Preface
This volume is the fourth in the series dealing with the activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II. As a companion to an earlier history of American military engineering in the war against Japan, this book recounts the engineer role in the campaigns in North Africa, Italy, and western and central Europe that wrested those areas from German and Italian control.
Because of the thin neutrality to which the United States government clung in 1941, the first introduction of American engineer elements into England was clandestine, but even with the earliest American theater command existing only in embryo, the need for engineers was implicit in Allied strategy. The Anglo-American decision in March 1941 to deal first with Germany as the most dangerous enemy required the construction of strategic bomber bases and huge troop cantonments in England, all with the object of bringing Allied might to bear against Germany from the west. The story of how this was accomplished necessarily concerns itself with organizational structures, operating procedures, statistical data, and descriptions of vast logistical effort. The redirection of the entire strategy in 1942 to a second theater in the Mediterranean brought American engineer troops to their first encounters with a determined and skilled adversary in that part of the world and to a sober realization of their own strengths and weaknesses in combat. In sustained operations across two continents and through two and a half years of war, these engineers carried out the basic mission of the military engineer in the field.
With the measured assurance of doctrinal literature, the 1943 edition of the engineer Field Manual 5-6, Operations of Field Engineer Units, defined the engineer’s task as support of other Army combat and supply elements, increasing the power of forces by construction or destruction to facilitate the movement of friendly troops and to impede that of the enemy. To assert, however, that American engineers handily fulfilled this mandate in Europe and North Africa is to overlook constant trial and error and relearning from past experience. By the end of the war engineer officers and men well understood the meaning of the ancient poet who declared that the immortals had put sweat and a long, steep way before excellence.
Many hands have shaped the mass of material on which this history is based into a comprehensive whole. The first half of the manuscript, roughly through the end of the Italian campaign, was completed by Abe Bortz, William Lynch, and Ralph Weld, all of whom worked for the Corps of Engineers Historical Office. Lida Mayo set in place most of the draft chapters covering operations in northwest Europe and Germany. I added several chapters and recast virtually the entire manuscript, working under the discerning eye of Robert W. Coakley, a historian of surpassing ability and a guiding spirit in the process of transforming a rough product into a viable history worthy of print.
The publication of a work of even such cooperative authorship as this one would be impossible without the able assistance of a number of fine editors who brought this book from manuscript to printed page. Joyce W. Hardyman and Edith M. Boldan began this labor, but the heavier burden fell to Catherine A. Heerin and Diane L. Sedore, whose respect for the English language and attention to detail made this account consistently readable. Their patience in the tedious process of preparing a book and their good humor in dealing with its last author were unfailing.
The maps presented in the volume are the work of Charles L. Brittle, who took vague requests for illustrations and created a series of visual aids to guide the reader through a sometimes complicated text. Howell C. Brewer, Jr., lent his hand to this effort by producing the organization charts shown in the narrative. Arthur S. Hardyman, who directed the graphic work, also gave valuable advice on the choice of photographs that complement the text.
For all the advice and support rendered by this willing staff of assistants, the final responsibility for the content of this history remains that of the authors. Collectively they bear the burden of errors of fact or omission.
Alfred M. Beck
Washington, D.C.
5 January 1984