THE M.T. IN THE SALIENT.
The Ypres Times.
131
Poor old Ally Sloper'sCavalrv —laughed at by everybody, including themselves—
yet, when all is said and done, how would the Army have got on without it To a great
extent the War was an artillery war, and a heavy artillery war at that. How would the
R.G.A. have got their guns into position without the F.W.D.s and Caterpillars, or their
ammunition up without the Thorneys, Peerlesses, etc. How many .men owed their lives
to the ambulances, when life was a matter of quick transport It is true that we had
an easy time when no particular stunt was on, but even in quiet times the roads the other
side of Ypres were no rest camp. The following is an ordinary day's work just before
and during a show like, say,.the taking of Passchendaele Ridge:About 9 a.m., to rail
head, Abeele or Pop. to unload an ammunition train, and transfer it to, say, Machine
Gun Farm or
some other dump
back with luck
about 5 p.m.
About 9 p.m.,
start up (no self-
starter) and take
six lorries to M.G.
Farm for ammu
nition and then
on to battery posi
tion. Must be
back before day
light. Along the
famous road from
Pop. to Ypres
about which such
a fine article ap
peared in the Mail
June or July '16
with no lights,
pulling up with a
jerk at every ex
tra dark patch,
fearing it was in
fantry going up
the fine. Through
Vlamertinghe and
on to Ypres. Driving through Ypres in '16 and '17 was a nightmare, avoiding the shell
holes you could see, cursed by infantry when doing so, and bumping in and out of the ones
you couldn't. Tetany of the young bloods who drive their sports cars at 40-50 miles per hour
at night with 300 c.p. headlights try driving a 3-ton lorry or, worse still, an F.W.D. with a 6
in. howitzer behind it, through Ypres at night with no lamps, and they'll know what driving
really is
On past St. Jean cross-roads. Up there things are fairly quiet. After Wieltje they
begin to hum. Fritz had the old plank road fairly taped. I think at one time or another
he dropped shells on every 10 yardsand you could not drop in the mud when one cariie
over, only duck your head automatically and curse. A lorry in front gets a direct hit—
an hour's wait for it to be pushed into the ditch. If the petrol tank catches fire, look out
•for an extra dose of 5.9's! On to the battery and unload. On the way back various infantry
MOTOR TRANSPORT IN ABEELE. 15th SEPTEMBER, 1917.
Imperial War Museum photograph. Crown Copyright.
