Brickmania Blog

“Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics.”
– Attributed to Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC

Prior to D-Day, the French Resistance and Allied bombing had effectively dismantled the rail system in northern France to hinder the German ability to resupply. While this campaign was successful, it also prevented the Allied use of the rail system after they established a base of operations in Normandy. As the railway system was under repair, an emergency solution was needed to resupply troops quickly moving inland.

Operated from August through November 1944, the Red Ball Express was developed to deliver the required supplies to rapidly advancing Allied divisions. The Express involved a massive 24-hour operation capable of delivering the required 800 tons of daily supplies needed per division. The Allied war machine also required almost a million gallons of fuel daily to continue the offensive. The Army employed the use of the 2 ½ ton CCKW truck to accomplish this monumental task. The credit for this logistics miracle goes primarily to the soldiers of the Transportation Corps, often working 22 hour shifts over the course of several months. Due to racial unit segregation, a majority of these men were African-American.

Records indicate that over 75% of the truck drivers in the Corps were African-American soldiers. Many had never driven a truck before. Despite receiving only a few hours of training, they drove day and night on narrow roads through bad weather to deliver badly-needed supplies. It is estimated that over 900 trucks were moving on the Express at any given time. Around 5,400 trucks were involved in the operation, delivering over 400,000 tons of ammunition, food, clean water, and fuel to the front.  

When the fascist Grand Council met on the morning of July 25, 1943, they voted Benito Mussolini out of power.

That’s right. Voted.

This comical end to the fascist dictator was due to lack of meaningful ambition on Mussolini’s part. Although he had been in power as il Duce (the leader) since 1925, he had failed to sell fascism the same way Hitler had sold it to the German people in the 1930s. In his dream of a new Roman Empire, the Duce had inadequately mobilized his nation for war and was not prepared for the seemingly endless resources afforded to the Allies.

This lack of foresight is common among dictators. The allure of power is often blinding to reality. Much like Hitler, Mussolini made fatal errors in waging war against a determined enemy. Neither dictator anticipated the resistance of the Red Army at Stalingrad or the resolve of Britain against almost impossible odds. The defeat at Stalingrad had resulted in the complete destruction of the Italian Army on the Eastern Front. After the Allied landing at Sicily on July 10, the Grand Council was forced to take action.

The Grand Council, which had not met since 1939, now looked to salvage what was left of their small country. In 1943, with coal, oil and food in short supply, the Italian public began openly expressing their disdain with the Duce. Realizing the facts, the Grand Council looked to craft an armistice with the Allies. Following his meek acceptance of the Council’s decision, Mussolini was arrested.

Although he was rescued by the Waffen-SS and charged by Hitler to continue the war in northern Italy, the anticlimactic end of this would-be Roman Emperor was completed with his capture and execution in 1945.