ABSTRACT
At the time of the end of the Crimean War in the mid-1850s steam power on roads was just beginning, with people such as Mr Bray designing traction engines and engaging in haulage operations to earn an honest penny. By the time that Britain became involved in a war with the Boers in South Africa the War Office had already been experimenting with different engines for several years. When government plans were announced in 1904 for the reorganization of the War Department and Army, the main concerns were administrative. There can be no doubt that lorries contributed substantially to the victorious outcome of the Great War for the Allies, but few histories ever mention the transport aspects. General Ludendorff on the German side, writing his memoirs at the end of the war, left no doubt that a German weakness in motor transport was a contributory factor in his defeat.
