Scope of Exercise: SPARTAN was the first large-scale G.H.Q. Exercise with troops since BUMPER, and coming at a time when petrol and rubber restrictions has seriously curtailed formation training, it caught up "short of a gallop". In order to enable two complete armies to take the field large scale improvisations, particularly with regard to signals , was also necessary, and the events of the exercise as a whole must be judged against this background before any deductions or criticism can be made.