As a shut-in, disabled vet I want to say how much I appreciate your excellent channel. I love studying history and it's channels like yours that help bring the classroom to my bedside. Thank you for sharing these thought-provoking programs!
From a Fellow Combat Veteran of OEF OIF Thank-you for your service! I agree Army University Press is awesome. The Documentaries which Army U Press puts together are extremely accurate, with massive amounts of info making them all high quality professional products. A favorite of mine ArmyUP creates is their Military Review Journal / Magazine published every couple of months.
These films are fantastic not just in an historical documentary sense, but also incredibly educational in a doctrinal sense. From the Civ- side of the Civ-Mil gap, I enjoy learning how things were done, as well as how they are done today. Thank you for making these so easily available.
Logistics is the most underappreciated aspects of any military, and the lack there of is immediately noticed. Without logistics the army cant move or fight for long. Today these brave folks are derided as POG's(Personnel other than Grunts) . This is disgraceful. These soldiers are themselves in danger to give those grunts what they need to win the battle.
My high school history teacher, Mr. JC Ashton, was a red ball express driver. A veteran like my dad and so many of my teachers back then. He shared a harrowing story of being ambushed& over-run by the Germans and seeing his best friend shot up. Thinking his friend was dead, after the war he later had a chance meeting with him in the USA. Germàn medics had kept him alive. An emotional tale.
As an armchair historian who works in logistics for private industry, this is absolutely great. I'd love to see a similar video made on the logistical coordination efforts for the Berlin Airlift, especially as many of the same concepts described in this video on the Red Ball Express were successfully implemented during the Berlin Airlift, such as one-way traffic routes.
@Jay Schafer logistics is always one of the most important components of victory. Just ask Monty when he was "winning" the North African Campaign, or Romel when he was losing it. Without the tanks, men, and material shipped from the USA North Africa would have been difficult if not impossible.
As an ex-military Logistics Specialist and also working for some time in a military POL environment I can appreciate this movie. Nothing changes, even in the modern day. Logistics are the key to everything. I took my skills back into the civilian world, and built a logistics system from scratch for a company, based on what I had learned over the years in the military. The only things that really changed were the items to move, the suppliers and receivers. But it was still the same basics, getting a item from A to B as efficiently and speedily as possible.
Frontline troops get the glory, well deserved. But they couldn’t operate without a massive support system to sustain them. The logistics described in this video is amazing.
My grandfather was in the 7AD-31-HQ and certainly could not have accomplished anything without these men. Even his sister back home doing teletype was essential to the effort. It's the non combat, combat roles that get the least glory.
We like to thank those black soldiers for doing their duty amidst the racial turmoil that has plagued them throughout their lives. We salute these men for their steadfast efforts to insure the supplies get through. Thank you men!
I find it incredible what resources, organisation and effort are expended in warfare. A great pity we are not so commited to maintaining the planet we all depend upon.
it is so important to see contents like this one, because one of the most vital elements in an army is supplies and logistics! In this special theater of operations, the great job made by the colored troops of the US is not sufficiently underlined, and documentaries like this one contribute to put things straight and under the right light!!! In the army (not the US) I was destined to logistics and the implementation/supplying of medical facilities and food services, and I know about the relentless, non-stopping work it demands, so, well done! Quartermaster and Transport Command!
The Army did a fantastic job getting supplies where they were needed. Definitely the best performance of any nation in the war in this regard. Why go without when you can go with! I always root for Navy but I will concede that this is a phenomenal documentary.
The building at 1:33 is Weymouth Pavilion (Dorset) which was used to house troops prior to embarkation and to treat returning wounded after D-Day. It was destroyed by fire in the 1950s but was rebuilt.
When you consider the supplies the Americans sent to the armies in Europe, Russia, Middle East, N Africa, SE Asia, China and the Pacific Fleet, it was one hell of a feat to produce & coordiinate it all. Wasn't just trucks, planes, tanks, food and ammo, it was building transport and warships, railcars, locomotives, manufacturing tools and equipt, building materials, it is mindboggling.
