Motor Transport continued throughout the war years, and although issue sizes were down considerably (a result of it having to operate with a skeleton staff) it continued to offer valuable advice to the road transport industry. Needless to say advertisements were few and far between, the bulk offering operators advice on how to get the longest possible life from their vehicles, fuel and tires.
May 8th 1945 was of course VE Day, and Motor Transport marked the occasion on its front page with this tribute:
“Victory in the West! Unparalleled exertions by freedom-loving peoples have finally smashed a tyranny which, but for the stand made by the British Empire in 1940, might well have engulfed the world. At first there were three main aggressors; now there is only one still in the field, and soon the full might of the United Nations will appear in the east to subdue the last of them.
We pay homage to the men and women who have fallen in the fight for freedom. We offer our heartfelt gratitude to all who will soon be coming home to help in the shaping of that better world we all desire. We think especially at this time of the officers and men of the Royal Armoured Corps, the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, and the Royal Army Service
Corps, for all three have not only drawn a large portion of their key personnel from the various branches of the British motor industry, but have been supplied with most of their equipment from that source.”
Motor Transport goes on to praise the men and women who kept Britain’s trucks moving. “It was road transport that always kept going while the railways were partially inoperative as a result of bombing. It was road transport that was called in when anything was wanted urgently. It was road transport that carried the Allied Armies to victory on the field of battle.”