the 514th Quartermaster Group. On August 25th 1944, in order to compensate for critical
supply difficulty's the Red Ball plan was launched with a gigantic one-way road transport
system over a long distance. The Red Ball Express was the answer to the emergency call
to the army's transport corps in an attempt to resolve a logistics crisis for which the High
Command had not planned, At the peak of its operation, it was running 5,938 vehicles carrying
12,342 tons of supplies to forward depots daily. By December 1944 the Red Ball had been
virtually replaced by a working rail network but mounts before the Battle of the Bulge, Red Ball
trucks had been hauling supplies to depots in Verdun, When the Wehrmacht struck on 16th
of December 1944, these supplies were available to use in stopping the German advance.
The old Red Ball provided an established organization that enabled commanders to call for
thousands of trucks to transport entire divisions into action within a matter of hours.
The American Army had learned how to use trucks to maximum advantage in war and much
of this experience had been gained on the Red Ball Express.
(Extracts from David Colley's Book "The Road to Victory ")
US Army Transport Museum by clicking the links below.
