CHAPTER XIX

THE RECORD OF THE FOREST DEPARTMENT DURING THE GREAT WAR, 1914-19

S was the case in other Departments of the Civil Administration in India, the Forest Department was called upon to take its part in the momentous struggle which opened in August, 1914. The first call upon the Department came when many of the junior officers joined the Army, being granted commissions in the Indian Army Reserve of Officers. Since recruiting for the Imperial Service ceased between 1915 and 1918, this in itself threw additional work on the more senior officers, in many cases Circles having to be doubled up and, far more commonly, a Divisional Officer having to take charge of two or more Divisions. Professional work perforce came to a standstill, as was the case in France, where practically the whole of the junior gazetted ranks joined the fighting forces. Later on, when the enormous demands in timber and other forest produce required by the Military Authorities to carry on the work of War became apparent, a very large amount of additional and urgent work was demanded from the personnel of the Department and several Provinces were called upon to play an exceedingly and quite unforeseen part in the War. It would be difficult to speak too highly of the zeal and energy and patriotism of the officers who successfully coped with the operations required, many of whom had wished to join the forces in the field. The Department will for ever honour its representatives who, away from the limelight and glamour of active service, carried out, amidst the solitude and hardships inseparable from such work in great forest tracts, duties in connection with the supplies indispensable to the prosecution of the War. The following brief summaries from Reports which Sir Peter Clutterbuck, Inspector-General of Forests, and Chief Conservators kindly collected for me will display both the nature of the work, the provision made for

timber, grass, etc., required for the fronts in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Salonika, Aden, East Africa, Persian Gulf Ports, etc., and the methods by which the supplies were collected. These operations were commenced in 1917. At the beginning of that year the Government of India were asked to make arrangements to supply timber to the Armies in the various Eastern Fields. The Indian Munitions Board was formed in May, 1917, and Sir George Hart, Inspector-General of Forests, was appointed a member to control the forest work. Deputy Controllers were appointed in Burma (A. Rodger) and Bombay (C. A. Malcolm). Under Hart were R. S. Troup, Controller, succeeded by R. M. Williamson (1917) and H. V. Holberton, R. G. Marriott, H. C. B. Jollye and E. A. Greswell, Assistant Controllers. The Provinces mainly concerned in the work were Burma, the Punjab, United Provinces, Central Provinces, and the Bombay Presidency. The Research Institute at Dehra Dun under Perree was also called upon to assist and carried out many important investigations in the Economic Branch under Mr. R. S. Pearson. As has already been made evident in Chapter XIV, it was the War work carried out by the Department which led to the recognition by the Government of India of the great value of research and by the Department of the possibilities of utilizing many of the so-called, up to then, valueless jungle woods."

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Lists of Forest Officers who joined the Forces are given in the Indian Forester, May, 1923, and March, 1924.

INDIAN MUNITIONS BOARD-TIMBER BRANCH

Before dealing with the individual work of the several Provinces the following summary of the operations of the Timber Branch of the Munition Board represents the nature and magnitude of the work undertaken:

"The statement on page 533 summarizes the operations of the Timber Branch from its organization in April, 1917, to the end of October, 1918. The figures include bamboos, but not wooden railway sleepers which have been included under the head railway track' or wood fuel, the supply of which was not made by the Board.

The quantity of timber and bamboos is expressed in tons of 50 cubic feet.

In order to enable indents to be met without delay (the extraction of timber from the forests being possible as a rule

only during certain seasons of the year) and to season the timber before despatch, as far as time allowed, the Board established large depots in Bombay, Rangoon and Karachi. The total balance of stock in hand in the three depots at the end of October, 1918, was 42,624 tons, viz.: 22,693 tons (including 347,849 bamboos) in Bombay, 13,720 tons in Rangoon and 6211 tons in Karachi.

Every effort has been made to substitute indigenous timber for foreign supplies, in order to reduce the demands on shipping

OPERATIONS OF THE TIMBER BRANCH FROM ITS ORGANIZATION IN APRIL, 1917, TO THE END OF OCTOBER, 1918

to a minimum and to encourage as far as possible the use of the locally grown material.

It may be mentioned that the principal fraction of the timber supplied has been in the form of sawn beams, planks and scantlings, and the conversion of this has presented great difficulty (elsewhere than in Burma) owing to the very limited number of sawmills existing and the impossibility of importing additional plant.

Apart from supplying timber and bamboos for structural work, e.g. the construction of bridges, piers, wharves, buildings

* Of this amount 19,395 tons was ready for shipment or despatched on 31st October, 1918.

and temporary huts and lines, the Board has provided wood of suitable species for the construction and repair of craft, telegraph poles, bamboos for river training works, tent and mosquito poles. In addition it has engaged on an exhaustive search for timber suitable for use in aircraft. Numerous promising species have been tested, two of which have been approved by the Home Authorities while others are still under trial."

BURMA

Mr. A. Rodger of the Forest Department was appointed Deputy Controller (Timber Supplies) in Burma. He describes the work carried out in Burma under his supervision as follows:

"The first practical step taken by the Military Authorities to get into communication with the Forest Department in Burma was the despatch by a Royal Engineer Officer at Bombay, who was in charge of the collection and despatch of timber overseas, of a list showing the timber that would probably be required, and this was followed by a definite order for about 3000 tons monthly. A large number of sizes of planks, scantlings, squares and round logs were given, and preparations were made by the Chief Conservator of Forests in March, 1917, to collect the required timber at Rangoon. The first arrangements were made with the Divisional Forest Officers of Pyinmana, North and South Toungoo, Insein, Tharrawaddy, Zigon and Prome, and timber began to arrive in April. As there was no Forest Officer at Rangoon who had the time or the establishment to receive the timber, the Forest Research Officer was sent down from Maymyo to undertake this.

Depots. We were led to understand that the timber was so urgently required that it would be removed as soon as it had been collected at Rangoon, and the first arrangements were made on this basis. A small beginning was made at the Sule Pagoda Wharf, where a certain amount of timber of all sizes was collected for shipment from the wharf. The first timber deposited there was mostly bought from the timber merchants of Rangoon, and was principally In and Pyinkado which had to be bought because the Forest Officers could not get it down in time for the first ship which sailed about the middle of April. It was recognized that it was essential for economical handling that the railway trucks from up-country should deposit their timber near the shore, whence it could be