THE TRANSPORTATION CORPS: RESPONSIBILITIES, ORGANIZATION, AND OPERATIONS. By Chester Wardlow. (1951,1980; 454 pages, 12 tables, 7 charts, 28 illustrations, 4 appendixes, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 10-19.)

The movement of men and supplies, en masse, over great distances became in World War II one of the most vital military interests of the powers engaged, particularly of the Western Allies. Movement overseas, in particular, presented them with problems whose solution spelled the difference between failure and success in defeating the Axis powers. This and the two succeeding volumes on the Army's Transportation Corps are written with an awareness of the importance of effective transportation in bringing to bear the power of the U.S. Army and in delivering military supplies to the British Commonwealth, the USSR, and China, where and when needed to carry out the strategic plans of the Allies.

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The Transportation Corps was created after the United States entered the war to overwatch the Army's interest in these matters and to provide the facilities required to move its men and supplies. As the youngest of the seven "technical services" brought together under the control of General Somervell's Army Service Forces in March 1942, the corps was responsible for obtaining the Army's share in the services of common carriers in the United States (by rail, highway, and inland waterways) and in shipping on the high seas. It also supervised the great system of ports of embarkation; organized and operated the rail and truck transportation the Army developed to supplement these services; and assembled and administered, loaded and unloaded the Army's fleet of troopships, hospital ships, and freighters.

This volume covers antecedents and origins of the corps; the difficulties overcome in constituting this latecomer among the Army's services and rendering it efficient; its internal organization in Washington and in the field; its relations with other elements in the Army Service Forces and the overseas commands of the Army; and the measures adopted to ensure economy and efficiency in the use of ports and ships. Also treated are its cooperation and conflicts with the Navy, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Office of Defense Transportation, the War Shipping Administration, and the British Ministry of War Transport.

Key topics:
1. Transportation as a factor in strategic planning (Ch. I).
2. The shipping crisis in World War II and the Army's measures to meet it (Chs. V, VI, VIII).
3. Wartime relations of military and civilian agencies (Ch. VI, IX, XI).
4. Adaptation and conversion of peacetime public services to war use (Chs. V, VIII, IX).
5. Relationship of the technical services to the Army Service Forces (Ch. III).
6. The American shipbuilding achievement (Ch. V).
7. The special position given the Army Air Forces in the transportation field (Ch. III).
8. The cost of delayed planning to meet the Army's transportation needs (Chs. II, III).
9. Wartime organization:

a. Office of the Chief of Transportation (Ch. III).
b. Field establishments of the Transportation Corps (Ch. IV).

10. Control of port utilization and ship employment (Chs. IV, V, VIII).
11. The operation of the Army's wartime fleet and ports (Chs. VII, VIII).
12. The Transportation Corps and the Navy (Ch. VI).
13. The Army's wartime relationship with the railroads and other inland carriers (Ch. IX).
14. The Army's own carriers and their administration (Ch. X).