The duties of the Army Service Corps in peace-times are many and various, and the inauguration of hundreds of mechanical transport units since the outbreak of war has multiplied in every possible way the duties which previously existed, and considerably enlarged its scope of action and power of assistance to the armies in the field. Its many phases, and the important part that it plays in the commissariat of our armies, cause the Army Service Corps to be an integral part of the fighting machine. From a Departmental Corps it has become an army in itself, with many thousands of officers. Its spheres of operation with the Expeditionary Force in France alone are of such a magnitude as could never have been adequately realized before the war. It will be seen, therefore, that thousands of mechanically propelled vehicles, from motor-cycles to huge tractors, are employed in this vast undertaking. This necessitates supply depots, where are kept stocks of tyres, spare parts, tools, and reserves of all kinds of stores, such as oil, petrol, etc., essential to the maintenance of this huge system in the desired state of efficiency, so that it is capable of promptly satisfying the many and constant demands which are made daily by officers commanding mechanical transport units in the field. The organization now existing does credit to its originators. For the original Expeditionary Force, motor-vans and such-like suitable vehicles were hurriedly impressed, and of them Supply Columns, Ammunition Parks and such-like units were rapidly formed and dispatched to France. So one would, in those early days, frequently meet on the road a convoy composed of miscellaneous vehicles of various makes, brewers’ drays, grocers’ vans, etc., still bearing the names, in blazing letters, of their former owners, and the nature of the load they had previously carried. The London General Omnibuses and their drivers, which were previous to the war subsidized by the Government, continued for some time to run along the roads of Flanders loaded with troops, still displaying their former route through London. "Piccadilly-Strand-Bank" routes were to be seen, whilst many of them continued to advertise the Revue at the "Empire" and the fact that it started at "8.30 p.m. every evening." But times have changed, and convoys are now composed, not of miscellaneous subsidized or impressed vehicles, but of standard motor-lorries; each convoy made up of vehicles of the same make, each painted a uniform colour, and all of exactly similar appearance, groomed and turned out like a regiment on parade. _*Chapter VI*_ _*THE WORKSHOPS*_