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The Red Ball Express was a famed truck convoy system that supplied Allied forces moving quickly through Europe after breaking out from the D-Day beaches in Normandy in 1944. To expedite cargo shipment to the front, trucks emblazoned with red balls followed a similarly marked route that was closed to civilian traffic.
A Red Ball Express convoy passes a disabled truck in France in July 1944. Courtesy National Archives. At any given time during the operation, an average of 900 vehicles were on the road. They delivered an estimated 12,000 tons of supplies per day for 82 days.
- Malloryk
Learn about the Red Ball Express, a massive convoy of trucks that supplied the advancing American armies in France and Belgium during WWII. Find out how it worked, who drove it, and why it was crucial for the Allied victory.
Learn how the U.S. Army’s Red Ball Express delivered vital supplies to the front lines in France during World War II. The article covers the operation’s origins, challenges, achievements, and impact on the war effort.
Apr 7, 2022 · The Red Ball Express was a microcosm of the larger Black American experience during World War II. Prompted by the Pittsburgh Courier, an influential Black newspaper at the time, Black...
- Matthew Delmont
Army leadership established the Red Ball Express to ensure the advancing U.S. Army, including the 1st Infantry Division, had enough supplies to press forward. The Red Ball Express consisted of 6,000 vehicles that moved 12,500 tons of supplies per day.
Life on the Red Ball Express. At the beginning of World War II, the Army, like much of the United States, was racially segregated. Targeted recruitment of Black Americans increased as the...
