Plymouth to Salisbury Plain by bus, 1914

[Moonraker]

This is a fantastic

photograph

from Libraries and Archives Canada captioned as "Troops of 3rd Brigade proceeding by bus from Plymouth to Salisbury Plain". Actually the background suggests they've already arrived. Several years ago, I checked through most available war diaries of the constituent units of the First Canadian Contingent and can't recall any references to bus journeys. I have come across a newspaper reference elsewhere to elements of the Contingent arriving on the Plain by London omnibuses, though most travelled by train from Plymouth by train. Indeed, the 3rd Brigade War Diary notes the rail journeys that ended at Patney and Lavington stations.

The Automobile Machine Gun Brigade No 1 and the Divisional Supply Column did drive to the Plain, via Exeter, Taunton and Heytesbury. This was the easier route, compared with what is now the A303 (Honiton to Amesbury), which is quite a rolling road.

But could a heavily-laden 1914 omnibus have coped with the flatter journey? (Presumably they could tackle hills in towns and cities?)

And how did a London omnibus end up in Plymouth? (It advertises the play, "My Lady's Dress", at the Royalty Theatre, Kingsway.) Perhaps it was commandeered to take troops down to Devon? Perhaps I'm being unduly sceptical when I think "publicity stunt"?

(I'm well aware that London omnibuses found their way to France as troop transports, and I think we have a thread about one being used to house messenger pigeons.)

The role of the railways very early in the war is well documented. Is there an account of buses?

Moonraker

Edited 3 February , 2015 by Moonraker

[Moonraker]

I may have got the wrong Royalty Theatre, but "My Lady's Dress" was certainly playing at one of that name in London in 1914, as shown in theatre adverts in The Times of that year.

Moonraker

[Simon Jones]

My view was that the bus may have ferried them from a railway station rather than all the way from Plymouth. You'll have seen the photo in the Stonehenge exhibition Moonraker (one of the few that isn't yours!) and also perhaps my carefully worded caption.

[Simon Jones]

I've checked a higher resolution version of the photo and the theatre is definitely in London.

[Moonraker]

My view was that the bus may have ferried them from a railway station rather than all the way from Plymouth. You'll have seen the photo in the Stonehenge exhibition Moonraker (one of the few that isn't yours!) and also perhaps my carefully worded caption.

Possibly, Simon, in which case that would probably have been from Amesbury, as the hills up from Lavington and Patney stations would have definitely been too much for a bus; even a modern one would struggle, though the surfaces are now tarred; in those days they weren't. Had the men had a lift from Amesbury to their camping sites, they would have been lucky, nearly everyone else had to march!

Moonraker

[Moonraker]

... The role of the railways very early in the war is well documented. Is there an account of buses?

Moonraker

To answer my own question, there are several websites, some apparently relying on information from

Transport For London

and there's a book

Destination Western Front

currently out of print. I've emailed the author about omnibuses being used on the Plain.

Moonraker

[Moonraker]

The author has now replied, saying he'd seen reference to buses being commandeered and based in Plymouth, mainly for the movement of the sick and wounded from hospital ships to hospitals in the Plymouth area. He doubts that they were commandeered to take troops from Devon, as rail would have been far superior. It is possible that some were based somewhere on Salisbury Plain, but unlikely for large troop movements. The bus shown is a Daimler from the National fleet, which he would expect it to cope with the hills reasonably well (for the time). "It's an interesting picture, though I am suspicious of it being as early as October 1914. The first buses were commandeered in September 1914 but they went direct to France."

I've replied, confirming that Canadian soldiers in large numbers arrived on the Plain only in October 1914, though small numbers did trickle in until February 1915, when the Contingent left for France via trains to Avonmouth. Thereafter, very, very few Canadians were based in Wiltshire.

 

In the very first months of the war, there were a great number of troop movements to and from Salisbury Plain and the railways were very stretched. It may be that an omnibus or two were sent down from London to help out - the British Army was notoriously short of lorries. But their use would have been limited to the major roads, as those serving the camping-sites soon became cut up with so much traffic and from mid-October became extremely muddy, as contemporary postcards testify.

 

My first impression (wrong apparently) was that most of the men are 48th Highlanders, but when I've the time I'll check to see if the war diaries of any other kilted Canadian units exist for mid-October 1914.

 

Moonraker

Edited 18 August , 2022 by Moonraker

[Moonraker]

Cap badges in the photo are those of the 16th Battalion, whose war diary does not cover the arrival on the Plain in mid-October 1914.

I've now tracked down a reference in the New York Times of October 17 to "a long [Canadian] transport train of wagons ... motor trucks and lastly the commandeered London motor 'buses" arriving on the Plain.

I also have a thread running about this topic on the CEF Study Group forum.

Moonraker

[Simon Jones]

The CEF Study Group will presumably have got back to you with the details from Zuehlke and Urquhart's histories of the 16th Battalion. I have the former which quotes from the latter, referring to the battalion 'boarding a train for the Salisbury Plain', then marching the last part of the journey.

[Moonraker]

Simon, thanks for that. I had consulted Urquhart some years ago, but not Zuehike.

The New York Times article of the 17th is curious. The Canadian convoy arrived in Plymouth on October 14, and units started to leave for Salisbury Plain by train on the evening of the 15th, starting to arrive there in the early hours of the next day, which must have been when the Times reporter had witnessed it. The ships had been somewhat chaotically loaded with stores and equipment in Canada, yet "a long transport [road] train of wagons ..." was assembled, loaded and driven to the Plain within 48 hours. (And the convoy's arrival in Plymouth was a last-minute decision, the original destination being Southampton.) The Divisional Supply Column had three overnight stops on its slightly indirect route to the Plain.

Moonraker