[Seventeenth Report to Congress on Lend-Lease Operations : Reverse Lend-Lease Aid from the British Commonwealth of Nations] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov] SEVENTEENTH REPORT TO CONGRESS ON LEND-LEASE OPERATIONS Reverse Lend-Lease Aid from the British Commonwealth of Nations SEVENTEENTH REPORT TO CONGRESS ON LEND-LEASE OPERATIONS Reverse Lend-Lease Aid from the British Commonwealth of Nations “The President from time to time, but not less' frequently than once every ninety days, shall transmit to the Congress a report of operations under this Act except such information as he deems incompatible with the public interest to disclose.” [From Section 5, subsection b of “ An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States” (Public Law No. 11, 77th Congress, 1st Session).] CONTENTS Chapter Page President’s Letter of Transmittal......................... 5 1. Reverse Lend-Lease for the Campaign in Europe.............. 9 Synthetic Harbors........................................r...... 14 The Movement of Gasoline and the Reconstruction of Bridges....................................... 17 How We Got the Gas to Patton’s and Hodges’ Tanks........................................ 17 Bridges Like Meccano Sets.......................... 19 Other British Contributions........................................ 20 British Aid for Our Air Offensive.................................. 20 One Million Spark Plugs............................ 21 300,000 Paper Gas Tanks............................ 22 Other Air Force Supplies........................... 22 Raw Materials and Foodstuffs....................................... 23 Free Exchange of Information....................................... 24 2. Reverse Lend-Lease for the War Against Japan.............. 25 In the Pacific Theater............................................. 27 Burma-India Theater................................................ 32 3 PRESIDENT'S LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL To the Congress of the United States of America: I I am submitting herewith my Seventeenth Report to Congress on Lend-Lease Operations. In fifteen of these reports I have reported on lend-lease aid extended by the United States. One year ago, the Twelfth Lend-Lease Report to Congress set forth the reverse lend-lease aid received by the United States from the British Commonwealth of Nations under the Lend-Lease Act. That report covered the period up to June 30, 1943. I now report on reverse lend-lease aid received by the United States from the British Commonwealth of Nations up to June 30, 1944. One year ago the governments of the British Commonwealth reported their expenditures for reverse lend-lease aid to the United States, on the basis of estimates carefully prepared from their records, as totalling $1,175,-000,000. They now report that by June 30, 1944—one year later—these expenditures had risen to $3,348,000,000—almost three times the previous total. The first six months of 1944 showed a significant increase in reverse lend-lease aid from the British Commonwealth. These were the months when the final preparations were being made in the United Kingdom for the liberation of Western Europe and for the offensives aimed at Germany. In these six months, United States forces in the British Isles received the equivalent of almost 3,851,000 ships’ tons of supplies from the United Kingdom under reverse lend-lease exclusive of construction materials and gasoline, compared with 2,950,000 tons in the entire preceding 18 months. In monetary value, the supplies and services we received in these six months were greater than for the entire preceding year. By “D” Day, United States armed forces had reached the United Kingdom in vast numbers. From the day our first soldiers arrived in 1942, one-third of all the supplies and equipment currently required by United States troops in the British Isles has been provided under reverse lend-lease. The percentages of total United States Army requirements in the European theater provided by the United Kingdom have ranged as high as 63 percent in the case of quartermaster supplies and 58 percent for engineers’ supplies. 5 Reverse lend-lease has played an essential part in the stupendous job of preparing for and supplying the great allied offensives in Europe. It would have required a thousand ships to send across the Atlantic what we received for our men through reverse lend-lease from the United Kingdom. We were able to use these thousand ships instead for carrying supplies and equipment that had to come from the United States. Without the reverse lend-lease aid that we received from the United Kingdom, we would surely have been forced to delay the invasion of France for many months. Now that this campaign has been successfully launched and is on the road to ultimate success, it is possible to include in this report facts about specific and vitally important reverse lend-lease projects that could not previously be safely disclosed in a public report. For the war against Japan, United States forces have also received increased quantities of supplies and services in the past six months as reverse lend-lease from Australia and New Zealand, and in India. These were the months in which the forces under General MacArthur were completing the New Guinea campaign and were preparing to launch the campaign for the liberation of the Philippines. Our forces in the Pacific have already received 1,850,000,000 pounds of food alone from Australia and New Zealand, including more than 400,-000,000 pounds of beef and other meats. Another important reverse lend-lease program in this theater has been the production for our forces of landing craft, small ships and boats, for the campaign we are waging in the Pacific. Tremendous numbers of these boats are needed for landing and supply operations on hundreds of islands scattered across thousands of miles of water. More than 9,500 of these craft had been produced and delivered by Australia alone in time for the Philippines campaign and over 12,000 more are on the way. In addition, Australia and New Zealand have turned over to our forces many hundreds of coastal steamers, barges, tugs, lighters, yachts, and launches. In India the increased rate of reverse lend-lease aid we have received in the first six months of 1944 has kept pace with the rising tempo of air, land and sea operations in the Burma-India and China theaters. A significant proportion of the supplies we have received in India has consisted of aviation gasoline and other petroleum products drawn from British oil resources in the Middle East and refined at the British refinery at Abadan. This gasoline, provided to us as reverse lend-lease, without payment by us, is helping to power our B—29 Super-Fortresses in their raids from both China and India on the Japanese homeland and on such enemy-occupied 6 strong points as Singapore. It is also being used by the fighter and bomber planes of the 10th and 14th United States Army Air Forces. II I take the occasion of this Report again to point out that the reverse lend-lease aid rendered by nations of the British Commonwealth to the United States is only a part of the aid which we have received from the British in fighting this war. The United States has benefited greatly from reverse lend-lease aid, as the facts set forth in this Report indicate. But we have benefited far more, and in a far larger sense, from the total fighting effort of our allies. As I have stated in previous Lend-Lease Reports and as the Congress has expressed itself in Reports by its appropriate committees at the time of the virtually unanimous renewals of the Lend-Lease Act in 1943 and 1944, lend-lease and reverse lend-lease are not two sides of a financial transaction. We are not loaning money under lend-lease. We are not receiving payments on account under reverse lend-lease. The lend-lease system is, instead, a system of combined war supply, whose sole purpose is to make the most effective use against the enemy of the combined resources of the United Nations, regardless of the origin of the supplies or