[Railway reconstruction Italy 1943-1946 published by Royal Engineers, 1946]

Chapter I
ORGANISATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION EFFORT

Section III.
Stores Supply

6. - Feeding Stores Forward from Depots to units in the Field.

All movement of all stores and personnel in Italy was planned week by week by the Movements section at the Theatre Headquarters. This planning took place about ten days before the beginning of the week under review, at a Priority of Movements Conference. Movement of all Tn. Stores in common with stores of other Services had to be bid for at this conference. The whole of this procedure was, of course, the responsibility of the Stores Department, but it was often possible for the Construction Department to give them some assistance in this matter, by giving them timely warning and forecast of requirements of stores.

Although it was probably vitally necessary for the satisfactory regulation of the rail traffic of the country, it was responsible more than any other cause, for delays in the issue of stores to units. Although R.C.Es were fully aware of the circumstances, it was very rarely that they could be persuaded to make forecasts of their requirements sufficiently far ahead to enable a satisfactory rail movement programme to be worked out. The natural result of this was that a considerable burden of additional work was thrown on the Stores Department in making last minute alterations to breakdowns for movement and in making last minute bids for special movement, the whole resulting in a less satisfactory service to R.C.Es.

[Railway reconstruction Italy 1943-1946 published by Royal Engineers, 1946]

Alessandro Tuzza