Resource Pack

Lines of Communication Troopsand

Gunners

Developed for World War One Centenary: Continuations and Beginnings by Richard Marshall, University of Oxford (July 2012). Free, high quality educational resources on new perspectives of the First World War. http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk.

The following images support the theme of ‘Unconventional Soldiers’

http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/category unconventionalsoldiers/

All images are available for use under: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England &Wales License.

Original caption: BRITISH OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE WESTERN FRONT. Canadian Forestry - Two typical Canadians. The Sergeant on the right has three sons serving in France; ONA [sic] a Capt. and two Lieutenants. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

Two men probably belonging to the Canadian Forestry Corps. The British armies in France required thousands of tons of timber for constructing everything from railways and docks to pit-props and duckboards. French forests behind the front were systematically harvested for their timber by specially raised units.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. Where Tommy's footwear is repaired. This big shop on the Western Front renovates 30,000 pairs a week. A corner of the shop. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

The army boot-repair factory in Calais employed over 800 staff by 1917 (including German prisoners and local women) and had grown to be the largest boot-making organisation in the world. Uniform details suggest photograph taken 1917-1918.

Original caption: A scene in one of the many mechanical transport workshops behind the line. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

Men of a Mechanical Transport Company, Army Service Corps, remove a lorry engine supervised by a Lieutenant.

Original Caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. R.E. diver about to descend to the bottom of a Canal in France to repair the foundation of a bridge. He is taking a saw and a hammer below with him. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

Uniform details suggest photograph taken later than March 1916.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE WESTERN FRONT. Taking in water on the way up to the trenches. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

The Railway Operating Division of the Royal Engineers was founded in 1915, and at its peak numbered some 67 companies and 18,400 men. Their engines (usually painted R O D on each side, as above) carried stores from the docksides of the channel ports to the front. Uniform details and weather suggest picture taken in the winter of 1916-1917.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. Engineers making camo[u]flage at the front. They are then able to get the exact size they require. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

By July 1918, each Corps and Army had an attached camouflage section, and a base camouflage factory had been established at Wimereaux. The men were drawn from the Royal Engineers. Uniform details suggest photograph taken after March 1916.

Original Caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. A novel British Military control being used in France. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

‘Redcap’ of the Military Mounted Police posted at a junction. Traffic control on the Western Front was a major undertaking, and became one of the chief duties of the Military Policemen, whose establishment grew to 15,000 all ranks by the end of the war. Board in background gives directions to No. 7 General Hospital, stationed at St Omer for much of the war: an indication of the weight of traffic expected some 40 miles behind the front.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. Partitions for huts made by the lady carpenters are being shifted on to the barge for transport up the country. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

Hut fittings made by French women in a workshop supervised by the Royal Engineers (previous photograph in series) are being transported by barges of the Inland Water Transport Service, Royal Engineers. Formed in 1914, the IWT took control of canals and waterways in the rear areas for the movement of supplies and evacuation of wounded. In 1918 it possessed over 1,000 craft and handled an average of 60,000 tons per week.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. A British Army Piggery in France. Camp waste utilized to produce food. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

The British army used a system of medical classification that graded men A-D: A fit for general service; B fit for garrison or base service; C fit for home service; D unfit for military service. The other ranks in the sty are probably B-grade men; base camps employed large numbers of such troops as sanitation and refuse orderlies. Sourcing food locally reduced the amount that had to be shipped from England, an increasing problem as the German U-boat campaign began to take effect in 1917.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE WESTERN FRONT. HOW TOMMY IS FED. Unloading meat from a meat ship. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

By the Armistice, the Docks Directorate, Royal Engineers, employed 11,000 men as unskilled labour in the loading and unloading of stores, and was in control of the major Channel Ports from Dunkirk to Le Havre.

