WORK AT THE BASE
At various centres in France are established Bases, where all the necessary supplies and ammunition are landed, and thence transported to the various Units in the Field. To cope with this vast system of distribution an army of men is employed. It will help the reader to form an estimate of the labour involved in this enormous undertaking if I briefly refer to the various branches of the British Expeditionary Force which are specially engaged in ministering to the Force as a whole.
(1) Army Service Corps.—These are men drilled and practised in supply and transport. They are ubiquitous, and without them it would be impossible to maintain the operations in hand.
(2) Army Ordnance Department.—The men of this section are skilled in the manipulation of ammunition, and in the tabulation and distribution of a hundred and one articles of equipment. It is a striking object lesson to make a tour of inspection of this important Department of the Army. It would be interesting to know how many hundreds of thousands of miles of barbed wire have passed through the hands of the A.O. during the war. Everything from a screw to a howitzer comes within their attention. As to the supply of guns and ammunition I am, of course, forbidden to say anything, excepting to share with my fellow-countrymen the greatest satisfaction that the grave difficulty noticeable earlier in the war has to so large an extent been overcome.
(3) Army Medical Stores.—Here again we have another striking object lesson in the wonders of detail. Everything required by Hospitals, Field Ambulances, Casualty Clearing Stations is herein stored and ready to be dispatched in response to the indents which are daily pouring in; the requirements of the R.A.M.C., from a surgical bandage to an operating table—to say nothing of drugs—must be ready for use. This involves the most careful attention on the part of the staff, which is, of course, composed of picked men.
(4) Railway Engineers.—In each Base will be found one or more companies of Sappers, who are responsible for the maintenance of telegraphic and telephonic communications, within the area of the Base; and also the construction and upkeep of military railway lines and buildings.
(5) Sanitary Department.—In Bases where permanent Garrisons are stationed (in some instances amounting to many thousands) much care must be exercised with regard to the ordinary hygienic conditions of life; and under highly qualified officers the most careful supervision is exercised in this respect.
(6) Army Post Office.—The correspondence of the Expeditionary Force is enormous, and involves a large staff in keeping 'Tommy' well posted with news from home. The efficiency of this important adjunct to our Army is as highly valued as it is admirably carried out.
(7) Army Bakers.—The men composing this Unit are of course selected from a particular calling. Their work is beyond all praise. In one Base with which I was more particularly connected during the latter part of my service abroad, no less than 220,000 two and a half pound loaves are baked daily. This represents bread rations for 440,000 men. The labour involved in such a vast production is very great. Weekday and Sunday alike the Army Bakers are grandly proceeding with their monotonous but most necessary work. So complete is the system employed in the making and distributing of 'the staff of life' that no Unit, however far distant, receives bread older than four days. A French General of high position, lately visiting one such Bakery, expressed his unbounded admiration at the system employed, saying that in the French Army bread fifteen days old is very usually met with.
(8) Army Service Corps Labourers.—These men are specially enlisted from stevedores, dock labourers, etc. Their work consists, in the main, of unloading vessels, and shipping supplies on to trains.