Trans-Namibia, the forgotten Railway

We know that thousands of kilometres of 60cm railways were used on the Western Front during 14-18. There was a far-away war which also involved a 60cm railway.

German South West Africa was colonised in the late 19^th century, against the better judgement of the then administration, though once Wilhelm II became Kaiser, he was gung-ho for expansion even in this far and unpromising land.

Southern Africa in 1920 showing rivers (including wadis) but not railways. In 1902, a railway 382 km long was built to connect Windhoek to the coast. Courtesy Times Publishing

 GSWA, or, as we now know it, Namibia, is on the western side of Africa, lying between the Orange river - border with South Africa - and (Portuguese) Angola to the north (marked by the Cunene river). The west is a fearsome desert.  Windhuk now Windhoek, the capital of GSWA, is sited on a comparatively fertile plateau, with the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) to its east. Before 1914, the only link between Windhuk and the outside world lay either through British or Portuguese colonies/allies or through the Namibian desert. What is more, Walfish or Walvis Bay on the coast, the only good harbour, had been claimed for Britain.

In the teeth of all commonsense, the German colonists determined to use Swakopmund, a small and rather poor harbour just north of Walvis Bay as their port. The link with the interior would be by ox-cart! Oxen were duly used, struggling up a dry river–bed, using water from the irregular rainfall. The territory was that of the fierce Herrera who, for a time tolerated the struggling settlers. Then rinderpest killed off the oxen and the Germans turned to technology. Wilhelm II took a pride in his small colonies and sent a major in his Pioneer Corps to GSWA. A 60cm gauge railway, it was hoped, could be quickly built to link Windhuk with the coast.

Cover design by James Albon

The origin of the Feldbahn (German military railways) is interesting and described in more detail in my book. In 1888, Prosper Péchot had persuaded the French Army to adopt a 60cm gauge system of portable military railways. Indeed, since 1886, exercises and experiments had been taking place around the frontier town of Toul. The Germans were also looking at military railways. In 1888, they abandoned their flirtation with other gauges and adopted 60cm gauge.

Péchot-Bourdon 0-4-4-0 locomotive, first built in 1888. Its weight, evn when loaded with water and fuel was under 14 tonnes so that it could run on portable track. Image courtesy Raymond Duton

In 1889, Péchot’s elaborate bogie wagons and his Péchot-Bourdon locomotive caused a sensation at the Great Exhibition in Paris. At that time, the Germans abandoned their experiments with 2 and 5 tonne locomotives and standardised on the Zwilling 2 x 7 tonnes unladen.

Drawing of Zwilling courtesy Old Steam Locomotives of South Africa Website

In 1897, work started on the Namibian railway. Zwilling locomotives were sent to provide motive power and the first track was portable - a German answer to portable Péchot track. In the fearsome desert conditions, battling sand, dirty water and angry locals, the lifetime of a locomotive was short, but at any one time, 40 or so Zwillingwere at work. The railway Swakopmund-Windhuk was officially opened in June 1902, length 382 km.

The military turned the railway over to civilians to run – as the Staatsbahn – but continued to use it as a testing ground. They learned to use prefabricated track for the first phase of construction, then rapidly to replace it with track laid on sleepers. The German Brigadewagen, maid-of-all-work bogie wagon (originally based on a Péchot wagon) was proved and improved in the hostile conditions. Locomotive tenders were used for supply on long, hot, desert runs and precipitous gradients. The most admired, numerous and successful of all military locomotives, the Dlok 0-4-0 was developed.

By 1914, the German Feldbahn led the way in quantity, quality and number of operators. The French on the other hand had retired Prosper Péchot and their 60cm système Péchot was stuck in a time-warp.

A restored 0-8-0 T Dlok in German Army colours simmers gently on the track at Apedale Staffs. Photo Malcolm Wright

In 1892, rich deposits of copper were found in Tsumeb, Damaraland. The Otavi line (to be run by the Otavi-Minen-und-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft OMEG) was begun in 1903 but delayed by the Herero war 1904. This was an unequal fight. No-one at the time counted the number of Herero dead, but we can sure that there were many. The survivors later returned as railway workers. Brenda Bravenboer in her book 100 years of State Railways in Namibia p 65 describes them as ‘willing labourers who had endurance’. Tsumeb was 570 kilometres from the sea; this incredible narrow gauge railway was opened to traffic in November 1906.

A particularly interesting new departure was the HD class 2-8-2 tender locomotive (58 tonnes with tender). Three were ordered from Henschel und Sohn in 1912, for the Otavi Railway. This class was to feature in the Great War Namibian Campaign. Many more examples were later ordered from Henschel though they were now known as the South African Railways NG5 class. The last were ordered after the Second World War and continued in use for a total of 50 years!

Botha and Seitz. Henshel 2-8-2 with tender July 1915. Photo from Illustration magazine

Pic Never mind the human drama in the foreground! Behind them is a fine example of a Henschel 2-8-2 tender locomotive. There are lights to the front and rear. The characteristic safety valve with cross bonnet shows up well, but skirts have been added to tender and locomotive, decorously veiling their wheels from sight. The sandbox also is an addition.

In 1910, the process began of converting the Swakopmund-Windhuk line to standard gauge. 60cm material was transferred to replace worn-out stock on remaining narrow gauge lines.

The German administration may have hoped that South Africa with its substantial Boer population would stay out of the First World War. They were disappointed. On 4^th Aug 1914, General Louis Botha, Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, pledged support to Britain on behalf of his country. On 8th August Doctor Seitz, Governor of GSWA, mobilised his small force of 5000. There was deliberate destruction of infrastructure to delay the enemy, which was successful for a time.

