At the outset of World War I, the faithful horse and mule were still indispensable for the movement of artillery, … WHEN America entered the war there was a very great increase in the volume of business of the railroads of the country. In World War One, motorized transport and railroads lent logistical support to all major combatants. Transportation Problems. Transport First World War: Transport Throughout the war the railways were the quickest way of moving people and goods around the country and most places had ready access to a railway station. World War One - Transportation Problems. Despite their vital role there was relatively low investment in the railway system. However, transportation would once again revert to Quartermaster Corps control during the 1920 reorganization of the Army until 1942. During the early skirmishes, communications were predominantly wired. For Germany, at the outset of the war, its extensive railroad network built for both commercial and military logistical purposes, gave them significant advantages in carrying out the initial offensive on the Western Front. Here shells are being unloaded at Brielen, just north of Ypres, on 3 August 1917. During this time, the Army established the Motor Transport Service, Motor Transport Corps and finally the Transportation Corps on November 12, 1918, the day after Armistice. The roads were already so crowded by what the Allies had done in purchasing war supplies, that a great deal of confusion had resulted. World War I: American Expeditionary Forces Get Motorized Transportation.
Railways provided the enormous logistical capacity needed to support huge armies in the field for years on end, including transportation of millions of artillery shells. Two technologies that were crucial in shaping the First World War were railways and artillery. When the guns of August 1914 thundered into action, the principal means of military transport was what it had been since the dawn of organized warfare–the backs of men or animals, or wagons drawn by them.