MAINTENANCE OF ARMY VEHICLES.
Page 20
Page 21
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Tile Reasons for the Formation of the Hounslow M.T. Repair Depot, with Others Similar to Follow.
THE notorious Slough Depot. having been disposed of, the general public and interested parties are curious to know how the Army is arranging for the repair of the considerable lumber of mechanical transport vehicles still employed by it. Although this number is small compared with the huge number employed during the period el hostilities, yet it is still sufficient to necessitate emsiderable work.
Owing to the drastic restrictions which are imposed on the money expenditure of the mechanical transport branch, and as a result of this branch having no proper facilities for overhauling its own vehicles, miany of these have fallen into abad state of repair and are sadly in need, of attention. A certain number of them is now in process of overhaul by the respective makers, but, although the work carried out is quite satisfactory, many reasons are advanced against, this system being applied generally.
Almost every big user finds it more economical to install his own repair shops, rather than to assist in paying the profits and overhead charges of other concerns. If this be so with neets of vehicles used for commercial purposes, it should also be true with • the Army ; but this is only. one, and perhaps not the chief, reason.
In the mechanical transport section of the Army, one of the chief difficulties to overcome is the matter of training for the personnel, both officers and men. This training must be practical as well as theoretical, and the M.T. training schools at present in existence are not adequate or advanced enough to meet this need. To be efficient, a large works would have to be started, and if this were done it would only be common sense to employ that works on the maintenance of the -Army's own vehicles.
The Aldershot M.T. School corresponds with apprenticeship . and technical college -training, whereas a properly equipped works, dealing with complete overhauls, could be used for completing the education of the apprentices. by giving them a general experience and training them to responsible positions as charge hands and foremen, otherwise N.C.O.s' proficient to deal with all types of vehicles employed by the Army.
The training of the M.T. personnel must also include such branches as storekeeping and the supply of spare parts ; in fact, it must form a skeleton upon which a large organization can be built up' with the greatest possible4 speed. Future wars may not allow us, the time toinurture a weedy transport system into the hardy giant necessary, as nappened in the Great War. Some people may say that it will be quite easy to obtain properly trained men if an emergency again arises, but are they justified in believing this? The tendency in practically all our factories is to specialize so that one man performs One operation, and a specialist in one operation is, not the man who is likely to make good when dealing with general overhauls. In the same way, a storekeeper, mobilized from civilian • life, may be only conversant with a certain system of storekeeping, and in a position to recognize only the parts for one particular vehicle, with the result that, unless a proper organization exists, the bringing in of extra men will only cause unnecessary confusion.
Another important point against the system of outside contracts is that, in the case of an emergency, it is extremely difficult te get work through with the necessary expedition. It takes considerable time to inaugurate contracts, as these have to go through two departments, viz., the contracts and finance departments, whereas, if -theALT, had their own works, a rush job could be got through in a comparatively short space of time.
The usual method of contracting for the overhaul of vehicles is for so many per year. This number has to be guessed at; if it is higher than the actual number, machines which would otherwise run for many miles without overhaul have to be sent in for overhaul or penalties paid to the contractors, or, if' the number be much under-estimated, it may be that the contractors cannot cope with the excess work: If the Army is to have its own repair shops, as most certainly it should, the best scheme would be to establish a certain number -of small, but well equipped, repair shops conveniently situated in different parts of the country so that vehicles requiring heavy repairs would be within !comparatively easy reach of one or other of them. Such depots would not necessitate any considerable expenditure of the taxpayers' money, and could, in many instances, be formed in existing buildings, thus dispensing with the need for new buildings, which at the present moment, owing to scarcity of labour and raw materials in the building trade, and the urgent need for building houses, would certainly not be welcomed.
The staff of each depot could be kept quite small, although each should be self-contained so as to form a nucleus upon which a bigger establishment could be built in times of urgent necessity. The repair shops could also be available for special jobs, such as packing vehicles for export to any field of activity where they might be required. With these repair depots in operation, outside contracts could be treated as ancillary, to cope with any overflow of work, or to deal with isolated and distant vehicles.
Depots of this description would -certainly prove ideal training centres, and would render the officers in charge self-reliant and capable of organizing. the larger depots which might at any time be required. At present a small repair shop is being formed at Hounslow in some hangars originally occupied by the R.A.F., and, incidentally, the concentration of some 20 or 30 vehicles awaiting repair at this centre formed the subject of an attack some few weeks ago, by a certain section of the Press who thought that they had found in,this concentration scope for an attack similar to that which was directed at Slough ; naturally, and as was to be expected in the circumstances, the aftack fizzled out, but that it was commenced at all shows some of the difficulties with which the authorities are faced.
It is certainly of the utmost importance that the MT., R.A.S.C., officers should be kept employed' on tasks which involve efficient control and supervision, so that renovations of Army vehicles can be conducted upon thorough engineering and businesslike lines, and that the men should be fully proficient to turn out work of a quality which will render them, so far as possible, independent of extraneous assistance.