Chapter 6 THE WORKSHOPS

Any account of the working and organization of a unit in the field, composed of mechanically propelled vehicles, would be incomplete unless it contained a description of the mobile repair workshops which form such an important part of it. So vital are they that without their aid, and the skilful application of the tools they embody, the Supply Column-if such, for example, be the nature of the unit-would become hopelessly crippled and inefficient as a natural course of events.

The question will possibly arise in the reader's mind, "How are the two hundred odd motor-lorries, cars, ambulances, and motor-cycles attached to a Division whilst on service at the front, and which from the General's car to the machine of the motor-cyclist dispatch rider are all of necessity subjected to such hard wear and tear, maintained in a state of efficiency and 'running order'?" I have alluded briefly to the workshops of the -- Indian Cavalry Division Supply Column, and in this chapter I shall endeavour to give a more or less complete description of them-the work they perform and the results they achieve in the general scheme of things. The workshop section of a Cavalry Supply Column has an artificer personnel made up of fitters, turners, blacksmiths, electricians, and carpenters-the latter known in Army parlance as "wheelers." The equipment consists in four mobile workshops and four store lorries. Dealing firstly with the workshops themselves: the type of lorry employed is usually a Silent Knight Daimler or Leyland, propelled by a 40-h.p. engine. Surmounting the chassis is a platform, on which is erected a four-sided and closed-in body; the two sides are made so that they can be opened out at will and secured horizontally by wood supports. The top half of each side, opening upwards, forms an extension to the roof, and the lower half, being let down, extends the platform or floor-space. The back and front are fixed vertically upright, the latter immediately behind the driver's seat. Inside the body on the wooden platform are mounted a lathe, drilling machine, tool-grinding machine, also fitter's bench and vices, together with the accompanying small hand tools. A petrol engine direct coupled to a dynamo drives the lathe, drilling machine, etc. Such, briefly, is the arrangement of the standard mechanical transport mobile workshops. Our Workshops Officer, however, was not satisfied and sought to improve upon it. This he has accomplished in the following way. In the first place he has made structural alterations to the workshop lorry bodies so as to take fuller advantage of the possible floor-space. To do this he has extended the front end of the body from the back of the driver's seat to the dashboard of the lorry. Secondly, he has eliminated the stationary petrol engine, and instead employs the engine in the lorry chassis to drive the lathe, drilling machine, and other machine tools. The system of driving the machine tools from the lorry engine is by means of a triple set of whittle belts to the dynamo, and thence the power is transmitted to the machines. The speed of the engine is maintained constant by a specially designed centrifugal governor. Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, this system of drive in one form or another has since been copied in many workshops of the mechanical transport units in France. In addition to the workshop lorries, O.C. Workshops has a two-wheeled "trailer" of his own design and construction, which when the column is on the move is coupled up to one of the workshop lorries and towed by the latter. It is designed to carry two spare engines complete. When stationary, it acts as a fitting, erecting, and engine-testing bench, and on it all lorry engines are overhauled and refitted as occasion requires. On the trailer is fixed a crane, which enables the engine that is to be overhauled to be lifted direct from its lorry chassis and placed on the trailer. Conversely, the crane replaces the reconstructed engine into its chassis, time and labour occupied by the operation being considerably reduced by the use of this device as compared with manual labour and pulley blocks. The time during which the lorry is out of action is appreciably reduced; it becomes a matter of hours instead of days, for the engine that is removed from the chassis for overhauling purposes is replaced for the time being by one of the engines which is in running order carried on the trailer. Moreover, without the mechanical advantage gained by the use of the trailer and crane, the operation would naturally take very considerably longer and the lorry be out of action for a proportionately longer period.

The O.C. Workshops has also designed and constructed numerous other time- and labour-saving appliances; for example, he has made extensions to lathes, enabling almost any part of a lorry to be machined in them when required.

To enable the blacksmiths to tackle any job that might be required, he has made and fitted up an electrically driven "Roots" blower. Thus it is only necessary to build up a hearth of bricks and mud, set up the blower, switch on the electric current, and a roaring welding fire within a few minutes is the result. Although these workshops are designated "mobile," and only intended for the carrying out of simple and "running" repairs, the blacksmiths have literally forged axles by the roadsides. Amongst other appliances must be mentioned the brass furnace, in which is melted up all old scrap, such as used up phosphor or bronze bearings, etc., and from such metal, when poured, castings are made of every conceivable brass part of a car or lorry that could be required. It is not uncommon for 2 cwt. of metal to be "run" in a day from this furnace and cast into moulds, the necessary "patterns" from which the castings are moulded being also made by artificers of the workshops.

