HOW AMERICA DID IT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 45, 18 November 1918, Page 8

HOW AMERICA DID IT

AMAZING FEATS OF TRANSPORTATION DESCRIBED TESTIMONY BY SIR JOSEPH MACLAY "Fair Play", of contains the following interesting account of an interview with Sir Joseph Mucky, the British Shipping Controller, 'on the subject of. ; the transport of the American Army.- ■ ' When Lord Vincent was questioned as to the possibility of England being invaded during tlio Napoleonic War, he refused, as First Lord of the British Admiralty, to give a guarantee that troops could not land, but to his timorous "qiiis-1 tioners he always added with a grim smile, "But they won't come by sen." The folly of the' Herman naval authorities in the early months of last year con. fiisted in their positive assurance that even if America raised an army on the Continental scale—which no one iir Germany believed abe would do—that .army could not-be transported across the Atlantic. Germans appreciated the difficulty of moving hundreds of thousands of troops a distance-of 3000 miles in face of an intensive submarine campaign nr.d them keeping them supplied with all they required, and they were' positive that piracy would so impede the' movements by sea that 'American! • military -power could never ina'«j itself'felt to any appreciable extent on European battlefields. A Stupendous. Task,. . "Probably no one who is not familiar with the shipping problem can appreciate the character of this transport movement," said Sir Joseph Maclay, the British Shipping Controller, when asked his opinion of tlie mobilisation of American man-power in Europe. "It is the biggest thing of the kind that has ever been attempted," Sir Joseph Jlaelay added. "We are not a.little proud of the manner in which we transported and maintained our Army'in South Africa, but in the light of the American movement it niusi/'be confessed that the achievement was a' comparatively modest one. If 1 remember rightly we moved only about 300,000 men from first to last, and we had the whole of the British mercantile marine'to draw from, and there'were no submarines. Over a million troops have ,been moved across. the Atlantic during the past year or so in face' of an offensive by sea waged by the enemy with as great determination and persistans as he has fought on the Western front, and simultaneously wo have been moving British and colonial soldiers to all theatres of the war and Keeping them supplied. Only those who have access to .official records can appreciate the character of the enemy's elforts to arrest these varied transport movements, 'and particularly of' the American forces destined for Europe. He has been able, to combine his original purpose and his original plans for attempting to starve out England with his new plans fer attacking the transports. Every submarine at the command of the Germans has been sent to sea manned by the most experienced officers and men. The whole German people were led to believe that piracy practised with the utmost ruthlessriess would ruin this ambitious transport scheme. What has happened? Over '1,000,0.00.tr00ps have been carried acrow the Atlantic and the lives of less than ■300 soldiers .have been lost. On the average about CO per cent, of the American soldiers have been carried in British ships, and, as I will explain later <>«, tho proportion is steadily rising. The extent of the contribution of British-ton-nage Ghould be considered not-as an isolated act, but in association with the world-wide activities of the British merchant ,navy, which have gone on. simultaneously. The time.has not.come when, the narrative can \n given in full-; but it may. ; bo remembered that while ' the American soldiers have been travelling to Europe the 7,000,000 British, Dominion, and Indian troops engaged in six theatres of war, France, Flanders, Italy/Salonika, Palestine, Mesopotamia, . Persia, and Egypt, to say nothing of the garrisons in Malta, Gibraltar, ami elsewhere, have been supported with reinforce--ments, munitions, stores, and food,' and their sick and wounded carried. , In some cases the fresh men had to be.broight from Canada,. South , Africa,. Australia, ana New Zealand. Nor is-thai all. A large volume of shipping lies also been required, and that not in. home, waters only by the British Fleet, the ships of .which arc largely dependent on mercantile tonnage for fuel, stores, and even food.- The situation, naval airl miliary, changes from day to day, and an attempt has to .'be .made: to vary the organisation of the 'merchant fleet to meet it. It was when all .these responsibilities were already being borne that plans had to be made to hllp carry tho troops."

Ho* It &as Done. ■"An.fl hoiv was this transport miracle aehiev-yd," Sir Joseph Jlaclay was asked. "Well," ho replied, "it has only been rendered possible by the efficient'organisation on tho American side and our assistance on this side,'.which has. been rendered.with both hands. As to the first point, co-oper.ition was necessary between the 'military authorities and the railways in carrying troops to the ports and between the people running the ports and the shipping, 'authorities. The American genius lor organisation . has once more been. exhibited in a ■ new sphere, and it has succeeded in epite of all-the difficulties created by the war. If the 'American railways hadp not been operated with success the whole transport mo-?enie'nt might have failed, be-, cause it was esscnti 1 to quick transportation that the troops should be ready for the ships. That meant economy of tonnage, and economy was very necessary.,;

"The "United States posseted only a comparatively small number of ships suitable fov transiwrts, but the liners in American ports seized from the enei)*) , proved of immense service, it niust be one.of the ironies of the war, viewed through German ?pedaclcs, that so many Gerinau sliips should have been employed in carrying American troops to fight German soldiers in Ei)vopej But when every suitable ship under the American liag had been taken 'inio the transport service, the tonnage was quite inadequate, to the need. 'I'hat is where we came in —itillingiy and whole-heartedly co-oper-nting to-ensure Uie success of the .more- 1 nient of troops. .After the German offensive opeasd in March we had to make n big eli'ort. 1 miiy add that 638,000 troops were carried in i.hn months of April, May, and June, 331,000 of which were accommodated in British ships. We are all working to promote a common cause, and are not out io pat ourselves on the bick for, what we uro doing. But I might add, sihoft the fuct might not bo well known, that we were only able to face these new responsibilities by' Sacrificing for the , iimh being, not only -British, Out'lmperial interests. Ships which under irtmiyil circumstances are engaged in the trades between tho British.lsles and the Fir East, Australasia,' and India, have had to be withdrawn from service, 4ind we have been compelled to sacrifice to a, large extent the communications between the Mother Country and the dominions in the Southern Kens. -T cannot apeak too highly of the manner in which Hie people of the dominions have bowod to compelling circumstances. It lias really been splendid. Bui there is more in iteven than that. This concentration of shipping has meant tho severing of trade associations built up during long periods of years. Every business man will understand the character of thai. sacrifice, for there is no saying when those abandoned services can "be .resinned. That statement' may suggest' the character of the sacrilico which the British people are making in order to facilitate ilie transport of American troops."

