In February 1917 the Government of the Union of South Africa was asked by the War Office to raise eight companies of Cape coloured drivers for service with the Army Service Corps in France. The personnel originally required was:—

but this was eventually increased to—

Towards the end of February Lieutenant-Colonel J. D. Anderson (an officer who had considerable experience in transport work) was asked to take command, and to arrange for the recruiting and organization of the eight companies. Kimberley was selected as the most convenient centre for mobilization, and De Beers Corporation gave the use of its Nos. 1 and 3 Compounds. These had hutting accommodation for approximately two thousand men. They were provided with a hospital, kitchens, washing-rooms—in fact everything required—and there is no doubt that the loan of these compounds not only facilitated mobilization and saved a great deal of expense, but probably accelerated the departure of the contingent by at least two months. Lieutenant-Colonel Wynne was appointed camp commandant, with Captain MacKeurton as paymaster, and Captain Cooper as officer in charge of the Records, and by the 12th March everything was in readiness for recruiting to begin.

The results were at first disappointing, as recruiting for the Cape coloured battalions for service in German East Africa was at this time being undertaken, and recruiting committees for this purpose were at work at all the principal centres in South Africa. In addition there were many questions, such as the appointment of coloured N.C.O.’s, increased rates of pay, the rejection of all coloured drivers other than Cape coloured drivers, recognition by the Governor-General’s Fund, and other details, all of which had to be settled before the Coloured Recruiting Committees would lend their assistance. There was also a lack of Cape Auxiliary Horse Transport officers to conduct a special recruiting campaign. However, these difficulties were soon overcome, and recruiting proceeded with great rapidity. Johannesburg, where Captain Barlow, Captain and Chaplain Rogers, and Lieutenant Graham Moore inaugurated a vigorous recruiting campaign; Cape Town, where Lieutenants Gillam and Sawyer, Second-Lieutenant Tracey, S.S.M. Simmons, and C.S.M. Creagh met with considerable success; and Knysna, with Second-Lieutenant Anderson and C.Q.M.S. Steytler as recruiting officers, each produced five hundred recruits in a short time.

At the beginning the amount of clerical work entailed was very heavy, the work being increased owing to the necessity of having to reject a large number of drivers who were attested but subsequently found unsuitable. Every officer, warrant officer, and N.C.O., however, assisted the Records’ officer to such an extent that by the middle of April 1,500 men were ready to leave for overseas. Unfortunately, shipping could only be found for 867, and these sailed in the Euripides on the 20th April. These were shortly followed by drafts under the command of Majors Jenner and Barnard, and a reinforcement draft under Lieutenant Smith.

On the arrival of the first detachment in France on 23rd May, the Director of Transport decided that the contingent should release for other service, and take the place of, the Army Service Corps personnel, forming the following companies:—

Arrangements were also made for a base depot to be established at Havre.

The reorganization was commenced at once, one company of the first draft going to Calais and the two others to Rouen. As other drafts arrived they were sent to the base depot for three weeks, where they were equipped, and went through a course of training before being distributed to the various A.S.C. companies. Thus by the 31st August the Cape Auxiliary Horse Transport detachments had released the whole of the white personnel of six companies of the Army Service Corps, with the exception of five officers and a certain number of warrant officers and N.C.O.’s, whose services it was proposed permanently to retain, while after a few months in France the reorganized companies were all commanded by officers of the detachment.

Though the men did very excellent work at the base posts, Colonel Anderson felt that there were strong arguments in favour of them being moved to divisional trains or Army Auxiliary Horse Transport companies actually working in the army areas. The arguments in favour of the move from a South African point of view were unanswerable. The environments at the base posts were not good, and the work of the men chiefly lay in the lower quarters of the towns where liquor-sellers and their customary associates resided. It is greatly to the credit of the men that their general conduct was exemplary in spite of the adverse conditions under which many of them worked.

The views of the military authorities in France did not, however, coincide with those of Colonel Anderson. All the commandants of the bases at which the companies were employed recommended that they should remain where they were, and wrote highly of the men’s behaviour, bearing, and discipline. It was a great disappointment to all that the companies were not at once employed in the army areas; but a promise was given that, if reinforcements proved sufficient, an experiment would be made in employing them nearer to the actual scene of fighting. This was eventually done, and the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Army Auxiliary Horse Companies were taken over, the experiment proving an unmitigated success. The work of these companies consisted in conveying ammunition and supplies to the firing lines, and transporting metal for the new roads which had to be constructed as the armies advanced.

Of the other companies which were employed on the lines of communication, Numbers 2, 5, 8, and 22 Companies were employed at the docks, the bulk of the work consisting in conveying munitions and supplies from the docks to the different distributing centres. The work was hard, the hours long, and the drivers much exposed to weather conditions.

Numbers 10 and 11 Companies were designated as “Forest Companies,” and were employed almost entirely in hauling logs from the place where they were felled to dumping centres. In a report on the work in the forests in France, Lord Lovat, the Director of Forests, wrote that, without prejudice to other units, he wished to remark on the work done by the Horse Transport Companies manned by South African (Cape coloured) personnel, who had shown throughout both practical knowledge of the work and patriotic devotion to duty.

During their stay in France the health of the officers, N.C.O.’s, and men was much better than could reasonably have been expected. Casualties were estimated at 1 per cent. per month, but this figure was reduced by half.