In January 1915, an invasion force occupied Swakopmund on the coast. Repairs were required both to the port and the railway.

Dr Seitz, Governor of GSWA July 1915 From Illustration magazine

General Smuts joined the Union Defence Forces on 30^th April 1915. The Germans retreated northwards. Windhuk was taken on 12^th May – the name was changed to Windhoek.

The Germans requested an armistice, but to the indignation of the Allies, they made use of this as a breathing space and started their retreat up the Otavi section of the line. During June, SA troops advanced and Otavi was captured on July 1^st. German forces continued their withdrawal.

More Union Defence Forces were coming from the north and east. The Germans were surrounded. Governor Seitz and Lt Col Franke agreed to surrender. The ‘peace of Khorab’ was signed on 9^th July at Khorab farm near Otavi.

Botha and his staff coming to take the German surrender Namibia 1915

The war showed the flexibility of narrow gauge. In spite of ‘strategic destruction’ by the retreating Germans, 358km of 60 cm railway were repaired within 26 days, greatly strengthening the Union advance.

After the treaty of Versailles, GSWA was mandated to the Union of South Africa effective from 17^th Dec 1920. Gradually the railways were integrated into the SAR system and official 60cm disappeared. Its last flowering was on private lines supplying the diamond mines in the south.

Namibia became an independent country on March 21^st 1990. My belated congratulations to this wonderful country!.

Holiday in the workshop

Before the current batch of Wrens can be built, the parts have to be gathered in, the castings and the etchings. Whilst waiting for my suppliers, I have been busy doing a little model-making for myself and making new masters for a Wren part.

Wrightscale 16mm Wren with the original version cylinders fitted

This task was to make masters for the Wren cylinders. Since 1988, Wrightscale Wrens and Tattoos have been fitted with models of cylinders that were similar to those fitted to the early versions of both classes ie the locomotives with inside Stephensons valve gear. See previous blog. Finally, the Hackworth valve geared locomotives will have the correct cylinders.

The new masters with the valve centre line off-set outboard of the cylinder centre line. Kerr Stuart Wren and Tattoo in 16mm scale. Wrightscale

The defect was really only noticeable on the Corris No 4 loco model in that the valve chest was too close to the smoke box. Another advantage is that the valve drive rod will no longer require a 'set' in it since all is now in line.
 I have had a month or so in the workshop to pursue my own interests.  Returning north, recently, we stopped to visit an old friend. He very sensibly has decided to thin out his large collection of 16mm scale steam engines.
There is one in particular that he has owned for many years that had long taken my fancy. This 4-6-0 tender locomotive was constructed in 1909 by Kerr, Stuart in Stoke-on-Trent for the Gwalior Light Railway - no 16. Maharaja Madhav Roa II decided that the development of his province was hindered by the lack of good transport. Being an Anglophile he had followed with interest the development of the rail system in India and so naturally he chose British engineers and the Kerr, Stuart Co in particular to supply him with a system. At its peak, the system had well over 300 km track. To make construction cheap and speedy, it followed the trend of the 1890s for such railways to be built to narrow gauge. The gauge chosen was 2' but the length of the railway demanded large tender locomotives. The construction, therefore of the line plus all the rolling stock must have been an interesting challenge for the Kerr, Stuart designers. Their solution, in GLR no 16, is a very elegant and purposeful-looking engine.

Kerr Stuart Gwalior Light Railway 4-6-0 No 16 Copyright J. Hawkesworth

The model of the locomotive was built by Cyril Clarke and Peter Brookbank, in the late 1980s. They always built two locomotives at a time, (one each) and sometimes three. They were unusual models for the time, being good scale models with quite a high level of detail. Some years ago, Mr Clarke decided to give up his garden railway and sell his models off. My friend purchased no 16.
The model is largely as built. Both my friend and I suspect that at some point it had full working valve gear and an axle-driven water pump. Some day I might replace these but it works well, has a very large gas tank under the cab floor and the boiler is refillable using an Enots coupling. The tender is used to house R/C with one server on the locomotive operating the regulator. The large sandbox houses a very effective mechanical lubricator.

GLR no 16 built by Cyril Clarke and Peter Brookbank 16mm scale

Once the model was in the workshop, I decided to tidy it up a bit, repainting the cab roof which slides on and off and repairing some of the worst of the chips and scratches in the paintwork.
 I decided next to build a train for it to pull and ordered kits for some Darjeeling 6-wheel passenger stock from IP Engineering. I have never built a laser-cut kit before. What a revelation! Everything fitted perfectly. With the aid of set-squares and heavy weights and a bottle of super-glue, they went together really well.

Starting the build, checking everything is square

I don't know whether these coaches actually existed on the DHR since there seems to be little if any photographic evidence, as IP admit in their excellent instructions. Certainly the DHR had  Cleminson  coaches for a very short time.

Adding the prepainted overlays

Due to the designer's error, the prototype coaches spent most of the time derailed. Although the Cleminson system did steer the axles through a curve, because the centre axle could not move from side to side, and 's' shaped bend of sharp radius, all too common on the DHR, would cause one end of the coach to be turning the centre axle left while the axle at the far end of the coach would try to turn it right. The models do not suffer from this defect since the centre axle has the necessary side-to-side movement.
In my opinion, the only problem in building these laser cut kits is to achieve a high quality surface finish on the plywood from which they are cut.

