Chapter 14: Quartermaster Support in the Forward Areas
The sites of the American landing in Normandy have been immortalized under their code names, OMAHA Beach and UTAH Beach. Both sites had the advantages of shelter from westerly storms and a very wide beach at low tide. Deep anchorages were two miles or more offshore, but tides were high enough so that LSTs could be beached at high tide and completely dried out—a useful expedient developed during the operation. OMAHA was a five-mile stretch of flat beach, running in an east-west direction near Vierville, St. Laurent, and Colleville-sur-Mer, backed by low sandy hills and flanked by steep rocky cliffs rising from the water’s edge. Unfortunately, both the beach and natural exits leading inland from it were commanded from higher ground which had been occupied by a German infantry division during the short interval between the final Allied reconnaissance flights and D-day. OMAHA was therefore the scene of the most dogged enemy resistance and the heaviest casualties.
Some fifteen miles to the west, UTAH Beach stretched in a north-south direction along the southeastern shore of the Cotentin Peninsula. Since it was backed by a lagoon more than a mile wide, with narrow artificial causeways for all exit roads, UTAH did not appear to be a very promising landing site. But the German defenders of this beach were too few and scattered for effective mutual support, and were also disorganized by American airborne landings in their rear. Consequently, the initial phases of exploitation proceeded faster at UTAH Beach than at OMAHA.1
Maintenance of both beachheads after D-day required that the flow of supplies start as early as possible after the footholds had been assured, a logistical feat to be accomplished in close cooperation with the tactical forces. As already noted, planners had decided that for achieving such coordination the supply mission would have to be delegated to the service section of each successive echelon which assumed command of the troops ashore.
The first Quartermaster units in Normandy were organic divisional QM companies and service companies attached to the assault forces. The 29th Quartermaster Company, for instance, arrived off OMAHA Beach on D-day, its men and equipment having left Plymouth and Falmouth in eleven vessels on June. The company’s trucks and trailers carried C and K rations, POL, the
division’s Class II reserve, and miscellaneous supplies. Although the entire company was scheduled to debark with the first and second assault waves, only a reconnaissance detachment of one lieutenant and three enlisted men attached to the 115th Infantry (29th Division) reached shore on D-day. The others landed in the next few days as the opportunity presented itself. By D plus 3 the 29th QM Company was operating from a bivouac area one and a half miles south of Vierville-sur-Mer. Even before the whole company was ashore, one advance detachment came under fire while delivering two truck and trailer loads of gasoline to a tank battalion supporting two of the division’s infantry regiments. At noon on D plus 2, the company began to send rations to assault elements, and thereafter it rapidly expanded its activities to include the normal QM functions at division level: operating POL distributing points, distributing rations, clothing, equipage, cleaning materials, and spare parts for stoves and other QM equipment, transporting combat troops, division headquarters sections, and ordnance and signal personnel, shifting division reserve supplies, collecting and evacuating the dead, and gathering and removing salvage. The experience of QM companies assigned to the other assault divisions was generally similar.2 The veteran 1st Division quartermaster noted that dispersion, camouflage, and shelter for the troops were more necessary than during the landings in Tunisia and Sicily.3
Another type of QM unit participating in the first phase of the assault was a company temporarily attached to one of the assault divisions. Such was the experience of the 3892nd Quartermaster Truck Company. Attached to the 1st Infantry Division, this company and its loaded vehicles reached OMAHA Beach early on D plus I. Only part of the unit could be put ashore because its ferry was grounded and heavily damaged by the enemy. The contingent which had managed to reach shore moved inland and occupied itself in unloading artillery ammunition and delivering gasoline, both of which were badly needed. The remainder of the unit landed, with the loss of several trucks, on D plus 2 only to find that its destination was still in enemy hands. On 9 June the unit was detached from the 1st Division and went to work under the 5th Engineer
Special Brigade, unloading supplies from grounded barges. The next day part of the company was attached to the 2nd Division, whose truck unit had not yet landed. By 15 June the 3892nd reassembled under control of V Corps and performed such routine activities as moving 60,000 rations per day from beach dumps to truckheads and shuttling innumerable troops around the beach-head.4
As in Mediterranean amphibious assaults, command over supply operations in the initial phase was exercised by Engineer special brigades. By mid-1944 these headquarters had evolved into T /0 units of some 5,500 men representing all the technical services, each capable of moving 3,300 ship tons of supplies per day from ships into segregated inland dumps, and supplying the necessary technicians and labor for logistical operations, including evacuation. Three Transportation Corps amphibious truck (DUKW) companies provided most of the cargo capacity; they were administered and maintained by a QM battalion headquarters detachment. A QM service battalion and a QM supply battalion (two railhead companies and a gasoline supply company) were assigned to each brigade. For NEPTUNE, each of the three brigades involved received major reinforcements, including a QM truck company and a graves registration platoon. Moreover the 5th and 6th Brigades, destined for OMAHA Beach, were placed under a provisional brigade group headquarters with still more reinforcements, including the entire 11th Port. By D-day this group, with all attachments, numbered nearly 30,000 men.5
Major portions of these units were included in the assault forces and by the end of D plus 2 ration, POL, ammunition, salvage, and baggage dumps were operating on the beach in each brigade area. This was somewhat behind schedule, owing to enemy artillery fire, vehicle losses, congestion of the beaches by wrecked vehicles and ships, and the need to search the area for mines. Some of the combat units had lost their Class I reserves in the landing, and the ration dumps began issuing immediately. Other supplies were more than adequate.
The next step was development of the so-called beach maintenance areas, where carefully segregated and camouflaged dumps were to be located adjacent to good highways. The sites had been located by photo reconnaissance and were to be fully developed by D plus 3, but actually it was D plus 9 before these inland sites had completely replaced the beach dumps. Meanwhile on 13 June First Army took direct control of all dumps and assumed the command over the Engineer brigades previously exercised by V and VII Corps. The responsibility of the brigades was now limited to unloading ships and passing supplies across the beach to what were now in effect army supply points, although still designated beach maintenance area dumps. These dumps were initially operated by Quartermaster service companies with attached railhead and gasoline supply detachments. As
incoming tonnage increased, regular railhead and gasoline supply companies operated the larger dumps, with occasional help from service companies. Even the relatively untrained men of the service companies worked well. The only deficiency reported—poor record keeping—was of a nature inevitable in the turmoil of an amphibious operation.6
As unloading activities on the beaches hit their stride, masses of supplies began to pour into the dumps. The plan was to center storage, distribution, and services in Cherbourg and a few of the smaller towns on the Cotentin Peninsula until a large, semipermanent service area could be developed around Rennes and Le Mans. But Cherbourg fell about 10 days later than expected. On 1 July tactical gains were roughly 16 days behind the OVERLORD schedule, and on D plus 49 the southern limit of the beachhead was no farther inland than where the army rear boundary had been expected to be on D plus 20. In short, supplies were concentrated around the beaches in much larger quantities and for a much longer period of time than had been anticipated. Crowding and confusion, and lack of proper inventories and systematic segregation of supplies, previously ignored, began to cause difficulties.7
The supply areas behind both UTAH and OMAHA Beaches were of necessity situated in open country, for the small villages in the beachhead offered few closed storage facilities. Such an area consisted of a number of supply dumps each spread over five to eight typical small Norman fields surrounded by hedgerows, with hastily improvised muddy access roads and poor internal communications. Supplies were moved directly by trucks or DUKWs from the beaches to the dumps. In sorting areas, where the vehicles discharged their loads, items were segregated and moved to stacks in the separate storage areas of each service. With organization handicapped by the tactical situation, supply forces had to expand these dumps instead of moving the matériel to depots still farther inland. Allied air superiority made it possible to stack supplies in the middle of the fields, without camouflage. But storage conditions were poor, supplies were roughly handled, there was little dunnage, and few tarpaulin covers.8 These shortcomings arose from unavoidable haste in the movement of cargo, lack of manpower, and absence of facilities. The means with which to improve the situation—more dunnage and tarpaulins, and more men to stack supplies systematically—be-came available only gradually.
According to plan, practically all supplies delivered in the first week had been skidloaded. They were transported to the beaches by DUKWs, transferred by cranes onto 2½-ton trucks, and carried to sorting areas. Skidloads varied in weight from 1,500 to 3,000 pounds, but their size was carefully limited to permit
loading two on a DUKW or truck. If there were no cranes or hoists at the inland dumps, the skids were attached to a sturdy tree and permitted to slide off the back of the truck while the vehicle slowly pulled away. Occasionally the DUKWs went all the way to the inland dumps, where they found that no cranes were available. Since the package then had to be opened in the hold of the DUKW itself and the contents removed piecemeal, this use of DUKWs failed to expedite deliveries. After the initial flow of skidloads, a larger volume of supplies began to arrive in separate bales, cartons, and crates. Such packages were more difficult to sort than skidloads, so that they were hastily deposited in mixed loads which ultimately had to be segregated and sent to the dumps of the appropriate technical services. This was a time-consuming process, not completed for many months.9
With experience, and some easing of pressure due to the development of the Cherbourg area, supply organization and facilities on the beaches improved materially. Segregation and stacking of supplies, as well as stock control, were much better by August than they had been a month earlier.10 But as beach organization improved, bad weather began to undermine the recent accomplishments. Situated on low land where even the normal water table was high, these beach dumps were often flooded in wet weather. Fortunately, most of the area was pasture land and the turf was strong, but frequently mired trucks had to be unloaded, pulled off the roads by tractors, reloaded, and then helped back onto the road.11 In late October such unfavorable conditions made it necessary to close the beach supply areas. By this time unloading over the beaches had practically ceased, for better ports and depots closer to the front were then available.
Quartermaster in the Army Group
The 12th Army Group, commanded by General Bradley, was an organization without an exact precedent in American military history. Designed to serve in the field as a senior combat headquarters, it had neither strategic nor logistical responsibilities, but exercised operational control over large-scale military operations involving two or more field armies, in accordance with directives from SHAEF. The 1st Army Group (FUSAG), the predecessor of 12th Army Group, had been given major planning responsibilities in the preinvasion period, being charged with all plans for U.S. ground combat operations in the period from D plus 14 to D plus 41.12
Planning and implementing the broader aspects of SHAEF plans continued to be major functions after 12th Army Group became operational on 1 August 1944. Thus 12th Army Group decided when additional army headquarters would become operational upon the Continent, determined their missions, and allotted to each the means—supplies and service units as well as combat troops—to achieve its objective. Such functions clearly involved a degree of rivalry with Montgomery’s 21 Army Group for cross-Channel cargo and air freight capacity, requiring policy decisions by SHAEF and detailed allocations by BUCO and similar combined agencies.13
As the OVERLORD operation progressed, General Devers’ 6th Army Group also became a rival for U.S. supplies, combat troops, and service units. In turn, the army groups refereed the rival claims of their component armies. This was a simpler matter for 6th Army Group with two armies to control than for the 12th with its responsibility for three armies and later four. SHAEF assumed responsibility for solving the international complications arising from the fact that 1st French Army was controlled by 6th Army Group, but the latter headquarters had to make special adjustments for differences in organization and in supply requirements. The 12th Army Group had a particularly difficult problem in setting priorities between Hodges’ First Army and Patton’s Third in August 1944 as they raced across France and both clamored for a larger share of the available gasoline and ammunition. This situation led to the daily tonnage allocations already described.14
From an army group commander’s point of view, the correct solution did not require strict equality between armies, but rather that each should be equal to its assigned task. Still, the armies were inclined to argue about their missions as well as the means assigned for fulfilling them, and the decisions recommended to Bradley by his staff were based upon careful computations of capabilities, availabilities, and choices between detailed tactical plans.15
As to be expected in a headquarters with such functions and responsibilities, the 12th Army Group quartermaster was almost exclusively a staff adviser to the commanding general on the Quartermaster aspects of large operations. An early decision even deprived the quartermaster of control over army group QM troops, who were placed under the commander of headquarters, special troops. The channel of technical control in the ETO was from the chiefs of technical services within COMZ, via ADSEC, to the armies and their subordinate service units. The requisitioning channel was through the same agencies in the opposite direction, so that the army group was bypassed with regard to both functions. QMC matters coming to army group for decision were primarily determinations of priorities, assignments of QM units, and allocation of controlled items of supply between armies. At army group level these were command decisions, although normally based upon recommendations by the
QM Section of the staff. Such recommendations frequently took the form of detailed staff studies.16 Initially, the 12th Army Group QM Section operated with a personnel allotment of 11 officers and 14 enlisted men. Colonel Younger, former quartermaster of Army Ground Forces and of Second Army, headed an organization that was authorized a brigadier general and 3 colonels.17 For planning functions in the preinvasion period the section was organized into an Executive Branch, Supply Branch, Troops and Labor Branch, and Field Installations Branch. After planning activities had given way to combat operations, even this modest organization was reduced to Administrative, Supply, and Field Service Branches, and the personnel allotment was pared to 8 officers and to enlisted men. In the 6th Army Group there was no Quartermaster Section, and Lt. Col. Richard L. Lewis, the senior QMC officer of the headquarters, maintained a subsection within the office of the G-4 with one officer and two enlisted assistants. In general his functions resembled those of Colonel Younger, but they were even more strictly limited to those of a staff adviser.18
The 12th Army Group Quartermaster Section was called upon to make an estimate of service troop requirements for each contemplated tactical operation. This function might at first glance appear superfluous, since theater plans provided for the allocation of definite
numbers of combat troops to the army group, and the correct proportions of service units to be attached to the combat formations could be computed from readily available data. But such allocation scales were based upon averages derived from previous experience, and a specific combat unit is rarely assigned an “average” mission. Moreover, the service units available were almost invariably less than the theoretically desirable number and their theoretical capabilities as listed in staff manuals were also averages that might be radically modified by a wide variety of local conditions. Thus the optimum deployment of Quartermaster troops was an extremely complicated problem, but the army group quartermaster, located within a small compact headquarters where he could watch and even contribute to the formulation of tactical plans, was ideally situated to solve it.