Original caption: Canadian mail arriving behind the firing line. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

The ability of the soldiers to communicate with home was never seriously interrupted during the war; by 1918, the Postal Services, Royal Engineers employed 2,500 men and women, and by 1920 had handled 320,409 tons of letters and parcels for the troops in France and Belgium alone.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT. How Tommy is fed. Showing one of the ovens with trays of newly baked bread. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

Men of an Army Service Corps Field Bakery. After reorganisation in 1916, there was one Field Bakery to every three divisions, staffed by two officers and 255 Other Ranks. After January 1917, when rations had to be reduced because of the U-boat menace, each soldier received 1 lb of bread or 10 oz of biscuit as part of his daily ration.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. H.Q. Signals. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

Telephone exchange at a signals HQ. By 1918, each Army HQ had a signals staff of over 4,500 all ranks to deal with a daily average of 4,500 messages; each corps and each division had a dedicated signal company, and more units besides were required by the artillery and RAF. In addition to simply sending and receiving messages, many signallers were needed for the upkeep and extension of the fragile network of telephone lines: wireless signalling was still in its infancy; pigeons and dogs were also pressed into service.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. Anti-aircraft guns which brought down a huge German aeroplane in France. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

On the outbreak of war, the British Army had no anti-aircraft provision. By November 1914, six A.A. sections had been formed, officially companies of the Royal Garrison Artillery, and by August 1918 275 were operating in France and Flanders. Each was staffed by around 40 men. In addition to the gunners, the Royal Engineers also had to find men for Searchlight Companies.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT. A big gun (just finished firing) being covered up prior to moving. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

Railway gun of a Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. By November 1918, the Garrison Artillery numbered 210,554 all ranks, having grown from an establishment of 27,275 men in August 1914.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT. BATTLE OF BROODSEYNDE [Broodseinde]. Gunners [rolling?] up shells for a move forward. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

Artillerymen rolling 6” Howitzer shells to the gun positions, using a narrow-gauge railway. To the 6 th September 1918, the guns of the Royal Artillery had fired approximately 9,807,000 shells on the Western Front alone.

Original Caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT. Gunners setting time fuses. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

Gunners pictured replacing the plugs used for the safe transportation of shells with fuses. Time fuses were used with shrapnel shells, designed to burst in the air. Percussion fuses were used with high explosive, intended to bust on contact with the ground.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT. A heavy howitzer in action near Ypres. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

Royal Garrison Artillery officer ‘laying’ (i.e. aiming) a 15” Siege Howitzer, the heaviest calibre gun used by the British Army in the war. Note the chains on the left belonging to the crane for lifting the shells. Each weighed 1400 lbs. Uniform details suggest photograph taken after the spring of 1916.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. R.H.A. going into action at the gallop. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

The Royal Horse Artillery was primarily armed with the Quick Firing 13-pounder; before the war, it was envisaged that they would gallop into action and fire at the enemy ‘over open sights’ (i.e. actually being able to see their targets). After the early months of the war, they were unable to fulfil this role again until the advances of 1918; consequently, their manpower did not increase in line with the Field and Garrison Artillery, and they numbered only 16,218 men at the Armistice. Uniform details suggest this photograph was taken after March 1918.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. The crew of a 6" gun. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

Photograph of the HQ of a Royal Garrison Artillery Heavy Battery (not a gun sub-section as suggested by the caption). The Major command the battery stands fourth from left. Uniform details suggest the picture was taken in 1917 or later.

Original Caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT - strafing the Hun. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

8” Howitzer of a Royal Garrison Artillery Siege Battery being hauled into position. Note the wooden chocks under the wheels to prevent excessive recoil.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. THE CAMBRAI ADVANCE. Artillery going through a cutting in the Canal du Nord. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

A Quick Firing 18-pounder of the Royal Field Artillery, moving forward with ammunition limber. By November 1918, the Field Artillery numbered 311,854 all ranks, having grown from an establishment of 51,228 men in August 1914.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN ON THE FRONT IN FRANCE. Loading a big trench mortar in a front line Boche trench. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

Not all gunners worked behind the trench lines. In 1916, the Royal Field Artillery was given responsibility for medium and heavy trench mortars. This photograph depicts men of a Heavy Trench Mortar Battery loading their 9.45” Heavy. Uniform and weather suggest the photograph was taken in the winter of 1917-18.

Original caption: OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. R.F.A. kite balloons are the eyes of our guns in France. The observers are highly trained men & when their balloons are shelled or attacked by enemy aircraft they are forced to make rapid descents in parachutes. These parachutes must be kept in perfect working order. Observers fixing tackle which is connected with parachute. Available via the National Library of Scotland as CC BY-NC-SA

Artillery observation on the ground or by air not only looked for targets, but also watched for the fall of friendly shot to correct the gunners’ aim. The artillery also needed the services of surveyors, map-makers (for whom the Royal Air Force, by the end of the war, was photographing the entire front twice daily), weather-forecasters, and special units dedicated to the location of enemy batteries.