One great benefit of being a driver on the Red Ball Express is that you were doing a job you could easily convert to civilian work after the war and with the boom of the 50’s and the growing suburbs, truck 14:55 drivers and delivery men were sorely needed.
My uncle drove in the Red Ball Express. Never saw him drive anyway but all out. I wasn’t allowed to ride with him. After his kids were grown his wife got a job as a school bus driver-he always wanted to sub for her but never got to-would’ve been a great sight to see methinks:) rip Uncle Gerald
Great video. I was amazed at the complexity of the whole operation involving numerous branches (QM, Transportation, Military Police, Medical, Signal Corps, etc,) and how despite many man made and natural obstacles, it worked. An extraordinary feat.
My Grandpa was a staff sgt in the redball express. He never talked about it. Im only now beginning to learn about it. He's been gone since 1990. I am glad he doesn't have to doesn't have to see the US GOVT of today. War is a rich man's game. You never heard a working man declare war. Never.
Mine was too, and he didn't like tLking about it as well. Not until we were watching AMC's movie about it... As we watched, he shared and he never like talking about the war.
My Dad was MP SSgt. in charge of Red Ball convoys supplying 1st Army's Evacuation Hospital #67. EH #67 was in Malmedy before during and after Bulge. #67 was in Brand when Ludendorff Bridge captured, Nuremberg on VE Day and Marienbad CZ after VE until autumn.
The situation was exacerbated by the fact that 1,400 British three-ton trucks were found to be useless because of faulty metal alloy used for pistons in both their original and their replacement engines[40] - they could have moved 800 tons per day, enough for two divisions.[41] Offensive operations slowed to a standstill, allowing the German forces their first respite in weeks. wiki Market Garden Logistics
This was a great documentary! What doomed the Germans in 1918 in WWI was nothing except logistics and supply. They simply could not supply the troops fast enough or with the amount needed to hold off the Allies so they asked for an Armistice. Luckily the planners of WWII knew they couldn’t beat the Germans in Europe without a fine tuned supply chain.
If I had to pick between The Shawshank Redemption and this documentary on the Red Ball Express, I would hesitate and choose Shawshank. This thought provoking piece is a testament to the intelligence and virility of the writer. I am intrigued by his ideas, and would like to subscribe to his newsletter.
Don't tell me we can't do it, it's been done before. I went into the army in Jan. 1972 joining B Bat. 1/22 FA. 1st AD in May, 1972 driving 5-ton trucks for the ammo section, then in the early winter I became the supply clerk driving 2.5-ton trucks to Jan. 1975. After the army, I became a driver for an Army Self Service Supply Store hauling everything from Azz-wipe to xerox paper.
I don’t think that there is any question about the success or the “Red Ball Express”, and in my opinion, if it wasn’t for the Red Ball the implications for troops in combat would have been unthinkable, soldiers without the basic necessities for combat, food, water, ammunition and replacement weapons then many more personnel would have either been killed or captured, getting the vast amount of supplies needed for 24 hours would have taken a very long time to get to them using a normal resupply system, a brilliant piece of “improvised, adapt and overcome” by everyone involved with the Red Ball Express system. It strikes me that the system envisaged by the “Operation Overlord” planners would have been adequate if it wasn’t for the fact that the Allies advanced quicker than anyone thought possible and the realisation of that brought about the fastest advancing supply system ever “cobbled together “, my hat is off to them all, but especially the drivers and co-drivers, it must have been dangerous (not just from the enemy) exhausting and probably under appreciated by the troops they were moving heaven and earth to keep in “the fight”. Lest We Forget. I am truly angered by the way the coloured AMERICAN servicemen were treated by their fellow Americans, hadn’t the Civil War and WW1 taught the top brass and the white Americans that the Coloured AMERICANS were every bit as good, if not better in some aspects of service, than their white counterparts, they fought and died for the UNITED States and yet were treated with disrespect and contempt, they bled red blood just like everyone else but were still denied equal status by their superior officers and enlisted personnel. It is a shameful episode in American 🇺🇸 history that has to be remembered and never repeated.
