US Supplies in WWII

Essay submitted by Jill Dion

Some people say that the most devastating war in the history of the world has been

World War II. First of all, what is a war? Webster's Dictionary says that the definition of

war is an armed contest between states or nations any contest or strife, such as a war

of words. As one can see, World War II was a contest between states or nations. It

began with a simple little conflict in Europe in 1939. This conflict involved Germany and

an Anglo-French coalition but eventually widened to include most of the nations of the

world. It ended in 1945, leaving a new world order dominated by the United States and

the USSR. As mentioned before, World War II has been the most devastating war

humans have ever been involved with. The question of why can be answered in the

three reasons listed below. First is that it involved the commitment of nations' entire

human and economic resources. Second is the blurring of distinction between

combatant and noncombatant, and third is the expansion of the battlefield to include all

of the enemy's territory. The involvement of nations' entire human and economic

resources is the first and most important reason. This ties into the end of the war with

the United States and the USSR being world powers. This could have never happened if

the United States entire human and economic resources weren't involved in the war

and if most of the United States resources had not went to help the USSR. The United

States at the time of the war was almost a world power. It was a strong country that

attempted to stay out of the war as long as possible but still help nations in need. The

United States did not fight the war in Europe for a few years but it began fighting it at

home. More than 60 million Americans helped the war effort by working in factories and

farms. The War Production Board was created to oversee all of this production.

Chairman of the War Production Board, Donald Nelson remarked, "The American

war-production job was probably the greatest achievement of all time. It makes the

seven wonders of the ancient world look like the doodlings of a small boy on a rainy

Saturday afternoon." No doubt about it, war production was a great achievement. Six

million women were added to the labor force. Old men who had once been retired

returned to work and the unemployed soon found jobs. Production increased. Between

1940 and the end of 1944, the production of military aircraft rose from 23,000 per

annum to 96,000. Tank production was increased from 4,000 in 1940-41 to almost

30,000 in 1943. Car plants such as the Detroit Chrysler one started to assemble jeeps

and tanks instead of the luxeray cars. All of this effort in production turned out billions

of supplies that helped win the war. Some examples are: 4,490,000 bayonets,

519,122,000 pairs of socks, 634,569 jeeps, 237,371,000 cans of insect repellent,

3,076,000,000 lbs. of beef, 7,570 railroad locomotives, 2,679,819 machine guns,

597,613 leg splints, 25,065,834,000 rounds of .30 cal. Ammunition, 1,024,000 pairs of

panties for WACs, 476,628 antitank bazookas, 1,397,000,000 lbs. of coffee, 7,309,000

500-lb. bombs, 3,242,017 hot-water bottles, 113,967 combat vehicles, 106,466,000

tent pins, and much, much more. The amount the American worker made to provide for

the war was staggering. What is even more staggering is that all of this was just for

the American army. The United States produced even more to help other countries that

include Great Britain, China, and the USSR. The United States was able to help these

countries because of the Lend-Lease Act passed by Congress in March of 1941. The

Lend-Lease Act was an act that authorized the president of transfer, lease, or lend

"any defense article" to "the government of any country whose defense the President

seems vital to the defense of the Untied States." When the program had been

terminated in 1945, over $50 billion in Lend-Lease aid had been shipped to Great Britain,

the USSR, and China. The United States helped Great Britain a great deal but the

amount given does not compare to the aid that the USSR received. Great Britain

received 7,411 aircraft, 5,128 tanks, 4,932 antitank weapons, 4,005 machine guns, 9

torpedo boats, 4 submarines, and 14 minesweepers. Great Britain's aid was in the

thousands but the USSR's was in the millions. Beginning in the summer of 1941, the

United States contributed the following materials to the USSR: 2,680,000 tons of steel

170,400 tons of aluminum 29,400 tons of tin 240,000 tons of copper, 330,000

telephone sets and some one million miles of cable 2,000 radar sets 5,000 radio

receivers 900,000 tons of projectiles and explosives 3,786,000 tires 49,000 tons of

leather 18 million pairs of shoes more than six million tons of provisions three million tons

of gasoline 900,000 tons of chemical products and 700,000 trucks. Much of this was

delivered to factories for the manufacture of sheet aluminum, rubber and pipelines Most

of the aid the United States offered went to the USSR as one can see by the number

of supplies sent. World War II was one of the most devastating wars in the history of

the world yet it brought out the best in people. People helped other people. The help

came from home where millions of women worked in factories to produce aid for

Americans and others. Help also came from the battlefield where one American may

have offered a Russian a smoke to calm his nerves or the help may have come from the

shoes a poor little Russian girl received so her feet wouldn't freeze. Help came from all

over but most of it was from the United States in the form of supplies to help armies

win the war. At the end of the war, the U.S. is estimated to have spent $341 billion,

including $50 billion for lend-lease supplies, of which $31 billion went to Britain, $11

billion to the USSR, $5 billion to China, and $3 billion to 35 other countries. The aid

given to countries is not a waste of time nor money. If this had not taken place the

war just may not have been won. Maybe this goes along with you have to give a little

to get a little.