But the success of the school, in spite of many initial difficulties, was due to the keenness of the men themselves and to the excellent co-operative work of the whole staff of the hospital, with the result that in a number of cases of limbless men the earning capacity was undoubtedly increased as a result of the training they received at Richmond. APPENDIX IV. THE RAILWAYS COMPANIES AND MISCELLANEOUS TRADES COMPANY. In 1916 the railways, roads, canals, and docks in the British zone in France were brought under the control of “Transportation,” which was under the command of Sir Eric Geddes. The War Office appealed to the Dominions for Railway Operating Sections, or Companies, each consisting of three officers and 266 men. In South Africa the position was such that the railways could, at the time, only spare sufficient men to form one company, but it was arranged to form a second from those not actually in the railway service but who had railway experience, or were in other ways fitted for the particular work required of them. The first company assembled at Potchefstroom in November 1916, under Captain H. L. Pybus, and the second at Robert’s Heights, Pretoria, under Captain W. McI. Robinson. Fifty locomotive drivers and a similar number of firemen and guards formed the backbone of each company, the balance being composed of traffic controllers, blockmen, signalmen, with the necessary mechanics and clerical staff to enable each company to operate as a separate and a complete unit. Lieutenant-Colonel F. R. Collins—a mechanical superintendent in the South African Railways—was appointed in command, and left for England in December 1916, the companies following later under the command of Captain (Acting Major) Robinson, and arriving at Bordon, Hampshire, in March 1917, at which place the depot was formed.