CYCLING AND MOTORING

Timaru Herald, Volume CV, Issue 16081, 30 September 1916, Page 13

CYCLING AND MOTORING

MOTOR TRANSPORT, SAVED VERDUN.

Recent war cables contained an item to uio ctt'oct tu.it 200 men were to bo selected frum tlio Auzac Contingents on tiio oommo I'rout, for twining as a viators, as Uiosr adaptability tor this class of woA was hignlv appreciated by the \Var authorities. A private communication irom ;t, well known mo-tui-jsjj who for sonic time has held u Commission in tho iioyal Flying Corps, states that the British Air Service has assumed Jingo proportions, and that tins crack corps comprises a large number of Australians, Canadians and couth Africans. Tlio motorist in question, who hails from the Riveriua district., i.s now a. so?oncl pilot (the ambition of all tho flyng men) aboard a ias* 1 11 gli seated fighter. Tho machine develops 120 h.p., carries J ton petrol (allowing a flight of 6 lionrs) can fly at 15,000 feet and is exceptionally fast. Un two consecutive days, this machine mado trips of 250 miles, scouting over the enemy's lines. Engine bearing troubles arc tho bugbear of the aviators, the planes themselve'vs now giving very little troub e. It appears that the engines aro mostly mn "fullj ""p . tllc 1- esuit that the wiome bearings generally require attention after about 20 hours' use. On the big stationary engines, 60 hours' working is generally the maximum service before the bearings have to be attended to. "Windage gives verv little troub o when up 2000 feet. Of actual fighting and scouting experience, he says .it-tie, not because of lack of exrxtmg incident., but of their frequency, they being as he laconically pute it, "all in your day's work." P - ' n testing particulars aro 1 filtering through in connection " J. 1 *'" 0 l miracle of motor transport performed in tho saving of Verdun, inis w«5 not accomplished in a dav. in fact, if preparations had not been made many months m advance, it would not have been possible. Those preparations consisted of the building or an entirely new road to the fortress wpking out of an intricate system to handle tho thousands upon thousands of lvntor trucks of all kinds and descriptions which were called upon to bring forward everything which the army of defence required. It was this most eracient organisation of the transport that made it possible under the most difficu t conditions to keep the army reinforced and to supply it regularly with ammunition and rations, so that tho troops were able to arrest tue most determined assaults. The first problem of General Herr, in command of the forces at Verdun when the attack began, was that of roadways, lie torijsaw many months in advance the great handicaps the motor transport woiud be under in case of an attack on uhe fortress, «uid at once l>ega.n the entire vo?onstruction of the one main highway running south from Verdun through Bar-le-Duc and St. Dizier. this road (liko the average roads of France) though with a good foundation, was fairly narrow and would not have been sufficient to prevent congestion and delays, costly if not fatal, when several thousand motor trucks had to be run over it in both directions at the same time. tire road was entirely rebuilt. Army engineers laid down a new foundation, doubled its width in some places and tripled it in others. Turn-outs were provided at certain specified intervals, ° a i^Y c '* t rur te not working properly could be side-tracked and their troubles remedied. In every village along the route there were repair shops complete in every detail, fi led with every con-c-eivablo part that might be needed ti enable a damaged or broken-down truck to regain its position, and equippec. with everything in tho way of machinery and tools that would peiv iiii j .such repairs to be made in the minimum of time. These stations were, to be operated by details of experts. men who had made it their profession to know motor trucks and how to repair them without bungling and who could get iheni to work in the shortest possible period. In addition, natives of country behind Verdun, were stat-oned at the various villages behind the line to direct the truck drivers and mamta'n the traffi- without congestion. Between the villages along tho line, myriads of signs reading "To Verdun'' were erected for the guidance of the transport drivers. Wa,v back in the> interior of France, thou-sar-ds and thousands of motor trucks were held _in readiness for the exoected attack. Some were to carry beef and rat-ens \ others nothing but ammunitions a"d sti'l others supplies and guns, guns of all sizes and descriptions, whi'e all were to do the'r share on their return trips in ru«h ; ng to the base hospitals those of the wounded who had any chance of recovery. With these preparations made, it was simnlv a matter of giving orders and of suDerintendance, but a tremendous job at that, to set this marvellous motor transport organisation into operation on.~e the attack was and the decision to defend the fortress was made. For more than fifty miles back of Verdun th'> newlv-built highway, out of range of the German guns at all point.*, was filled with a -ong procession of trucks, described by those who saw the work as a continuous stream or torrent more than a lino of vehicular traffic. The preparatory organisation was ho perfect and the condition of the tvi-cks f-o perfectly attended to that there was scarcely a break in the snakeline pro'ess'on which moved forward with clock-like regularity. Advancing with their capacity loads, the vehicles discharged their burdens at predetermined ptynts behind the front, whence the material was carried to the treiWie-? by ono or two-liorse carts. The return, empty or with wounded, was made like the advance, with the sam" mi'jlary precision. AH day and all niidit these great trucks ran, uninterrupted. They proved the salvation of Verdun.