The net result of such well-equipped workshops is that during the whole time that the column has been in France it has not been found necessary to return a single vehicle to the Base Depot for replacement. Every repair has been carried out "in the field" by the column workshops. The non-evacuation of a single lorry is a record held by the -- Indian Cavalry Division Supply Column, and the fact is the more remarkable since over half of the lorries are, as I have previously stated, ex-London General buses.

It will be seen at once from the brief description I have given of the workshops appliances that at any time, day or night, and in any place, be it even by the roadside, it is only necessary to start up the engines and the whole unit is set in motion, and is immediately in full working order-at night, illuminated throughout by a blaze of electric incandescent lamps, the current being generated by the self-same workshop lorry engine.

The workshop artificers are all specially enlisted and skilled workmen at their particular jobs, and with the tools and appliances at their disposal, there is no job that they would not be prepared to tackle. One of the difficulties of mechanical transport vehicles and motor-cars has been the question of road "springs." Owing to having to carry heavy loads on rough roads, these were found to occasionally break a leaf or two, and thus put the vehicle out of action. For this reason the O.C. Workshops not only makes sets of springs, but hardens and tempers them; an operation which, being an art in itself, requires considerable skill. He has constructed a special hardening furnace for this purpose.

Apart from the many jobs necessary to keep all the motor vehicles of the Division, the Supply Column motor-lorries and cars, all the motor ambulances, motor-cycles and Divisional Staff cars, the total number amounting to over two hundred in the case of a Cavalry Division, in a state of running order and constant efficiency, the following, to mention only a few, are samples of the jobs which have been undertaken and accomplished: the making of 3-inch shells, hand grenades, "discs" for motor-car wheels, automatic barbed-wire cutters, and last, though not least, a silver christening cup, which was presented by the officers of the column to one of our number, as a gift from them for his son and heir, who was born very shortly after our arrival in France. In order to make this cup, first of all a wooden pattern was made; a quantity of old silver spoons, forks, and other articles were then melted up in the furnace, and the cup cast from the pattern. It was then turned up and polished in a lathe, the result being a handsome goblet, 18 inches in height and weighing 1 1/2 lb. The O.C. Workshops and his artificers delight in making any special article which calls for exceptional skill and ingenuity; there are sometimes days when possibly the workshops are not particularly overburdened with work, and "fancy" jobs such as the above serve to keep the artificers' hands "in," and the efficiency of the tools and machines up to high-water mark.

As I have already explained, although the workshops are designated "mobile," which term implies that they can be moved from place to place as the position of the column changes, and also suggests that they are only intended for carrying out "running" repairs, they are now the most complete and up-to-date engineering works for the size that it is possible to imagine. They are able to carry out all the operations of any engineering works, from the preparation of designs and drawings, patterns, castings, and forgings, etc., to the fitting together of the complete article. Every workshop tool and appliance is marked with a number, which identifies the workshop lorry to which it belongs, so that in the event of the column receiving an order to suddenly move, which is, in fact, frequently the case, the entire equipment can be packed up and the workshops are on the road in less than a couple of hours from the time the order to move is received. There is a place for everything, and everything has been designed and constructed to fit in its place. It is, of course, necessary to have always at hand a considerable quantity of workshop stores in the form of spare parts, tools, sparking-plugs, bolts, nuts and the like; these are carried in the store lorries, which have closed-in bodies, the interior of the bodies being fitted out with pigeon-holes and compartments for the purpose. The store lorries are four in number; they also serve as offices for the storekeepers and clerks, and in them all office work connected with the organization of the workshops is carried out. In order to enable this to be done, the O.C. Workshops has fitted them with an office table apiece and large side windows to admit light and air, two necessaries which the original designers must have overlooked! The lorry which serves as his own office he has fitted up with an office-chair and table, cupboards, an aluminium wash-hand basin, which was cast from scrap aluminium, a gas stove, and hot-water supply apparatus, the whole equipment having been made throughout in the workshops. The interior of the lorry is also, of course, lit with electricity, and thus the O.C. Workshops is enabled to carry on his work in comfort day or night, summer or winter.