The finished 16mm DHR coach before footboards and kick-plates below the doors

I read what is available on the web about how to do this but in the end, went my own way. I gave the sheets of ply several coats of grey Halfords primer, rubbing down between coats with a proper sanding block. After three coats, and rubbing down with increasingly fine grit, the ply sheets looked quite good. The inside of the coach was going to be varnished wood. This has all been stained and Halfords clear lacquer was used to seal the grain and allow the wood surface to be brought to a high finish. The parts were then taken from the sheets and assembled. The detail overlay parts were left on the sheet until they had been completely finished. The last was to glaze the coaches.

The rather attractive luggage, guard?? 3rd class coach. I haven't built this to the instructions.

It is so much simpler with these kits since the glazing accurately fits into the window apertures and is retained with canopy glue, piped into the aperture using a syringe with a fine needle. The roofs, made from ply rather than the material supplied, were applied to the bodies using rapid epoxy and an IP-supplied roof-fitting jig. To finish the coaches, I made a simple bending jig and set up the lathe to produce (96!) small thick rounded edge washers. Using another jig, these were assembled on to the hand-rails to give reasonably detailed grab-rails and door pulls. (The doors in these coaches probably slid to save space in the small compartments.) I also fitted contiunuous foot-steps to the coaches since they seemed a bit odd without. Waste laser-cut from the windows provided a simple representation of the under-step supports.

The almost finished 16mm DHR-style train for the GLR loco to pull

Encouraged by the coaches, a van kit was built. On  this, the engraved padlock and hasp were replaced by working metal details. (IP say that their 6-wheel stock works best if the end vehicle is pulling a four-wheel wagon.)
Back to the engine. Encouraged by the look of the train, I decided over Christmas to give the locomotive  a voice! Accordingly, on day one, a whistle was produced which provided some interesting machining challenges, but, produced a nice clear very shrill note on compressed air. Then, after some thought, a lever-operated whistle valve was made. Then finally, there had to be a dummy whistle that would release a plume of steam when the real below-the-footplate whistle squealed.

The dummy working whistle installed. The working whistle is under this footplate and is 70mm long.

The whole shebang had to be worked by a new micro-servo. It all looked so simple on paper! In fact it took five days and about 30 hours to make and fit. If anybody wants to follow suit, I have since discovered that for the very reasonable sum of £90,  DJB Engineering produces all the bits ready to mount on your loco. (A nice chime-whistle on its own - without control valves and piping - 70mm long and 17mm in diameter with ME pipe fittings can be purchased from ebay for £21, delivered.) So, when this arrives, if it is any good, I'll fit that to another one of my engines.
 

About the Wren - as we start to build some.

History of the Wren

We have always loved this dainty 0-4-0 saddle tank locomotive. It was the first 16mm model offered by Wrightscale; 190 models later we are about to produce a new batch. Creating these has always been a learning experience. The current batch is the 4th iteration,  we are not afraid to modify and improve as we go along. The new batch will feature a revised cylinder block. The model is now that bit closer to an accurate minature of the real thing. Working steam models of the Wren have been offered in various scales. Experienced constructors in the smaller scales, though, have always regarded it as a difficult engine and have modified their models to make costruction easier, to the point where the 'model' becomes a 'pastiche' - no harm in such, but when they depart too far from the original, something is lost.   

16mm model 0-4-0 Wren made by Wrightscale based on Kerr Stuart No 4560. It incorporates a number of improvements which were made after an initial batch of models.

 Kerr, Stuart and Co Ltd

The Wren was just one of the classes of narrow gauge locomotive produced by Kerr, Stuart and Co Ltd of Stoke on Trent, Staffs. With their good Scots names, you will not be surprised to learn that the company, then a partnership, originated in Glasgow. James Kerr and John Stuart acted as agents for other manufacturers. In 1892, they took over the California Works in Stoke and went into manufacture. Their ‘unique sales proposition’ was narrow gauge, built partly off-the-shelf and then customised to order. Kerr Stuart also produced rolling stock. Until then, if users wanted speedy delivery of narrow gauge locomotives, they had to buy what was available second-hand. 

Another view of the Wrightscale Wren (new type) The most common livery for the prototype was black or green

 The Wren class shows many typical Kerr Stuart design features. It was a company habit to incorporate features from one class in another, and so, for example, side tank locomotives often had variants with saddle tank or tenders. Other classes included Midge and Skylark and the more military sounding Tattoo and Waterloo, not to mention the Darwin and Brazil classes. After World War 1, the company produced standard gauge locomotives. See below.

More Wrens were sold than any other model. Although it was not the smallest locomotive Kerr Stuart built, with a weight of only 4 tons (Imperial) 3 hundred weight in steam, it deserved the name of ‘Wren’.

Wren Development

Kerr Stuart No 850 was an 0-4-0 saddle tank built to the gauge of 2’ 1 ¾ “ It was constructed in 1903 for the Southend Gas Company. She appears to have been the prototype for the ‘Buya’ class – which was usually 3’/75cm. She was also the pattern for a ‘standard type of engine to be called Wren’ (Instructions from the London Office to Stoke on Trent on 1^st February 1905.) No 850 was, thus, also a fore-runner of the Wren.

Kerr Stuart No 888 was Wren no 1, delivered to the Admiralty in March 1905. It was gauged at 2’6”. For Wrens of a more narrow gauge, modifications were needed. In order to fit the firebox within the frames of a 2’ gauge locomotive, the boiler and firebox, as used on no 888 had to be redesigned. In all, 132 were built to 2’ gauge and eleven to 60cm gauge. Although I often write as if 2’ (60.1cm) gauge and 60cm are interchangeable, some modification was necessary if one were to be used on the other track. 2’ gauge wheels would be a ‘tight fit’ on 60cm.