Every change in the tactical dispositions of the armies was reflected in numerous transfers of service units, designed to conserve and utilize them with maximum efficiency. For example, experience at Arnhem (September 1944) and west of Antwerp a month later demonstrated that supplying one or two U.S. combat divisions within the British administrative area involved an extremely uneconomical dispersion of service units. Their presence was essential but their full capabilities were neither required nor utilized. Except for airborne troops, U.S. combat units were not normally committed within the British administrative area thereafter.19
Coordination of combat operations between 6th and 12th Army Groups
called for major transfers of supporting service units. Such readjustments, which sometimes involved drawing on COMZ and SOLOC service units for duty in the combat zone, were theoretically SHAEF functions, but in practice Littlejohn was given a free hand regarding QM units. A continuing source of difficulty was the consistent SHAEF policy of phasing combat units into the theater ahead of service units, the time lag varying from a week to two months. Shortages of equipment, particularly semi-mobile trailers for various special purposes, caused still more delays since service units were usually equipped overseas, either in the United Kingdom or at staging areas in Brittany, and could not operate effectively until this process was complete.20
In addition to calling for more service units, the armies also tended to demand extra equipment and personnel in excess of authorizations for existing units, especially general purpose vehicles for all types of units, and relief drivers for truck companies. These requests displayed considerable uniformity, and the 12th Army Group quartermaster established a policy of equal authorizations for like units, consistent with the availability of theater reserves. He also recommended theater-wide modifications of T/O&E’s, which would give the theater a basis for replenishing its reserves of critical equipment items.21
Colonel Younger believed that his function of staff adviser on QM policy required him to maintain a constant and critical scrutiny of Quartermaster operations at all levels. For example, in October 1944, when the armies were building up supplies for an attack on the Siegfried Line, they still found it hard to obtain the quantities and types of supplies called for by their daily telegrams. This condition was no longer tolerable now that the pursuit was over. Younger sent teams to trace the telegrams through the regulating stations, ADSEC, and the base section shipping points. He found that the cycle from dispatch of the telegram to arrival of supplies varied from ten to fifteen days, and that broken trains, piecemeal deliveries and inadequate documentation made it virtually impossible to reconcile receipts with requisitions. The investigation also revealed that the armies were reacting to unreliable support by accumulating excessive reserves, and that the system whereby the army group allocated tonnage on a daily basis to the armies had outlived its usefulness. Younger recommended that since COMZ controlled transportation it should also allocate tonnages. The recommendation was promptly accepted, but did not measurably improve the situation. Nevertheless, this investigation served a useful purpose by drawing attention to the whole problem of control over tonnage, and possibly speeded up the corrective action already described.22
Quartermaster at Army Level
In the ETO the armies represented the highest field supply echelon, and quartermasters at this level were both staff officers and commanders of service troops. They were responsible for
maintaining prescribed army levels of supply, for operating QM depots within army service areas, and for locating, manning, stocking, and operating forward supply points and truckheads. By consolidating and editing requisitions from subordinate units they determined army requirements; and through liaison with corps and division quartermasters they insured the uninterrupted flow of QM supplies and services to the combat elements of the army.
Office of the Army Quartermaster
In late 1944 the Quartermaster Section of an army headquarters was authorized a personnel allotment of 23 officers, 3 warrant officers, and 57 enlisted men, headed by a brigadier general.23 The organizations of Quartermaster Sections within army headquarters in the ETO were not identical. The desires and working habits of the commanding general and his quartermaster; the mission, composition, and previous experience of the army; and the type and degree of support received from different SOS organizations to the rear—all influenced the type of organization adopted in each case. Nevertheless, the general uniformity of functions to be performed worked against extreme variations. The functions and responsibilities of army quartermasters in the ETO were very similar to those in the Mediterranean theater. The usual organization comprised administrative, transportation, supply, and operations divisions. Most innovations could be ascribed to the fact that COMZ was a coordinating agency supervising supply to several armies and imposed its centralized authority upon their logistical operations. This was in marked contrast to the “favored customer” relationship of a single army to SOS NATOUSA, which was typical of Mediterranean operations. The administrative division normally included a clerical branch, primarily responsible for reports covering activities of more than one division, and a personnel branch, which handled both military and civilian personnel matters. A graves registration branch was sometimes included, but toward the end of hostilities there was a tendency for the army quartermaster to set up a separate graves registration division.24
Control over QM operations at army level was exercised along commodity lines. For example, the Class III Branch of the Supply Division supervised the army’s QM gasoline supply units and POL depots and dumps. It determined Class III requirements in accordance with supply levels imposed by COMZ, prepared requisitions, and maintained records and inventories. It recommended location of Class III supply points to the Planning and Operations Division, and location of decanting points and bulk storage facilities to the army engineer.
The Supply Division coordinated the activities of its branches, monitoring the
movement of supplies from COMZ into the army depots, and insuring proper storage and issue to the using troops. It consolidated requisitions and expedited them through the regulating station to the Advance Section, recommended changes in levels and location of supplies as necessary, and advised the army quartermaster on current supply status and supply plans to support future operations. Through its Field Service Branch, it deployed QM service units (Salvage Collection and Repair, Laundry, Bath and Clothing Exchange, and Spare Parts Depots) and insured that they gave effective support to the combat troops. On the basis of ETO experience Littlejohn recommended that the Supply Division include two additional branches, one to handle purchasing and contracting, and the other to handle captured enemy matériel—functions that had previously been concentrated in the army G-4 Section.
The Planning and Operations Division maintained liaison with the G-3 Section and with other headquarters to coordinate supply planning with future tactical plans and troop movements. It supervised all army QM units, and prepared movement, attachment, and assignment orders and QM troop lists. It also supervised the training of QM units and operated the army labor pool.
The Transportation Division maintained liaison with rail, highway, and waterways units of the Transportation Corps supporting the army, and advised the army quartermaster on all transportation matters, including air freight. It controlled operations of QM truck units of the army, including planning, assignment, and dispatch. It coordinated motor maintenance with the Ordnance Service, and operated the army motor pool. It arranged for transportation of QM supplies forward from army depots, including coordination of rail transport within the combat zone. In the Third Army, transportation was a function of the G-4 rather than the quartermaster. Control of motor transportation was more of a responsibility than an advantage for army quartermasters. During the 4-month period November 1944–February 1945 the Ninth Army quartermaster, Col. William E. Goe, computed that his QM truck units were utilized as follows: Quartermaster, 36 percent; other technical services, 45 percent; personnel transport, 19 percent.25 These figures may be considered typical for the period covered, which was characterized by heavy fighting and relatively slow advances by all of the American armies. During a pursuit, up to 50 percent of available truck units might be required to transport personnel.
Since the number of truck companies assigned or attached to an army varied from 30 to 45, the above figures imply that, on an average, an army quartermaster had 11 to 16 companies available to haul QM supplies.26 This was fairly
satisfactory under normal conditions, and was definitely preferable to the arrangement in Third Army, where the quartermaster was assigned from 4 to 8 truck companies by G-4, and continually had to borrow additional transportation from the other technical services. In theory, the Transportation Division of G-4 coordinated such interservice loans of transportation. In practice, most Third Army truck companies were parceled out to the various technical services and tended to become part of those organizations. Experience showed that it was quicker and more convenient to deal directly with the chiefs of technical services regarding loans of their attached transportation. Since the chiefs were troop commanders as well as staff officers, such dealings could be regarded as being in a command channel. In all the armies, the technical services cooperated readily and promptly, tending to bypass formal staff channels. Nevertheless, command over one’s own organic units is more reliable and efficient than the most cordial cooperation.
Reviewing and evaluating his experiences after V-E Day, Colonel Busch, the Third Army quartermaster, recommended that the organization of railhead companies, gasoline supply companies, and depot supply companies, be modified to include a truck “platoon” of 48 trucks—the actual strength of a truck company. This recommendation did not imply any dissatisfaction with the performance of such units, but was designed to insure the army quartermaster’s control over organic Quartermaster transportation which could not readily he commandeered for other purposes. Assuming a normal army troop basis, this innovation would have given the army quartermaster exclusive control over the equivalent of 15 truck companies. The other ETO army quartermasters, who had all benefited by access to an army truck pool, did not favor such a reorganization. They agreed that an increase in the allocation of army transportation, equal to 1 more truck company per assigned armored division, would be desirable. But the salient fact of ETO experience was that the theoretical allocation of truck companies to combat units was never achieved. Even at the end of hostilities, the combat zone was understrength by 19 truck companies.27
The shortage of truck companies in the summer of 1944 was further aggravated by insufficient freight handlers. The commanding officer of the 514th QM Group, which administered all Third Army truck companies, called attention to the need for more service company personnel to speed loading and unloading at depots and supply points. This problem persisted even after the supply lines had been shortened, for once the German border had been crossed unit provost marshals at all levels refused to permit the use of local (German) civilians or prisoners as laborers, as had been done in France. Another example of a remedy creating its own problems was presented when the improved rail system brought supplies to the army area, but not directly to the army dumps. Months went by before the engineers could install spur lines to suitable warehouses or hard-stands. Meanwhile depots were forced
to handle each shipment twice and naturally demanded more service company personnel.28
Army Depots and Combat Zone Distribution
Before the Normandy landings, supply planners had assumed that the average depth of an army area would be about fifty miles, and that it would be uneconomical, and might even be impossible, with the army’s facilities alone, to provide support for operations at a depth greater than seventy-five miles.29 These assumptions were based on current doctrine and reinforced by recent Mediterranean experience. The only major attempt to exceed these limits—the hasty overland advance to capture Tunis in November 1942—had led to failure, and Eisenhower himself commented at the time that such operations were in conflict with accepted methods.30 There was further support for such assumptions in the OVERLORD Operation Forecast, which predicted heavy fighting, large supply expenditures, a slow rate of advance, and, therefore by inference, a shallow army zone.
