In July of 1944 the Allies had a problem. Having landed successfully in France and established a beachhead, they had been stalled for weeks. Thankfully a fortuitous victory over the Germans opened up the line and Allied troops roared across France, chasing the Nazis back to where they came from. This presented another problem.
With ports mangled, railroads destroyed, and all their stuff sitting on the beach war planners had to think fast to supply, feed, and fuel the armies fighting on the front lines. Their answer was one of the greatest single logistical feats in the history of war. They created the Red Ball Express and supplied multiple armies with more than 6,000 trucks working 24-hours a day on a closed loop highway system.
On this episode we tell the story of the Red Ball Express. How and why it was done, how it worked, how much stuff it managed to serve up, and why it was so key to the Allied successes in France during 1944. It is something that no other nation on Earth could have done at the time, but America did. This is an awesome story. Truckin' awesome if we may say so ourselves.
1.26: Under Pressure: The Story of Bill Lear’s Steam Powered Race Car That (Never) Ran The Indy 500
1.25: A Race To Oblivion: The 1927 Dole Air Derby
1.24: The Best Worst Ship Ever - The Story Of The SS Great Eastern
1.23: Operation Snowbound: How American Teamwork Saved Millions of People and Livestock During The Worst Winter Ever
1.22: Knievel vs The Canyon: The Insane and Incredible Story Of The Snake River Canyon Jump
1.21: Henry's Big Screwjob: How The Dodge Brothers and Henry Ford Made Millions While Hating Each Other
1.20: Honest Abe Was A Gearhead: How Abraham Lincoln Became The Only President With A Patent and More!
1.19: Wally vs The World: How Wally Parks Shocked America And Gained Control of Drag Racing In 1958
1.18: A Miraculous Disaster - In 1949 The Holland Tunnel Burned At 4,000-Degrees And No One Died
1.17: How To Mow Down A Forest Like Grass: The Brutal Genius Of Operation Highball In 1950
1.16: The Forgotten Disaster - How America's Worst Maritime Nightmare Happened In 1865 And Who It Happened To
1.15: The Killer Plane and The American Hero That Tamed It - Jimmy Doolittle and the 300mph Gee Bee R1
1.14: The 576mph Backyard Hot Rodder - Art Arfons Was America's Fastest Do It All Bad Ass
1.13: Hellfighter The Story Of The Mack Super Pumper A Firetruck Mighty Enough To Extinguish Hell Itself
1.12: The Race To Death: The 1903 Paris to Madrid Contest Was The Worst Race Ever Held
1.11 Don't Judge A Failure By It's Cover: The Insane Story Of The Vulcan Shuttle
1.10: International Incident- How American Indy Cars Destroyed Formula One Cars Heads Up At Monza In 1957 and 1958
1.9: The Wrong Guys With The Wrong Car: How Two Drag Racers Set The Closed Course Speed Record At Daytona In 1961
1.8: They Partied Like Hell - The Story Of Wreckage, Debauchery, and A Burning Bus At The 1974 US Grand Prix
1.7 The Final Dinosaur: The Story Of The Last Front Engine Dragster To Win An NHRA Top Fuel Wally
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