Maker's photograph of No 2462 'new type' Copyright Courtesy of Armley Museum, Leeds. It has Hackworth valve gear, and it is on the 'new type' that our models are based. The batch of models on the Wrightscale stocks will include a more accurate cylinder block, closer to the original

Early locomotives had Stephenson’s links – and are known as ‘old’ type. After K,S 2423 the ‘new’ type was introduced with outside Hackworth valve gear (and attendant modifications) although some old types continued to be ordered. KS No 2458 of 1915 appears to have been the first of this kind. The boiler had to be raised slightly to accommodate the reversing shaft in its new position.

To my mind, though this is personal, I think that the ‘new type’ Wren has a lighter and more elegant appearance.

Very early Wrens had one-piece cast steel wheels. There are obvious advantages to supplying the locomotives with tyres and so most ‘old’ and ‘new’ types went over to cast iron wheel centres with steel tyres.

AnotherWrightscale model construction number 256

 

There were usually a few ‘Wrens’ on the stocks in the factory – typically, they were built in batches of six but were not finished until the gauge the customer required was known. Some orders were for a gauge as small as 1’6 1/8” and the firebox had to be raised (among other alterations). Others were for 915mm gauge (36 ½”). 

'Indaya' Kerr Stuart No 1041. Copyright Courtesy Armley Industrial Museum This 'old type' Wren has been modified for oil-burning and for tramway running. It has Stephenson's links.

Coal was the standard fuel for these little steam engines, but not invariably. Kerr Stuart no 909 (1905) had steel trellis fitted to the bunkers for holding wood. In 1908, nos 1041 and 1042 were supplied to South America as oil burners. They had extra water capacity as well as oil burning equipment. They were supplied with a special small additional boiler for turning over the engine to start it. They were required for a steam tramway, and so wheels and motion were enclosed. There is a fine maker’s photograph of No 1041 INDAYA.

Wrens were exported to quarries and mines over the world.

The First World War

From 1914-18, Wrens did ‘War Service’ though mainly for construction works, and almost always in 2’ gauge. Three went to the Falkland Islands, then a Naval Coaling station and no 2462 was sent to Archangel, Russia. The ‘new type’ Wren had just been introduced; it is fair to suggest that the War Office encouraged the introduction of the cheaper design feature.

Another KS introduction of the time was the ‘Joffre’ 0-3-0T locomotive, ordered early in the War and built to French specifications in 60cm gauge.

As the author of Colonel Péchot: Tracks To The Trenches, I have always believed that the French military railways – designed in the 19^th century by Prosper Péchot – heavily influenced subsequent military railways of friend and foe.  Before the First World War, British ‘siege railways’ (ie portable railways for field duties) were all 2’6” gauge. As early as 1915, the Army became alive to the merits of 2’/60cm gauge, and when the War Department Light Railways were brought into official being in 1916, 60cm was the uncontroversial choice of gauge. In 1915, Wrens were being sent to Ripon and Catterick for construction work at Army sites.

No 3105 – 2’ gauge – was despatched in February 1918 and was used in constructing Kidbrooke Aerodrome near Birmingham. Circa 1935 it was purchased by the Leighton Buzzard Brick Co and photographs of the time show that it bore the HAIG nameplate.

Post War

After WW1, K,S & Co went into standard gauge manufacture. The trade received a boost from the grouping of British railways, receiving (for them) large orders from the GWR and LMS. From the late 20s, K,S went into the manufacture of diesel locomotives, though development was stopped when the company went into receivership.

PIXIE no 4560 photographed at the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway by Malcolm Wright in 1980

Narrow gauge was not forgotten. Between 1922 and 23, a number of Wrens were delivered to R.H. Neal and Co for sewage construction works (we believe). Several were sold to Devon County Council for similar construction duties eg at the Wilminstone quarry. Some have survived. No 4250 – known these days as LORNA DOONE – was preserved by Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. No 4560 – PIXIE – was preserved by the Industrial Railway Society and then passed to the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway to be brought back into working order.  From 1969 she has been a well-loved fixture. Another Wren, No 3114, was rescued by Alan Maund in 1959.

Hunslet took over the ‘goodwill’ of Kerr, Stuart when it closed in 1930. Hunslet based their range of diesel locomotives on K,S originals. In addition, four more Wrens were made – also to 2’ gauge. 

PIXIE, also photographed at Leighton Buzzard by Malcolm Wright

If you like your Wrens ‘stuffed and mounted’, the National Railway Museum, York has one, as does Birmingham.  This is how Malcolm prefers his National Treasures – safe from wear and tear. If, like me, you prefer to see them at work, PIXIE and PETER PAN still come out in steam on occasion. See below. Don’t intervene in arguments between man and wife, but perhaps a compromise position is best. The originals should be preserved, but good replicas should be put into steam as has been done with K,S Tattoo class  no 4047. A replica was created to work on the preserved Corris railway.

A Wren abroad

There is, nothing to compare with the delight of snapping a Wren survival in far-flung parts. In 1971, Basil Roberts saw a Wren, among other locomotives at the Srimaharacha timber works at Si (Sri) Racha, Thailand, about two hours from Bangkok. It was also seen by C.M. Jackson in 1984. He made the short walk through the port to the mill. By this time, the locomotives, including a Wren, a Brush 0-6-0, a Hudswell Clarke 0-4-2 and an Orenstein and Koppel 0-6-0, were laid up behind a fence and were clearly in retirement. The line had been built from the mill into the forest, in 1906, as Jackson was told. The gauge was 759mm gauge. No-one was quite sure when the locomotives were last used; before the date of the visit by Basil Roberts – we believe.