which of us uses them against the enemy. Neither the monetary totals of the lend-lease aid we supply, nor the totals of the reverse lend-lease aid we receive are measures of the aid we have given or received in this war. That could be measured only in terms of the total contributions toward winning victory of each of the United Nations. There are no statistical or monetary measurements for the value of courage, skill and sacrifice in the face of death and destruction wrought by our common enemies. We in the United States can be justly proud of our contributions in men and materials and of the courage and skill and sacrifice of the men and women in our armed forces and of all those others who have devoted themselves selflessly to the war effort at home. We can also be rightly proud of and grateful for the contributions in men and materials of our allies and the courage and skill and sacrifice of their soldiers, airmen, seamen and peoples. In this war the United Nations have all drawn strength from each other—our allies from us and we from them. We can now begin to see the full significance of the overwhelming power that this steadily closer partnership has created. We already know how much it did to save us all from disaster. We know that it has brought and will bring final victory months closer than would otherwise have been possible. 7 Lend-lease and reverse lend-leasc are a system of combined war supply. They should end with the war. But the United Nations partnership must go on and must grow stronger. For the tasks of building a workable peace that will endure, we shall need all the strength that a permanent and stronger United Nations can provide in winning security from aggression, in building the economic foundations for a more prosperous world, and in developing wider opportunities for civilized advancement for the American people and for all the other peace-loving peoples of the world. 'Franklin D. Roosevelt. The White House, November 24, 1944. REVERSE LEND-LEASE AID Furnished to United States by British Commonwealth of Nations January-June 1944 Cumulative to June 30,1944 United Kingdom Australia, New Zealand, and India.. $873,422,000 350,062,000 $2,437,062,000 911,065,000 TOTAL 1,223,484,000 3,348,127,000 (Conversion to dollars at official rates of exchange.) Table 1 8 Chapter 1 REVERSE LEND-LEASE FOR THE CAMPAIGN IN EUROPE In the six months from January 1 to June 30, 1944, the United Kingdom has reported the value of its reverse lend-lease aid to the United States as $873,422,000. This aid included the equivalent of 3,850,946 ships’ tons of supplies in six months alone for United States forces based in the British Isles. These supplies were vital to our participation in the air offensive against Germany and in the European campaign launched on June 6, 1944. The total monetary value of reverse lend-lease aid by the United Kingdom to the United States from June 1, 1942, to June 30, 1944, has now risen to $2,437,062,000. Table 2 gives the break-down of the figures for the six-month period January 1 to June 30, 1944, and cumulatively to June 30,1944. Excluding construction materials and gasoline, United States forces based in the British Isles received almost 6,800,000 ships’ tons of supplies and equipment as reverse lend-lease in the two years ending June 30, 1944. Over half of this amount was provided in the last six months, as reported by our Army and shown in Table 3. REVERSE LEND-LEASE FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM January-June 1944 Cumulative to June 30, 1944 Goods and services transferred in the United Kingdom... Shipping services Capital construction in United Kingdom and overseas Goods and services transferred outside the United Kingdom1 TOTAL $456,527,000 82,010,000 148,348,000 186,537,000 $1,028,787,000 356,050,000 704,488,000 347,737,000 873,422,000 2,437,062,000 1 Includes the value of raw materials and foodstuffs and military supplies shipped to or transferred in the United States. Includes transfers in overseas theaters of war to March 31 > 1944 only. (Conversion from pound sterling at $4.03.) Table 2 618331—44----2 9 Thirty-one percent of all the supplies and equipment currently required by the United States Army in the European Theater of Operations between June 1, 1942, and June 30, 1944, was supplied by the British as reverse lend-lease aid, without payment by us, while 69 percent was shipped from the United States. The British supplied us, as well as their own forces, with everything we needed that they were able to produce themselves in sufficient quantities. It would have taken 1,000 loaded ships to send from the United States the supplies provided to our forces by the United Kingdom. We and they used these thousand ships to bring over from America 6,800,000 tons of tanks, trucks, guns, bombs, and other supplies and equipment that the United States and allied armies had to have for the European campaign and that could not be produced in sufficient quantities or at all in Great Britain. This combined supply program made it possible to begin the invasion of Europe months earlier than would otherwise have been possible and gave the allied armies the tremendous striking power that has carried us inside the German borders. REVERSE LEND-LEASE SUPPLIES FURNISHED TO U. S. FORCES IN THE BRITISH ISLES1 Period Quantity, in ships* tons 1Q49 1,121,786 1 1043 1,826,701 1 1944: Inniinrv 549,088 Fonrnnrv 632,215 KAnrch 679,699 April 648,462 h4ay 756,769 June 584,713 3,850,946 TOTAL 6,799,433 1 Does not include the tonnage of construction materials obtained in the United Kingdom under reverse lend-lease. Also does not include the tonnage of gasoline and oil. Petroleum products are shipped to the United Kingdom from both American and British sources and are pooled and drawn upon by American, British, and allied forces as needed. All the gasoline and oil in this pool which comes from the United States has been recorded and reported as lend-lease aid to the United Kingdom. Withdrawals with an estimated cumulative value of $104,780,000 which have been made from this pool by United States air, ground, and naval forces have been recorded as reverse lend-lease and are included in the monetary totals shown in Table 2. Table 3 10 Tabic 4 on the following page shows the percentages of current United States Army requirements for the different service branches in the European Theater which came from the United States and those which were provided on the spot under reverse lend-leasc. In addition to the tonnage of supplies and equipment for our forces, reverse lend-lease aid provided by the United Kingdom has included the immense amount of new construction involved in the hundreds of United States Air and Ground Force bases, camps, supply and repair depots and other installations built throughout England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland for our forces. Almost one-third of Great Britain’s total building labor force was employed on this program. It has also included turning over to our use already existing facilities equivalent to 1,000 city blocks. Services provided as reverse lend-lease aid have included not only the transportation of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers in British ships across the Atlantic, together with repairs, fuel and stores for our ships in British ports; they have also included the great cost in manpower and in money of the telephone, telegraph, postal, radio, railroad and other transportation and communication services in the United Kingdom required for FOREIGN ECONOMIC ADMINISTRATION Chart 1 11 CURRENT U. S. ARMY REQUIREMENTS IN EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS June 1942-June 19441 As reverse lend-lease from U. K. Shipped from U. S. 63% 37% x.xUQri^rniubii&i vvipo* Engineers Corps 58 42 49 51 25 75 ^nemnui wuiiviv 22 78 UI3IIMI 21 79 FMI 1 4 96 v^r ...... Transportation Corps 3 97 OVER-ALL 31% 69% 1 Based on Ships* Tons. Construction materials and gasoline not included. Table 4 one to two million U. S. fighting men. British railroads, for example, operated 9,225 special trains with