On the Road to Victory: The Rise of Motor Transport with the BEF on the Western Front

The Great War produced many innovations, in particular the spectacular development by the British and French armies of motor transport.

The age-old problem of moving soldiers and their supplies was no different in 1914 than it had been some 2,400 years ago, when the great Chinese military thinker Sun Tzu informed his readers that the further an army marched into enemy territory, the more the cost of transport increased, even to the point that more supplies were consumed by the transportation of men and their horses than was delivered to the troops.

Using many previously unpublished illustrations, including artists' impressions, this book tells the story of the men and women who made motor transport [MT] work for the victorious British Army on the Western Front, so that in 1918, the humble lorry did indeed help propel the British Army forward ‘On the Road to Victory’.

Born in Birmingham; Michael’s favourite subject has always been history and in particular, that of the Great War. An MA in British First World War studies at University of Birmingham gifted Michael a chance to expand his knowledge of early motor transport. Added to which, he had had historically priceless conversations with men who had driven such vehicles in the early 1920s.