Lee Enfield at War

[Roger Payne]

Hi Henry. The light railways used to supply the front in WW1 are a study in themselves. I just bought a fascinating book on them dealing with the area North of the Somme, including Arras & thereabouts. Of course standard gauge railways brought the bulk of the stuff as near to the front as they could, & then a mixture of both 1 metre & 60cm narrow gauge systems got the men & materials to (& casualties from) the front. I think the most up front railways were of the 60cm type. I know very little about the subject but a 60cm Decauville railway line ran past the top of my garden in the little village where I spend a lot of time these days (Somme, not far from High Wood), & when renovating the house we found a sleeper from the track holding up the chimney breast! It sort of stimulated a fledgling interest in the subject!