All these conditions actually materialized during the first seven weeks of fighting in Normandy, but the situation was not completely conventional, since First Army retained control over the entire supply organization in the lodgment area. On 1 August, 12th Army Group and Third Army became operational on the Continent, and the next day First Army formally established its rear boundary along the Isigny–Carentan highway, and handed over control of the Cotentin Peninsula and the OMAHA area to ADSEC.31
With some justification, planners assumed that First Army’s logistic operations would hereafter follow the textbook rules, but such was not the case. In general, the experiences of First Army described here apply equally to Third Army.32 Only eight days had elapsed since the COBRA operation had been launched to force a breakout from the beachhead, but already the campaign had assumed some of the characteristics of a pursuit. Following normal procedure, the order establishing the First Army rear boundary had also designated St. Lô, 16 miles to the south, as the next army service area. Four days later tactical gains had outdistanced this
location, and by 12 August QM depots were operational within an army service area at Vire, 42 miles south of Isigny. Three days later the army rear boundary was relocated just north of Vire, and Alençon, 65 miles away, was tentatively selected as the next depot site. But by the 19th Alençon was too far to the rear; that day COMZ and First Army agreed that the new depot was to be at La Loupe, 110 miles from Vire. First Army also stated that it required 62,000 tons of supplies at La Loupe by 29 August, but COMZ indicated that the maximum it could provide was 26,000 tons. Even that figure was only possible with the aid of the Red Ball express, which began to operate on 25 August. Nevertheless QM Class I and III depots were operating at La Loupe by 23 August, having been stocked largely by First Army’s own efforts.33
On 25 August ADSEC took over QM operations at Vire, and the next day First Army canceled its request for a supply reserve at La Loupe, which was already too far to the rear. Tactical developments during these days were significant, since they represented the first major modification of OVERLORD plans. Both First and Third Armies crossed the Seine on 24 August. They used military bridging, since the Seine bridges had been Allied bombing targets before D-day. On the 25th, the liberation of Paris brought two permanent bridges under American control, but simultaneously increased COMZ requirements of civil affairs supplies by some 2,400 tons per day.34 The necessity of feeding Paris materially reduced COMZ support for the combat troops. Only 7,000 tons per day could be made available to them, and General Bradley decided that for the time being First Army would receive 5,000 tons, leaving only 2,000 tons per day for Third Army. This momentous decision went into effect on 29 August and within four days had brought Third Army’s advance to an abrupt halt.35
By the 29th, La Loupe was 200 miles from the front lines and another depot was clearly needed.36 First Army proposed a site at Senlis, so miles beyond the Seine, but at the time this was impossible. The Red Ball was operating no farther east than Chartres. COMZ was pushing forward one rail line behind each army, but the one behind First Army had only reached Arpajon, 62 miles east of La Loupe. The same day the army rear boundary was shifted to a point just west of La Loupe, but no new forward depot was designated. The army would use Arpajon as a temporary dump, and shift its transfer point forward progressively as railroad repairs permitted. Since all supplies were transferred to trucks and sent to the combat troops as soon as they arrived, none of the usual storage problems of an army depot would arise. On this basis, Arpajon was opened on 2 September, and so urgent was the need for POL that issues began the same day. Although the supply situation was becoming critical,
First Army troops were still pushing forward at great speed. A notable example was the Both Division, which reached Tournai, Belgium, on 3 September, having advanced 118 miles in 30 hours. Nevertheless, the army zone had very nearly reached the maximum depth. The fact that every army convoy had to cross the Seine was a major handicap to effective operations. On 2 September distances (in miles) from the ADSEC transfer points to the forward Class I and III truckheads, and to the front lines, were as follows:37
| La Loupe | Arpajon | Front lines | |
| Truckhead 51, Soissons | 139 | 91 | 50 |
| Truckhead 74, Vervins | 186 | 137 | 15 |
| Truckhead 91, Cambrai | 178 | 122 | 35 |
During the next week, COMZ managed to bring the supply lines forward across the Seine.38 It proved possible to extend the rail lines faster than the Red Ball express. As planned, trains were unloaded at the end of the railroad, and the temporary dumps were shifted forward as the tracks were repaired. Individual supply trains sometimes conducted their own track reconnaissance, and the situation was so fluid that Colonel McNamara used light aircraft to locate forward-moving trainloads of gasoline. By 5 September the railhead was at Soissons, and the Red Ball reached that town three days later. On 9 September the railhead was shifted forward to Coucy—only twelve miles, but every mile counted for First Army’s overworked trucks.
Meanwhile the need for a forward army service area had manifested itself. For the time being it would serve mainly as a traffic control and reconsignment point through which army trucks passed on their way to the forward truckheads. Accordingly, on 6 September First Army established a service area around Hirson—La Capelle, nearly 200 miles northeast of La Loupe. The site was carefully chosen, with excellent rail and highway facilities, but supplies actually accumulated there were negligible. Nevertheless, on 8 September the army rear boundary was moved forward to the Laon-Péronne highway, creating an unusual situation in that for a few days every army convoy to the forward truck-heads originated behind the army rear boundary. By 12 September First Army troops, having crossed Belgium and Luxembourg, were partly in Holland and partly on German soil, approaching the Siegfried Line. The supply system had been stretched to the limit, and the pursuit had halted. The distances involved in supplying First Army that day were as follows:39
| La Loupe | Soissons | Front lines | |
| Truckhead 53. Signy L’Abbaye | 216 | 77 | 100 |
| Truckhead 76, Charleroi | 254 | 115 | 80 |
| Truckhead 92, Genappe | 276 | 137 | 70 |
Various economies and expedients were employed to provide support in an army zone more than twice as deep as the theoretical maximum. During the pursuit weak enemy resistance and Allied air superiority made it possible to
First Army ration dump at Soissons, September 1944.
leave behind chemical warfare, heavy artillery, and antiaircraft units, and such units contributed more than 1,000 vehicles to the army motor pool for hauling supplies. Moreover, with these units in reserve the supply requirements of the whole army were considerably reduced. The tactical situation permitted a very material reduction in ammunition supplies, and at the height of the emergency requisitions for clothing and signal and medical equipment were arbitrarily canceled. Toward the end of the period deliveries of Class I supplies proved to be insufficient and were supplemented by captured rations. But the need for more and more gasoline to transport combat troops in army vehicles and to operate supply convoys over longer and longer distances nullified most of these savings in other classes of supply. For the period 6-12 September First Army s gasoline consumption was 571,000 gallons per day, and during this time the forward truckheads were frequently exhausted several hours before a resupply arrived. Vehicles from the combat units frequently traveled far to the rear in search of a load of gasoline.
The excessive hauling distances demanded of army transportation were not the only factors leading to the immobilization of First Army. COMZ was not only unable to move its supply depots forward fast enough; it was also unable to provide sufficient tonnage of supplies to keep two armies moving. The ceiling of 7,000 tons per day to the two armies could not be lifted for several weeks. On 6 September the allocation from COMZ was changed so that First and Third Armies were each to receive 3,500 tons
per day. Actual daily receipts by First Army were somewhat less, and included items which had not been requisitioned:
| Class of supply | Estimated Requirements (31 August 1944) | COMZ Allocations (6-12 September 1944) | Average Receipts (6-12 September 1944) |
| Quartermaster: | |||
| — Class I | 1,150 | 993 | 553 |
| — Class II and IV | 75 | 0 | 48 |
| — Class III | 2,200 | 2,028 | 1,954 |
| Ordnance: | |||
| — Class II and IV | 150 | 0 | 49 |
| — Class V | 1,100 | 64 | 413 |
| Signal Corps: Class II and IV | 300 | 129 | 24 |
| Engineer: Class II and IV | 525 | 286 | 168 |
| Chemical Warfare: Class II and IV | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Medical: Class II and IV | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| G-5: all classes | 212 | 0 | 0 |
| Total (long tons) | 5,752 | 3,500 | 3,209 |
The exactness of these receipts as reported is open to doubt, since the situation was extremely confused and not all trips to the rear by army vehicles were reported. Littlejohn later pointed out that this confusion was evidence of faulty advance planning and poor management on the part of COMZ. With more careful selection of supplies to be forwarded, total requirements might have been reduced. But there is no room for doubt that the supplies actually furnished were inadequate for an army in the pursuit. Moreover, the bottleneck was in rail and truck transportation in the Communications Zone; supplies were accumulating at the ports. The real explanation of this inadequacy can be traced to erroneous estimates of transportation requirements, based upon the inaccurate operation forecast used in OVERLORD planning.40
Logistically, 12 September may be considered the critical date in First Army operations. Five days later the railhead was brought forward 120 miles in one gigantic stride to Huy, Belgium. At this location it was less than 40 miles from the front lines, permitting a return to textbook methods of army distribution. Moreover, supply deliveries from the rear improved rapidly once the pursuit was over. First Army’s tonnage allocation was raised to 5,000 tons per day on 23 September, and 6,585 tons on 15 October. Meanwhile the combat troops had made only small advances against stiffening German resistance, but the service units had acquired the habit of pushing the depot system forward as fast and as far as physically possible. Reconnaissance of the Eupen–Herbesthal area, 50 miles farther east, began even before the first supplies were distributed from Huy on 19 September. The 471st QM Group, which administered First Army depot operations, moved its headquarters to the new location on the 2 1st, but it was another week before rail repairs had progressed beyond Liège.
On 2 October, officers of the 471st Group conferred at Herbesthal with representatives of the 25th Regulating Station, the army G-4, the ADSEC engineer, and other technical services regarding plans to receive by rail and store all classes of supply in the new area. Colonel McNamara decided that no Class III dump would be set up there for the time being, since the contemplated POL site was less than 10 miles from the front
lines. The depot complex planned at this conference proved far more permanent than anticipated. Except for a brief interruption during the Battle of the Bulge, it served First Army for nearly six months.41
QM Group in the Combat Zone
In general, the army quartermasters used QM group headquarters as command agencies to supervise their supply installations and units. The functions of the group headquarters were primarily administrative, but might also include varying degrees of responsibility for supply operations. Three or four groups were normally assigned to an army, and their employment might be based on either a functional or a geographical concept. In the latter case, one group would remain in the rear at the army depot, and each of the others would control QM troops in the area immediately behind a corps, being concerned primarily with forward truck-heads. The functional concept, which the ETO quartermaster considered somewhat more efficient, is illustrated by First Army practice of assigning one group to administer transportation of troop units, another for general hauling for all the technical services, and a third to operate the army depot.42
Thus on either basis one group headquarters, the most important one from the QMC point of view, was responsible for the main QM depot of each army, and all the units which operated it. The 561st QM Group, which performed this function for Seventh Army, was at one time in command of 10 QM battalions and 68 companies, a force of nearly 11,000 men. But the responsibilities of this headquarters were purely administrative, concerned as they were with unit inspections, personnel discipline and welfare, courier service for subordinate units, and the timely submission and forwarding of routine reports. The group had been formed with personnel from a surplus antiaircraft artillery headquarters late in 1944, and its commander, Col. William F. Watson, reported that as a QM unit its functions had not been basically changed.
The 471st QM Group, which actually operated the First Army QM depot, had very different responsibilities. Under only general supervision from the army quartermaster this unit, which was commanded by Col. Hugh Mackintosh, received, stored, and forwarded all classes of QM supply to First Army truckheads, operated a salvage depot, and provided retail supplies and services to army troops in its locality. But in extreme emergencies Colonel McNamara repeatedly assumed direct control over such vital functions as Class III supply, leaving the group with merely housekeeping duties for gasoline supply and tank truck units.43 At all times, the army quartermaster maintained close supervision over
levels of supply in the depot, and since distances were great and telephone service usually unsatisfactory, he provided a radio car to insure that supply status reports reached the army command post several times daily. This practice proved very satisfactory during the pursuit across France, and was used again during the mop-up of central Germany.44
The composition of the 471st QM Group as it existed in September 1944 reflects the unit’s multiple and varied mission:45
471st QM Battalion (M), Hq/Hq Detachment
3701st QM Truck Co
3702nd QM Truck Co
3703rd QM Truck Co
3704th QM Truck Co
81st QM Battalion (M), Hq/Hq Detachment
3705th QM Truck Co
3706th QM Truck Co
3707th QM Truck Co
3708th QM Truck Co
158th QM Battalion (M), Hq/Hq Detachment
345th QM Depot Supply Co
348th QM Depot Supply Co
279th QM Refrigeration Co (M)
581st QM Sales Co
200th Gasoline Supply Co
3814th Gasoline Supply Co
3192nd QM Service Co (Class III)
380th QM Battalion (M)
134th QM Tank Truck Co (2000 gal.)