over 650,000 cars in the first six months of 1944 alone to carry United States forces and their supplies, exclusively. All this has been provided as reverse lend-lease, without payment by us. The monetary totals reported for reverse lend-lease are large and this aid, by reason of volume alone, has been a major factor in the success of all our operations in the European Theater. The figures are, however, an incomplete reflection of the value to us of these supplies and services. Reverse lend-lease expenditures by the United Kingdom and other British Commonwealth countries are made in their own currencies. The dollar figures are arrived at by translating pounds into dollars at official rates of exchange, which generally do not reflect adequately the lower prices usually prevailing in these countries and therefore understate the real financial value of the aid which we receive from our allies. For example, a parachute which we procure in the United States for our own forces or for lend-lease countries costs $165. The cost of a comparable parachute procured in the United Kingdom for our forces under reverse lend-lease is $135. A 65-inch aircraft tire procured in the United States costs $350. The comparable tire provided under reverse lend-lease by the United Kingdom costs less than $160. An Army field jacket which costs $6.10 to procure in the United States costs $5.60 in the United Kingdom. Quantity figures, in either dollars or tons, do not reflect by any means the full importance of this reverse lend-lease aid to our military operations for another reason. This is true also of our lend-lease aid to our allies. 12 Just as our own forces have been equipped principally from United States factories, the forces of the United Kingdom have been supplied with about 70 percent of their equipment from their own factories. But British forces have been able to fight against the Germans with infinitely greater power and effect because of certain arms that the United States was better able to supply. Sherman tanks, our 2^-ton Army trucks, and our LST’s and Ducks are notable examples, but there are many others less well known that have had a significance far beyond the quantities and money values involved. FOREIGN ECONOMIC ADMINISTRATION Chart 2 In the case of reverse lend-lease for our forces in the European Theater some supply projects carried out for us by the British have made a life and death difference in the fighting this year. This is one of the major achievements of the United Nations combined supply system made possible by lend-lease and reverse lend-lease. We and the British have been able to fill each other’s critical deficiencies in such a manner that our combined power against the enemy has been multiplied by many times the monetary value of the supplies involved. Great Britain’s part in this combined production and supply program has been made possible, furthermore, through the miracles of production and steadfastness her people have achieved in five successive years that 13 were lived literally on the front lines—from the days of the great Blitz of 1940-1941 through the equally terrible flying bomb attacks of this year— five years of smashing bomb attacks which destroyed or damaged millions of homes, killed 56,195 men, women, and children and injured many times that number; five years of monotonous work at long hours with scanty rations of food and clothing and even less of most other consumer goods; five years in which countless families were tom apart as children were evacuated to safer areas, mothers were called into war factories and fathers into the armed forces. There have been 22,500,000 removals of civilian men, women, and children because of evacuations or government directions to labor for war-work, and this in a country with a total population of only 45,000,000. SYNTHETIC HARBORS The United Kingdom has made many contributions to the combined supply program for the allied campaign in Europe under General Eisenhower. The most critical single project which she undertook was the production in the United Kindom of virtually all the artificial harbor equipment used on the beaches of France. This made it possible for the allied armies to land enough supplies for the Normandy break-through and the sweep through France and the Lowlands to the German border, although we have had the use until now of only a single existing port of any importance—Cherbourg, and Cherbourg never handled much cargo in peacetime. We were not able to land supplies in any quantity at Cherbourg until August. The decision was made at the 1943 Quebec Conference by the Combined Chiefs of Staff that the creation of artificial harbors would be essential to unload over the beaches enough supplies to insure a successful cross-channel invasion of Europe. Nothing like it had ever been attempted before in history, but the British had begun experimental work two years before and American scientists and engineers had joined in the work. Final plans and specifications for the necessary equipment were completed in November 1943, only seven months before “D” Day. The United Kingdom undertook the entire construction program for both the British and American forces, although American Seabees joined with the Royal Engineers and British civilians in building and assembling the equipment. The reverse lend-lease totals up to June 30 do not include any of the costs of this program, which was carried out by the British for us as well as for themselves. The three main elements in the synthetic harbors were: (1) reinforced concrete caissons weighing up to 6,000 tons each which could be towed across the Channel and sunk to form an inner breakwater; (2) huge steel 14 floats which could be moored in deep water to form an outer breakwater; and (3) floating steel piers hundreds of feet long that would reach from the beach to shipside and rise and fall with the tide. The production program called for enough equipment to form two complete synthetic harbors on open beaches, each with a capacity equal to that of the port of Dover. It required 100,000 tons of steel, and 600,000 tons of concrete. In the months between November 1943 and June 1944, at lease 50,000 men were employed in building this equipment at many different places in Britain, principally along the Thames and in the Southampton area but also as far away as Glasgow. The caissons, the floating breakwaters, and the floating piers then had to be towed to the assembly and take-off points and made fully ready by June 6. FOREIGN ECONOMIC ADMINISTRATION Chart 3 A fleet of 85 British and American tugs was gathered to tow the equipment across the Channel. Meanwhile British and United States crews were trained to get the equipment into place once it had been towed across to France, and to operate it. The program also involved earmarking and preparing 60 old warships and merchant vessels, sailing them across to France, and sinking them to form additional breakwater protection. 