At the time of Jackson’s visit, timber was brought to the mill by lorries but he did see railways being used onsite.  Some diesel locomotives were at work within the factory, and small rolling stock, both trolley-type and slat-sided vehicles. Subsequent research showed the old railway line on an old Admiralty chart, running at least 10 miles/16 km into the hills. Wilf Simms also visited Srimaharacha that year and did some more rooting around.

All visitors have been told ‘Yes, you may look, but no, the locomotives are not for sale’

Kerr, Stuart nameplate courtesy of Armley Industrial Museum. This Wren, maker's number 2462 was destined for Archangel. This batch, nos 2458 to 2465 was among the most far-travelled of the Wrens, another going to Burma. This batch was also notable for being the first of the 'new' type.

Wrens at home

We had our own encounter with a Wren. This was PIXIE at Leighton Buzzard in 1980. The line is based at Page’s Park, Leighton Buzzard, and roughly 3 ½ miles long, taking in both urban and rural running. It had been originally opened as a quarry railway At the time it was possible to savour the a semi-industrial landscape as a sand pit still existed. In a little train headed by a PIXIE, we started out of Pages Park and then up a hill. Then steeply down and past modern industrial Leighton Buzzard. Past a certain celebrated roof-tile factory, there is a steep run up Marley’s Bank and then into Bedfordshire countryside, now housing. More fields, then a factory, then sand-pit workings marked the limit of the line.

Another 16mm Wrightscale model Wren, in red. 

Another Wren at work is PETER PAN at the North of England Open Air Museum, Beamish, Stanley, Co Durham. If you can’t get there, some nice u-tube shots show him at work doing what a Wren does best -  hauling skips!

Armley Industrial Museum, now known as the Leeds Industrial Museum, holds a treasury of Kerr Stuart records. Worth a visit!

Further reading: INDUSTRIAL RAILWAY RECORD no 5. This was published by the Birmingham Locomotive Club, now known as the Industrial Railway Society.

INDUSTRIAL RAILWAY RECORD no 104 (among others)

CONTINENTAL RAILWAY JOURNALs for 1996

Leighton Buzzard Light Railway Guide Book

Grace’s Guide

Meanwhile 1916-17 in the east

One hundred years ago, on the Western Front, both the Allies and the Germans reached stalemate on the Somme. Both sides had learned something. The Germans, under their new commander-in-chief von Hindenburg were going to take the initiative, and surprise the Allies in a most surprising way, but that is a story to come. The British were, among other things, learning the usefulness of tactical light railways, but still had to learn how to use them. The original inspiration for these 60cm gauge railways had been the work of Prosper Péchot.

These fine 1:19 scale models, one of a WD Baldwin 4-6-0T built by Wrightscale, and one of a WD Hunslet 4-6-0T built by Henry Holdsworth, appear in a photograph by Jim Hawkesworth. The locomotives appeared on the newly formed War Department Light Railways, in 1916 for the Hunslet, in 1917 for the Baldwin

This story is about the Balkan Front.

Everyone knows that the First World War started with the assassination of Arch-duke Franz Ferdinand. Austria declared war on Serbia, and a whole line of dominoes fell, one causing the collapse of the next. In no time at all, the whole of Europe and beyond were at war. But what became of the Serbs?

In 1915, they were still holding out, just, against the Austrians. The Serbians had mobilised instantly – they were fighting annihilation! The Austrians took longer and of course they had to make sure that the Slavs within their empire were not involved in this particular fight. Then Bulgaria joined the Central Powers and mobilised in September 1915. The Germans quickly sent them military advisers, who were hugely influential. That meant that Serbia was facing three Fronts – 300,000 Germans under von Gallwitz at the Danube; the same number of Austrians at the Drina and Sava rivers and now an army of 330,000 Bulgarians under General Yekov. The four Serbian armies had been reduced to 25,000 fighting troops. Things did not look good.

This photograph (taken in 1918) of captured Bulgarian equipment shows how thorough the German influence had been. In the centre can be seen portable railway track. The Germans had shared with them their 60cm technology, also based on Péchot's original ideas.  From 'Illustration' Courtesy MD Wright

In September, General Sarrail was sent to Greece with a relief force. Whoops! This army landed in Salonika (Thessaloniki) on the eastern side of Greece while Serbia is to the west. To be honest, they had a secondary aim which somehow became a primary one. They were keen to discourage the Greeks from throwing their lot in with the Central Powers; throughout the War, Greece was to be ‘an ambivalent Ally’ (Henniker's history of the Balkan Front). By October 1915. three French divisions and one British were on shore. This was not enough to crush the huge forces of the Central Powers but the Allies struck out westwards in the right sort of general direction. Soon they were entrenched along the lower Vardar river and by the end of October 1915, were into the mountains.

Western Serbia was now held by the Austrians, and in the south, the Bulgarians, facing the French. To the south-west, troops of the Central Powers were chasing the Serbs through rough country. In October, the Serbian remnant was in retreat. Most of the infra-structure had been destroyed in previous fighting. The Serbs had to clamber across semi-demolished bridges or ford swollen rivers. They set fire to what they could not carry and crossed into Albania. 

Smiling for the camera. Pictured soon after their harrowing retreat, these Serbs have been given food and new uniforms. Though young, they look like old men. 'Illustration'/courtesy MD Wright

Even their King Peter – Peter the 1^st Karageorgevitch – crossed into Albania not in a carriage but on a gun limber towed by oxen. In the mountains, he had to proceed on foot, like everyone else.

