Logistics: Improvised ammunition supply (in the middle of World War II's largest logistical feat)
American artillery prime mover towing captured German 88 into action.
Most folks -- even those comparatively well-read about World war Two -- don't know about the October-November 1944 ammunition famine.
A little paperback volume that I traded for at the gun show this weekend -- 48 Million Tons to Eisenhower by LTC Randolph Leigh, Infantry Journal, December 1945 -- details how the Americans improvised a stop-gap solution:
In the November ammunition shortage in artillery shells, Ordnance technicians made good use of captured enemy ammunition and weapons. In overrunning France and Belguim to the Seigried Line, American troops came upon large reserve depots whih the Germans had established in the vicinity of Verdun and the Argonne Forest. Many thousands of rounds of German 75mm, 88mm, 105mm, and 155mm artillery ammunition were found within easy reach of the forces in the Metx sector. This ammunition was tested, tagged for proper use and distributed to our own gun crews, Where certain types, such as the German 88mm, did not fit U.S. weapons, captured German guns were put to use after being serviced and repaired. In order to make use of large stocks of 50mm mortar ammunition, for which neither American nor German weapons were available, a weapon was improvised by an Ordnance officer and its manufacture was carried on locally. -- Page 95
6 comments:
Notice that the historians don't mention that the reason for the ammo shortage was the piss poor decision making on the part of "Ike" and Bradly who told the pentagon 1n Sep. of 1944 that they "needed no more reinforcement" and needed DC to "begin sending replacements to the Pacific" because "The war with Germany is all but over" Ammunition was not the only crisis clothing, food, replacements, fuel , were all in short supply until late Feb. - early Mar. of '45 The ONLY reason we won in '45 was the Russian army holding down and kicking the shit out of the 90% of the Axis army's that fought on the "Russian front". THAT's RIGHT! The US never faced more than 10% of the Axis army's at any point in WW-2. The "war" was mostly fought in Russia and China (90% of the German army fought in Russia 90+% of the Jap army was in China)
Necessity is the mother of invention!
OR
Necessity is a mother!
You choose.
"Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics."
- Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC (Commandant of the Marine Corps) 1980
Capturing the port of Antwerp, Belgium in early September, 1944, began to help ease the supply crisis. The Germans targeted the port for attack by V-1 cruise missiles and V-2 rockets. Allied AAA batteries were effective against the V-1, but were helpless against the V-2 once it was launched. Some the batteries protecting Antwerp had radar direction equipment, had previously served at Dover, England and had experience downing V-1’s there using proximity fused munitions.
One of the German objectives of the 1944 Ardennes Offensive/Battle of the Bulge was the recapture of the port of Antwerp to cut Allies supply lines. Several anti-aircraft units southeast of Liege also served in anti-tank and field artillery roles in the battle, as the U.S. Army’s 90mm gun could serve multiple roles similar to the German’s 88mm gun.
http://www.skylighters.org/buzzbombs/
http://www.v2rocket.com/start/chapters/antwerp.html
http://www.519thportbn.com/2010/02/american-anti-aircraft-artillery-at.html
http://www.airdefenseartillery.com/online/2010/Coast%20Artillery%20Journal/Extract/CA%201945/Sep-Oct%201945.pdf
Good, informative read.
To Anonymous July 15, 2013 at 8:12 AM
I know you think you made some kind of point.
But you forget, ignore, or are ignorant that without the Anglo American Strategic bombing campaign the Germans would have made good on the material loss. While bringing new capabilities that Russia could not match, Me 262 for just one example.
Further most Russian troops were burning American gas. Many were eating American food walking on American boots. Significant numbers were taken to the front by American locomotives and trucks.
Where a more than a few fought from American or British tanks or were using American arms.
Many were then patched up With American Medical supplies.
You not only missed the logistical lesson from this post you missed the point.
Just so you could go politicking.
This lesson was not lost on the Soviets who built their post war equipment to be compatible with supplies they expected to capture in NATO supply dumps.
The list I read mentioned fuel ports build to accept nozzles on NATO refueling gear and aircraft hard points build to accept NATO munitions and drop tanks.
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