15 On “D” Day the synthetic harbors started moving—in pieces—across the hundred-odd miles of rough English Channel water to Normandy. This operation meant towing 13 miles of piers, causeways, and breakwaters, weighing in all over 1,000,000 tons, besides another 500,000 tons of the doomed vessels that were to be sunk as block ships. The job was done and within 12 days of “D” Day both harbors, the one used by British forces and the one used by American forces, were more than half completed and many supplies were being landed. Then the worst June gale in 40 years hit the English Channel and raged for three days. Because it was more exposed to the direction of the storm, the American harbor was badly wrecked. The British harbor suffered less. It was decided to abandon the American harbor and concentrate on completing the synthetic harbor on the Arromanches that had been serving principally the British and Canadian armies. Far more than a million tons of supplies for the allied forces have since been safely landed at this port, where last June there was only an empty beach. In addition to the synthetic harbors themselves, Great Britain also provided most of the barges, tugs, lighters, cranes and similar harbor equipment used by the American as well as the British forces for unloading supplies in France both on the beaches and at Cherbourg. Another of Britain’s responsibilities in the joint supply program was, of course, the movement by railroad from all over Britain of United States forces and equipment to the ports of embarkation, together with provision of all the necessary facilities and civilian labor at these ports for the United States forces. This in itself was a gigantic undertaking. Virtually every port and harbor, large and small, on the southern coast of England, was taken over by United States or British Army and Navy forces. Southampton was the dividing line. Westward from there the ports were turned over lock, stock and barrel to the Americans. Eastward it was the British and Canadians. Southampton was used jointly by all the allied forces. United States forces have used hundreds of thousands of tons of British shipping to carry men and supplies to France—from channel steamers to cargo ships and passenger liners. Much of the United States Army railroad rolling stock now in France—including hundreds of locomotives and many thousands of cars—has been brought across in British railroad ferries, and the British also provided us under reverse lend-lease with the equipment needed to convert some of our LST’s into railroad ferries. In the weeks before “D” Day the British also completed the job of supplying for United States forces under reverse lend-lease water proofing equipment for thousands of our wading tanks, trucks, and other vehicles which went in over the beaches. The entire output of Britain’s sheet steel industry for three months was used to complete this project on time. 16 THE MOVEMENT OF GASOLINE AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES For the campaign in France and the Lowlands, two of the most pressing and difficult requirements have been: First, to get enough gasoline to the highly mechanized and armored American, British, and allied armies for their lightning advance across France and Belgium to the present front line; Second, to put into usable shape strategic lines of the French railroad and highway systems, which lost almost every bridge either because of demolition by the enemy or because of our own bombing and shelling during the battles which drove the Germans back 300 miles. The Germans never believed that the allies, without the use of a single major port, could land enough supplies on the beaches of France for a successful campaign this summer. Nor did they believe it would be possible to transport enough supplies inside France to enable the allied armies to drive ahead so fast and so far once the landings had been successfully achieved. In both assumptions, the Germans have been proved wrong because of the miracles of supply organization achieved by the combined allied armies, working as a single unified team. And just as the British made a vital contribution to the success of our landings through their production of the equipment for the synthetic harbors, they also made very important contributions to our success in moving millions of tons of gasoline and other supplies to the front lines inside France. The following are two striking examples of this assistance, neither of which could be revealed at the time for security reasons. How We Got the Gas to Patton’s and Hodges* Tanks Almost three years ago—in the early winter of 1942—the British Eighth Army had driven General Rommel most of the way across Libya. Then the British were forced to retreat and Rommel won a succession of victories^ which drove the British all the way back to El Alamein inside the Egyptian border. One of the reasons for the British failure to exploit their initial success was that they ran out of gasoline. Their supply system couldn’t keep up with the rapid advance across the desert. Rommel’s supply system worked better. His tanks and trucks did not run out of gasoline during his advance. One of the reasons why was that the Germans had a very efficient five-gallon gasoline can. These cans were made of steel. They were oblong-shaped, with flat sides. They were very strong and tremendous numbers of them could be packed into one 2J£-ton truck. The British had no gasoline can as good, nor did they have cans of any type in the quantities with which the Germans had equipped Rommel’s army. 618331—44---------3 17 The Eighth Army captured some of. these cans. They were sent back to England and the British started manufacturing them. They were called “Jerri-cans,” because they had been captured from the Germans. The first production of these cans in British factories was all sent to Egypt by every available means of transportation. By October 1942, when the Eighth Army launched its offensive at El Alamein in accordance with the strategic plans of the Combined Chiefs of Staff for the campaign that was to drive the Germans from all of Africa, the Eighth Army had enough “Jerri-cans” to meet its needs. This time they did not run out of gasoline and they drove the Germans 1,500 miles across the desert, all the way from El Alamein to Tunisia. In 1943 it was decided that the British should try to produce enough cans to meet most of the anticipated needs of the United States Army in the European Theater as well as of the British Army. To ship gasoline cans from the United States was wasteful of shipping space and the “Jerrican” had fully proved its worth. In the intervening months before "D” Day the British more than doubled their production of “Jerri-cans.” They succeeded in meeting virtually all of the United States Army requirements. Many millions of these cans, provided as reverse lend-lease, were filled and ready to go on “D” Day, June 6th. They were among the first supplies landed on the beaches of France. When the United States First and Third Armies broke out of Normandy, it was in these “Jerri-cans” that the gasoline our tanks and trucks needed to keep going was sent forward. Without these cans it would have been impossible for our armies fo cut their way across France at a lightning pace which exceeded the German blitz of 1940. Cargo planes and even combat planes were loaded with them and carried them to forward airfields. Trucks of every size, jeeps, armored cars—everything that rolled on wheels— ^loaded up with “Jerri-cans” and rushed them to the front lines. They were tough enough to be dropped off trucks in motion without bursting open. They could even be dropped from the air into rivers and streams, or they could be dumped overside from ships, because they have airpockets at the top which make them float even when filled. Today the * Jerri-cans” are still going into France by the million. They are being used, and used again, up near the front lines where the pipe lines and the tank trucks cannot go. The British also gave us a vitally important helping hand for the first pipe line built by the United States Army Engineers from Cherbourg to Paris. That pipe line was built almost entirely of pipe supplied us by the British under reverse lend-lease. 