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Aurélien Prévot, Rail traffic from the trading ports during the First World War Throughout the First World War, French harbours were heavily used to welcome the men (British, Empire, and American soldiers) and to take delivery of goods (ammunition, supplies...). After disembarkment, men and matériel were transported cross-country by rail to provide both the front and the civilian populations. This sharp rise in rail traffic disrupted the traditional flow and required large-scale emergency construction in harbours and on railway lines. The lack of rolling stock, however, did not allow for a fast evacuation of goods that blocked the harbours. That is why, from 1915 onwards, innovative solutions for the use of the railway (full-length trains, short shuttles) were organized to quicken the flow. These solutions could not totally achieve the goal, but transport was nevertheless guaranteed, in spite of aerial bombing and machine-gun fire, thanks to the unfailing devotion to duty of all those mobilized.