3549th QM Tank Truck Co (750 gal.)
3584th QM Tank Truck Co (2000 gal.)
3981st QM Tank Truck Co (750 gal.)
202nd QM Battalion (M), Hq/Hq Detachment
216th QM Salvage Repair Co
224th QM Salvage Repair Co
294th QM Salvage Repair Co
233rd QM Salvage Collection Co
235th QM Salvage Collection Co
999th QM Salvage Collection Co
579th QM Laundry Co
532nd QM Battalion, Hq/Hq Detachment
3168th QM Service Co
3169th QM Service Co
3170th QM Service Co
3216th QM Service Co
3217th QM Service Co
3218th QM Service Co
3230th QM Service Co
3233rd QM Service Co
Although some of the constituent battalions of the group were homogeneous and some were not, each represented a logical grouping of functions. Since the group served but did not control the forward truckheads, certain important types of QM units were not included in its organization. The two truck battalions, allocated to move forward all classes of QM supply, were barely able to handle Class I under conditions of pursuit. They represented about 20 percent of the army’s normal transport capacity. The tank truck units, on loan from COMZ, were withdrawn after rail tank cars began to reach the army’s railheads late in September. The service battalion was simply a labor pool for all QM activities and sometimes for other technical services as well.
Class I operations at a First Army depot were normally performed by a depot supply company and several service companies. Two depot supply companies had originally been provided to handle Class I and II supplies separately, but they usually worked together so that one depot could receive, sort, and store supplies of all classes while another continued to issue to troops. At the height of the pursuit these units demonstrated that they could operate as many as four
sites at once. During the first week in September, issues were made from La Loupe, Arpajon, Soissons, and Coucy, while supplies were accumulated at La Capelle. But such operations were exceptional and inefficient, and were discontinued as quickly as possible.
Another difficulty of the pursuit was the excessive demand for operational rations, which were desired by all troops on the move. These demands, especially for the 10-in-1, exceeded the supply, and an attempt was made to provide B rations irrespective of what the troop units requested. The effort was not very successful since deliveries against the daily telegram lagged as much as seventeen days and aggravated the inherent difficulties of balancing the B ration. From 30 August to 9 September, no B rations whatever were consumed and during the next two days unbalanced B issues were supplemented by various captured food items. As in the Mediterranean, the troops consumed more C rations when 10-in-1’s were not obtainable.46
Operations at Huy, and especially at Herbesthal, brought new problems for Class I. As at previous locations open storage was the rule, but autumn rains demanded increased emphasis on hard-standing, dunnage, and ballast for roads. Moreover, the units were unfamiliar with large-scale rail deliveries, which required local truck transportation from the unloading points to the depots, and double handling of every package. For all their inadequacies, motor transport deliveries from the rear had been made directly into the depots, and the individual convoys had been of modest proportions when compared to the 500-ton capacity of a single train. Rail service was very irregular at first, so that large numbers of freight handlers and trucks had to be instantly available at unpredictable hours, and sometimes at an unpredictable location within the service area. These conditions, which prevented advance planning and greatly reduced efficiency, led to considerable criticism of the regulating station. Since no attempt was made to provide fixed refrigeration, most of these difficulties did not apply to perishables. The trailers of the QM refrigeration company operated direct from the reefer cars to the truckheads. On the few occasions when more perishables arrived than these trailers could handle, they were loaded on ordinary trucks and speeded to the consuming units. Losses of meat and butter by this practice were negligible, since such surplus perishables only began to arrive in December when cold weather had set in.47 PX supplies were on a gratuitous basis in First Army, and were distributed with other rations if available. Issues averaged one-third of a PX ration per man per day until 12 September, and two-thirds of a ration thereafter until the German counterattack in December.48
Class III supply in First Army comprised several distinct types of operations. Until mid-September 1944, tank trucks on loan from COMZ moved bulk gasoline direct from the end of the pipeline to decanting points at the forward truck-heads, bypassing the army depot. Until distances became excessive this operation worked effectively, despite the fact
that the larger tankers were of commercial design and not suitable for cross-country movement. Since truckheads were always located off the roads for security reasons, the trailers developed minor mechanical failures because they were unable to endure any lateral pivoting motion on the trailer hitch. Therefore during August all the 2,000-gallon tankers were deadlined in relays for modification by Ordnance. Thereafter, the trailers gave no more trouble, but as distances to the truckheads lengthened and POL requirements increased, each truck tractor was required to haul an extra 2,000 gallon trailer, which materially shortened the tractor’s mechanical life. The turnaround time lengthened to 36, and finally to 48 hours, and all operations, including decanting, went on a 24-hour-a-day basis. Previously, decanting at night had been avoided because of excessive fire hazards, a lesson from Mediterranean experience which had to be ignored during the emergency.49 These measures were necessary since the pipelines moved forward much more slowly than other means of transportation.50
Early in September an intermediate decanting point for the tanker trucks was set up by the 3814th Gasoline Supply Company. Located first at La Loupe, and after 12 September at La Capelle, this terminal provided a shorter and more efficient turnaround cycle for the tankers. Moreover, the 2½-ton military trucks which carried the packaged gasoline forward from this point had a 100-percent overload capacity. Thus each truck could haul 5 tons of POL to the forward truckheads, greatly speeding up deliveries. The disadvantages of this procedure were the additional labor required for extra handling of the POL and the longer turnaround cycle for 5-gallon cans, which were in critically short supply at the end of the pursuit period.51
Another expedient of this period was bulk gasoline supply by air. In late August air freight priorities were assigned to G-5 for relief of Paris, and in early September to Third Army to supplement the very meager allotment of other transportation. First Army began to receive packaged POL at an airstrip near St. Quentin on 14 September, and tanker planes (actually converted bombers) began to land there a few days later, after the runway had been lengthened. Between 20 and 30 September 1,171,825 gallons were delivered by air to St. Quentin and to Florennes, Belgium. A 750-gallon tank truck company was stationed at each airstrip, and carried the gasoline to the nearest decanting point.52
Until the end of September, packaged POL dumps in the successive army service areas were all operated by the 100th Gasoline Supply Company. This unit received packaged gasoline by rail as well as by truck, and also handled diesel oil, lubricants, greases, and occasionally small amounts of captured coal. It was subordinate to the same QM battalion, the 158th, which controlled other classes of QM supply in the army depot, and moved with the depot from Vire to La Capelle, and later to Pepinster near
Liège. Early in October the tank truck companies were turned back to COMZ. The decanting operation at La Capelle was discontinued, and the 3814th Gasoline Supply Company moved to Eupen.
The 308th QM Battalion, which had controlled the tank truck units, was now placed in charge of all Class III operations within the 471st QM Group. By this time tank rail cars were coming into the Liège area, and the army Class III supply level rose rapidly between 1 and 10 October from 0.8 to 4.5 days. An additional gasoline supply company was acquired to decant from the rail cars. Still another decanting point for rail tankers, first at Bastogne and later at Micheroux, was operated by a fourth company beginning in November. Meanwhile demands fell off at the truckheads and additional dumps were set up at Spa and Francorchamps. Thus by mid-November the 308th QM Battalion, controlling four gasoline supply companies and three service companies, was operating two decanting points and four major Class III dumps, in addition to various bulk storage sites and a separate railhead at Theux for receipt and loading of empty cans. Limited facilities and tactical dispersion to avoid flying bombs dictated this scattering of Class III operations over eastern Belgium, but it hindered efficient operations. The 926th Petroleum Products Laboratory, which analyzed all captured gasoline to determine its suitability for U.S. equipment and also attempted to maintain continuous tests of the quality of products received from the rear, could only run periodic spot checks at the various decanting points. Several battalions of Belgian fusiliers were used as security guards and there were no instances of sabotage. Probably the greatest burden of this dispersion fell on the Engineers, who had to provide fire fighting units at each Class III installation.53
Class II and IV items were the stepchildren in the chain of supply during the early months of continental operations, and though space was set aside at the successive army depots it was scarcely used. The First Army’s daily maintenance requirement of 75 tons was never met, and in the 6-week period after 16 August, when First Army brought its Class II and IV depot forward from St. Lô, only 1,723 tons were received, a daily average of less than 40 tons.54 The low priority which COMZ gave to clothing and equipage merely reflected the preferences of the armies and their component units during the advance. Even after Class II and IV installations were opened in the army service areas, they generally received the lowest priority for truck transport or were compelled to use the slower rail facilities. By the time a Class II installation was fully established in the new area, the troops had advanced again beyond ready reach.55
Mediterranean experience had demonstrated that distribution of Class II and IV supplies was a complicated process, requiring exact inventory procedures, careful sorting for sizes, and good judgment regarding acceptable substitutes. Since all such supplies were scarce it was definitely undesirable to disperse
more than an essential minimum as a reserve in forward truckheads. Accordingly, the Class II and IV section of the army QM depot normally issued direct to using units, which usually sent back trucks periodically to the depot to claim their allotments. A notable exception to this rule was the QM sales platoon, which sold clothing to officers and kept its two mobile sections on the road to forward units most of the time.
The 345th QM Depot Supply Company, which operated the Class II and IV depot for First Army, found that the units took advantage of available supplies only when the depot was reasonably near their locations. Such a situation was experienced at St. Lô in late July, but was not repeated until the depot was brought forward to Huy in mid-September. During the next two weeks more than 1,400 tons of Class II and IV supplies were issued, replacing some of the items worn out or lost during the pursuit. But cold weather was approaching and a major re-equipment with winter clothing, completely distinct from maintenance, was needed almost immediately. Trainloads of such items began to arrive at Herbesthal, the new depot site, on 5 October, and were supplemented by heavy air freight shipments. Nearly 5,000 long tons were received by 15 October, and thereafter about 1,100 tons per week until the end of the year. Arctic overshoes and sleeping bags remained on the controlled supplies list, and there were a few shortages of specific sizes of winter items, but the end of 1944 generally found First Army well clothed and equipped.56
The army’s salvage organization, comprising three collecting and three repair companies, was concentrated in the rear depot group under the 202nd QM Battalion. Salvage from the combat units was customarily collected at the Class I truckhead and hauled to the rear by returning ration trucks. The salvage collecting companies combed the rear areas for items abandoned during the pursuit, especially jerricans and enemy equipment. The repair companies had originally been organized with two identical platoons to repair only textiles, mess gear, and shoes. During August 1944 they were reorganized with an additional platoon to repair every kind of QM equipment, and received stocks of spare parts for this additional mission. Although the repair companies were normally static, their equipment maintenance platoons were mobile, and toured all forward areas periodically to make necessary repairs.
