IT WAS the year the British travel industry was put on hold.

The First World War had been raging for two years in 1916 and the Government was wrestling with the problem of how to keep soldiers supplied with the vehicles they needed to halt the German advance.

In 1916 the use of petrol for leisure travel was banned as part of the war effort.

And the Government ruled that charabancs – an early type of motor coach – could be used only to transport troops and the wounded.

British workers were urged to help defeat the Kaiser by postponing their holidays until peace was declared.

The authorities had already requisitioned motor vehicles and horses from businesses across the country in a bid to keep troops supplied with food, equipment and ammunition.

At the same time, the demands of the conflict led to a dramatic improvement in the evolution of vehicles.

Exhibition Now a new exhibition focusing on transport before and after the war has opened at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.

It explores the “untold legacy” of the battles – the social and technological changes that transformed leisure travel in the decades that followed.

Surplus wartime vehicles became the building blocks of a travel revolution fuelled by enterprising ex-servicemen setting up in the transport business after returning from the trenches.

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Charabanc bodies placed on old lorry chassis enabled many of the veterans to provide affordable travel for the masses.

Their businesses benefited from the social upheaval that was sweeping the country. Men and women from all walks of life sought fun and freedom, with leisure time increasingly seen as a right rather than a privilege.

Families flocked to the coast and countryside to enjoy a brief respite from the daily grind of life in overcrowded towns and cities.

Charabanc operators offered outings at prices the average worker could afford in an era when employees were not paid for time off.

By the late 1920s charabancs had been replaced by comfortable coaches in a move that laid the foundations of an industry that is still popular today.

The same period also saw a sharp rise in car ownership.

By the end of the decade motoring had become more affordable, resulting in almost a million cars taking to the roads. A corresponding rise in caravanning continued in the 1930s, thanks to an ever-increasing demand for holidays in the great outdoors.

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It was a far cry from the pre-war years, when only the very wealthy could afford cars.

The exhibition, Caravans and Charabancs, is being staged by the National Motor Museum Trust and the Caravan Club, with the help of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and includes previously unseen images.

A Caravan Club spokesman said it had uncovered a wealth of information relating to the huge impact the war had on the motoring industry.

“We have pieced together this information and are delighted to be sharing it for the first time,” he said.