18 Bridges Like Meccano Sets Earlier in the war the British successfully developed a unit steel bridge called the Bailey Bridge. This bridge is constructed of standardized, interchangeable panels and cross-pieces. It works on the same principle as a toy Meccano or Erector set but without nuts and bolts. It is put together on one bank of a river and then slid out across the river to the opposite bank. By using different numbers of units it can be built to varying widths and to carry varying loads up to 70 tons or more. It can be built as a two-span bridge as well as a single span. It can be used with pontoons but its chief advantage is that it makes pontoons unnecessary in many cases. Rivers can be bridged at road-level instead of water-level. Detours and new highway approaches cut through river banks are eliminated. By using the Bailey Bridge a bombed-out bridge can be replaced in a few hours without any new road construction. The British also developed a unit railroad bridge which works on the same principle as the Bailey Bridge. When the plans were made over a year ago for the invasion of France, it was decided that the British should produce all the Bailey Bridges needed by the U. S. as well as the British armies in the European Theater. At the same time the British made available to us the design of this bridge so that we could manufacture it in this country to meet our needs in ocher theaters. With virtually every bridge knocked out across the Seine between Normandy and Paris and with thousands of bridges in all destroyed in France, the Bailey Bridges have been of critical importance in getting supplies to our front-line troops. United States Army Engineers have already, bridged the rivers of France perhaps a thousand times with Bailey Bridges, in addition to the pontoon and other type bridge which they have also used. On many an occasion this summer and fall, U. S. Army Sherman tanks, self-propelled artillery, and heavy trucks were rolling forward to the front lines on Bailey Bridges across rivers where a few hours before there had been only the broken remains of a wrecked bridge. - Whether by highway or by railroad, the miracles of transport achieved by the Allied armies under General Eisenhower have been achieved only because Great Britain and the United States combined their production and their brains to do the job. The British Army could not have smashed into the Netherlands without the American trucks which they received from us. We could not have sent forward enough supplies for the American armies without the British-designed and British-produced bridges which we received under reverse lend-lease. Similarly, in the case of railroad transportation, it was we who provided most of the locomotives, freight cars, and other rolling stock which were required, while it was the British who provided most of the unit railroad bridges which were necessary to get strategically vital French railroad lines running again. 19 OTHER BRITISH CONTRIBUTIONS The British have also made other important contributions toward meeting the combined allied supply needs in the European campaign. For example, 95 percent of the essential civilian supplies landed in France in the first 90 days after “D” Day came from British stocks. Most of these supplies consisted of food which were drawn from Britain’s own civilian food stocks. These included food sent from the United States under lend-lease as well as food produced in Britain or in other parts of the British Empire. We now have about twenty hospital trains in France, to carry American wounded back to base hospitals or to the coast for transferral to hospitals in England or the United States. Every one of these trains was built and equipped in Great Britain and provided to us as reverse lend-lease. In Britain we have also been provided with hospitals with beds for 100,000 men. We have received literally thousands of different types of supplies and services for our forces from the British under reverse lend-lease. They range from the full use of the world’s two greatest liners, the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth, to carry American troops across the ocean, to the provision of 16,000,000 boxes of matches for our Army post exchanges; from 14,120,000 rounds of ammunition and 587,000 smoke and other chemical warfare generators to 33,340,000 pounds of nails and 11,000 telegraph poles; from 200 mobile wharf cranes and 180 miles of new railway track to 37,250,000 cakes of soap and 7,800,000 pounds of salt. In spite of Britain’s own food shortages, 20 percent of the food for our forces in the United Kingdom was provided as reverse lend-lease from Britain’s own production of fresh foods and from the production of her Empire. BRITISH AID FOR OUR AIR OFFENSIVE The biggest single reverse lend-lease project undertaken by the British in terms of cost has been the construction of the great Eighth and Ninth United States Air Force bases, supply and assembly depots. This project involved the expenditure of $440,000,000, and the employment of tens of thousands of civilian laborers. Once the bases were built and equipped, British railroads bore the main burden of carrying to these bases from ports and supply dumps the vast and increasing tonnages of oil and gasoline and bombs required for the tremendous air offensive. As the pace and scope of the offensive were rapidly stepped up this year, special trains loaded with bombs and with traffic priority over the fastest passenger trains in Britain often raced direct from shipside to our Flying Fortress bases. Although the United States Army Air Forces use almost entirely American-produced airplanes and we have provided thousands more American-type planes under lend-lease to the British to supplement their own production, we had already received from the British as reverse lend-lease over 2,100 British aircraft up to June 30, 1944. Of these 1,440 were 20 turned over to us in the United Kingdom and 660 in other theaters. They were valuable to us either because of joint operations or because we needed quick action to meet local shortages of certain types of planes. We have received 500 British “Horsa” Gliders, which were used by American airborne troops along with our own gliders in the “D” Day operations this June or in subsequent airborne landing operations. We have received over 700 Spitfires, and hundreds of other planes including Mosquitoes, Beaufighters, and training types used in Britain. More important than these aircraft, in many ways, however, has been the assistance given to our Air Forces by the British under reverse lend-lease on several vitally important special production projects. One Million Spark Plugs Before and during the Battle of Britain, when the RAF had to work its outnumbered planes around the clock and the Spitfire and Hurricane engines got punishing treatment, the British developed a, new-type airplane spark plug. It was a hand-tailored, expensive product with platinum points and a core of synthetic powder fused almost to the hardness of diamonds. But it was worth more than diamonds and platinum combined to the hard-worked RAF, for it had a life from 4 to 5 times longer than the standard airplane engine spark plug. That meant cutting way down on the chances of engine trouble, which meant saving many lives, especially under combat conditions and on long-range missions. Although the plug was hand-tailored, the British worked out production techniques for increasing their limited output during the next two years, and the Government built new “shadow” factories out in the country to step up production still further. The British used their limited production for those planes where the operational strains were most severe. After the United States Eighth Air Force began operations from Britain in the summer of 1942, our Flying Fortress crews began having spark-plug trouble. We tried the British hand-tailored plugs, adapted to the B-17’s Wright engines. We, like the British, found they lasted from 4 to 5 times longer than the standard plugs. The British then undertook to double their production so they could provide all our Eighth Air Force Fortresses with these plugs. Since early in 1943 virtually every United States Flying Fortress has taken off from British bases with these plugs in each of its four engines. It would be impossible to estimate how many thousand United States bomber crews may since then have owed their lives to these spark plugs, but the performance record of the plugs speaks for itself. Similar British plugs have also been installed in United States Air Force P-51 Mustangs in the European Theater and 600,000 were shipped under reverse lend-lease to the United States for installation in Rolls Royce Merlin engines produced in this country. In all, about 1,000,000 of these plugs have now been provided by the United Kingdom. 21 This is not all. Many months ago, the British made available to the United States all the formulas, designs, and production techniques involved in making this plug, and Chinese copies of the plug are now being mass-produced in the United States to meet our operational needs in theaters all over the world. 