Numerically, field ranges, gasoline lanterns, and typewriters were the articles most frequently repaired. Probably of equal value in keeping QMC operations rolling were specialized repairs on QM laundry and bath equipment, bakeries, refrigerators, and gasoline dispensers. Shoe repair trailers also visited the forward areas, and in some cases were attached to individual corps for short periods. The general repair platoons operated flexibly, concentrating on tents, shoes, clothing, raincoats, or blankets to alleviate the shortages of the moment at the Class II and IV depot. Low-priority items or those in excess of their repair capabilities were sent to COMZ salvage depots. Frequently, abandoned or salvaged articles were merely dirty and could be returned to
stock after sterilizing or washing. A laundry company was assigned to the 202nd QM battalion from the start of the campaign, and later the fumigation sections of several fumigation and bath companies, which were not needed in the forward areas, were also attached.57
As evident from the above, the 471st QM Group gave a very material amount of support to the First Army quartermaster. Colonel Mackintosh, the group commander, reported with considerable pride that his organization, despite its modest size, had performed most of the duties that might be assigned to a QM base depot in the Communications Zone. This was possible because the commanders of the various specialized battalions also served as special staff officers on the group staff. For example, the commander of the 202nd Battalion just mentioned was also the salvage officer of the 471st QM Group, and the commanding officer of the 308th Battalion was Class III officer. Mackintosh believed that efficient group operations were fostered by keeping transfers of subordinate headquarters and units to a minimum. Because this policy was observed, well-trained officers were always available to be loaned to newly joined units, which might have extensive experience but were inevitably ignorant of the specialized procedures of the group. Stability also contributed to group morale and esprit de corps, as demonstrated in the close cooperation and cordial relations between truck and service companies and the various types of QM supply units which they served. Because of its size (nearly 7,000 men in December), the 471st QM Group was always able to obtain adequate personal services for its men. An Army postal section was attached to the group, and handled mail for all its subordinate units. This was very desirable because of the great mobility and rapid changes of attachment of QM units. During most of 1944 a special services platoon was attached, and the group always had its share of doctors, dentists, and chaplains.58
Truckheads
During World War II, truckhead became the current term in the ETO for a forward army distributing point, replacing the term railhead used during and after World War I.59 This change in terminology had originated in the Mediterranean and reflected the prevailing methods of operation in both theaters, but it did not indicate any change in basic QMC doctrine. Rail transportation to army supply points was employed whenever possible, the ideal method being for ADSEC or CONAD to make up separate trains of balanced supplies to be dispatched to specific combat units. ADSEC provided such service to each corps of Third Army from Verdun for several months. When separate trains could not be forwarded, Third Army considered it worthwhile to break down individual carloads at its army depot and make up trains for individual supply points, which were operated by French civilians or the army’s own railroad personnel. At all times there were also
supply points inaccessible to rail which had to be served by trucks, and in fact this was the prevailing method during most of the European campaign. None of the other armies attempted to operate railroads, although they used captured trains briefly at every opportunity. ADSEC and CONAD operated trains to forward army supply points whenever physical facilities and the tactical situation permitted.60
Forward truckheads were designed to serve each corps and its subordinate combat units, and were normally placed at locations designated by the corps quartermaster. Such locations were often well forward, but never less than ten miles from the front. The various army SOP’s all reiterated that these truckheads were army installations, and that their commanders were “personal representatives of the Army Quartermaster, and responsible to him alone.”61 This stipulation referred, of course, to supply operations and policy, and the channels for submission of supply status reports. Truckhead units were usually subordinate to a QM battalion or group for administration and discipline, and to the local corps headquarters for traffic control and tactical security. As the campaign progressed the corps tended to establish corps service areas corresponding to the army service areas already described, so that the truckhead commander’s responsibility for reconnaissance was limited to selection of specific buildings, hardstands, and bivouac areas.62
Army quartermasters normally assigned 1 or 2 truckheads to serve each corps, depending on such things as width of the corps front, anticipated supply requirements, and availability of service companies or civilian labor. While separate Class I and III truckheads were sometimes used, a typical truckhead consisted of 1 railhead company for Class I, and 1 gasoline supply company. When available, a service company and a bakery company were also attached. During the pursuit, when Class III truckheads had to decant fuel from tanker trucks as well as make issues to combat units, 2 gasoline supply companies per corps were definitely needed. Thus the normal ETO allotment of 7 gasoline supply companies per army provided 2 for each of 3 corps, and 1 for the army Class III dump, but none to distribute POL to the army headquarters and to rear area troops. During the autumn of 1944, COMZ provided First Army with an extra company for this purpose, and later, in evaluating ETO experience, Littlejohn recommended a basis of 8 companies per army. The system of intermediate decanting points already described was manned by taking 1 gasoline supply company from behind each corps. Under this system, forward truckheads handled packaged POL only and their efficiency was greatly increased.63
Ration distribution for a corps almost invariably required 2 Class I truckheads, each theoretically manned by a QM
railhead company. In practice, service companies or other personnel frequently performed this function under the supervision of a small railhead detachment. Such supervision was necessary since ration breakdown was somewhat complicated, and army quartermasters demanded careful documentation of issues to insure that excessive quantities were not drawn. Even with such precautions, overissues often exceeded 10 percent. Railhead companies consisted of well-trained and versatile supply specialists. In addition to Class I, they normally operated salvage collection points, and frequently small Class II and IV depots as well. The T/O&E for these units also provided for Class III distribution, but this function was not performed in the European theater. The ETO troop basis allocated 6 companies to an army, but Littlejohn and most of the army quartermasters recommended that this be increased to 8, and that railhead companies be deployed like gasoline supply companies-2 to each corps, 1 at the army depot, and 1 to operate a supply point for the army headquarters and rear area troops. As utilized in the ETO to distribute Class I, II, and IV supplies, the railhead company could support 60,000 men, or twice its theoretical capacity. In Ninth Army, 2 railhead companies filled the place of a nonavailable depot supply company, and successfully operated a Class I army depot.64
During an advance truckheads had to be considerably more mobile than army dumps to keep the troops supplied. In the pursuit across France, First Army’s Class I truckheads were displaced on an average of once every four days, in leapfrog fashion by platoons. The average distance moved was 35 miles. From late September until the German counterattack in December, truckheads were relatively static. As the predominant means of transportation changed from truck to rail, supply points were moved to more convenient sites, but space directly alongside a rail line was rarely available. Low-lying sites had to be vacated because of autumn rains. There was a great scarcity of well-drained hard-stands, and the period was characterized by emergency open storage along the shoulders of roads, on towpaths along canals, and on airfield runways. In some instances the extreme forward location of the dumps caused difficulties, since routes from combat units to truckheads were parallel to the front. Such lateral routes had low priorities for engineer repairs, and occasionally were subject to enemy artillery fire.65
The Ninth Army was unique in the ETO in that it normally assigned a QM group to command the army’s QM troops supporting each corps, and to back up the QM battalion commanding the corps’ own QM troops. For example, the 543rd and 550th QM Groups remained with the VIII and XVI Corps respectively until the German surrender. In addition to the Class I and III truck-heads, these groups each controlled two truck companies, a salvage collecting company, and the equipment maintenance platoon of a salvage repair
company. The salvage collecting company also sorted salvage, performed minor repairs, and operated a captured enemy matériel depot. Ninth Army’s bakeries were not in the truckheads but were grouped to the rear of the corps boundaries under a single battalion headquarters. They were supported by a special bakery materials depot separate from the army Class I depot. The Ninth Army QM office held daily meetings with the group commanders to insure close coordination of operations, and used them as a main channel for liaison with the corps quartermasters.66
Quartermaster at the Corps Level
As General Bradley aptly put it, the combat head of the corps is larger than its supporting tail. Unlike the army or the division, which were both administrative and tactical units, the corps was essentially a tactical headquarters and, when part of an army, was not a link in the chain of supply. The Quartermaster Section of corps headquarters therefore served primarily as a liaison and coordinating agency, with only those operating functions pertaining to the supply of corps troops.67
Much of the contact between the corps and army quartermasters was maintained through Quartermaster unit commanders who operated the forward truckheads provided by the army for each corps. Through them, the corps forwarded requisitions and recommended future locations of army railheads and truckheads. Whenever there was any likelihood that the army supply mission would interfere with the corps tactical mission, the corps prevailed. In October, for example, the Third Army quartermaster was unable to exploit the storage and track facilities at Nancy because the local corps commander wanted supply activity in his area held to a minimum.68
A conspicuous exception to the general rule that a corps acted purely as a tactical unit was the VIII Corps move westward into Brittany, while the main body of Third Army turned to the east. Here a separate supply system, based partly on ADSEC and partly on direct shipments from the United Kingdom, was set up for the corps, which in turn established its own supply points for forward distribution. This setup continued until Brittany Base Section assumed control of the Rennes depot on 21 August and became the main source of corps supply. The typical army-corps supply relationship was retained only to the extent that Colonel Busch of Third Army sent the 543rd Quartermaster Group to Brest to act as his representative, process VIII Corps requisitions, and act as a provisional regulating station to check on and expedite deliveries.69 The 543rd QM Group remained with VIII Corps when the latter became the nucleus of the new Ninth Army.
Supply arrangements for VIII Corps were extremely informal. In mid-September, as the fight for Brest reached its climax, Lt. William A. Harnist and 10
trucks of the 3909th QM Truck Company set out for a secret rendezvous at Morlaix, a small port deep in the Brittany Peninsula. He carried 26 driver replacements who had just been flown in from England. From Morlaix, these men drove off 26 trucks landed by LSTs and loaded with essential supplies for the siege of Brest. Although the area was by no means cleared of the enemy and was without local security of any kind, Lieutenant Harnist’s provisional truck unit improvised its own port organization and operated this minor port for nearly a month.70
Corps Quartermaster Sections had no organic units but First Army, the earliest army to become operational upon the Continent and a creator of precedents in many fields, attached a QM battalion headquarters and five QM units to each of its corps. These were: a service company, a graves registration company, two truck companies, and a car platoon. Late in September 1944, a laundry company and a fumigation and bath company, previously located in the truck-heads, were also attached to each corps. Moreover, two additional truck companies were attached to each corps that controlled an armored division. Subject to availability of units, this pattern was imitated by the other armies on the Continent. The Third Army was an exception with regard to truck units, which it attached to the G-4 Section of each corps headquarters as required. Thus the number of truck units actually present with a corps of Third Army was usually the same, but they were not commanded by the corps quartermaster.71
The office of the corps quartermaster was staffed by four officers and five enlisted men; one or two additional enlisted men were frequently borrowed from the subordinate QM battalion headquarters. This office was both a special staff section of corps headquarters and an agency exercising operational control over subordinate QM units.
The organization of such a unit is illustrated by the OQM, XIX Corps, which was successively under First and Ninth Armies. Its functions were performed by three subsections. The supply subsection made reconnaissance and recommended locations of truckheads and railheads, disseminated information on opening and closing dates of such installations, supervised and conducted inspections to insure that distribution was correct and equitable, and monitored levels of supply and equipment in divisions. The field service subsection supervised operations of all subordinate QM units except the graves registration company. Specifically, it was responsible for allocating services by corps motor and labor pools, laundry, fumigation and bath, and attached salvage units. It also directed the internal salvage collection and repair programs of the corps, and coordinated evacuation of surplus items to army salvage points. The graves registration subsection supervised evacuation from divisional graves registration collection points to army cemeteries, and coordinated identification procedures with division and corps personnel officers. During periods of forward movement, it established and administered
cemeteries until they were transferred to army jurisdiction.72
The XII Corps Quartermaster Section, which saw continuous duty with Third Army from August 1944 to V-E Day, and may be considered typical for units having no transportation responsibilities, was somewhat differently organized. The field service subsection inspected divisional Quartermaster installations, supervised laundries, bath units, and other supporting quartermaster organizations furnished by Third Army, and made ground and aerial reconnaissance for advanced supply installations. The Class III and evacuation subsection supervised the issue of petroleum products, assumed responsibility for corps level aspects of the graves registration program, and acted as the purchasing and contracting agency for the corps quartermaster. Class I, Class II and IV, and salvage activities, as well as the processing of requisitions for controlled and critical items, fell under the jurisdiction of the supply subsection. In a unit as small as the corps Quartermaster Section all officers and enlisted men had several responsibilities. They were also expected to keep abreast of all QMC activities in the headquarters and be prepared to perform other than assigned duties without loss of organizational efficiency.73
While the office of the corps quartermaster defined policies and allocated supplies and services among the combat units, the detailed operations of its subordinate QM units were supervised by the attached Quartermaster battalion, which was normally located near the rear echelon of corps headquarters. The battalion telephone switchboard was an important link between the corps QM office and the subordinate QM companies. This unit was largely concerned with routine inspections, personnel administration, courts-martial, welfare activities, and the like, but also reported in detail on the supplies and services provided by its subordinate QM companies. Thus, for example, the 1st QM Battalion (Mobile), while supporting XIX Corps all across western Europe, utilized the g70th QM Service Company to operate a Class II and IV depot and a collecting point for captured equipment and fuels. The company’s platoons and sections performed miscellaneous services, from digging graves at a corps cemetery in the rear to collecting salvage in the zone of infantry regiments. A major responsibility was loading and unloading the corps truck units as well as the daily train whenever rail service was available. During April 1945 the unit itself operated a train between Hildesheim and Ochersleben, Germany.
