No, this is not a story of Audie Murphy firing a machine gun from atop a burning Tanks Destroyer, of brave men hitting the beaches at Omaha, or Iwo Jima.
But this story does make my jaw drop in admiration for the "can-do" attitude of Americans.
Let me set the stage. After the collapse of the French Third Republic, and the liberation of French North Africa, General Giraud was keen to get his French troops into the fight against the Bosch. Giraud worked out a deal directly with FDR by which the U.S. would help equip three French armored divisions, eight French infantry divisions, an Air Force of 450 aircraft, and necessary support troops. In the spring of 1943, the U.S. started paying up on that agreement. What follows is an account from Marcel Vigneras' Rearming the French. The American equipment was shipped disassembled and the Americans agreed to assemble the parts before giving the end items to the French.:
Setting up and operating the assembly line at Algiers constituted one of the most remarkable instances of efficient planning and teamwork. First, AFHQ (Ike's "Allied Forces Headquarters) requested the War Department to ship if possible on convoy UGS 6½ the necessary tools and gear to assemble about 200 vehicles daily. Later, at a meeting between French and American staff officers, an understanding was reached regarding the extent and nature of the assistance to be furnished by SOS, NATOUSA (North African Theater of Operations U.S. Army), in setting up the assembly line. It was agreed that the Mediterranean Base Section (MBS) at Oran would be responsible for organizing and operating the assembly facilities until such a time as the French were qualified to take over. On 10 April, barely four days before the arrival of the first ship, the MBS supply officer, Col. Ernest A. Suttles, together with some forty U.S. officers and men, arrived in Algiers and began organizing the line. They had brought with them crane equipment, blacksmith, welding, machine, and carpenter tools, and related items essential for the operation of assembly plants. Within five days, Colonel Suttles and his team had improvised five such plants: one twin-line General Motors plant capable of assembling one 2½-ton truck every three minutes, one Dodge-Chevrolet plant with a capacity of 70 vehicles a day, one jeep plant with a capacity of over 200 ¼-ton (i.e. Jeep) vehicles daily, one trailer plant with a capacity of over 150 vehicles per day, and one tank and armored- vehicle servicing and testing plant.
The ships arrived on 14 April. Unloading began immediately and was completed by 21 April. The matériel was unpacked and assembled as fast as boxes could be brought to shore. A French team of some 75 officers and 2,300 men, mostly from the Chantiers de Jeunesse (youth labor group), assisted by Colonel Suttles' team, accomplished the work in record time. In spite of language difficulties and the fact that lack of proper tools and equipment often necessitated improvisation, 1,900 vehicles were assembled in the first week of operations, and 5,100 more during the following two weeks, making a total of 7,000 in less than one month. French officials watched this mammoth operation with keen interest. On one occasion General Giraud accompanied by General Eisenhower visited the assembly line and expressed to the American personnel his deep appreciation of their valuable assistance.
Not all the equipment brought over by [U.S. Convoy] UGS 6½ could be assembled at the time. For a number of vehicles, tanks, and anti-aircraft guns, necessary parts were not due to arrive until later with the shipment of the backlog of equipment.
On 5 May, with the work nearly completed, the U.S. officers and men officially turned the whole assembly line over to their French associates who continued to operate it by themselves.
Marcel Vigneras, Rearming the French, pp. 67-69.
I had never heard of Ernest Suttles before, but dang I'm proud he is my countryman.
But this story does make my jaw drop in admiration for the "can-do" attitude of Americans.
Let me set the stage. After the collapse of the French Third Republic, and the liberation of French North Africa, General Giraud was keen to get his French troops into the fight against the Bosch. Giraud worked out a deal directly with FDR by which the U.S. would help equip three French armored divisions, eight French infantry divisions, an Air Force of 450 aircraft, and necessary support troops. In the spring of 1943, the U.S. started paying up on that agreement. What follows is an account from Marcel Vigneras' Rearming the French. The American equipment was shipped disassembled and the Americans agreed to assemble the parts before giving the end items to the French.:
Setting up and operating the assembly line at Algiers constituted one of the most remarkable instances of efficient planning and teamwork. First, AFHQ (Ike's "Allied Forces Headquarters) requested the War Department to ship if possible on convoy UGS 6½ the necessary tools and gear to assemble about 200 vehicles daily. Later, at a meeting between French and American staff officers, an understanding was reached regarding the extent and nature of the assistance to be furnished by SOS, NATOUSA (North African Theater of Operations U.S. Army), in setting up the assembly line. It was agreed that the Mediterranean Base Section (MBS) at Oran would be responsible for organizing and operating the assembly facilities until such a time as the French were qualified to take over. On 10 April, barely four days before the arrival of the first ship, the MBS supply officer, Col. Ernest A. Suttles, together with some forty U.S. officers and men, arrived in Algiers and began organizing the line. They had brought with them crane equipment, blacksmith, welding, machine, and carpenter tools, and related items essential for the operation of assembly plants. Within five days, Colonel Suttles and his team had improvised five such plants: one twin-line General Motors plant capable of assembling one 2½-ton truck every three minutes, one Dodge-Chevrolet plant with a capacity of 70 vehicles a day, one jeep plant with a capacity of over 200 ¼-ton (i.e. Jeep) vehicles daily, one trailer plant with a capacity of over 150 vehicles per day, and one tank and armored- vehicle servicing and testing plant.
The ships arrived on 14 April. Unloading began immediately and was completed by 21 April. The matériel was unpacked and assembled as fast as boxes could be brought to shore. A French team of some 75 officers and 2,300 men, mostly from the Chantiers de Jeunesse (youth labor group), assisted by Colonel Suttles' team, accomplished the work in record time. In spite of language difficulties and the fact that lack of proper tools and equipment often necessitated improvisation, 1,900 vehicles were assembled in the first week of operations, and 5,100 more during the following two weeks, making a total of 7,000 in less than one month. French officials watched this mammoth operation with keen interest. On one occasion General Giraud accompanied by General Eisenhower visited the assembly line and expressed to the American personnel his deep appreciation of their valuable assistance.
Not all the equipment brought over by [U.S. Convoy] UGS 6½ could be assembled at the time. For a number of vehicles, tanks, and anti-aircraft guns, necessary parts were not due to arrive until later with the shipment of the backlog of equipment.
On 5 May, with the work nearly completed, the U.S. officers and men officially turned the whole assembly line over to their French associates who continued to operate it by themselves.
Marcel Vigneras, Rearming the French, pp. 67-69.
I had never heard of Ernest Suttles before, but dang I'm proud he is my countryman.
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