This book is in many ways a story about a collaborative project. Its existence is also in many ways the result of a collaborative project. My name may be the only one to appear on the front cover, but many people have contributed to its conception, development and completion – both professionally and personally – in the nearly fifteen years that have passed since I submitted a timid proposal for an undergraduate dissertation on ‘something to do with logistics in the First World War’ at the University of Birmingham. Throughout that period I have been lucky enough to have been able to rely upon the moral and financial support of my family. My mother Diane and brother Andrew have been constant sources of warmth and patience, whilst without my wife Claire’s sacrifices, encouragement and valuable advice this book would never have been completed. I am principally indebted to them and dedicate it to all three of them with my gratitude and love. My brother’s partner Helen, my niece Jessica and my friend James Hyde have each provided welcome distractions from the First World War in their own ways – and for that I am also profoundly grateful.
That the book following these acknowledgements is barely recognizable from the proposal from which it sprang is thanks to a host of inspirational scholars. During my time at the University of Birmingham I was lucky enough to be a part of the Centre for First World War Studies under the stewardship of John Bourne. He guided me into the care of Rob Thompson, whose influence upon the subject of this book is testament to his boundless enthusiasm and expertise in the field. I would like to thank them both for their support, along with the assistance provided by Peter Simkins and the stimulating conversations undertaken with my fellow postgraduate students in the British First World War Studies class of 2009. All were pivotal in my decision to continue my studies at a higher level.
My doctoral research would not have been possible without the financial assistance provided to me by a PhD studentship in First World War Studies, awarded by the Faculty of Arts at the University of Leeds. From Leeds I would like to thank: my PhD supervisors, Holger Afflerbach and Alison Fell for giving me the benefit of their experience and knowledge; David Stevenson and Edward Spiers for their advice and guidance during my viva voce examination; my fellow students, including Dominic Berry, Laura Boyd, Hannah Coates, Henry Irving, Claire Martin, Simone Pelizza, Philippa Read, Danielle Sprecher and Mark Walmsley, whose work across a variety of subjects created a vibrant and supportive atmosphere; the numerous colleagues and community partners involved in the Legacies of War project between 2011 and 2015, which opened my horizons to the breadth and scale of interest in the First World War as a subject of historical interest; and all those who contributed to the organisation and delivery of the Legacies of War seminar series.
Beyond the University of Leeds, the ideas contained within this book have been shaped by opportunities to present on aspects of my research in a variety of settings. I have been privileged enough to discuss elements of this work at conferences organised by the British Commission for Military History, the Association of Business Historians, the National Railway Museum and the International Railway History Association among others, and am grateful to the many conferences, workshops and symposia at which my thoughts on the war have generated constructive, thought-provoking comments and feedback. I am also grateful to David Turner, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Sandra Gittins, William Philpott, Jim Greaves and the late Elizabeth Greenhalgh for either reading excerpts of the manuscript or providing me with valuable information on some of the individuals and events included within it.
Since completing my doctoral thesis, like many others at the outset of what they hope will be an academic career, I have worked at multiple institutions on precarious contracts. The pressures facing early career researchers in the current higher education environment are severe and multi-directional, and impossible to survive without the understanding and assistance of senior colleagues. I am hugely grateful to the former academics of the History department and academic administration staff at Leeds Trinity University – particularly the indefatigable Rosemary Mitchell – for their support and encouragement during and after my time in Horsforth, to Rebecca Gill and Ashley Firth at the University of Huddersfield, and to Warren Dockter, Farrah Hawana, Gillian McFadyen and everyone else within the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University who have welcomed me into their world with open arms since January 2019.
I have also been privileged to have found support from the First World War Network, an international hub dedicated to support and connect postgraduate students and early career researchers with research interests in any aspect of the First World War. I am grateful to my colleagues on the steering committee, to Sarah Lloyd and Nick Mansfield, to the participants in our various workshops and conferences, and our financial supporters at the Arts and Humanities Research Council – both for their sustained interest in providing opportunities for those at the start of their careers and for helping me to maintain a connection to academia during periods of unemployment.
The perils of precarity have been a great source of delay to the completion of this book. Consequently, I am thoroughly appreciative of the Royal Historical Society and the Institute for Historical Research for their continued and unstinting support in this direction. Penny Summerfield and Jane Winters have been exceptionally patient series convenors. Jonathan Newbury, Philip Carter, Emily Morrell and Kerry Whitston proved instrumental in sustaining my passion for the book during the writing phase, and Cath D’Alton created the excellent maps. This book is immeasurably more polished following discussion with D’Maris Coffman, Simon Newman, Anthony Heywood and Jonathan Boff under the auspices of an ‘author workshop’ in May 2018. The written comments provided by the latter two scholars have been instrumental in my avoidance of a number of errors and omissions. All those that remain are mine alone.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the patient, unstinting, professional work of the many archivists, librarians and administrators who have wittingly or unwittingly contributed to this book by storing, preserving, cataloguing and making available the material I have consulted over the course of this project. Thanks to the vital work of staff at the National Archives, the Imperial War Museum, the Greenlands Academic Resource Centre, the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick, the National Library of Scotland, the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, the Australian War Memorial, the Houses of Parliament and the special collections of both Keele University and the University of Leeds, my arguments are based upon having had access to a diverse range of original documents. The quality of those arguments I leave to the reader to judge.