In the meantime, things were not going well for the forces who were supposed to relieve the Serbs. By December 1915, the Bulgarians had crossed the frontier as far as Monastir (modern Bitola). The Allies decided to retreat eastwards back to their base – Salonika. There were, it seems, plenty of locals who wanted them out altogether; the Turkish consulate was a target of suspicion.

French troops digging defensive trenches outside Salonika January 1916. General Sarrail is in the group looking on. 'Illustration'/Courtesy MD Wright

The Serbian survivors who reached the sea were rescued by French ships. They were landed, with a sizable French escort, at Corfu. Once again, this was without much reference to the Greeks who once again were told ‘Better us than the Germans’. Even the French had to admit that they had treated the Greeks as an enemy rather than neutral. ‘In the morning (of 11^th January) the stupefied Corfiots saw that they (French marines) had occupied the port’. (‘Illustration magazine). On the same day, French troops occupied the Achilleion on the island, a villa which was the personal property of Kaiser Wilhelm 11.

The French have advanced from Salonika. This supply column was photographed between Isthvor and Kastanjani south of Monastir. It idicates the problems of supply in the rough terrain.

So far, this has been a sorry story. The Serbs, greatly reduced in number, have come out of this best though Allied attempts to help have been so unsuccessful. The Greeks had been badly treated – even losing some of their territory. The Allies stayed on because, of course, the Greeks mustn’t lose any more territory to hostile action! Yet, this story ends well for the Allies, though not until 1918. The family of Péchot argue, quite cogently, that when finally the French had their 60cm railways in place, conditions for the battle of Monastir was possible. This in turn made a Serbian breakthrough possible, the Armistice with Bulgaria and finally the Armistice with Germany.  There is more in 'Colonel Péchot: Tracks to the trenches'

Somme September 1916 - the British Secret weapon?

On September 15th 1916, the British launched an attack on their Front north of the river Somme.  The French magazine 'Illustration' described the attack thus.
'The first English (sic)tanks enter the frontline. Vomiting fire, battering down all obstacles, shredding with ease any nest of barbed wire, the troops were accompanied that day by terrific machines. The appearance of these mechanical monsters engendered panic in the German ranks. In a few hours, the British lines were advanced by two kilometres. A wood, three villages and 4000 prisoners fell into the hands of our allies.'

This detail from a drawing by J. Simont shows a Mark 1 tank. The artist has accurately depicted the 'trail' - the two stabilising wheels supplementing the tracked main body. We can just see that this was the deign fitted with six machine guns. Other tanls were fitted with two six-pounder guns. It has been casmouflaged, to break up its outline. From 'Illustration' magazine, courtesy collection of M.D. Wright

The 'tank' was long in gestation and many have claimed to be father. In fact, in 1919, a special committee was set up to judge between competing claims between nineteen individuals! Names such as Winston Churchill, Swinton, Tritton were included.  H.G. Wells had written a story called the 'Land Ironclads' in 1903. In those days, Ironclad was a name given to battleships and the description 'land ship' and 'land destroyer' was often applied. The name 'tank' was meant to be a secret code designed to confuse the enemy.
I would like here to mention my great-grandfather, Gen L.C. Jackson in connection with the tank. From 1914 to 17, he was in the department of trench warfare. In September 1915, he had recruited my grandparents to work there. In October, my Granny recalled:
'I remembered my father-in-law coming home fuming one day because the Prime Minister, Mr Asquith, had come down to see the secret inventions they were trying out (the tank.). He had brought not only his wife Margot, but also his small schoolboy son Anthony with him. "Security" in those days was non-existent.' This story was recalled elsewhere, with other member's of the Asquith entourage named.

By September, the Germans defending in the Somme were already hard pressed. It says a tremendous amount for them that they were hanging on. After the War, Ernst Junger wrote 'Storm of Steel', a very patriotic account of his experiences. Even he used the phrase from Dante 'lasciate ogni speranza/abandon hope all ye' to describe the Somme:
'A man in a steel helmet reported to me as guide to escort my platoon to the reknowned Combles. .. I asked him what it was like...I heard a monotonous tale of crouching in shell holes with no one on either flank and no trenches communicating with the rear, of unceasing attacks, dead bodies littering the ground, of maddening thirst .. and more  besides. ... In front of us, the artillery fire rose to a higher and higher pitch. Lasciate ogni speranza.'

German prisoners (standing in the trench) guarded by French soldiers. From 'Illustration' magazine courtesy of M.D. Wright

The first attack, with troops following tanks as they broke down barbed wire etc had a dramatic effect. Yet once again, as before, the Germans adapted to the new pressure and soon the gains were minimal. Though historians criticise the British for their lack of success, the Germans clearly had great respect for their opponents. Soon after the first tank attack, German prisoners remarked of the new weapon that it was ganz gut/not half bad. In 1929, Ernst Junger was to say of the British:
'Of all the troops who were opposed to the Germans on the great battlefields the English (sic) were not only the most formidable but the manliest (sic) and most courageous'
While the tired waves vainly breaking
Seemed no painful inch to gain
Inland by creek and inlet making ....
The tank alone could not win the War. Much else was needed. Soon, the might of the USA was to join the Allies. Another new 'ally' was to be efficient trench transport. Up until the battle of the Somme, the British had been unwilling to invest in trench railways. During the battle they saw on their southern flank a smaller French force making equal or better advances than they did. Since 1888, the French had artillerie 88 railways, essentially a portable 60cm system which could be quickly laid and relaid wherever supplies and ammunition were needed. This had been designed by Propser Péchot, an officer in the French artillery - he was the first to grasp how vital they were to be. The British had some experience of these 60cm gauge railways - they inherited a few from the French. On 17th September, Sergeant Edward Miles noted in his diary:
'Phew!These three days seem like a nightmare. . We went up (to take Thiepval wood). We passed field guns wheel to wheel from Crucifix corner to Railway Alley (a trench leading to the front line').
There was always a jokey logic to these names. There were plenty of crosses in the Somme, from traditional 'Calvaires' to modern memorials. There were not so many railways.
At the same time, Allied aeroplanes and other military intelligence could have pointed out that the opposition were using trench railways to great effect, bringing much-needed supplies and reinforcements close to the German Front. In 1889, the Prussian army had begun to experiment with a 60cm system suspiciously similar to the French one. Grasping its potential, they soon moved ahead of their rivals, but they had clearly copied much.
Early in August, a circular emerged from the British Quartermaster General's office. 'Find a substitute for motor transport. Light railways are to be used as soon as possible' What the French and Germans had spent years preparing could not be built up overnight. Sir Eric Geddes, Trouble-shooter-in-Chief to Lloyd George was invited to report on transport. He recommended that a proper syste of tactical light railways should be built along the Front in advance of standard gauge railways. Basing their designs very much on the Péchot originals, track in the very un-British gauge of 60cm and portable rail in lengths of 10m were ordered. The War Department Light Railways WDLR were born.

