Not among Péchot's babies

 Progress on the book is steady. The printer says that it will be ready for delivery 'in the week beginning November 24th' That probably means November 28th.

Jacket design by James Albon

It is hard to imagine the experience of the trenches, 1914-18. My grandfather wrote: 'We march up daily to work and it is rather like having the sea in front of you, that funny no-man's-land. One doesn't think of it as enemy country. It's just a kind of  "this far and no further" sort of place that one sees on the maps, almost wondering if it is for real. Of course you realise that you mustn't put your head up or march over the open in daylight but then again the impersonal feeling comes in and you accept it as a dispensation of Providence that this particular atmosphere should be full of bullets just as another is full of rain'

Over the period of the War, there was a significant change in British trench life. In the early stages of the Great War, the British were supposed to rely on the existing standard gauge and metre gauge railways to get them to within, say, 5 miles of the Front. The rest of the journey had to be achieved on foot, by horse or bicycle. My grandpa did acquire a bike. Provisions had to be lugged up by General Service wagons, pulled by teams of horses or mules, under cover of darkness on unmade roads which all seemed to share one characteristic - the ditch, invariably filled with freezing water.

Grand-pa and horse. Behind can be seen two General Service wagons

 'Top brass' considered trench railways a distractor, though they did sanction improvements to standard gauge lines.  Here and there, unofficial proprietory prefabricated rail was in use, often using material scrounged from the French. Early in 1916, the British took over a French Army sector. It had 'official' trench railways - three short 60cm lines linking the Front with the standard gauge network. Official eyes were half opened and 'Programme A' was born - mainly small wagons to be pushed by humans were supplied to run on 60cm gauge rail. During 1916. 'top brass' had more reason to look at the Péchot system proper. In the build-up to the Somme offensive, summer 1916, the attention of the British Establishment was focussed on shell production. The many problems of converting the peacetime economy and manufacturing of Britain began to be addressed but by July, it was clear that ammunition was not reaching the Front in sufficient quanities.  Eric Geddes, largely credited with solving the Munitions Crisis, was authorised to solve the crisis of Forward Transportation. The Directorate of Light Railways was formed and the seeds of the War Department Light Railways were sown. A thousand miles of track were ordered, and locomotives and wagons in proportion.
The British adopted many characteristics of the French, especially in the design of rail - though there were Bristish quirks. The gauge adopted was the French one, 60cm. The little push trucks 'Programme A' were rapidly superseded by 10 tonne bogie wagons which echoed the Péchot pattern.
One of the ways in which the British showed originality was in their Prime Movers. The four-wheeled petrol mechanical tractor built by the Motor Rail and Tramcar Company Ltd, better known as the Simplex, was completely British. In 1914, as the machines of war rumbled into action, Mr Abbott of the MR & TC  approached Lord Kitchener with his ideas. No doubt, he expected his design to be constructed to 2'6" (75cm) gauge which was then the British Army norm. Lord Kitchener himself dismissed him with 'This is not our way of working'

England doesn't need you! In 1914, Lord Kitchener turned down the offer of a rail tractor. Picture courtesy of the Moseley Railway Trust/Common Source

 It was a pity that the Army didn't look a little closer. Over the next couple of years, the French discovered the merits of internal combustion on the battlefield. A picturesque plume of steam during the day or glowing cinders at night were a delight for enemy gunners, less so for engine drivers, and thus petrol and later diesel rail tractors were used for forward working. In 1916, as the British began to adopt French ideas, the first order for a 20h.p. version of the Simplex was received - in 60cm gauge. By April, the prototypes were being field-tested. They were rugged and simple; by the end of the War, about 600 had been delivered. The two-cylinder petrol engine sat in the middle of the loco frame, the radiator at one end and the driver and controls at the other.  The seat faced sideways so that the driver could see both ways. What is more, the Dixon Abbott gearbox had three speeds in both directions. When a quick sharp exit was called for, and no turntable was available, the Simplex was your machine!

This 20h.p. Simplex tractor can be seen at the Welsh Highland Heriatge Centre. Photo courtesy of Steve Currin

 The War Office invited a design for a larger machine that could carry armour, useful for Front-line work. The MR & TC submitted a design which weighed six tonnes and had a 40h.p. engine which was immediately approved. Like the 20h.p. version, the driver sat sideways and the tractor could go equally fast in both directions. Unlike on the smaller one, the driver sat in the middle with the radiator to one side, the engine and transmission to the other. Three versions of the 'Tin Turtle' were produced: open; weather-protected; and the true tin turtle, the fully armoured model. 200 of these 40hp petrol tractors were delivered to the WDLR. There was another order for 112 but WJK Davies (Light Railways of the First World War) was not certain how many were delivered.

This bonny rake of 40 h.p. Simplexes were snapped at the Moseley Tracks to the Trenches event, September 2014. The middle one has the roof at the original height, the rear most has an altered roof  - taller and additionally supported.

The Simplex was truly British.What more can we say?