French Civil Imports 1944-45

[Carl Schwamberger]

Deliveries of military material for the Allied armies/air forces in NW Europe are fairly well documented. What I am looking for is the tonnage and types of material delivered to the French and Belgian ports for civilian support. Food, fuels, construction materials, medical supplies, ect... I'd like to be able to compare with the military imports and see if the civilian support was significant in terms of using port capacity, cargo shipping, and railway capacity inside France.

[rcocean]

Suggest Ruppenthal's "Logistical Support for the Armies" Volume 2 - which would be a good place to start.

[Carl Schwamberger]

I'll look again. Must have missed any full summary of that. I remember some remarks about St Malo exclusively for French use after a specific date, and a large chunk of the Southern port capacity for French needs, but don't recall specific numbers.

[rcocean]

I'll look again. Must have missed any full summary of that. I remember some remarks about St Malo exclusively for French use after a specific date, and a large chunk of the Southern port capacity for French needs, but don't recall specific numbers.

Leighton Coakly - Global Logistics and Strategy 1943-1945 - Has a chart with breakdown of imports by item AND a long discussion on Civil Imports and shipping. However, its all on a high level. For example total imports are shown for all of NW Europe from July 1943-Sept 1945. Maybe they have references to more detailed sources.

[Carl Schwamberger]

Thanks. I'll put that on the list.

[DrG]

You will find useful information scattered here and there in F.S.V. Donnison, "Civil Affairs and Military Government. North-West Europe 1944-1946", Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1961.

[Carl Schwamberger]

Thanks again & Merci