300,000 Paper Gas Tanks This year the United States Eighth Air" Force has struck effectively deep into the heart of Germany because our Thunderbolts and Mustangs have been able to give the Fortresses long-range fighter protection. Our fighters have been able to fly the extra distance because they have been equipped with detachable auxiliary gas tanks. When the extra gasoline is used up, the tanks are jettisoned. Almost all of these tanks have been made in Britain under reverse lend-lease. They have been made of old newspapers and other waste paper, pressed and treated under a formula first developed by British technicians. Production was begun on 108-gallon size paper tanks for P-47’s in the summer of 1943. Later this tank was adapted for use by our P-51’s as well. Production of a 165-gallon paper tank to enable our P-47’s to travel even farther was begun in January of this year. Operational needs of our Air Force for these detachable tanks increased ‘so fast early last spring that for a few weeks tanks that were delivered from factories one day would be in use over Berlin or some other German city the next day. Since then there have been plenty of them. By June 30, 137,000 had been delivered. Now deliveries are approaching the 300,000 mark. These paper tanks have been made in over a score of small plants scattered throughout Britain, plants that used to turn out such products as ice-cream containers. To find enough labor to meet our needs the British went out and recruited women, men in their fifties and sixties, and boys in their early teens to get production up to the required levels. By their devoted efforts this pick-up labor force, working principally with old newspapers and glue, has contributed much to bringing destruction to the heart of German war industry, to shortening the war, and to saving the lives of American bomber crews. Other Air Force Supplies Protective body armor for bomber crews was first developed in Britain. In the spring and summer of 1943 enough body armor for 600 United States Eighth Air Force bomber crews was produced and turned over to us as reverse lend-lease. Meanwhile a sample set of the armor was sent to the United States and manufacture was begun in this country, which has since met our needs. Similarly the British provided all the armor plate for B-17’s and B-24’s in the European Theater until early this year, when our heavy bombers began arriving from the United States fully equipped with this armor. 22 Other supplies provided to the United States Air Forces by the British under reverse lend-lease have included^ among many hundreds of items of supply, such quantities as 110,000,000 cubic feet of breathing oxygen, over 1,000,000 gallons of paint and almost 1,500,000 pounds of chemicals, all supplies that are either difficult to ship or wasteful of shipping space. The British have also provided us with quantities of radio equipment, including the total requirements of both our Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces in the first six months of 1944 for one secret type of set. The British produced and delivered to the United States Air Forces over 50,000 tires and 34,000 tubes for our Flying Fortresses, Liberators, Mustangs, Thunderbolts, and C-47 and C-53 cargo and transport planes by October 1 of " this year. These tires have met a large part of the total tire requirements of our Air Forces in the European Theater. The crude rubber for this production program was drawn from British resources while the rayon fabric needed for the tires was sent from the United States. Other supplies and equipment provided to our Air Forces under reverse lend-lease have included such varied items as 140,000 bicycles, 1,667,402 hand and machine tools, 6,106,000 flares, and 36,874,755 rivets. RAW MATERIALS AND FOODSTUFFS In addition to reverse lend-lease aid for bur forces, the United States is receiving under reverse lend-lease from the British many strategic raw materials, commodities, and foodstuffs which are shipped to us. The most important of these supplies is crude rubber. Reverse lend-lease rubber shipments to the United States from the British Commonwealth will total about 78,000 tons this year. This is considerably more than imports of crude rubber into the United States from all other sources during the year. About 70,000 tons are coming from Ceylon, 3,000 tons from United Kingdom stocks, 4,600 tons from India, and the balance from British territory in the Western Hemisphere. By June 30 we had already received over 38,000 tons of the total. The shipments from Ceylon, the United Nations’ largest producing source of crude rubber since the loss of Malaya and the East Indies, represent more than two-thirds of Ceylon’s output. Most of the balance of the Ceylon rubber production is going to the Soviet Union and/ the remainder to Australia and New Zealand. The United States is also benefiting directly from the deliveries to Australia, since much of this rubber is being fabricated in Australia into tires for the United States Forces operating in that theater. As Australia bears the cost of this manufacture under its own reverse lend-lease arrangements, both the rubber and the fabrication into tires are supplied to the United States without payment by us. Benzol, which is required for manufacture of aviation gasoline and synthetic rubber, is another strategic commodity of which we have already 23 received very important shipments from both the United Kingdom and Australia under reverse lend-lease. By June 30, 1944, we had received 70,000,000 gallons. ' Other raw materials, strategic commodities and foodstuffs sent to the United States under reverse lend-lease by June 30, 1944, include 22,000,000 lbs. of tea from Ceylon, 123,000,000 lbs. of cocoa, 6,500 long tons of palm kernels and palm oil, 37,000 long tons of sisal, the rope fiber, and 635,000 hides from British Africa, 35,000 long tons of copra from the British Islands of the Pacific and many other commodities needed for the United States war effort. Because United States stocks of cocoa beans for making chocolate threatened to run short at Christmas time this year, the British government has just now arranged to rush to us 47,000,000 additional pounds of cocoa beans or cocoa butter from the United Kingdom’s home stocks, besides another 56,000,000 pounds from West Africa before the first of the year. These shipments will also be on reverse lend-lease terms, without payment by us. Up to June 30, 1944 we had received almost $73,000,000 worth of raw materials, strategic commodities, and foodstuffs (including $18,000,000 worth of benzol) from the United Kingdom, Southern Rhodesia, and British Colonies, as reverse lend-lease. In addition, we are also receiving mica, burlap, jute and other strategic commodities on reverse lend-lease terms from India. FREE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION The United States and Great Britain have both benefited greatly by the free interchange of technical and scientific information, data, and specifications on new weapons and inventions during the war. No money valuation is put on this type of aid. Radar is an outstanding example of this cooperation. We have learned much from the British and they from us. By pooling our experience and our skills we have together been able to make far greater strides in the use of radar than would otherwise have been possible. British contributions to this 4‘joint stock-pile of brains,” in addition to those mentioned elsewhere in this report, have included such outstanding achievements as the invention of the jet-propulsion plane and the development of rockets that are now being used by American forces against the Japanese in the Paicfic. The liquid-cooled British Merlin airplane engine, now being produced in vast quantities in the United States, was given its start in this country because the British freely made available all the specifications to us. Most of the outstanding scientific developments of this war are the result of joint research and planning. Many of them will result in great peacetime benefits long after the war has ended. 