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Talk ball express was the code name for one of the largest logistic operations of the Second World War. It consisted of a fleet of 5.958 truck and trailers, which supplied over 412.000 tons ammunition, food and fuel between 25 August and 16 November 1944 to the allied armies at the Western European front.
The drivers 225. AAA of Searchlight battalion, talk ball Trucker, loaded into talk ball depot of supplies, particularly gasoline and ammunition, up and drove with it to that far in front because of the front line which are airfields 225. Battalion at the west barrier. Thus they formed the vital vein, which held the allied armies alive with the supplying ways from normandy, stretched far, to east France and Belgium.
75 per cent of all drivers Afroamerikaner were approximate. This resulted from the attitude at that time of the kommandierenden officers before and to beginning of the war that black ones would not have attitude to fighting. Therefore they served almost exclusively in supply and service units. This attitude changed only starting from approximately 1942.
The Second World War was first really motorized war. Quarter masters saw themselves on all theaters world-wide to a demand for fuel, oil and lubricant (English: Petroleum, Oils and Lubricants (POLE)) suspended in not known extent. Thus the relatively small operation Torch in North Africa did not require less than 10 million gallons gasoline (approx. 38 millions litres). The allied logisticians carried the "red material" from the beaches over the desert in five-gallon "lightning" - cans (19 litres), tank cars or again sketched, mobile pipings. Those here as well as from the operations on Sicilies and Italy of won realizations came the much more extensive invasion in normandy in June 1944 to property.
As operation the Overlord admitted channel invasion preceded months of the intensive preparation. Allied logisticians compiled a detailed plan in this time for the supply of the own troops with POLE on the European continent. All vehicles participating in the invasion should reach the beaches with full tanks and additional containers with five gallons gasoline. A further intensive supply was for the initial phase up to 41. Day intended. Since the planners proceeded starting from this time from a slow, but constant penetrating of the allied units eastward, their planning planned a just as calm, but intensive structure of a fundamental supplying platform with frontnear depots. After the income planned by Cherbourg, for the 15. Invasion day, was intended the transfer by three 6-Zoll-Rohrleitungen (15.24 cm), which should run afterwards until Paris.
On the success of this operation much depended. The pipelines should be put as close ones as possible to the advancing units, so that about 90 per cent of the necessary fuel by them could be supplied. The Overlord raid should be officially terminated after 90 days with the reaching of the Seine. In the follow-up period up to one year after the landing an advance to to the Rhine was planned, where also the final phase of the war was expected. In addition places lain strategically well had been selected for the placement by large points of service.
From the view of the logisticians everything ran after plan starting from the D-Day. The first vehicles rolled ashore and the crews began immediately with the plant of the gasoline can depots at the places planned for it. This method of the open camps made the supply means for the combat teams, falling under the class III, easily accessible. At the sixth invasion day then one began to shift these stores further in the interior.
Although the Germans with all effort tried to fight the allied ones it did not succeed to them, the bridgehead back urge. At the end of June it had already considerably increased. The allied combat teams fought themselves approximately 40 kilometers in the interior by the with difficulty accessible area of the Bocage. But a fast outbreak from the bridgehead did not come off. This had also direct positive and negative effect on the supplying situation. Up to 21. Already 177,000 vehicles and one half million tons material had been ashore brought to day after beginning of the invasion, which piled up itself in enormous camps. The pole reserves exceeded 28 million litre. Since however Cherbourg could not being taken like planned, the plan had to fall for the building of the pipelines only once be left and the supply of POLE over weeks from the camps be taken place.
In the last July week Cobra the outbreak finally succeeded with the execution of the operation. At a substantial bombardment of the German positions on 25 July it succeeded to the 1. US army under general Omar Bradley to break through the German lines with Saint On the subsequent day three armored divisions advanced fast more than 40 kilometers to the south to the basis of the Cotentin peninsula. Thus the unique chance resulted to place and destroy with a fast pursuit of the setting off German units these as still as possible in France. Considering this possibility the allied ones rejected many of the before prepared plans. The 1. and 3. US army 12 became on 1 August. Group of US armies combines; this began immediately with the movement war.
By the only slight resistance of the German defenders it succeeded to the allied ones to book across north France success around success for itself. While George S. Pattons third army after the west in the Brittany and after the south on Le Mans zujagte, use they to the day average more than 1.4 million litre gasoline. Their reserves were practically completely exhausted one week after the activation of the army on 7 August. Patton was dependent on the supply of gasoline cans by means of truck from the back area. It succeeded to it to keep the mobility of its units upright for further three weeks until they were stopped by the critical supply situation with gasoline.
The turning point came in the week of 20. by 26 August 1944. In this period the 1 was. and 3. US army into a rapid pursuit on the Germans entangles, with which they developed a thirst after fuel. In this week lay the fuel consumption as highly as never before. Far more than 3 million litre gasoline per day were used on the average. However 3. US army used on 24 August 2.95 million litre. On the next day the allied troops achieved the Seine and French and American units engaged in Paris.
The decision to cross the Seine and to advance immediately direction the east further, without waiting for the complete structure of the supplying lines, meant a substantial prevention of the actual Overlord plan. Bradley said to it on 27 August: "The armies will so far, as it appears practicable, drive on and then so long to wait, until the utility system in their back area permits again a further advance. "After Seine crossing the armies did not only continue to expand its supply lines, also the length of the front line which can be supplied doubled themselves. The lack of supplying became fast apparent, when the supply supplies together-shrank on a fraction. Some days had to live and improvise the divisions practically from hand to mouth. of 90 to 95 per cent all supply goods still lay in the depots in normandy. After the outbreak the allied troops had advanced than 480 kilometers of the landing beaches in one month more in the interior. It was urgently necessary to develop a fast working supply system.
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