Requisitioned London General Omnibus Company buses, boarded up and re-painted, used to transport tired troops out of the line after heavy fighting at Monchy le Preux. Around 900 were used on the Western Front in the Great War, and each could carry 24 fully equipped infantrymen. There were never enough to go around, however, and in ordinary circumstances troops had to march out of the line to their rest.
Although undated, uniform details suggest photograph taken in 1917, thus during the Arras Offensive (another Battle of the Scarpe was fought in 1918).
Original reads: ‘Boarding buses to go back for a rest after the hard fighting at Monchy.’
Original URL: http://digital.nls.uk/first-world-war-official-photographs/pageturner.cfm?id=74549538
Resource Type : image
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