24 Chapter 2 REVERSE LEND-LEASE FOR THE WAR AGAINST JAPAN Reverse lend-lease facilities, supplies and services furnished to the United States forces in the Pacific, China and Burma-India Theaters for the war against Japan are now rapidly approaching the billion dollar mark. The cost of the reverse lend-lease aid rendered by Australia and New Zealand and in India has been reported as totalling $911,000,000 up to June 30, 1944, as shown in Table 5. The supplies and services provided to United States forces in these theaters in the past six months as reverse lend-lease, without payment by us, have increased materially in quantity and in monetary value over the totals for the preceding six months. REVERSE LEND-LEASE AID Furnished to United States in the Pacific and C-B-l Theaters January-June 1944 Cumulative to June 30,1944 Australia $184,906,000 39,293,000 125,863,000 $547,270,000 131,179,000 232,616,000 New Zealand TOTAL 350,062,000 911,065,000 (Conversion to dollars at official rates of exchange.) Table 5 25 REVERSE LEND-LEASE AID FROM AUSTRALIA January-June 1944 Cumulative to June 30,1944 Construction $30,189,000 $123,179,000 Foodstuffs and clothing 23,654,000 118,775,000 Air Force supplies and equipment.... Other military supplies and equip- 4,661,000 40,096,000 ment 61,633,000 113,233,000 Shipping services and shipbuilding.... 20,789,000 44,069,000 Transportation and other services..... 43,980,000 107,918,000 TOTAL..... 184,906,000 547,270,000 (Conversion from Australian pound at $3.23.) Table 6 REVERSE LEND-LEASE AID FROM NEW ZEALAND January-June 1944 Cumulative to June 30,1944 Construction $6,000 23,011,000 0) 8,526,000 1,346,000 6,404,000 $28,570,000 52,511,000 C) 21,893,000 7,846,000 20,359,000 Foodstuffs and clothing Air Force supplies and equipment Other military supplies and equipment. Shipping services and shipbuilding.... Transportation and other services TOTAL 39,293,000 131,179,000 1 Not available separately; included with other military supplies and equipment. (Conversion from New Zealand pound at $3.25.) Table 7 26 In The Pacific Theater In the case of Australia and New Zealand this increase is the more remarkable because most of the United States forces previously based in Australia and New Zealand have been moving out of these countries as the battle lines advanced far northward into the Philippines and the islands of the Central Pacific. The increase in reverse lend-lease aid in this theater reflects in some measure the very important part played by Australia and New Zealand in supplying the forces under General MacArthur with the tremendous quantities of equipment and other supplies required for the great operations in the Philippines which are now under way. Both Australia and New Zealand are devoting 18 percent of their total war budgets to paying the cost of the reverse lend-lease program for United States forces. Supplies, equipment, services, and facilities have been provided by Australia and New Zealand to meet many of the procurement needs of all branches of the United States Army forces in this theater, including the Quartermaster Corps, Ordnance, the Medical Corps, the Engineers, the Signal Corps, the Transportation Corps and the Air Corps. For the Philippines campaign and for our other island operations, one of the most vital supply responsibilities undertaken by Australia and New Zealand for United States forces has been the production of $36,500,000 worth of landing craft, barges, tug boats, and other craft essential to the successful prosecution of an amphibious campaign over thousands of miles of ocean. FOREIGN ECONOMIC ADMINISTRATION Chart 4 27 By June 30, 1944, which was well in time to meet General MacArthur’s needs for the invasion of the Philippines, 9,500 of these craft had already been delivered under reverse lend-lease. Our forces have used many of them in landing and supply operations for the campaign on Leyte. From the point of view of tonnage, the food provided by Australia and New Zealand has been by far the most important supply item handled bv the Quartermaster Corps. We have now received from Australia and New Zealand about 1,850,000,000 pounds of food for United States forces in the Pacific Theater. This program includes not only great quantities of fresh foods, but also of canned and dehydrated foods locally grown and processed under a program undertaken especially for United States forces by Australia and New Zealand. This program has met by far the greater part of the total food requirements for our forces in this area. If it had been necessary for us to ship this food from the United States, it would have required 130 loaded ships. We were able to use these ships, instead, to bring from the United States more guns and tanks and other equipment which could not be produced at all or in sufficient quantities in Australia and New Zealand. QUANTITIES OF FOODSTUFFS PROVIDED BY AUSTRALIA UNDER REVERSE LEND-LEASE To June 30,1944 Item Quantity, in pounds R^eF nnn venl 84,349,440 1 nmn mutton nnn nnrk 43^709,440 1 nnnerl nnn miccellnnenus merit ornnucts 67,320,960 L erenls inrlunind nr^nd nisruits Flour, etc 281 ^420,160 Potatoes 97,760,320 Canned goods, including jam. Fruit juice, etc ' 102,833,920 Fresh Fruit nnn veoetnnles 143,151,68C Cnnnen Fruit nnn veoetnnles 140,071,680 Dehydrated Fruit and vegetables 19553,920 Butter 1 37,065,28C Rutter substitutes. 18,742,080 Sugar 69,328,000 i Hnn^nc^n nnn evnnnrnten milk. 53,607,680 Fresh milk 53*134,223 Fresh eaas. 57,594,914 TOTAL 1,270,043,697 Table 8 28 The food we have received from Australia and New Zealand includes more than 400,000,000 pounds of beef and other meats. Tables 8 and 9 show the quantities of major food items produced and processed in Australia and New Zealand and turned over to our forces as reverse lend-lease. In order to meet the great and increasing United States requirements for foodstuffs, while at the same time maintaining the supplies which New Zealand is committed to send to the United Kingdom, the New Zealand Government has imposed strict rationing of butter, cream, and milk, commodities of which there is normally an enormous surplus over local consumption. New Zealand has also made great efforts to increase her production of other foodstuffs, including fresh vegetables, solely for the purpose of meeting United States requirements. More than 5,000 acres of pasture land have been taken over by the New Zealand Agriculture Department and transformed into market gardens producing up to 4,500,000 pounds of fresh vegetables per month for the United States, New Zealand, and allied armed forces. Over a thousand employees are now working on QUANTITIES OF FOODSTUFFS PROVIDED BY NEW ZEALAND UNDER REVERSE LEND-LEASE To June 30, 1944 Item Quantity, in pounds Beef and veal 81 050 000 Lamb and mutton 35 250 000 Pork 21 890 000 Bacon and ham 31 210 000 Meat, canned 51 570 000 Other fresh and processed meat 14 560 000 Butter 30 520 000 Cheese 9 720 000 Milk, evaporated 19 470 000 Other dairy products 27 160 000 Potatoes 63 050 000 Other fresh vegetables 52 240 000 Vegetables, canned 18 260 000 Apples, fresh 28 690 000 Sugar 45 590 000 Other foodstuffs 49 060 000 TOTAL 579,290,000 Table 9 29 the Government vegetable-growing program, many of them women who have been specially recruited and trained for this work. Large quantities of these vegetables are dehydrated and canned in special plants constructed since the war began. Virtually the entire output of these plants is going to American and New Zealand forces in the Pacific area. The United States Army Quartermaster has been able to procure under reverse lend-lease many other items besides foodstuffs. For example, Australia alone has already furnished almost 1,500,000 army boots and shoes, over 1,750,000 army blankets, 7,500,000 pairs of socks, and almost 1,000,000 army shirts and jackets. Table 10 shows quantities of Army clothing received under reverse lend-lease from Australia. Quantities of clothing received as reverse lend-lease from New