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Weapons in WWII Discussion about the weapons and war machines created during World War Two

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Old February 13th, 2007, 04:06 AM
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Default Support Vehicles

Interesting is that much of the credit fror the Russian tank victories due to the support provided by the thousands of lend lease Studebaker trucks. Without the reliable trucks, the needed supplies could not keep up with the troops.

Of course this is nothing new. Much of the US success was due to the Red Ball Express efforts. Battles are won by support troops as much as combat troops. Eisenhower was quoted as saying the C-47, the Jeep, and the M1 won the war.

What does everything think were the most important support equipment? My vote starts with the jeep, the 2-1/2 ton truck, the C-47, the liberty ships, and the half track.
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Old February 13th, 2007, 07:02 PM
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Default Re: Support Vehicles

T-25 tank recovery vehicle for dragging back the shot-up Shermans.
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Old February 21st, 2007, 07:17 PM
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Default Re: Support Vehicles

LST, LCT, LCI(R), the Universal Carrier, the Alligator (Amtrac), the DUKW, the bulldozer, Higgens boat, Bailey Bridge, that "Bridgelayer Churchill", the "Flail" tank, weapons carrier, Mullberries.
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Old February 21st, 2007, 08:11 PM
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Default Re: Support Vehicles

Bulldozers are the tip of the iceburg when it comes to engineering equipment for the Allies, and in particular, the US. Consider that the US construction engineer battalion not only had about a dozen various sized bulldozers but over thirty 2 1/2 ton dump trucks, a dozen or so 5 ton dump trucks, several cranes with buckets for digging, back hoes, trenching machines, air compressors, road graders, cement mixers, and other assorted machinery. They could even haul enough supplies with their own trucks to build a "town" of Quonset huts big enough to house the unit.
The airfield construction battalion was even more impressive. It even included several tractor drawn lawn mowers for grass airstrips!
But, the real secret weapon of the Western Allies in this field was their ability to lay pipelines. Following the D-Day invasion fleet were the PLUTO ships laying an 8" pipeline across the Channel to allow them to pump fuel and oil to France. The US Army then built pipelines across France for the same purpose. This was infinitely more efficent than trucking or using railroads to send fuel forward.

The Soviets did it slightly differently. They forward loaded their units for an offensive then pushed forward until the load of supplies ran out. They then dug in and started the process over again.

As far as the most important support equipment: The 2 1/2 truck in various bodies including dump truck, machine shop, air compressor, tow truck, oil field body, DUKW, etc. The bulldozer. Literally infinitely useful in everything from road repair and building to digging units in. The ribbon bridge followed by the Bailey Bridge. Victory and Liberty ships were also important in moving supplies forward. The pontoon assembly. These were used in literally hundreds of configurations for everything from pontoons to landing craft, to water tanks, to portable piers.

For naval forces, it was the Advanced Base. The US Navy by 1944 had a fleet train that included several of these. The Advance base was a ship borne shipyard that could be set up in any anchorage around the world. It included floating dry docks capable of lifting any ship in existance, machine shops (Repair ships), stores ships, tenders, and tugs (harbor, salvage, and ocean going). Often a salvage ship was included. The Advance Base was critical to the success of the Navy off Okinawa. Without it the Navy and Marine Corps probably could not have won that battle or it would have cost far more than it did.
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