Keep From All Thoughtful Men
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39 The author could not find any record of exactly when Marshall was actually briefed on required force structure changes. However, included in “The Determination of Supply Requirements” there are copies of two memorandums. One, dated 14 December, was sent from Somervell to all of the Army’s logistical chiefs, and was unlikely to have escaped Marshall’s notice. In it he ordered the chiefs to make requirements reductions to bring them within feasibility limits in dollar terms. The other, dated 26 December, from the secretary of War and Marshall to the president, outlined the changes being made in the Victory Program, and presented these changes in dollar terms.
40 The Minutes of the Joint Chiefs of Staff only mention that this meeting occurred, but because of its secret nature do not give any details. Most of this account comes from Grace Hayes, “The Joint Chiefs and the War Against Japan” (unpublished manuscript). Guyer’s unpublished history (“The Joint Chiefs and the War Against Germany”) presents the same version of events. Since both of these authors were senior officers on the joint staff at the time of the meeting, their reports have substantial credibility.
41 King had made a similar estimate of the total Pacific war effort at a previous Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting. See “JCS Notes Taken at the Meeting,” 25 November 1942, Minutes of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, National Archives, Record Group 218.
42 Both Guyer and Hayes agree on this point.
43 Hayes, “The Joint Chiefs and the War Against Japan.”
44 Ibid.
45 As Admiral King is reported to have said, “Every time we brought up a topic those bastards had a paper on it.” General Wedemeyer expatiated at great length on the superiority of the British staff system at Casablanca: “They swarmed down on us like locusts . . . with prepared plans . . . from a worm’s eye’s viewpoint it was apparent that we were confronted by generations and generations of experience in committee work, in diplomacy, and in rationalizing points of view. They had us on the defensive practically all the time” (Wedemeyer Reports!, 192).
46 Joint Chiefs of Staff Fiftieth Meeting, Minutes of the meeting held at Anfa Camp, 13 January 1943, available in digital form from the Joint Chiefs of Staff History Office.
47 Ibid.
48 JCS 50th Meeting Minutes.
49 Considering that the original Roundup plan called for forty-five divisions to land in 1943, one can see why Marshall’s conception of the possible by this time had been radically scaled down.
50 Minutes of the Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting with President Roosevelt held at Anfa Camp, 14 January 1943. Available in digital form from the Joint Chiefs of Staff History Office.
51 Minutes of the meeting held at Anfa Camp, 16 January 1943. Available in digital form from the Joint Chiefs of Staff History Office.
52 Pogue, George C. Marshall, 12.
Chapter 10. Why Marshall Changed His Mind
1 Colonel Howard J. Vandersluis, “Relationship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Military Procurement,” Industrial College of the United States Archives, Washington, DC (transcript of a 22 April 1946 speech at the college). See http://www.ndu.edu/library/ic1/L46–075.pdf (accessed 15 March 2009).
2 A good case can be made that Donald Nelson, as the production chief, was responsible for dealing directly with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and should have pushed the feasibility problems much harder in early 1942, and therefore must shoulder a share of the blame.
3 Memorandum for the Joint Chiefs, Untitled, 24 August 1942. A copy of this memorandum can be found in the Wedemeyer Papers Box 76, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA. There is another copy attached to the “Army Mobilization Plan for 1943” in the National Archives, Record Group 165, 320.2.
4 Chief of Naval Operations to Chief of Staff, 27 August 1942, “Strength of Army for calendar year 1943,” Record Group 165, OPD 320.2. Further information on this debate among the joint chiefs can be found in the Minutes of the Joint Staff, 1 September 1942, National Archives, RG 218.2.2.
5 Memorandum from president to Admiral King, 24 August 1942, Record Group 165, 370.01.
6 Memorandum from Somervell to Marshall, Joint U.S. Staff Planners’ Directive J. P. S. 57/1/D, 17 September 1942, “Strength of Army for 1943,” Somervell Desk File, National Archives, Record Group 160, Box 1.
7 Ibid.
8 Somervell Desk Files, National Archives, Record Group 160, Box 6.
9 Dr. Robert R. Palmer, “The Mobilization of the Ground Army, The Army Ground Forces Study No. 4,” Historical Section—Army Ground Forces 1946, 11.
10 Ibid., 13.
Appendix 1. The Feasibility Concept
1 The original memorandum was written on April 13, 1942. The entire memorandum is located in the National Archives, “Records of the Planning Committee,” RG 179, Box 4.
Appendix 2. The First Feasibility Study (14 March 1942)
1 National Archives, Records of the Planning Committee,” RG 179, Box 4.
Appendix 3. Wedemeyer’s Victory Program
1 A copy of this document can be found in the Wedemeyer Papers, Box 76, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA. It has been reprinted: Kirkpatrick, An Unknown Future and a Doubtful Present. This appendix includes the entire study.
Appendix 4. Nathan’s 6 October Memorandum for War Production Board Meeting
1 National Archives, Records of the Planning Committee,” RG 179, Box 4.
2 On the basis of a level of munitions and construction output in December 1943 of WO to $85 billion (annual rate) the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates war employment at 20 million persons. The present program, valued at $95 to $97 billion for 1943 (including the deficit for 1942) would call for a monthly output in December 1943 of $10.5 billion—i.e., an annual rate of $126 billion (this is on the basis of straight line projection from $5.5 billion output in December 1942). If we assume that employment increases proportionately to value of output the present objective would call for 10 million additional war employment in December 1943. Possibly an appreciably smaller number would be required; but even if it is scaled down to 7 million, the result would be a total deficit in December 1943 of 14 million (assuming armed forces at 10 million).
3 Chart was not with file in National Archives.
4 Chart was not with file in National Archives.
Appendix 5. General Somervell’s Comments to War Production Board Proposals of 31 August 1942
1 As reproduced in Brigante, “The Feasibility Dispute.”
Appendix 6. Simon Kuznets’ Reply to Somervell’s Comments on His Feasibility Proposal (Sent under Robert Nathan’s Hand)
1 Planning Committee Records, National Archives, RG 179, Box 4.
Appendix 7. Letter from Robert P. Patterson (Under Secretary of War) to General Somervell, Post 6 October Feasibility Meeting
1 Planning Committee Records, National Archives, RG 179, Box 4.
2 Although the Navy would have to take some cuts, they were not nearly so great as Patterson may have hoped for.
Appendix 8. Minutes of War Production Board 6 October Meeting
1 Planning Committee Records, National Archives, RG 179, Box 4.
2 This section has been elided because the discussion does not pertain to the feasibility dispute.
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