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The
British Army’s supply strategy leading in to World War 1 relied on road
transport to supply mobile troop movements. With the stalemate and muddy
quagmire of trench warfare that developed early in the conflict, this
strategy proved incapable of delivering the vast quantities of ammunition and
supplies required by artillery and troops in largely static positions,
leading to a hasty change of policy in 1916. Instead, a light railway approach
was adopted (as already in use by French and German forces), relying on
600mm gauge railways to ferry supplies from standard gauge / main-line sidings
to the front lines. Against this background, the Hunslet Engine Company of
Leeds received orders from the British War Department for 155 4-6-0T
locomotives; these came to be known by Hunslet as the ‘War Office’ class. Australian
involvement in light railways and the War Office Hunslets includes operations
of the 1 ANZAC Light Railway and later 17th (ANZAC) Light
Railway Operating Company.
The
Hunslet ‘War Office’ 4-6-0T design is an evolution of an earlier Hunslet 0-6-0T
type, with extended frames and an added 4-wheel bogie to provide a low
axle-load suitable for quickly-laid light railway. An interesting design
feature is the broad rail-guard positioned just above rail height at front
& rear, which assisted to clear debris & obstructions, while also providing
a low drop-height in the event of derailment so the engine was more likely
to stay upright and could be quickly re-railed. A measure of the success of
the Hunslet War-Office design is that a further 9 were built by Hunslet to
various orders after the war, including one for an Australian sugar cane
business.
This
preserved Hunslet War Office loco was built in 1916 and became No.306 in
War Department service. At the end of hostilities it remained stored in France
until 1924 when repurchased by Hunslet via the War Stores Disposal Board and
rebuilt, including conversion from 600mm gauge to 2’ gauge (610mm). Later
in 1924 it was sold into the Australian sugar-cane industry as one of 15
War Office Hunslets acquired via the Engineering Supply Company of
Australia (ESCA) in two batches in 1920 & 1924. It was delivered to Gin
Gin Central Mill, Wallaville where it retained
the number 306 and received various modifications over the years such as
extended smokebox, removal of the cab back-sheet, slide-bar covers and the addition
of electric lighting and generator.
No.306
was retired at Gin Gin Central Mill by the end of
1966 and sold for scrap metal later in 1967. Fortunately it was rescued
from a Brisbane scrapyard by a Victorian enthusiast and transported to his
property in the Melbourne suburb of Frankston, where it operated on a short
length of track. In 1994 it was sold to a collector in Wee Waa in the
cotton-growing areas of North-West NSW and stored undercover there. The
Australian War Memorial had been looking for several years for a War Office
Hunslet to represent Australia’s involvement in light railways during World
War 1, and arranged purchased of No.306 in 2001. The locomotive was meticulously
restored to original condition in Canberra before being placed on display at
the Australian War Memorial on 23 February 2004. (The webmaster happened to
be there at the time of arrival, alas sans camera!) As restored No.306 now displays
its original War Department configuration, with short smokebox, enclosed
cab, riveted side tanks and matt black livery.
Mark
Whitmore, John Browning and Mike Cecil have written an excellent & well
illustrated history of War Department No.306, together with Hunslet War
Office class 4-6-0T locomotives and the World War 1 trench supply railways,
in Light Railways magazine of February 2004 (Number 175) in their article ‘Hunslet
306: The train now arriving…’
Here
is a link to the Australian War Memorial page for this exhibit: https://www.awm.gov.au/suicollection/REL29508/
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