T H E S
I
S
Prepared by
Mc.jor t>ereno E. Brett, I.L.B· 1 B.S., D.S.C., C.de
Chevalier or the Legion of Honor,
Tr.nk
~ubmitted
Q.,
Corps, United States Army.
to the School of Forestry, Oregon State
Agricultural College.
March 2$ 1 1920·
SCHOOL OF FOREStRY OREGON STATE COLLEGE llORVALLJS, OREGON
TABLE OF CONTENTS. ------- --.-------------------------------------- ----·--- ------­
Part
Subject
Page
---------·
- -·---------------------------------------­
· ·- -------------­
---------------------·
Introduction
l
one
Importance of wood in the scheme of
National Defense.
2
'1'WO
Detailed use of timber e.nd wood by
the Army in active operations
9
three
Amari can efforts in France during
the we.r.
15
!'·our
Rec orr.mend at ions for war reserve.
16
.Irive
Phot Ofraphic
18
, _____________________________________________________________ I
IN'IP.ODUCTION It is not the intention of this paper to present a learned,
theoretical discussion of the material coverAd by the various parts,
but rather to point out, in a simple style, the great need of wood
in any scheme of national defense.
The writer has had considerable experience, both in peace
and active operations, with wood as applied to the needs
or
the Army,
and has had the opportunit)• to make rather complete obAervfltions on
methods used by the French, British and German Armies, as well as
those employed by t he United States Army.
Under parts I and II, it is not the intention to cover
ell items of t h e use of wood for military requirements, as such a
discussion would, of course, fill several volumns.
It is intended,
however, to point out some of those essentials wi t hout which an
Anny in the field could not function, ae an indication
need for this class of material by our
l'lt ions.
1
tr~opg
when
L~
or
the enormous
active oper­
PART
I
IMPORTANCE OF WOOD IN THE SCHEME OF NATIONAL DEFENSE. - -- - - - . - ­
Aside !rom
t~e
actual u&e or wood by the
armi~e
1n the
field, a mu cb greater ntSed is felt for this material in the zones
of supply,- in the case or the late war - in the United States.
This need fruJ.e 1 nnturt:olJ y 1 into two c:le.eeee ,- commercial war
requirements, and purely military requirements.
commercial War Requirements:
lt must be realized that when a nat ion dedicates its
entire resources to the prosecution or a war. that anything
which affects public utilities and production has a .definit.e
value in the success of the
campai ~n.
Not. only must our public
utilities and production be maintained, but they
~Jst
be greatly
augmented to meet the increased demands of the usual dutiee, and,
in many. ceses, so reconstructed to enable them to meet almost
fabulous demands for special duties.
This augmentation and re­
construction means an actual, rapid physica.l construction, usually
of a temporary nature, necessitating en
~normous
dr~.in
on our wood
and iron resources.
Our iron resources and factories for the fabrication of
steel muat be reserved, as fat' as possible, for the requirements
2
These requirements, regardless or
of the armies in the field.
increased prcduction, have never, in the history of any previous
war, been fully realized.
It is then a crime agdnst the soldiers
in the !ield to deny them the full use of metal resources, 'Nhc:m
other material can be used for construction purposes.
The
answer is, that \!OOd and the lumber industry must ba used to
the fullest extent for this class of war activity.
That our government realized the need of reserving the
metal resources s.nd industries of the nation for the requirements
of ou:- armies in the field, is evidenced by the enormous use of
wood, even at p!'i&ee in advA.nce of motd, in the construction
end maintenance of our
tempor~ry
ane pennanent war structurea in
the zone of supply.
SOOle or the most important, among the
numerous items in this class, for which wood could and shotlld be
used, are:
1. Ternpors.ry f'a.ctoriee.
2. Houses for civilian war workers.
3· Railroad requirements.
4. Ship building requirements.
s.
Sewage and water pipe.
6. Road structures,- bridges, culverts, ete.
etc
In addition, non-essential industries should be controlled with
a view to non-diversion of essantial metals from the requirements
of the armies, using wood in lieu thereof.
3
Military
~equirements
in the Zone of Supply:
Next in importance to commerical war requirements, in the
part "'ood plays in the scheme of national defense, comee the re­
quirements of the military in the zone of SUfply, or zone of in1tial
training, which are usually identice.l.
In a country with a military policy such as
\fa&
ours
before th6 -.ar, the problem of raising e.rmies, properly caring
ror and
equi~ping
them, is
~lmoot
beyond human comprehension.