The 4045th and 4046th QM Truck Companies transported all classes of supply for XIX Corps units, but their greatest single task was the transportation of combat troops. During August and part of September 1944, they were augmented by a provisional truck company drawn largely from vehicles of attached corps artillery. Allocating truck transportation was a jealously guarded prerogative of the corps QM office. For example, on one occasion the battalion headquarters had to delay a planned displacement until the corps quartermaster released five trucks for the move, although in theory the truck
companies were subordinate to the bat-talion.74
The 3rd Platoon, 506th QM Car Company, later redesignated 90th QM Car Platoon, was attached directly to the XIX Corps command post, and was used to transport staff officers and provide courier service. Its vehicles were almost always dispatched singly. With practice, its drivers learned how to read foreign maps and ask directions in foreign languages—special skills needed for this type of duty.
The 852nd Fumigation and Bath Company also operated principally in the forward portion of the corps area, providing an exchange of clothing to combat troops and sending soiled clothing to the 599th QM Laundry Company, usually located near the corps command post. Like many similar units in the ETO, the 852nd had enough men to operate more than its TAO allowance of two shower trailers, since the fumigation equipment was seldom used. The usual deployment was one platoon near the corps command post for corps troops and one division, and the other platoon in a central location to serve two more divisions. This was not very adequate service, and these “compromise” locations inevitably favored corps and rear area troops at the expense of combat units.
Laundry units were also situated too far to the rear to benefit combat troops, but for somewhat different reasons. The laundry company with its 16 trailers had only four prime movers, which restricted mobility and made it very difficult to split up the company. The 599th usually operated from not more than two locations, both too far to the rear to give direct service to troops in combat. When the tactical situation permitted, the XIX Corps maintained a rest center supported by one bath and one laundry platoon. General Busch, the Third Army quartermaster, agreed with division quartermasters who believed that laundry and bath units of suitable size and mobility should be attached to divisions to give service to troops actually engaged in combat. At least one AGF observer came to similar conclusions, but given the equipment and troop basis actually available for the European campaign, attachment of such units to corps headquarters was probably the best solution.75
Originally, XIX Corps attached one platoon of the 608th Graves Registration Company to each of its subordinate divisions and operated a corps cemetery. Once the Normandy area was left behind, lengthening lines of communication added to the difficulty of evacuation. Nevertheless, casualties were comparatively light during the pursuit, and First Army directed that interments be centralized in cemeteries already established, for which the army took over responsibility. Combat units were directed to evacuate their dead to divisional collecting points, where a detachment of the corps graves registration unit received them and brought them to an army relay point. At the relay point trailer-loads of remains were transferred from corps vehicles to vehicles of the company operating the army cemetery. Under this system, a six-man section from the corps graves registration unit
was adequate at each division collecting point. This procedure made available teams for a thorough search of areas left behind by the combat troops. As the campaign in the ETO continued, a minimum number of new army cemeteries closer to the front were established, and old cemeteries were transferred to COMZ, but the evacuation system remained basically unchanged. XIX Corps with attached service units was transferred to Ninth Army late in October 1944, and for a short time the 608th had to evacuate remains for no less than seven divisions. During this period, to conserve manpower, Ninth Army dead were interred in the First Army cemetery at Henri-Chappelle.76
While corps level QM battalion headquarters had mainly administrative responsibilities for their subordinate operating units, the provost marshal of each corps formulated emergency plans assigning command functions to these headquarters with regard to tactical security in the rear areas. Such plans went into effect at the time of the German counteroffensive in December. For example during the period 17-31 December 1944, Lt. Col. Fred L. Koosa, commanding officer of the 97th QM Battalion, was military commander of the city of Eupen, Belgium, in addition to his normal duties in support of V Corps. The various types of service units under his command had several tactical contacts with enemy units and captured a number of parachutists who had landed in their area.77
The Quartermaster in the Combat Division
The smallest combat formation containing all the essential ground arms and services, the division was also the lowest echelon at which the QMC was represented. Tables of Organization provided a Quartermaster company for infantry, cavalry, and airborne divisions. By late 1943 the armored division retained only a divisional quartermaster with his personal staff.78
The evolution of organic Quartermaster units within combat divisions through 1943, and their operations in the Mediterranean campaign, have already been described.79 On 10 June 1944 (D plus 4 in Normandy) the authorized strength of the QM company, infantry division, was officially reduced by seven enlisted men to a total of 186 officers and men, but without significant change in organization. The operating units were three truck platoons and a service platoon. Each of the truck platoons had a strength of 1 officer and 28 enlisted men, operating 16 trucks of 2½ tons capacity. The service platoon consisted of 1 officer and 48 men. The company headquarters was primarily a support and administrative unit; its 30 enlisted men were principally auto mechanics and mess personnel, and its 2 officers were largely concerned with discipline. These functions were subject to little variation, and their performance was virtually the same in all infantry divisions.
The Office of the Division Quartermaster (ODQM) was a true headquarters, responsible for operations, planning, and coordination with other headquarters; its 14 enlisted men were largely clerical. Since the division quartermaster had an assistant or executive officer, a purchasing and contracting officer, and a supply officer to assist him, he was relieved of administrative detail and the more routine aspects of operations. Moreover, under the current TAO, division quartermasters delegated the position of company commander to one of their subordinates, usually a captain.80
By formal designation, the division quartermaster was both a special staff officer and a troop commander. His staff functions rarely amounted to more than keeping the G-4 informed of the status of supply, but since his troops were service troops operating in support of combat units, their correct employment involved a great deal of liaison, coordination, and planning. The types and quantities of supplies required fluctuated constantly, and during mobile combat the time lag between requisition and delivery become so great that the quartermaster had to do considerably more than merely consolidate the requisitions of subordinate units. Successful and adequate QM support for a division in combat demanded anticipating at least two days in advance the types and quantities of supplies that would probably be required, and the locations where they would be needed at least twelve hours in advance. Supply reserves in the combat units and in the QM company could compensate for occasional errors, but repeated misjudgment of supply needs could lead to exhaustion of both the operating reserves and the physical stamina of the supply personnel.
The necessary forecasting did not require any mystical prophetic power or unusual brilliance, but it did demand an intimate and up-to-date detailed knowledge of the intentions and decisions of subordinate combat unit commanders. Even when available in the forward areas telephone service was not secure enough for a discussion of future operations, so that in practice the division quartermaster or his assistant had to make almost daily visits to the command post of each unit actively engaged. Securing the needed supplies also demanded personal conferences with truckhead commanders, the corps quartermaster, and occasionally with the army quartermaster. The travel involved sometimes exceeded 10,000 miles per month, not including route reconnaissance or selection of new distribution point sites—functions usually delegated to junior QM officers. Despite this time-consuming liaison activity, the division quartermaster was primarily a troop commander. He had to decide personally how and where his men should be employed, and he was responsible for the efficiency of their performance.81
In the ETO, infantry divisions were normally supplied by the trucks of the organic QM company, which drew Class I and III supplies daily at an army truckhead and distributed them to the
vehicles of combat units at a divisional distribution point. The distribution point was manned by the service platoon of the company, which transferred supplies from divisional trucks to those of combat units.82 Whenever possible, service platoon members also accompanied trucks to the army truckheads to load supplies, as this step resulted in a significant saving of time. Time and not tonnage capacity was the limiting factor in all QM truck operations. Using the ration trucks on their return trips to evacuate salvage and POW’s was theoretically desirable and clearly necessary under the conditions of combat. The extra time involved in delivery and unloading at a salvage collecting point or POW inclosure actually imposed a severe strain, since all vehicles were assigned a full schedule of regular duties. Transportation was always at a premium, and was frequently on loan to other technical services and to the combat units. Relief drivers were a constant source of difficulty, since they could seldom be taken from the service platoon, which had to provide the labor to collect salvage, sort laundry, operate unit showers, assist graves registration units, and perform all the miscellaneous services commonly demanded of the quartermaster by other divisional units.
During active combat, when supply lines lengthened and thousands of additional combat troops were attached to each division, the organic QM company proved inadequate for its tasks. Whenever possible, the corps loaned troops from its service company to hard-pressed divisions. Augmentations from various sources bringing the company strength up to 250 men or more were fairly common, especially during the pursuit across France. Apparently the QM Company, 1st Division, retained the men who had been authorized in 1942 for the old QM battalion, infantry division, until their numbers were reduced by attrition in 1945. The 36th Division QM Company was about too men over-strength in the fall of 1944. The 4th Division quartermaster was assigned convalescent combat troops who had been returned to the division but were only fit for limited duty. He also arranged to have battle fatigue cases attached to his unit during their recovery period. In December 1944 the 84th Division quartermaster remarked enviously that “the QM’s of the 4th, 29th and 30th Divisions are all operating with about 250 men.”83
These augmentations were needed particularly for salvage activities. The 84th Division obtained the use of some prisoners (Dutch Nazis), who sorted salvage, scrubbed web equipment, laundered socks, and dried out boots. While not strictly salvage, the last two activities were extremely valuable for morale and health in Holland’s wet winter climate. A similar expedient was “Rosey’s Repair Shop,” organized by a German-speaking enlisted man of the 29th Division QM Company from German civilian construction workers captured at Brest. This unofficial ten-man unit specialized in shoe repair and remained with the division for many months. The division quartermaster remarked that an organic
unit for this purpose that did not require security guards would have been desirable.84
The truck platoons of the QM company likewise required additional men to operate effectively. The T/O allocation of 1 noncommissioned officer and 12 enlisted men for each section of 8 trucks was adequate only for relatively static situations, when the round trip to the army truckhead did not require the services of a relief driver. The over-strength of 26 men per company authorized for army truck units was never extended to divisional QM units, which had to provide relief drivers by unofficial means.85 On the other hand, the allotment of vehicles to the divisional QM company was adequate even when the round trip to the army truckhead could not be completed in one day.
