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slates. Floors were in most cases of planking, tongued and grooved, or otherwise rendered impervious to air from below, though in some camps this precaution was omitted, to the great discomfort of the men. In some camps concrete and asphalt floors were used with good result. The interior fittings of the huts, such as pegs and shelves, were very few. Fire buckets and screens to surround and isolate a burning hut were provided, but as a matter of fact, fires were remarkably few, notwithstanding the fact that the huts were heated by stoves. Ventilation was given by large louvred openings in each gable of the hut, and strict orders were issued that two of the windows also should be kept open at all times when the hut was in full occupation.

The cost of the camps amounted to between 20 and 30 per man, all building and engineering services whatsoever being included. The average may be taken at 23. After the war most of the mate- rials were disposed of, in some cases at a profit. Many of the huts were easily adapted at small expense into comfortable cottages of four or five rooms.

Miscellaneous Hutments other than for Troops. In addition to the hutted camps for brigades, divisions, etc., as above described, there were similar cantonments for (i.) Remount depots, (ii.) Ordnance stores, (iii.) Munition workers, and (iv.) Aerodromes, which deserve some brief description. The broad principles of lay-out and details of construction are of course similar.

(i.) Remount depots to accommodate from 5,000 to 10,000 horses were constructed in England at or near important seaports. The personnel amounted to 1,500 to 2,000 of all ranks whose accom- modation was, of course, on the same lines as that already described. The other buildings were stables, offices, forage barns, granaries, veterinary hospitals, as well as power-house, water supply, etc. The stables were open shelters with a longitudinal central wall fitted with mangers on either side and with hanging bails 5 ft. apart, supported on the outer side on pillars which carried the roof. It was most desirable to have mangers, bails, posts, etc., all of iron, as the animals were continually gnawing anything of wood. The best floors were of concrete, with a slight slope to the rear but in France, where there were many remount depots, rough planking, sleepers or half logs made very satisfactory flooring. A very essential matter was the prevention of cold draughts, and for this purpose either the stables were built close together to shelter each other (fig. 6) or a wind screen was erected outside (fig. 7). In the early days of the

FIG. 6

war the S. African plan of having about an acre of land fenced in round each group of stables for 50 horses, was tried, but it was found that in the moist climate of the British Isles the ground soon became a quagmire, and the area required was enormous. Later, therefore, the stables were built in parallel lines near one another, a better arrangement for administration and good enough for exercising the animals. The veterinary stables were on much the same principle as the ordinary ones, but there were some loose boxes provided with slings for special cases. A horse bath, i.e. a narrow concrete tank with a sudden drop under water at the entering side and a ramp out on the far side, was a most useful adjunct in the veterinary lines, and indispensable in the case of skin complaints.

(ii.) Ordnance Store Depots were numerous on lines of communi- cation in France, and in connexion with munition collecting centres in England. The largest of these was at Didcot, close to a railway junction. The depot was divided into two main sections, one for ammunition, the other for ordinary stores. The former had to be at some distance from other buildings, was fenced in and guarded by sentries, and the interior space was divided up so that certain buildings were allotted to different classes of ammunition (shells, small arms, cartridges, etc.) under magazine regulations. The buildings were of a fairly substantial character, well ventilated and

lighted, and where necessary, furnished with transporting gear am lifting tackle. The ordinary store buildings consisted of a doubli line of large steel framed and walled sheds, 400 ft. by 40 ft. in eacl case, spaced sufficiently far apart to admit between them laterally ; double line of rails, so that wagons could be unloaded at one shed while the other line was open, and on the side of the sheds fan hcsi from the rails there was a metalled road for heavy motor lorries The floor of each shed should be on a level with the floor of rail\va\ trucks, and there should be an outside verandah to the shed, so thai

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FIG. 7

trucks can be unloaded under shelter. The distance between sheds | longitudinally should be sufficient to allow for cross-over lines from ; one railway line to the other. As protection from fire is of urgent. importance there should be a girdle of fire mains all round the sheds, and an ample supply of water. There are a few other groups of buildings, e.g. offices, workshops and open vehicle sheds, but these require no special description.

(iii.) Hutments for Munition Workers. For male workmen and employees the general lines of provision are the same as for soldiers, but with the coming of women into the field of labour, special pro- vision was needed. One of the best arranged works had its women's colony situated on attractive and healthy ground about two miles from the works, the workers being sent to and fro by a light railway, and the special provision at the actual works being limited todining- j rooms and lavatories. At the colony headquarters the huts, which were made as attractive as possible with furniture well chosen, with flower beds and grass lawns surrounding them, consisted of two main groups, viz. the dormitories and the recreation huts. The former were double-storied wooden huts, about 25 ft. span, with a central passage, from which opened on either side little cubicles, ; about 8 ft. square, the partitions being about 7 ft. high. At the i end of the central corridor were the lavatories and baths. Outside were water-closets. The number of women in each block was i about 60. The recreation blocks consisted of dining rooms and kitchens in one block and a recreation and games room in the other, where also were the rooms of the lady superintendent.

(iv.) Aerodromes. The accommodation for officers and men corresponded to that of infantry. The aerodrome sheds were sited at the end of the landing ground, a certain portion near the sheds being paved with concrete, asphalt or, in some cases in France, with rough planking. At first, the doors of the aeroplane sheds opened at the sides of the shed, a structural defect which became more accentuated as the demand for wider opening became greater. A fresh design of aeroplane shed, therefore, which gave doors at each end of a large shed, the span in some cases being as much as 100 ft., and the height of the shed 30 ft. to 35 ft., was made out, and all the later aeroplane sheds were built accordingly. Behind the aeroplane sheds were small workshops for minor repairs, and a cellar for the boilers required to heat the piping for maintaining a tempera- ture in winter suitable for the various aeroplanes. Adjacent to the great sheds, but on the other side of a metalled road (for motor lorries) were workshops, lorry sheds, stores for spare parts, ordinary store nouses, and power plant. Of these the only special one was for doping aeroplane wings, the poisonous fumes from which necessi- tated very special ventilation by means of fans. All the above were required in ordinary cases, but special designs had to be made in certain aerodromes used for experimental or other purposes; these however need not be detailed here.

Generally speaking it may be said that the requirements of avia- tion gave rise to a number of new constructive problems in con- nexion with hutting, but none of these proved to be insurmountable. [

Although the arrangements in the theatre of war followed the above in general design, there were obvious local modifications. In the case of ammunition dumps, for instance, the buildings con- tained limited quantities of different classes of ammunition, and