The Quartermaster Corps - Opns... Against Japan PDF
Preview The Quartermaster Corps - Opns... Against Japan
UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The T echnical Services THE QUARTERMASTER CORPS: OPERATIONS IN THE WAR AGAINST JAPAN by Alvin P. Stauffer CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D. c., 1990 Foreword This is the fourth and concluding volume of a series which records the experi- ences of the Army's Quartermaster organization in World War II. The first two volumes of this group describe the problems and achievements of the Quarter- master Corps in the zone of interior and the third, still in preparation, will relate operations in the war against Germany. This volume tells the story of Quarter- master supply and service in the war against Japan in the Pacific. The principal Quartermaster function during World War II was to supply items commonly required by all Army troops—food, clothing, petroleum products, and other supplies of a general character—regardless of their duties. In the Pacific, as else- where, Quartermaster supply responsibilities included the determination of re- quirements, the procurement of the items needed both from the United States and from local producers, and the storage and distribution of items after they had been received. Quartermaster troops also furnished numerous services, in- cluding the collection and repair of worn-out and discarded articles, the provision of bath and laundry facilities, and the identification and burial of the dead. The author has concentrated in this volume on the many problems which were inevi- table in a distant and strange environment, and his narrative naturally reflects the viewpoint of the troops and the commanders in the field. ALBERT C. SMITH Washington, D. C. Maj. Gen., U. S. A. 15 February 1955 Chief of Military History vii The Author Alvin P. Stauffer holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Harvard Uni- versity. For seven years he taught history at Simmons College, Boston, and then joined the staff of the U.S. National Park Service in Washington, where he produced many studies of historic sites administered by that agency. In 1943 he became a member of the Historical Branch, Office of The Quartermaster General. Dr. Stauffer prepared several treatises dealing with the Quartermaster Corps in the United States in World War II. One of these, Quartermaster Depot Storage and Distribution Operations, has been published in the monographic series entitled QMC Historical Studies. Since 1952 Dr. Stauffer has been Chief of the Historical Branch, OQMG. viii Preface The object of this volume is to increase the body of organized information easily available about Quartermaster support of the forces fighting the Japanese in the Pacific. Anyone who writes on military supply ventures into almost virgin territory, especially in dealing with Quartermaster supply activities. Only a few professional officers—and those mainly Quartermaster officers—are familiar with the subject, and they have gained this knowledge chiefly through their own experience and the oral traditions of the offices in which they have worked. When Quartermaster activities in theaters of operations is the subject of a volume, as in this case, readers lacking even elementary information are likely to be more numerous than when the subject is Quartermaster activities in the United States. For that reason the needs of these readers have been constantly borne in mind. The writer hopes particularly that the volume may furnish Quartermaster officers with facts that will prove useful in planning future field operations and in training Quartermaster troops. No attempt has been made except in a very general way to tell the story of strategic decisions and tactical actions. In a work comprising part of the historical series on the UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II, that story would have been redundant. A consistent effort has been made to analyze Quartermaster activities in the three major territorial commands in the Pacific, whether these activities were conducted at higher headquarters, in base sections, or by Quartermaster troop units in support of combat operations. As the area in which the U.S. Army played its most important role in the war against Japan, the Southwest Pacific Area has been treated at greater length than have the two other major territorial commands—the South Pacific Area and the Central Pacific Area—but these areas are by no means neglected and many of their activities are dealt with in detail. In order to clarify the perplexing production and trans- portation problems presented to quartermasters as they procured, stored, and distributed supplies and equipment, this volume gives considerable attention to economic matters. At times the account of the activities of the Corps may appear lacking in homogeneity, but this impression is unavoidable in view of the wide diversity of Quartermaster tasks. It should not be concluded from a reading of those sections which contain detailed descriptions of some of the troubles encountered in distribution activities that these difficulties were typical. They are discussed at length only because they demanded so large a share of the time and energy of supply officers and presented knotty problems not susceptible of easy solution. If the reader is occasionally ix
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