment of a number of commercial motor vehicles, and it is, ef course, with the behaviour of these machines that we are principally concerned.
The stores lransport vehicles were divided into two divisions : the first (Section F.) consisted of 21 light Napier chassis fitted with platform bodies ; the second (Section () comprised the heavy vehicles, live 4011.p. de Dion idatftwin lorries from the London General Garage at Mortlake, two 35-4oh.p. Fiat three-tonners, and a 2o-25h.p, two-tormer is spare. A " CommieCar " coverol van ran as a spare, and successfully relieved a broken-down lorry at seven oaks, whilst an offer to the War Depart
mem by Carter, Paterson and Co., Ltd., of the loan of two 35h.p. Ley lend three-tanners, appears to have been received after other arrangements had been completed.
The Napier vehicles were standard four-cylinder motoreab chassis, and they were provided by W. and G. du Cros, Limited. We reproduce (page 6o) a photograph of the twenty-one machines, paraded outside the works at Acton Vale, just before the start for Chelsea Barracks on the 17tb instant, and this supplements our last week's illustration at Chelsea. It will he realised that these light chassis were sufficiently highly geared and of sufficient power to " keep station " with the main column of touring cars, and this they did effectively. Their loads consisted of reserve ammunition, ntrenching tools, ambulance stores, machine guns and water carts complete. That no punctures were experienced in this section would seem evidence that the vehicles were not unduly tried, although in several instances the imposed weights were enough to overload the road springs. The whole fleet of Nnpiers was turned out in first-class style, and it certainly constituted by no means the least picturesque unit of the parade.
The heavy vehicles of Section G left Chelsea at 7.30 a.m., via Croydon and Wickham—the route differing at the outset from that taken by the other vehicles. They joined the main road at Halstead. All the published reports apparently find no space for a record of the work done by this section, although it was by no means without incident. Section G (the 2nd Line Transport) carried blankets, pillows, bully beef, biscuits, spare ammunition and other stores, and, xyhilst. the stores reached Hastings in good time, a Fiat machine had to start two hours late, owing to the loss of a steering bolt, and another Fiat and one of the de Dions ran out big ends at Seyeneaks. This de Dion, too, was temporarily " ditched " in soft clay near the same town. The " Commer Car " and the spare de Dion picked up the loads of the disabled vehicles. The whole of Section G was ordered to remain in Hastings on the Wednesday night, and it returned to London on the following day, in good order and without incident. The disabled machines joined the returning column at Tonbridge. The spare de Dion,
which was carrying spares and stores for its sister vehicles, after it had re lieved the broken-down vehicle of the same make of its load, carried 7 tons on its platform into Hastings.
Mr. George Pollard, M.I.Mech.E., the chief engineer of the Road Car
branch of the L.G.O., invited a member of the staff of " TUE COMMERCIAL MOTOR" to OCCUpv a Seat in his Humber car for the day, and it is certain that, although business was the primary object of the trip, a comfortable car, delightful weather conditions, and an excellent lunch basket conduced to the spending of a day which was not overshadowed by the imminent possibility of an invasion. It must be admitted that, with the exception of a few organisers, most of those present managed to spend a, very pleasant ." day in the country." On the way down, it was thought advisable to follow the rearguard. No less than twenty-five pleasure cars were passed en panne. Punctures were the chief cause of trouble, and this was possibly traceable to the overloading of many of the cars, and to their speed. A travelling workshop, of which we reproduce a photograph, did yeoman service at the rear of the column " tending the wounded."
It is possible that R large number of people were struck by the loyalty and enthusiasm of the owners of the 400
odd cars, and this may have an educational effect. The fact that there were no serious accidents, in spite of the suspension of the speed limit for the day, says much for the skill of the drivers. The journey home was a goas-you-please affair, at a very high rate of speed, for many of the cars, and it was not devoid of serious danger. The length of the column, the number of units, the capacity for high speed, and the greatly-varying horse-power are considerations which prompt an enquiry as to whether the whole thing could not have been carried out more neatly, and with infinitely less risk, even if with a great deal less comfort, by means of a column, one-tenth the length, composed of motorbuses or chars-a-bancs and lorries? The purely utilitarian nature of the services rendered by the Sections F and G apparently deprived them of any appreciation of their behaviour. It is open to doubt whether anything likely to be really useful in case of war was definitely proved. The Guards bad the time of their lives, and nobody was hurt. Quite a lot of new people must know about the Automobile Association now, and
very enterprising body it is, too, in its particular sphere.