Farnborough & District

When the mainline railway to Verdun was destroyed in the opening barrages of the Battle for Verdun in February 1916, the country road from Bar-le-Duc to Verdun became the majority artery for all the supplies to the battlefield, and the civilian population of Verdun. At its peak, a lorry every few seconds would have passed a bystander as the road became a conveyor belt, never stopping, until the new railway was completed in June.

Roy Larkin's interest in the Great War began with its influence on the British road haulage industry in the 1920s. Volunteering at the Royal Logistic Corps Museum provided opportunity for more in-depth exploration of road transport on the Western Front. Regular delving into The National Archives has diversified the focus to anything in the back area and the home front, the quirkier the better.