Very interesting. Thank you for posting this. I became a big fan of Brig. Gen. George C. Marshall when I was reading my history. He was the master of logistics. I think he may have even been the one who appointed the Colonel Lee was it, or General Lee? Marshall even won the Nobel Prize for his work. He thought big and it paid off. I grew up in Ohio and I knew black men that had been in the "Red Ball Express." To me it was a miracle what they did but they were always pretty nonchalant about it. "They said they needed it bad and to drive and we did until we couldn't see the road no more," I remember one man telling me. They probably passed out from exhaustion. Can U imagine being one of the guys driving gasoline trucks?
Gota hand it to the narrators and analyst, this is not easy task to explain what's behind every war, logistics and without it, no wars. Often forgotten or totally ignored by the public at large, each person taking part in administrating and supply chains had to withstand a often hellish tempo of work, you just have to tip your hat to these people from the industries, the carries of goods that were ocean civilian navies which often the target of submarines, to eventually the receivers of the goods in which case they had to find ways for these goods to reach their proper destrnation and on time.
At 28:20,we ran short of,'gerry cans because of our troops tossing the empties back onto t deuce and a halves,they'd simply toss them aside causing a more logistics problem.
We Declared war on Germany for invading West Poland , while the Russians took East Poland. At the end of the War our alley Stalin takes all of Poland and East Europe. More a confused Generation to me.
If somebody asks which vehicle was necessary to win the war, it would be the GM 2½Ton trucks. Even the Russians got them. And the Germans had the OPEL Blitz truck. Opel was a subsidiary of GM. The company had to repay victims of Nazi slavery. The Germans couldn't possibly keep up with demands on the Eastern front. The Allies had to make tabulations on how much supplies were needed. Just astonishing. France didn't have the road system like they do now.
Not feeding anyone’s ego, only the United States had the capacity on all levels to clean up the naughty boys in Europe and the Pacific arena. Not dismissing the efforts of the lesser powers either. It is what it is. Amazing effort and sacrifice from parties. Lest we forget.
Impressionnant ! Papa lui-même avait été impressionné de visu ... Mais ce qu' il nous a raconté ne pouvait pas avoir la dimension du film. Mais à présent se présentent d' autres défis !
Thank you for this. I would have loved this in a "human" voice though. My step-father (who is still alive) states that he (as a British infantryman) was "conscripted" to work with the Red Balls, anyone know more about this please?
I was aware of the Red Ball Express this docu is somewhat bland but still a remarkable story wouldn't mind seeing a modern Movie based on these guys(saw the old one)
Field Marshal Montgomery is said to have quipped, "The most important weapon of the war was the GMC six wheel drive truck." This truck was the highest technology in the world at the time. Only American industry the time could produce something this good. The Canadian CMP was equally good and even more versatile.
I viewed Redball Express Movie yesterday on RU-vid. Today this documentary popped up. In movie was a chow truck. I'd like to know more about the Chow Truck story.
Not only transport but acquisition of all the food supplies and other must have been a bit of an nightmare to not like walking into your local grocery store and asking for 10 000 tons of potatoes lol
1918: General Pershing's 1st American Army bogs down in France with a shortage of 100,000 horses and motorized transports are tangled in a traffic jam that lasts 2 days. 1940: Nazi Germany drives into Russia with mechanized divisions of tanks, soldiers and guns...and hundreds of thousands of horses and millions of infantry soldiers walking to the front. 1944: US forces create a fully mechanized system and operational planning to deliver hundreds of tons of supplies and field rations to the front each day with untrained volunteers. 1944: Nazi units have destroyed, lost or eaten their transportation system in the field and are either killed, captured or walking back to Germany. The Red Army also managed the amazing task of fighting while moving production infrastructure and then delivering and supplying armies on the offense across a massive front. Armies win battles. Logistics win wars. And any horses you know should be petted, given apples and kind thanks for their service.
When you fight the USA, UK and USSR all at once no country is going to win no matter how good their Logistics are. Number decide a war of attritions, the US alone had twice Germany's population and 3 times their manufacturing capacity.