The 84th Division quartermaster reported in November 1944 that on a typical day he dispatched 14 trucks for Class I, 4 for Class III, 3 for Class II, 3 for salvage and laundry, and the balance for hauling mines, wire, coal, personnel, and so forth. In this instance only 24 trucks were dispatched on purely Quartermaster missions, and of these only the Class II supplies, which had to be brought from an army depot, represented a long haul. Class I and III were drawn at army truckheads at about 0800 each day, and reached the dispatch office (in the bivouac area) by 1100. Under such conditions, trucks were readily available for other duties, and the division QM reported that “about every other night we furnish 40 to 46 trucks to haul an infantry battalion from the line, ordinarily just after dark. We take it to the nearest fumigation and bath unit, where the men bathe, eat a hot meal, and bed down in a quiet area. The next day they are re-equipped as much as possible and return to division reserve or to the line.”86
The detailed functioning of the office of the division quartermaster varied considerably from one unit to another in the ETO, the main variable being the relative personal importance of the G-4 and the division quartermaster. In the 28th Division, two successive G-4’s were former quartermasters of the same division. It was perhaps inevitable that they treated the incumbent division quartermaster as a very junior subordinate, and exercised direct control over all QM functions. The QM company and its dumps were located within a division maintenance area a few miles to the rear of the command post. This area was selected by the G-4 and guarded by a platoon of combat troops who were commanded by the special troops commander. The QM company, with other technical service units in the division maintenance area, was subordinate to Headquarters, Special Troops, in all administrative matters. The transportation section was placed at division headquarters directly under the G-4, and the
division quartermaster had no direct responsibility for this function. Since the transportation officer of the ODQM was also purchasing and contracting officer, purchasing and contracting were also controlled by the G-4. This was of minor importance since in the 28th Division a purchasing and contracting officer in each regiment and in the divisional artillery headquarters did the bulk of emergency local procurement necessary during active operations. The balance of the ODQM, the supply and administrative sections, was physically located with the QM company. The supply section handled all classes of supply including salvage and repair functions. The commander of the service platoon was also designated division Class I officer, and was thus responsible for procurement as well as distribution of rations. The assistant division QM and his small administrative section handled all field service functions and records and kept an up-to-date situation map. This division of responsibilities freed the division QM for the essential task of maintaining constant liaison with division headquarters and with the corps and army QM offices and installations that served the division. Difficulties of communication in a fluid situation and the secret and detailed nature of the information regarding future operations required to coordinate QM service for combat units made personal contacts mandatory. Lt. Col. William P. Simmons, Jr., the division quartermaster, was not only constantly on the road himself, but frequently found it necessary to send out all his staff officers and three or four of the six QM company officers in all directions after supplies or information.87
The 29th Division probably provided the greatest contrast with the working methods of the 28th. From June until early October 1944, the 29th QM Company maintained two Class III distributing points for the division and delivered Class I, II, and IV supplies direct to using units. Beginning on 5 October, it distributed all classes of supply except solid fuel to the 29th Division and all attached units. This service became a division policy and was only interrupted during periods of extremely mobile warfare. It required transportation from an army dump, unloading and breakdown at a central point within the division area, and reloading and delivery to the ultimate consumer. This was an unusual effort, attempted by other division quartermasters only under exceptionally favorable conditions and regarded by the division staff as the primary responsibility of the division quartermaster, who was able to maintain close control over his own personnel and vehicles for that purpose. This service freed the vehicles of the combat units for other duties, including a variety of chores that in other divisions were often performed by the Quartermaster company. Significantly, the report from this QM company stated that it was “frequently able to assist” other elements of the division by hauling salvage from the forward areas, evacuating POW’s and refugees, transporting replacements, moving division forward and rear headquarters installations, and hauling supplies for other technical services.88 Within most divisions in the ETO, the QM company was utilized as a divisional transportation pool, and the enumerated functions
were regarded as normal Quartermaster responsibilities.
Like the divisions in Normandy and Belgium, those which advanced through southern France found their organic Quartermaster companies an important link in the chain of supply. Whether the front advanced rapidly as in the race up the Rhone valley, or slowly as in the autumn of 1944, a Quartermaster company like Lt. Col. Clifton C. Carter’s “Hell drivers” in the 36th Division, closely supported the infantry, setting up ration, clothing, equipment, and petroleum dumps. The rate of advance from the Mediterranean coast was actually faster than the pursuit out of the Normandy beachhead, and the distance division convoys had to travel for supplies was correspondingly longer. Even after the end of the pursuit phase, rail service from the rear developed slowly. In October and November 1944 the 36th QM Company sent three large convoys back to the beaches near Marseille from its location on the upper Moselle—a distance of more than 350 miles. During this period troops and vehicles of other services—for example, Chemical Warfare Service personnel—were attached to the QM company to assist in hauling and handling supplies. The 42nd QM Company, 42nd Division, had even more need for such assistance, since it lost 10 of its trucks by “permanent dispatch” to other elements of the division—8 were turned into office vans by the advance echelon of division headquarters, 1 was permanently dispatched to the nearest Army post office to deliver division mail, and 1 was assigned to the QM purchasing and contracting officer. This officer was able to purchase such needed items as snow camouflage suits and helmet camouflage nets for cash, but invariably had to provide transportation himself. Purchasing also involved persistent searching for goods within villages in the division area, which meant that the purchasing officer must have a free hand and adequate transportation.89
QM in Armored Divisions
The armored divisions lost their organic supply battalions late in 1943 and the QM element of the division was limited to the quartermaster and his staff of three officers and eleven enlisted men.90 In the ETO, two QM truck companies were attached to each armored division engaged in combat. In most divisions, one company was used principally for ammunition and the other for all classes of QM supply, including POL. An armored division required about twice as much gasoline as an infantry division, but the entire unit, including infantry elements, was motorized and organic vehicles drew a considerable part of their required POL direct at army Class III truckheads. The attached truck companies were often loaned to move infantry divisions, since the armored infantry did not need such support.91
The lack of an organic service platoon was regarded as a major deficiency by all armored division quartermasters. Each of the combat commands normally provided a daily ten-man detail for this duty, but a total of thirty men was about half the number required, especially since the men were rotated in this assignment and never became skillful cargo
handlers. Service personnel were sometimes available from corps, but not on a dependable daily basis. When armored combat commands operated separately, attachment of a truck platoon to each took care of Class I and III supply without difficulty.
Army depots normally made the division quartermaster draw Class II and IV supplies for the entire division on a consolidated requisition, and experience demonstrated that this was the best method even when the units were scattered. Any other procedure created confusion in the system of rationing critical items and of providing special allowances to armored units. The 5th Armored Division employed a unique system of allowing its subordinate battalions and companies to draw Class I and III supplies directly at truckheads. Noncommissioned officer representatives of the division quartermaster consolidated these individual requisitions at the truckhead. This procedure completely eliminated double handling at a division distribution point and saved about three hours transit time on delivery of supplies to the using units. The burden, of course, fell on the army truckheads, which required about twice as long (one and a half hours versus forty-five minutes) to fill Class I requisitions on this basis. For Class III the difference was considerably less. The 5th Division quartermaster contended that the daily net saving in manpower and vehicles for Class I alone was thirty man-days and fifteen truck-days, a truly impressive figure which tended to confirm the theoretical validity of at least one aspect of General McNair’s supply doctrines. The difficulty was that during combat the army truckheads were the critical links in the whole supply system and operated on very tight schedules. Divisional ration convoys normally visited truckheads “by appointment,” and were expected to vacate promptly to make room for the next unit. As long as the division was actively engaged and operating with separate combat commands, First and Third Armies tolerated this unusual procedure. Later in the campaign the division was united under Ninth Army, which insisted that Class I supplies be drawn on a division basis.
The combat operations and logistical procedures of the 5th Armored Division overcame many disadvantages of wide dispersion, and are therefore unusually interesting in view of current tactical concepts. The combat commands were committed in widely separated sectors, frequently behind the enemy lines. QM transportation was attached to the separate commands, and the individual ration convoys usually included armored escort vehicles for security. A 250-mile turnaround was not unusual. The quartermaster’s most difficult task was keeping all requisitioning units continuously informed of the location of all army truckheads. Experience also demonstrated that either the division quartermaster or his assistant should have daily personal (not telephonic) contact with the division G-4, each combat command, the corps quartermaster, and those army Class I and III truckheads where his noncommissioned officer representatives were stationed. This involved an enormous amount of travel but was justified by the results. Although the division advanced as much as 70 miles in a single day, and individual combat commands as much as too miles, all subordinate units were kept fully supplied within
the limits permitted by army level rationing.92
The quartermasters of armored divisions, like those of infantry divisions, were unanimously agreed that they could operate more effectively if the more generous allotment of supply personnel authorized to them before the reorganization of 1943 were restored. The best proof of the validity of this contention was the fact that the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions were permitted to retain the older organization, with very minor changes.93
QM in Airborne Divisions
Until late in 1944 the Quartermaster company, airborne division, had a strength of 87 officers and men, and comprised a company headquarters, a service platoon, and an airborne truck platoon of jeeps with ¼-ton trailers. For ground combat after a link-up with friendly forces, a standard truck company was normally attached to each division. A new Table of Organization, dated 16 December 1944, increased the size of the airborne QM company to 1 J officers and 197 enlisted men. What this reorganization actually amounted to was that the old airborne QM company and the attached truck company were combined and one company headquarters was eliminated. The new T/O was adopted in the European theater in March 1945, although AGF still regarded it as tentative.94
Quite apart from the all-important airlift, the supply organization to support airborne operations in the ETO was extremely complicated, comprising no less than five separate echelons: (1) The divisional airborne QM element; (2) the divisional seaborne (or land transported) organic QM element; (3) attached QM troop units; (4) QM depot units at take-off airfields; (5) the organic QM element of division rear.95
For Operation NEPTUNE in Normandy, only staff elements represented the QM in the initial parachute jump.96 Because the troops jumped in darkness and under poor weather conditions, they were so scattered that aerial resupply was extremely difficult. According to plan, a glider landing at dusk on D-day brought in both supplies and reinforcements. The majority of the gliders were wrecked, but most of the supplies were recovered. This was to have been an “on call” resupply, but when it proved impossible to make radio contact, the mission was flown as planned. One parachute resupply was planned—a daylight drop of 480 tons on D plus J to be delivered on an “automatic” basis to both divisions. Less than 40 percent of this tonnage was recovered. On 7 June the 440th Group of the Both Troop Carrier Wing dropped 63 tons of ammunition, 10½ tons of rations, and 21 tons of miscellaneous equipment for the Joist Airborne Division. Three other groups
of the 50th flew missions that day and presumably dropped similar tonnages. The 52nd Wing sent off a total of 234 tons to the 82nd Division, but many aircraft were forced to turn back. Only 156 tons were actually dropped, and less than 100 tons recovered. The inexperienced un-loaders of the 2nd QM Depot Supply Company97 were unable to dump the cargo fast enough, so that in most cases the planes overflew the drop zones before the parachute loads were ejected.98
The division quartermasters, using details of combat troops, collected the airdropped supplies that could be located. Some elements of the 101st Division linked up with the amphibious assault on D-day. The 82nd Division was joined by the attached 3807th QM Truck Company on D plus 2, even before the entire seaborne QM echelon had reported in. For this operation, it should be noted, the service platoon and the air-transportable truck platoon arrived by sea. With a company of 2½-ton trucks available, the division QM found a force of 23 jeeps somewhat superfluous; clearly, they had arrived too late. The division engaged in conventional ground combat for another 31 days, and the division QM reported that his chief difficulty was replacing the large quantities of Class II supplies lost in the airdrop.99
Subsequent operations in the ETO came under the supervision of the First Allied Airborne Army, activated on 2 August 1944 under the command of Lt. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton. The first of these was MARKET, an ambitious project calling for three airborne divisions to secure crossings on 17 September 1944 over three major rivers, the Maas, the Waal, and the Lower Rhine, at Grave, Nijmegen, and Arnhem, respectively. These rivers ran roughly parallel across the southern Netherlands. The airdrops were to be consolidated by Operation GARDEN, a British armored thrust from Eindhoven. For various reasons, MARKET-GARDEN was only partially successful. The British armor, road-bound in the low terrain, took a week instead of three days to reach the south bank of the Rhine, and meanwhile the British 1st Airborne Division, under surprise attack by an unexpected German panzer force, was finally compelled to evacuate its position at Arnhem on the north bank. Poor communications kept higher headquarters in ignorance of the situation at Arnhem for three days, and during this period weather conditions had become so bad that only meager reinforcements could be flown in. The Allies maintained their Maas and Waal bridgeheads, but Arnhem was not recaptured until April 1945.100
MARKET demonstrated considerable improvement in airborne techniques. The same airborne units used for the NEPTUNE operation took off from the same airfields in England. The initial airdrops—by daylight, this time—were extremely accurate, and the landing of reinforcements by glider on D plus was entirely successful. On this occasion 3 officers and 48 enlisted men of the
426th QM Company (101st Airborne Division) landed near Zon, Holland, on D plus 1. Another report states that 146 jeeps and 109 trailers for the 101st Division arrived that day by glider, so that presumably the quartermasters received at least part of their vehicles.101 Procedures in the QM company, 82nd Division, were probably very similar, but have not been recorded in detail. Recalling the failure of the “on call” procedure in Normandy, the G-4, XVIII Airborne Corps, had arranged for all resupply to be automatic, with the division commander reserving the right to cancel specific missions. As in the Normandy operation, resupply cargoes at the takeoff airfields in England were packed and loaded on the planes by the 490th QM Depot Company, an ASF unit, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Air Cargo Resupply Squadrons. These three AAF units had been trained in cargo packing and parachute rigging techniques by the 490th, and all four units were grouped into the 2nd Mobile QM Battalion (Provisional), attached to the IX Troop Carrier Command. Resupply requests were channeled from the command posts of the airborne divisions to their own rear echelons in the United Kingdom, and then to the depot units.102
Because of the distance from the United Kingdom only one supply mission per day could be flown. On D plus 1, since the skilled pilots of the IX Troop Carrier Command were all occupied with bringing in reinforcements and combat equipment, the parachute resupply missions were flown by 252 bombers of the Eighth Air Force. The ball turrets of the B-24 aircraft had been removed so that loads could be dropped more quickly over the designated drop zones, but quick-release mechanisms were lacking. The pilots were unfamiliar with supply drops, the kick-out crews were completely untrained, and the small drop zones were surrounded by enemy troops. Under such circumstances, it was not surprising that less than 30 percent of the 782 tons of supplies was recovered. Four days of extremely bad weather followed, and resupply missions were limited in scope and poorly executed. By D plus 6 when visibility improved, the tactical situation had deteriorated. In particular the British airhead near Arnhem had been so narrowed down by enemy pressure that even skilled pilots had difficulty dropping supplies into it.
