In the final years of the First World War, the streets of Southampton presented an unusual spectacle.

Amid the bustle of a city grappling with the challenges of wartime, the curious sight of a London tram trundling along its local thoroughfares was enough to raise eyebrows.

This peculiar chapter in the history of Southampton Corporation Transport (SCT) was born out of the extraordinary pressures of the Great War.

By 1918, Southampton's tram system was stretched to its limits. The town was undergoing a dramatic transformation.

The vast expanse of Southampton Common was now a sprawling British and American army camp. The docks, vital arteries of the war effort, throbbed with activity, often necessitating the double-banking of ships. And the influx of women into the workforce, particularly in munitions factories, led to overcrowding on public transport.

Southampton's tram depot in Portswood was struggling to cope. Despite the construction of two new top-covered trams, the depletion of manpower due to conscription hampered maintenance efforts.

A line-up of First World War tram clippies outside the Shirley depot in Southampton  (Image: Echo)

A skeleton crew of disabled workers, young school leavers, and a handful of older men beyond military age toiled to keep the system running, under the watchful eye of the depot manager, Mr W Robson.

Desperate for a solution, Robson turned to the Ministry of Munitions. It transpired that London County Council (LCC) Tramways had a surplus of trams stored away. Southampton Corporation seized the opportunity and purchased six of these vehicles for £550 apiece.

By May 1918, the London trams had arrived in Southampton and undergone modifications to adapt them to the local network.

Such was the urgency of the situation that they were pressed into service without repainting, their brown LCC livery offering a stark contrast to the Southampton streetscape.

Due to their height, these trams were initially restricted to the Hampton Park to Docks route, bypassing the imposing Bargate arch.

Southampton trams were used as part of an army recruiting campaign during the First World War.  (Image: Echo)

Eventually, the London trams were repainted in SCT livery, and their enclosed upper decks proved immensely popular with passengers accustomed to the open-top trams that predominated the fleet.

However, a subsequent reorganisation of the dockland services in 1922 created a circular route that necessitated passing under the Bargate. Faced with this obstacle, the decision was made to remove the top covers of the ex-LCC trams and lower the upper decks.

Four of these modified trams continued to serve Southampton until 1948, an astonishing 45 years after their initial construction, including 30 years in the town.

A fifth was withdrawn a year earlier due to an accident, while the sixth, number 75, had been retired in 1934.

These London trams, pressed into service during a time of national crisis, stand as a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of those who kept Southampton moving during the First World War.

Their story is a fascinating footnote in the history of public transport in the city.