Big Side Issues. And then Sir Joseph Jlaclay turned to another aspect of the transport move■jjient of which little has been said. "It is no <, r ood," lie added, "bringing over troops to Europe unless those troops can be kept supplied with all they require. There is always a temptation on tho. part of those who are unfamiliar with military matters to think of an army in terms of men only; bui an army requires an enormous volume, of material —guns, aeroplanes, wagons, ammunition, food, and storee of all kinds. In June, for instance, Half a million tons' ■ of stores for ' the ' American

troops were, carried across the Atlantic, Horses, in particular, present a very great, difficulty, as can be readily imagined, anrl.au , enormous number of horses have to. bo carried. And that brings mo back to the point which I wish to emphasise—tho army which is transported has to he kept supplied with all it requires from week to week mul day by day. Consequently, the larger number of troops transported the greater the burden on tonnage required to supply the army's needs. The matter can be reduced to a vci'x simple- formula.. Koughly speaking, every 1000 mm landed in France w equal to oIKI!) tons of stores in a year. ■ „ j "From tho shipping standpoint three classes of armies are engaged in this wnr. There are such armies as those of Germany, Austria, and in some measure France. The German army illustrates my point best. It has a.continuous line; it is connected with its source of supplies by railways, and ,it .can move its military impedimenta from the factory behind the lines swiftly as well as cheaply, varying the supply arrangements with ease/ in accordance with the changing military 'conditions. In the second class comes tLe British Army. The English Channel, with a varying breadth of 20 to 50 miles, lies between it and its main base of supply. That means that the British authorities are compelled to maintain behind the lines larger supplies than the Germans are compelled, to maintain. In the third class comes, the American Army. It is libout one hundred times removed from its base of supply as the British Army, and that fact exaggerates the difficulties of the tonnage problem, because not only must large reserves be maintained of ■military material and food, but provision must be made on n large scale fo-r extensive workshops and hospitals, and so on, ■ I believe that the American Army-now has in France a railroad with more miles of track and. a heavier eifaipnient than tHo Erie railroad. Those who are familiar with shipping matters will appreciate what thaF means in tonnage'. But that.is not , all, for there is no-more remarkable feature of this transport movement than the success with which the Americans have transformed some of the French ports. They have brought iiiem m> to the highest standard t'am.i]-iai-'on the United States seaboard. Tho reorganisation scheme, involving in., •mense quantities of material, Ims been carried out with wonderful success. I may mention the case of the Leviathan, formerly the Hamburg-Amerika liner Vaterland, as an illustration of the rapidity with which ships are' now turned round, which means economy of tonnage. This enormous vessel recently reached a French port with 11,000 men uii ooarc,. What happened? These troops, almost equivalent to a whole German division, wore disembarked, -1000 tons of coal were taken on board, and-in 48 hours the Leviathan was on her way back Jto the United States. French transportation, railway and port transportation, in largo iireiis of that country is now being brought permanently \m to the American standard."

Finally, in discussing this transport movement, Sir Joseph iMaclny ljore tes-' timony to t'ho cordial relations which were being maintained between the responsible authorities on the two sides of the Atlantic. "This wonderful transport movement, could.'rot. have been carried out 'it' everyone concerned, British and. .American, had not worked together with a Biiiglo eye'to efficiency. Our common language has, of course, been enormous advantage, and has enabled us to place at the disposal of the Americana all the'knowledge and experience we had v obtained in the earlier period'of the war, in transporting and supplying Britisji, : Dominion,. and Indian troops. Uur military problem was from the first a lonnage problem. .Our troops are all fiupported from the sea, whether they eome'from the ITnited Kingdom. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, or India. 1 sometimes think that perhaps .even tVie British people do not fully realise the shipping problem which our military intervention on'the Continent .involved. All that. wc\ learnt in this respect' we have placed at the disposal of the American authorities. 'They- have proved good learners. 1 .cannot say too ■much in praise of tjie man designated 'by the American Government to manage this matter. The younger business men cf the United States represent a fine type. Our officials have been pleased to work with them. The two organisations, British and American, have in confie<i\rance dovetailed together with a success which even. I hardly anticipated. The smoothness with which trains, transi ports, .and dock authorities have worked I together .is attested by tho regularity with which troops have been landed. In that connection it should not be.forgotten that the movement of the American Army began after tho Germane had, been attacking and sinking shipping for many months, end consequently-the volume d tonnage available Jiad been considerably reduced. This transport movement has only been rendered possible by efficient administration, enabling 'the best possible use being made of the vessels available. In that connection I should perhaps add that the transport of troops [ has been worked in association with tlio movement of material; ships bearing material have also been able to carry troops. But that is not a point which need be stressed. It is merely a,detail, which explains in some mensinre' 'how it has 'been possible at one and the same time to carry this great army and maintain the military supplies of the Allies and ship the immense stores of food, which, owing to Air. Hoover's admirable administration and the self-denial of the American people, have been availablefor meeting the needs of the Allies ■ in Europe. It is only possible to appreciate the success of the transport movement if ajbroad view is taken of the whole problem of sea carriage, which ha.s lwii thrown upon a reduced volume of shipping." • ,