Meanwhile the U.S. airborne units had made contact with friendly ground forces and ceased to rely on air supply. The seaborne echelons joined the 101st Division on D plus 4, and the 82nd on D plus 6, respectively. Since the MARKET operation had been located within the British zone, a special U.S. depot organization had been assembled at Brussels under XVIII Airborne Corps. The QM elements involved were four truck companies, a service company, and two graves registration platoons. The 26th, 95th, and 104th U.S. Infantry Divisions were stripped of their vehicles for use in transporting supplies to the Brussels depot, where an average of 627 tons per day was brought in from Normandy. Although the original plans called for immediate relief of the airborne divisions, this proved to be impossible. The 82nd
and 101st Divisions were engaged in ground combat within the British zone for seven and nine weeks, respectively. Because of the location, quartermasters had even greater difficulties with Class II and IV items than in the case of NEPTUNE, and they required an elaborate organization. As Colonel Younger observed, this commitment of a small U.S. combat force within the British zone resulted in an inefficient employment of QM troops.103
Logistically, the most interesting aspect of the MARKET operation was an attempt to set up a forward airhead. On D plus 4 intelligence reported a good German airfield across the Maas River from Grave, not previously identified because it had not been used recently and was unmarked. The British Airborne Corps immediately asked permission to bring in the British Airborne Forward Delivery Airfield Group (AFDAG), an antiaircraft artillery battery, and the U.S. 878th Airborne Engineer Battalion, to be followed by supplies and possibly by the 52 Lowland Infantry Division (Airtransportable) . On D plus 9, 209 C-47’s landed AFDAG and the antiaircraft unit, the latter without guns because poor weather prevented the use of gliders. In three hours and fifty minutes all planes landed, unloaded, picked up U.S. glider pilots to be evacuated, and took off safely. Although a link-up had been achieved three days earlier, supply by truck was still inadequate and a major aerial resupply at this field was planned for the next day, D plus 10. But that morning a column of 125 trucks of 83 Group (Tactical), Royal Air Force, arrived without advance notice to organize the field as a fighter base. The resupply mission was canceled and the U.S. Engineer unit was sent elsewhere. Higher headquarters had decided that defense against increased Luftwaffe activity in the area had priority.
This episode typified the perpetual tug-of-war between airborne and air forces. Control over troop carrier aircraft was a particularly sensitive point. Whenever an airborne operation was scheduled, more than 50 percent of “normal” freight airlift of the entire ETO had to be canceled. But the airborne forces contended that they merely “loaned” troop carrier aircraft for freight service when not needed for tactical missions. In this case, the significant feature was the five-day delay before a forward airfield could be occupied. During those five crucial days the British were forced to evacuate Arnhem, the real objective of the whole operation. Bad weather and poor communications were undoubtedly contributing factors, but the enormous number of aircraft already being used for MARKET and the great complexity of all airborne operations were the main deterrents to prompt action. It was most unfortunate that AFDAG, a unique unit without a U.S. counterpart, never had another opportunity to demonstrate its capabilities. Equally unfortunate, and hard to understand in retrospect, is the fact that apparently no advance plans had been made to exploit captured airfields for resupply purposes, although that procedure was a part of U.S. airborne doctrine, and indeed was recognized by airborne experts of all nationalities as a basic requirement for a strategic airborne operation. Without its own aerial
“port of debarkation,” even a large airborne operation had only tactical significance.104
At Bastogne, the commitment of the 101st Airborne Division may be described as a fortunate accident. At the time of the German Ardennes offensive the division had been in reserve in the Reims area since 27 November, refitting after the MARKET operation. It moved into Bastogne by road on 18 December and received supplies by normal means until it was cut off on the 21st. Then the fact that it was an airborne division contributed a great deal to its survival. Working through its own rear echelon, the 101st maintained very satisfactory liaison with the IX Troop Carrier Command, and arranged for three parachute resupply missions which were 98 percent successful.105
Formidable difficulties had to be overcome to achieve these results. The weather was invariably unfavorable. Air cargo personnel, aerial delivery containers, and cargo parachutes were all in very short supply and were concentrated in Great Britain, so that a plan for resupply from French airfields had to be canceled. The British offered to help, but only British containers could be carried in British aircraft, and none were ready-packed with U.S. supplies. Then it developed that the main need was for artillery ammunition, which could not be dropped satisfactorily with parachutes and drop containers of the current design. Gliders were hastily assembled, including many that had been salvaged after the operations in Normandy and Holland. Supplies successfully landed by glider included 53 tons of ammunition and 2,975 gallons of POL. Largely because of enemy antiaircraft fire, glider operations were only about 61 percent successful. The roads into Bastogne were reopened on 27 December, and further air resupply missions were canceled. As a result of this experience COMZ designed and stockpiled an air-transportable “brick” that could supply an airborne division for one day. It weighed 270.5 tons, and could be readily adapted to an infantry or armored division by addition of suitable artillery ammunition and POL.106
VARSITY—the last airborne operation in the ETO—supported the Rhine River crossings of British Second Army and U.S. First Army by an airdrop near Wesel on 24 March 1945. British airborne units were again flown in from the United Kingdom, but the 17th Airborne Division took off from airfields in Belgium and northern France. Since existing airfields in this area were all in use by tactical aircraft, twelve special fields had to be built for the airborne operation, to accommodate some goo aircraft. The construction effort required 720,000 man-hours and over 13,500 tons of pierced-steel planking, plus large quantities of gravel and asphalt. These statistics explain why the Army Air Forces delayed transferring airborne
units to France, although flying weather there was usually more favorable than in Great Britain.107
VARSITY itself, although tactically the largest airborne operation in the ETO, was of minor interest logistically.108 The drop zones were within range of friendly artillery support, only four miles beyond the Rhine, and enemy resistance was slight. The amphibious attack had preceded the airdrop, and the link-up was completed by evening of D-day. In summary, even the most ambitious airborne operations attempted in the ETO were essentially tactical, with limited objectives, and therefore no significant innovations in air supply were required or developed in that theater.
In all the varied methods of operating described above, the divisional QM units were extremely active, and indeed essential. This fact is mentioned only because it was contrary to the basic assumptions and doctrines of the commanding general of Army Ground Forces. As late as October 1943 General McNair personally drafted an AGF directive to the effect that “Division and corps are not in the channel of supply except in emergencies.”109 As an essential corollary he also assumed that the army headquarters could and would push supply points forward so that the using units would not have to haul supplies more than twenty to thirty miles. As in the Mediterranean operations, manpower and vehicular allotments of the Quartermaster company were cut in the confidence that combat battalions and regiments would draw their supplies directly from army truck-heads, that vehicles in the Quartermaster company would merely constitute a reserve, that sorting and loading would be done by army service personnel, and that unloading would be handled by the receiving units. In practice, combat conditions in the ETO vindicated the judgments of Mediterranean commanders, who had recommended larger organic QM units, rather than the theories of General McNair. Indeed by his criteria one or another of the American armies was experiencing an “emergency” during at least nine months of the eleven-month European campaign.110
The core of the tactical supply problem involved the distance from the division distribution point to the site where supplies were actually available. Divisional QM companies had no difficulty in exceeding the theoretical limitation of about thirty-five miles. But major difficulties arose during mobile warfare, when the army truckheads were sometimes more than 100 miles to the rear; all too often they also failed to have on hand the specific items urgently needed by the combat units, which had to haul from transfer points or even from depots in the Communications Zone. Division
quartermasters probably considered only the longest hauls experienced worthy of comment, but their reports repeatedly mention trips of 200 miles or more back to the nearest point where necessary supplies were on hand. Divisional QM units frequently reported that their vehicles had averaged 3,000 miles per month, and occasionally even 5,000 miles,111 and still complained that their divisions were not being adequately supplied. Clearly, these averages represented a volume of supply support that the combat units (regiments and battalions) could never have provided with their own vehicles. On this point, ETO quartermasters and troop commanders were in unanimous agreement.112
In fairness to General McNair, it should be pointed out that his doctrine of supply support procedures was entirely consonant with forecasts at SHAEF regarding the nature of operations anticipated on the Continent. The application of his theories was cautious and moderate enough so that the cut-down divisional QM company of mid-1943 was able to function in a quite different manner than originally intended, and under combat conditions that had not been anticipated. Moreover, the variations in operating procedure from one division to the next argue for a hidden margin of support capability, which was not recognized by ETO quartermasters. Nevertheless QM operations were conducted under constant strain and the continual need to borrow men and vehicles from other organizations—conditions which appeared to justify a larger organization.
Probably the strongest statement in support of an enlarged Quartermaster company at divisional level was that of Colonel Busch, the Third Army quartermaster, who devoted almost half of one major report to a recommendation for the reorganization of this unit.113 Busch called for the expansion of the divisional Quartermaster company into a battalion composed of a headquarters, two truck companies, and a service company. Third Army, for instance, had always been obliged to dispatch truck companies to enable the divisions to carry on their normal supply functions, while armored divisions had found even these reinforcements inadequate under strained conditions. Busch’s conception of an ideal Quartermaster organization at division level also included manpower specializing in ration breakdown, gasoline distribution, and guard duties, and sections providing bath, laundry, salvage and repair services.114 Coming from a score of battle-hardened division quartermasters, and summarized by Patton’s army quartermaster at the close of the victorious European campaign, these recommendations in behalf of a more generously endowed organization were not to be taken lightly. Nor were they.
The sequel is both interesting and instructive. In March 1945 the Army Ground Forces, then headed by Gen.
Joseph W. Stilwell, recommended a complete reorganization of the infantry division, including an augmented QM company of 246 officers and men. This was an admission that General McNair’s Reduction Board had gone too far in its pruning, and that the organization adopted in 1943 had been found wanting. But shortly thereafter the War Department rejected Stilwell’s proposal, remarking that it would have been adopted “if personnel limitations were less critical.”115 In the organization actually adopted by the War Department on 1 June 1945, the infantry division was increased by 1,801 men, so that the burden upon the unchanged QM company was actually increased.116 The implication is inescapable that the War Department found McNair’s decision, based upon precisely the same considerations, sound at least insofar as the QM company was concerned. At the highest Army level, personnel economy was the overriding factor on both occasions. This is not to say that the QM company authorized for the European campaign was ideal or even efficient, but it represented a practicable minimum organization which had worked in the ETO, and was expected to give adequate performance again in the final campaign against Japan.