A 16mm model Baldwin 4-6-0T built by Wrightscale and a Hunslet 4-6-0T built by the late Henry Holdsworth show some of the War Department Light Railway locomotives.

After World War 1, most of the stock of the WDLR was sold off and found its way on to civilian lines. The Baldwin 4-6-0 was one example, and many of the characteristic bogie wagons worked at quarries and small narrow-gauge lines. German stock was taken for reparations. Any enthusiast for narrow gauge will know of surviving examples of the Feldbahn 0-4-0 D-lok.
What did not appear for sale were the original Péchot designs - the wonderful 0-4-4-0 Péchot-Bourdon locomotive and the rugged bogie wagons. The French army loved them too much!  During the darkest days of Wolrd War 2, all but two of these precious locomotives was scrapped in an occupied Europe desperate for metal. It is this which explains the strange dearth of the most interesting and influential rrailway material - artillerie 88/Péchot system 60cm railways.
If you want to know more, read
'Colonel Péchot: Tracks to the trenches' - Sarah Wright Birse Press 2014
Also Light Railways of the First World War WJK Davies David and Charles 1967
'Book of the Somme' Malcolm Brown IWM/Pan 1997
The fascinating work of Gen L.C. Jackson in the Trench Warfare Department should appear in a forth coming book by John Mason Sneddon. Watch this space!

View from the trenches

Autumn is approaching. What did it feel like in France one hundred years ago? At the end of September 1916, the German assault on Verdun was stayed, though by no means defeated. The attack in the Somme - which might be regarded as a counter-attack - had chewed off some ground; not much considering the human cost. In a previous blog, I claimed that the Germans learned fast. Tactics which might be successful in terms of trenches overrun and prisoners taken one day ceased to work on the next. The French were also learning. The year before, they might have sent waves of their best troops over open ground to be scythed by enemy fire. (Losses in the Vosges in 1915 hd been truly sickening.) This year, their losses were less and their territory gained was greater compared with the British.

Ruins of Dompierre, just south of the Somme canal, close to Froissy. French soldiers carrying posts and barbed wire to set up new defenses in territory they have gained. From 'Illustration' courtesy M.D. Wright

Slightly earlier, Rudyard Kipling toured the French  Western Front. This is what he heard when he arrived.
'Something bellowed across the folds of the wooded hills; something grunted in reply. Something passed over head, querulously but not without dignity. Two clear fresh barks joined the chorus, and a man moved lazily in the direction of the guns.
"Well, suppose we come and take a look at things a little" said the commmanding officer.
There was a specimen tree. A ladder ran up it to a platform. What little wind there was swayed the tall top, and the ladder creaked like a ship's gangway. A telephone bell tinkled fifty feet (16m) overhead. Two invisible guns spoke fervently for half a minute and broke off like terriers choked on a leash. We climbed till the topmost platform swayed sicklily beneath us. Here one found a rustic shelter, almost of the tea party pattern, a table, a map and a little window wreathed with living branches that gave one a view of the Devil and all his works. It was a stretch of open country, with a few sticks like old tooth-brushes which had once been tree round a farm. The rest was yellow grass, barren to all appearance as the veldt.

Barren grass with a few sticks like old toothbrushes. French soldiers advancing, Somme sector. From 'Illustration' magazine courtesy M.D. Wright

"The grass is yellow because they have used gas here" said the officer. "Their trenches (he meant the Germans') - you can see for yourself"

German 105 howitzer which had originally been concealed in a house. Of prewar design, these were relatively easily transported. They fired a 105mm shell, a nasty response to the French standard 75mm gun. It had an angle of fire of up to 45 degrees; I suspect that improvised positioning has increased this angle! From 'Illustration' Courtesy M.D. Wright

The guns in the wood began again. They seemed to have no relation to the regularly spaced burst of smoke along a little smear in the desert earth two thousand yards away (just under 2000m) - no connection at all to the strong voices overhead coming and going. It was as impersonal as the drive of the sea along a breakwater. Suddenly a seventh wave broke and spread the shape of its foam like a plume overtopping all the others.
"That's one of our torpilleurs - what you call trench-sweepers" said the observer among the whispering leaves.
A little sunshine flooded the stricken landscape and made its chemincal yellow look more foul. A detachment of men moved out on the road which ran towards the French trenches and tehn vanished at the foot of a little rise. Other men appeared, moving towards us with that concentration of purpose and bearing shown in both Armies when - dinner is at hand! They looked as though they had been digging hard'

