In Praise of the Tail: The Transport Corps in Abyssinia 1867-68
Feb 2006, Vol. 151, No. 1
By Damian O'Connor
There was a moment at the beginning of Operation Granby that any self-respecting historian would have given an arm and a leg to witness. It was the point in time when the logisticians of the Royal Corps of Transport and the Royal Army Ordnance Corps were given the news that 7th Armoured Brigade would be deployed from Germany to the Gulf, a movement which would require them to throw into reverse the practices built up over forty years for supplying the said Fallingbostal-based British Army of the Rhine armoured brigade. The news, apparently, was met ‘with great interest’; what was really said went unrecorded. The value to the historian of viewing such an event firsthand is for the insight it might have given to the moment when in 1867 the logisticians of the British Indian army were given the news that the army was to go to Abyssinia and that, as a first step, they were to purchase 7,000 transport mules. How, and where purchased, was left up to them; and how they were to get them to Abyssinia were clearly details beyond the necessary ken of the politicians who issued the orders.
Add your comments
By Damian O'Connor
There was a moment at the beginning of Operation Granby that any self-respecting historian would have given an arm and a leg to witness. It was the point in time when the logisticians of the Royal Corps of Transport and the Royal Army Ordnance Corps were given the news that 7th Armoured Brigade would be deployed from Germany to the Gulf, a movement which would require them to throw into reverse the practices built up over forty years for supplying the said Fallingbostal-based British Army of the Rhine armoured brigade. The news, apparently, was met ‘with great interest’; what was really said went unrecorded. The value to the historian of viewing such an event firsthand is for the insight it might have given to the moment when in 1867 the logisticians of the British Indian army were given the news that the army was to go to Abyssinia and that, as a first step, they were to purchase 7,000 transport mules. How, and where purchased, was left up to them; and how they were to get them to Abyssinia were clearly details beyond the necessary ken of the politicians who issued the orders.
You need 4 credits to access this item
If you are a member or registered user, please login
Not already a member and have not yet registered?
Add your comments
Copyright © 2009 RUSI