Red Ball Express
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The Red Ball Express was an enormous convoy system created by Allied forces to supply their forces moving through Europe following the breakout from the D-Day beaches in Normandy. The term "Red Ball" was a railroad phrase referring to express shipping. The system lasted only three months, from August 25 to November 16, 1944, when the port facilities at Antwerp were opened. The term is often used to refer to all WWII European supply convoys by historians and the veterans themselves.
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[edit] Overview
The French railway system had been destroyed by Allied air power prior to the invasion in order to deny their use to the German forces, but thereby leaving trucks the only way to move supplies forward. After the breakout and race to the Seine River there were twenty-eight Allied divisions in the field. For offensive operations each division would consume about 700-750 tons of supplies a day, a total of about 20,000 tons. At its peak the Red Ball operated 5,958 vehicles, and carried about 12,500 tons of supplies a day. Col. Loren Albert Ayers, known to his men as "Little Patton," was in charge of gathering two drivers for every truck, obtaining special equipment and training port battalion personnel as drivers for short hauls.
In order to keep the supplies flowing without delay, two routes were opened from Cherbourg to the forward logistics base at Chartres. The northern route was used for moving supplies forward, the southern for returning trucks. Civilian traffic was denied use of both roads. Convoys of no less than five trucks were allowed, to be escorted in front and behind by a jeep. In reality it was not uncommon for individual trucks to move off as soon as they were loaded. It was also common to disable the engine governors to allow higher power for climbing hills.
The convoys were a primary target of the Luftwaffe. However by 1944 their strength was so reduced that even these tempting and typically easy targets were rarely set on. The biggest problems were maintenance, sleep, and finding enough drivers. Most Red Ball drivers were African Americans, able-bodied soldiers who were denied front-line service but had been attached to various units for other duties.
[edit] Popular Culture
- In 1952 a movie Red Ball Express was made of this outfit. The 12-episode sitcom Roll Out, which ran on CBS from 1973-4, is considered to be loosely based this movie.
- In the PC game Company of Heroes, one of the missions involves opening up a route for and guarding the Red Ball Express
[edit] References
- David P. Colley (2000). The Road to Victory: The Untold Story of World War II's Red Ball Express. Potomac Books. ISBN 1-57488-173-6.
