AMERICA’S TREMENDOUS ACHIEVEMENT BEHIND THE LINES

When the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, the United States land forces in Europe numbered some 2,200,000 fighting men.  Of these about 750,000 were in the Argonne section, on the French front.  The others were in various units on the French, Belgian, Italian and other fronts.  Additions were arriving from the States at the rate of 8,000 men each day.

Behind these combat forces was an immense support in men and supplies of every kind from home, and a transport system surpassing that of any other belligerent, perfectly equipped; and a great army of relief workers, in addition to one of the finest hospital systems the world has ever seen.

The American army had taken to France and had in operation 967 standard gauge locomotives and 13,174 standard gauge freight cars of American manufacture.  In addition it had in service 350 locomotives and 973 cars of foreign origin.  To meet demands which the existing French railways were unable to meet, 843 miles of standard gauge railway were constructed.  Five hundred miles of this had been built since June, 1918.

The department of light railways had constructed 115 miles of road, and 140 miles of German light railways were repaired and put in operation.  Two hundred and twenty-five miles of French railway were operated by the Americans.

But railways represent only a fraction of the transport effort Modern warfare is motor warfare and it is virtually impossible to present in figures this phase of the work of the American army.

In building new roads as the exigencies of battle operations required, in keeping French roads repaired under the ceaseless tide of war transport and in constructing bridges in devastated battle regions, American engineers worked day and night.  The whole region behind the American lines was full of typical American road machinery, much of it of a character never seen before in Europe.

To do this work the American expeditionary forces had in operation November 11, 1918, more than 53,000 motor vehicles of all descriptions.

The American forces were in no danger of being placed on short rations, had the war continued.

One ration represents the quantity of each article each man is entitled to daily.  It is interesting to note the supply of some of the principal ration components on hand.

The Americans had 390,000,000 rations of beans alone, 183,000, rations of flour and flour substitutes, 267,000,000 rations of milk; 161,000,000 rations of butter or substitutes; 143,000,000 rations of sugar; 89,000,000 rations of meat; 57,000,000 rations of coffee and 113,000,000 rations of rice, hominy and other foods, with requisites such as flavorings, fruits, candy and potatoes in proportion, while for smokers, there were 761,000,000 rations of cigarettes and tobacco in other forms.