‘The facilities [at Avonmouth]… were duly appreciated by the departments concerned with the movements of troops and munitions of war’ Bristol and the Great War by George F Stone and Charles Wells, 1920 The Port of Bristol during the First World War was a major centre for both military and commercial transport, unlike most ports which were closed to commercial traffic for the duration of the war. Military use included the shipping in and out of troops and horses, and military equipment and supplies (including the first tanks), and hospital ships full of the wounded or those invalided home. Worn-out rubber tyres came back from France for recycling. The commercial trade continued in Bristol – though it was affected by the war. Ships sailed in convoys for protection because of German submarine activity in the Bristol Channel as well as other waters. This meant that instead of a steady flow of arrivals and departures, several ships would arrive together. Dock workers might be working overtime to unload or load six ships together, or waiting with little to do until the next convoy.