It is easy to believe that the only part that Britain's railways played
in the First World War was to carry the soldiers to the ships that would
take them to France. This couldn't be further from the truth. Without
the help from the railways it is unlikely that the war would have been
over as quickly as it was.
In Britain's Railways in the First World War Michael Foley examines
how the railway system and its workers proved to be a vital part of the
war effort, one contemporary writer even commenting that he thought they
were as significant as the navy. The book describes how the enlistment
of railway troops for the Royal Engineers to meet the increasing
transport demands of the military was to bleed the civilian system dry
as skilled railwaymen were sent to work at the front. In addition, the
military commandeered thousands of Britain's railway vehicles, sending
them to each of the theatres of war, and turned the already stressed
railway workshops away from maintaining what remained of the country's
railways and rolling stock so they could produce armaments for the
forces instead.
The book also reveals how the British were so far behind their enemies
and allies in the use of railway support to the front lines that they
had to plead for help from Canada.