@@martymethuselah OK ....seems to me in the context of the time there were more immediate factors that forced an end to "open" warfare. But I see where you're going.
@@martymethuselah We come from different points of view and I'm not expert. I've read your comments and I thank you for the time you gave. I wonder if we have made ourselves seem more important than we are. Mankind may manipulate the situation but Nature gets the last word. I've studied Human Beings and I've concluded that we're proud but we don't have that much to be proud of. It may be that in the history of Earth humans are not the superior race. I think horses and dogs have an edge.
@@martymethuselah There's a lot to unpack in what you say. My family were settlers in the New World. There was conflict. I come from people who lived on the frontier and lost family in the conflict. One was taken captive. After years he was returned. He was my ancestor. I know on the day he marched out to fight he was 19 years old. Invincible...then defeated, stripped naked and marched into the woods. But he was kept alive and lived as a member of the community until he was ransomed for release. There is a lot to unpack in that as well. Some of what I said is speculation based on other stories. He never recorded his story. My family did not record his story. There was too much shame in it for them. I'm sorry if this is too long. I had more to add but I think I've said too much already.
To be fair, in almost every situation (types of troops and attacking/defending/etc), the US planned to use (and usually was able to deliver) more lbs of supplies per troop per day than just about every other nation. When you have the wealth and the supplies, it makes sense to use them in order to reduce your casualties.
"Say hello to Ford and General fucking Motors!" On the other hand, as General Paulus found out: horses are very useful when you are surrounded and cut off. You can eat them. Though that is, only if your encirclement hold out for long. By June 1944, generally, the Soviets crushed the encircled German within the week, if they really want to.
That's why the offensive ground to a halt in late September. Supply of fuel was insufficient to keep the army moving. It would not get going again until after the port of Antwerp was captured and reopened, greatly shortening the supply lines and increasing hugely the tonnage that could be landed in Europe. All of the military planners at SHAEF knew many months before D-Day of how important it was to get to Antwerp and capture that one port. Nothing else in France could match its cargo landing capacity.
bayknight20 The Allied armies were utterly and completely mechanized. All the C47s in the western forces could supply one armored brigade on the move. You gonna deliver gas via air.
bayknight20 the weight load was fuel, lubricants, spare parts, shells - everything that you cannot carry by plane. You cannot support mobile mechanized warfare by plane. You can maybe fly in food&medicine&light ammo to a defensive position. No armored division in history can be offensively supported by air. Which is why ships, ports, pipelines, railways and then trucks as a last resort were and are used.
Odd thing: Around 40 minutes in they're saying that the Little Red Ball was started in response to the German offensive in december 1944, and at 40:20 it's specifically stated that the LRB began on december *15th* . But the German offensive started on the *16th* , so how could the LRB have started on the 15th in response to an offensive that started on the 16th?? Somewhere, someone must have gotten the start date for the LRB wrong, *or* it didn't start in response to the German offensive and there was another reason for it to start.
H Zaagman Red Ball had nothing to do with the Ardenness German offensive. By the time of that counter attack Allied logisticsnwere sorted out. Red Ball started in August after the Falaise Gap battle and the breakout in Normandy.
@@daddust Sorry to ask, but did you actually *read* my comment in its entirety? Perhaps you should read the *first line* again, where I indicated that I'm talking about the *Little Red Ball* which, according to this documentary, ran from december 15th 1944 until january 18th 1945.
H Zaagman you are right. But check out Caddick Adams Snow Steel about the logistic effort during the Ardennes Battle. Very different. Also the best Ardennes book with detail on logistics.
@@daddust I have no doubt that you're right about the book telling a different story, even though I haven't read it. Somehow, documentaries never tell the complete/completely accurate story, probably due to constraints on the length of the documentary. In this case, however, I only wanted to point out an inconsistency in the documentary. Nothing more, nothing less.
Incredible History Wonderful presentation Mostly Good quality All this Immaculate Ability So utterly Beautiful If only it didn’t have to be wasted over such meaningless affairs Way too much virtue signal quota padding in the intro
