The First World War ended in 1918 some 86 years ago and there are now very few veterans who fought in this bloody conflict left alive with their memories of the horrors of warfare. However the efforts and achievements of these men from all walks of life and from many nations are still recognised and commemorated to this day with remembrance services held all over the world to honour the memories of the fallen.

In August 2004, members of the Great War Society made a return visit to Mons in Belgium to commemorate one of the significant events during the early part of the conflict. Following the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, the British Expeditionary Force entered France and began their advance, eventually reaching the town of Mons on 23 August. Here the advance was halted by the German Army and under threat from superior forces the BEF began to retreat along the very roads they had travelled down only a few days previously. The retreat continued into France until the army reached St Quentin where they halted and dug in. Here they were destined to stay for the next four years fighting in a vast network of trenches and enduring conditions and hardships which we find hard to imagine years later.

The Great War Society was formed in 1984 and in 2000 made a visit to Belgium to spend a few days re-enacting the retreat from Mons. In 2004 a repeat visit was planned and their Chairman, Bryan Hicks, contacted the Milestones Museum in Basingstoke with a request that one of the lorries from the collection be allowed to take part in the event. The vehicle concerned was a Thornycroft ‘J’ Type military lorry which was purchased by Hampshire County Council Museum Services in 1991. Although this particular lorry hadn’t been built until 1916, some two years after the retreat from Mons, it was typical of the type of vehicle which was used in large numbers during the war. Also the vehicle had actually been shipped to France and had managed to survive the war, being sold in Rouen in 1919 at a Government surplus sale.

It was bought by W J Rothwell who ran a transport company in Bolton and it was first registered as NB 6684 in 1920. Unfortunately the working history of the Thornycroft remains lost in the mists of time although eventually it ended up in a scrapyard somewhere in England. The old lorry still proved to be reliable and rather than being cut up, it was used to move scrap iron around the yard. In 1980 it was bought by Ron Turner, an enthusiast who carried out some restoration as, by that time, it was in a somewhat battered condition. The museum acquired it in 1991 and apart from cleaning, fitting a new radiator, adding headlamps and repainting, it has had little else done to it. Details of the correct insignia were obtained from the Imperial War Museum to add the finishing touch following the re-paint.

The Museums Service agreed to the request and Sean Wiles, its Industrial History Conservator, was to accompany the lorry as driver, complete with appropriate kit. His period uniform and equipment would be that of an Army Service Corps driver and had been supplied by Bryan Hicks.

However, the first matter to resolve was actually getting the Thornycroft to Mons as this particular exhibit rarely left the museum display and had certainly not had a lengthy run on the road for some years. The lorry was moved to the museum workshops at Chilcomb House, Winchester where Sean and his colleagues carried out a light service and made a few test runs on the local roads. It wouldn’t be fair to expect the ‘old girl’ to travel under her own ‘steam’ all the way to Belgium so the first part of the trip would be on the back of a low-loader. Early on the morning of Sunday 22 August the Thornycroft was loaded, Sean packed his kit and they left Winchester en-route for the Channel Tunnel and then on to Mons where they duly arrived at eight that evening.

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