At the farm of Bois l'Abbe, Somme sector, French troops are digging in. At a rakish angle in the foreground lies a section of prefabricated railway track. The beautiful pressed steel edges of the sleepersproclaim this to be Pachot-designed track. From Illustration magazine courtesy M.D. Wright

Kipling was describing the Verdun sector but there is much that could apply to the Somme as well, the noise, threat of gas and the very present killer explosions and shrapnel. There was relentless digging in and shoring-up of defences by day and long watches of the night, all relieved only by refreshments and humour.
The monotony of killing was deadly. On his tour of the Western Front, Kipling quoted a French officer. "It's the eating-up of a people" He looked at the German lines. "They come and fill the trenches and they die and they die and they send more and those die." He added "We do the same of course."
Yet change was on the way. You, gentle reader, will have noticed all the gunfire in these descriptions. Each French 75mm shell-burst meant two thirds of kilo of high explosive in a metal shell. Each 105mm howitzer had a kilo, also wrapped in a metal envelope ... and these were just the basic guns. Larger ones had shells the size of a person. Proper trench warfare required thousands of tonnes of ammo daily. Thousands of tonnes of ammunition could be dragged in by thousands of pack-animals or worse still humans acting as pack animals. The alternative, given the technology of the time, were trench railways, as originally devised by Colonel Péchot, then seized upon and improved by foe and friend alike. This history is more fully described in 'Colonel Péchot: Tracks to the trenches'
From the top down, Germans learned most quickly. Their trench railways were improving. Petrol-powered locotractors were used at the Front, and a new, sophisticated generation of steam locomotives were on the drawing board. The French, too were learning. To take one example, the supply  of beleagered Verdun was assured not just by the lorries of the Voie Sacrée connecting Bar-le-Duc with Verdun, but by the trains of the narrow-gauge Meusien railway. Quadruple tracks were required for all the traffic. Likewise, bitter experience was raising their game in the trenches.
Meanwhile, the British were just beginning to learn, though we believe the process too far too long.

Somme 1916 a compliment to the Germans

In my last blog, commemorating the incredible spirit shown by both Allied soldiers and their opposition on the Somme, I called the German resistance a Hydra. This was meant as the highest compliment. Yes, I know that the Hydra which faced the Greek hero Heracles in the marshes of Lerne has not had a good press. 

Our brave French boys, snatching their breath during the Somme offensive. THere is something of the Heracles about them. Photo courtesy MD Wright from Illustration

We all love Heracles. He was strong and handsome. He took the side of the poor. He was a good friend. He didn't have things all his own way. He appreciated the charms of the ladies. The Hydra, on the other hand, was not very attractive. It lived in the wilds and its diet was creratures it had poisoned with its venomous teeth. Once Heracles attacked it, it became even less attractive, sprouting new heads whenever one was cut off. It was the stuff of nightmares.

German prisoners taken in th efirst few days of fighting Photo courtesy MD Wright from Illustration

But let me say a few things in the favour of the Hydra. Heracles attacked it, not the other way around. It couldn't help being ugly. Let Nassim Nicholas Taleb, one of our most interesting politico-economico-philosophers defend it. It may seem to 'wake up, overreact and overcompensate to stressors and damage.... the sucker game is to try to repress (it)'... As 'the Irish revolutionary song' goes:
'The higher you build your barricades, the stronger we become'
For the Hydra actually become stronger with opposition, unless, like Heracles, more astute ruses are found by its assailant.
The Allied attack on the Somme was something like a dim Heracles. Against them, the Germans had relatively few troops - activity was at Verdun in the West and Russia in the East. In the Peronne sector, there was a total 15.6 kilometres of Feldbahn, even in August, well after the Somme offensive had started. (My source 'Heeresfeldbahnen' by Alfred Gottwadlt p 111) This supply system was vital for provisions, ammunition and reinforcements. Territory was taken and prisoners in the first bloody days. Reinforcements were slow to come - the High Command had to ease off pressure in the Verdun sector to free up troops and equipment. For a while, the Germans were thrown on their own resources. Their orders from above were not to cede territory. They learned new tricks of camouflage. For example, they had always concealed their observers in high towers. These were an obvious target for enemy artillery, so they took to the woods.

The remains of the sucrerie/sugar refinery at Dompierre above Froissy in early July 1916 The French have just taken it. The building has been completely destroyed, mainly to evict enemy observers and snipers. Painting Francois Flameng Courtesy MD Wright

The British volunteer army had been drilled to advance in formation, bayonets fixed, and so the woods proved excellent strong points for German resistance. Shellfire damaged trees, giving the defenders yet more cover. The Germans had not been specifically trained for this sort of war, but they were willing to learn. The British continued to follow the original strategy and so their attacks were unbelievably sanguine affairs. This was not the fault of the ordinary soldier, but the Heracles rather than Hydra attitude instilled by their training.
When their trenches and artillery were targeted by Allied guns, assisted by 'spotter' aeroplanes, the Germans learned to move out. If a shellhole was the best protection, they went there. If camouflage was needed, they improvised it. A ground sheet rubbed with mud would do.

This German mortar was originally concealed in a house. Its cover has been literally 'blown away' The Germans responded by new strategies of concealment. Courtesy MD Wright 'Illustration'

Guns were moved into farm buildings if necessary. Photographs from the period show the ferocity of the war, how advacing soldiers struggled over broken terrain, how any high building was destroyed, how every building and every path was wrecked in the end.
In due course, the Germans changed strategy again and traded terrain for lives, but that was later.