Zealand include 240,000 Army blankets, 675,000 pairs of socks, 25,000 leather field jackets and more than 15,000 pairs of gloves. New Zealand has also provided the United States Army with 6,000 tents and with nearly 50,000 mattresses. Most of the guns and ammunition with which the United States Army fights come from the United States, but Australia provides our Ordnance Corps from her own production with many supplementary supplies under reverse lend-lease that we must also have. These include such items as hand grenades, parachutes for fragmentation bombs, fire-control instruments of all kinds, machine and hand tools, tires and tubes, and ammunition boxes. For the Medical Corps, Australia provides under reverse lend-lease, hospitals, hospital trains, beds and bedding, kitchen and mess equipment, stretchers and dressings, as well as many other supplies. For our Army Engineers the Australians have provided earth-moving equipment of all kinds, cranes, concrete mixers, insulators, barbed wire, and hundreds of other miscellaneous supplies, in addition to the air bases, barracks and other facilities constructed or turned over to our forces. For our Signal Corps, Australia produces such equipment as transmitters and receivers, wire and cable tubes and batteries and meteorological balloons. Australian services to our Air Corps have included repair and overhaul facilities which have contributed much to keeping our planes in the air, in addition to aircraft parts, machine and hand tools, paints, oxygen and acetylene, flying jackets and jungle kits, auxiliary belly tanks, photographic material for our reconnaissance planes and hundreds of other items. Australia and New Zealand have provided our Transportation Corps with repairs to ships and to other equipment, with landing craft, boats and ships of many types, with many miles of rope, marine engines and other types of supplies and equipment. 30 U. S. ARMY CLOTHING PROVIDED BY AUSTRALIA UNDER REVERSE LEND-LEASE To June 30, 1944 Item Number Cop$ and hots 210,172 Chevrons etc 971 £24 Pairs of gloves 604^946 Helmets * 34,000 Head nets 697*600 Jackets 484,056 Shirts 488,668 Socks 7,552,524 Sweaters 260,872 Men's underwear 461 £00 Ties 1,235*000 Blankets 1 J96£53 Trousers, etc 316,694 Boots and shoes 1,445*537 Boot and shoe and repair material pieces.■ • • 3'832^731 Table 10 Australia and New Zealand provide under reverse lend-lease all rail, air, motor, and water transportation costs, including freight, port, and harbor charges, stevedoring and wharf handling charges. They also pay the cost of telephone, telegraphic, and cable services under reverse lend-lease. Virtually all of our requirements for tires and tubes in the Southwest Pacific are being provided this year under reverse lend-lease by Australia. Already over 250,000 tires and 280,000 tubes have been delivered. A very large part of Australia’s total tire production capacity has been devoted to this program. It has been made possible because Great Britain has sent from Ceylon to Australia enough crude rubber for the program and because we have sent from the United States the cotton fabric, carbon black, and some of the chemicals required for tire production. New Zealand has provided hospital beds, mainly in specially constructed and equipped hospitals, for no fewer than 8,000 United States servicemen at a time when the accommodation in the Dominion for civilians in both public and private hospitals totalled only 13,000 beds. Camps, hospitals, warehouses, and other buildings constructed for the United States forces in New Zealand at a cost approximating $29,000,000 have utilized more 31 than one-half of the annual building capacity of the Dominion. A large shipbuilding program comprising construction of hundreds of lighters, tugs, barges, etc., for use in the Pacific has been undertaken for the American forces. Shipbuilding, virtually a new enterprise for New Zealand, has, as a result of this activity, already reached the rank of a substantial industry. As a further reverse lend-lease contribution, more than 500 ships have been repaired and refitted in New Zealand without cost to the United States. FOREIGN ECONOMIC ADMINISTRATION Chart 5 Burma-India Theater United States forces in the Burma-India Theater have received reverse lend-lease supplies, services, and facilities which cost the United Kingdom and the Government of India $232,616,000 up to June 30, 1944. More than 99% percent of all supplies and services locally procured in India by United States forces are provided as reverse lend-lease by the Governments of the United Kingdom and India. The financial value of reverse lend-lease in India in the first six months of 1944 was more than 50 percent greater than for the entire year 1943. Table 11 shows the cost of this aid, which was provided without any payment by us, by major categories. More than half of all the reverse lend-lease aid which we have received in this theater has been provided for our Air Forces. By June 30, 1944, 32 REVERSE LEND-LEASE AID IN INDIA1 January-June 1944 Cumulative to June 30,1944 Construction $34,202,000 $78,076,000 Foodstuffs and clothing 11/63^000 21*552,000 Air Force and other military supplies and equipment 68,746,000 109,563,000 Shipping services 1,543,000 3,643,000 Transportation and other services <909/)00 1 <782^000 TOTAL2 125,863,000 232,616,000 1 Provided both by the United Kingdom and the Government of India. Based on estimates by the United States Army. 2 Does not include raw materials and foodstuffs shipped to the United States. Table 11 wc had received 113,300,000 gallons of aviation gasoline and 31,000,000 gallons of motor vehicle gasoline, in addition to millions of gallons of oil, lubricants and greases. The petroleum products provided to us by the British in this theater have been drawn from British oil resources, FOREIGN ECONOMIC ADMINISTRATION Chart 6 33 QUANTITIES OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS RECEIVED BY U. S. FORCES IN INDIA UNDER REVERSE LEND-LEASE To June 30, 1944 . A • • * ' Item Quantity, in U. S. gallons Aviation gasoline 113,309,012 Aviation oil 2,6513 56 Motor vehicle gasoline 31 *157,091 Motor vehicle oil. 246^022 Diesel oil... 3,682J27 Lubricants 87,328 Greases 572^046 Miscellaneous . . . 2,807^869 Table 12 principally in the Middle East. A large part of the aviation gasoline Which has powered the B-29 Super Fortresses of our 20th Air Force in their raids from bases in both India and China, has been provided as reverse lend-lease from the British refinery at Abadan on the Persian Gulf. Similarly, the heavy and medium bombers and the fighters of the QUANTITIES OF FOODSTUFFS RECEIVED IN INDIA BY U. S. FORCES UNDER REVERSE LEND-LEASE To June 30,1944 Item Quantity, in pounds Meat, fish and fowl 20,037,022 32,279,182 Vegetables Fruits and nuts 9,088,826 2,758,573 7,331,353 Bread Beverages Eq« 4,001,223 11,087,879 9,242,213 5,270,782 98,847,555 « ■ « ■ Condiments Cereal and grain Milk and cream Miscellaneous subsistence TOTAL 199,944,608 Table 13 34 10th United States Air Force in India and the 14th United States Air Force in China have used this reverse lend-lease gasoline in their operations against the Japanese. . Table 12 shows the quantities of petroleum products received by our forces in India under reverse lend-lease. Construction of bases, barracks, and other facilities for our forces in India under reverse lend-lease cost $78,000,000 up to June 30, 1944. Most of this construction has been for the United States Army Air Forces, including the bases in India for our Super-Fortresses as well as the bases for the 10th United States Air Force. United States forces in India have also been provided with almost 200,000,000 pounds of food, as shown in Table 13. Other Quartermaster Corps supplies provided as reverse lend-lease in India include 974,000 yards of cloth, almost 500,000 Army coats and jackets, over 600,000 pairs of Army trousers and shorts, and over 130,000 pairs of Army shoes, in addition to hundreds of thousands of other items of uniform equipment. 35 U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1944