The rol,e that wood plays in this zone falls into two cluees,­
that used for the care of the troope, and th«t used ir. the manu•
facture of military equipment.
wood used for the
C!:'.re
of' troops;
One of the most import ant features in the cnre of troops
is that proper shelter be given thtn.
The old idea of placing
an army "under canvas" has been, f' or once and all, proven inade­
quate during the past war.
Especially is this true in zones
great distar.ces from the enemy, usually where troops are f'iret
mobilized for training.
Theae troops must be provided lfith can-
f' ortable quarters to insure effie i ency in training.
But, on the
other baud, due to the speed at which siach shelters must be con­
structed, they must be of a temporary nature.
again, Wood.
4
'rh a answer ia
The importance of this material in this zone, !or thls
purpose, can readily be understood by rt-viewing tile follo,.ing
items which arP. absolut ely
efl fl~ nti a l
f'or t he weHare of troops
undergoing instruction, and which should be eoMtructed or wood:
1. Barracks
2. Mess halls
3· Latrines
4. Stables
5. Riding
halls
6. Alnus ement halls
7·
sewage amd water pipe.
8. Water
Tanka
9. Walks
10. Furniture etc Use of wood in the zone of
Tn t his class,
substitute.
Su~ply
w~od
for military equipment:
is usually an essential and not a
Its physica l properties, particularly thRt or strenr,th
combined l!'ith 1 i.ghtne1e in weight , are extremely important elements
in the mobility of
~tn
Army in the field.
wood used for military equipment
~re
usually
The specifications for
v~ry
exacting,- in
most cases special species b eing r equired for different ~rticles
of equipment.
As an example of this, rifle st ock specifications
5
require manufacture from Walnut.
item, due to the lack of Walnut
During the late war this one
stock~
caused considerable em­
barrassmett and delay in the manufac•ure or riflee until the
situation was· relieved by the Boy Scouts or Am•ica, who made a
reconnaissance o! shade trees, etc. throughout the Central States,
thus securing sufficient material to enahle the manufae1nrl9ere to
continue full production.
Items of military equipment, for which wood is essential,
are, in part:
1. Combat wagons
2. Escort we.gons
3· Motor vehicle bodies and parts
4. Ael'op1ane stock:
5. Ritl e and pistol
at ocks
6. Field wire spools
1· Artillery and wagon wheels
8. Caiseone
9· Limbers
10. Surveying
u.
j
nst ru•ent s
Aromunit ion and spart parts boxes
12. Crates 13· Litters 14. Light railway stock
15. Wood
bullets ( for new type blank Machine
gun ammunition.)
16. Bayonet scabbnrds
17 • Tent pins
6
18. Ten't poles
19· l!.edical chests
20. Toole ani tool handles
21. pont oone
22. prepared bridge material
23. vachine gun and automatic rifle parts.
24. Artillery parts.
25.
Ramps
26. Barbed wire spools
27. Saddle trees, st irrupt, etc.
28. Picket pins
2<). v.achine e;un CRrts.
30. Water carte
31. Trench mortar carte
32. Rolling
kitchen bodieB
33. Powder containers
)4. Field desks and equipnent
35·
Signal equipment
36. Gun tompione.
etc.
'r he above partial list is an indication only of thB-t equipment,
partially or wholly, manufactured from wood, which truops
face of the enemy must be eupplied
7
~ith.
tn the
:rt does not include tho
col!m'on field engineering mataria.l, which is ueually prepa.red
by troops in the field.
cussed below.
'fhis class of equipment will be rUe­
PART
II
lJETAILF.D USE OF TIVBER A...\fD WOOD BY 'mE AmlY IN ACTIVE OPERATIONS.
•
-
4
•
-
-
­
The employment of timber and wood
by the army in active operati one, exclusive of t he manufactured articles of equ ipment, divides itself into three phases; the first two tactical in principle, and the third administrative, as folbws: 1. Use of growing timber· for protection and defense.
2. problems of !ield engineering dependent on wood. 3, Firewood. Uee of gr,wing timber fo_r______
and defense: PROTECTION: The tactical value of
growing Umber for the protection
from enemy observation of troop concentrations, is beyond computation.
It means secrecy of operations as well as actual physical protection.
In the late war our Army was particularly fortunate in
h.aving adequate protection of this nature in th~ irrmediate vicinity
of battle posit ions in all of our major operations.
The attack on the
,
ST .MIHIEL St>U ent was an excellent
exemple of how troops can ba concentrated, :i.11 the :i.mmedie.te vieinity
of the enemy, with &bsolute secrecy, where protection from enemy
observation is adequate.
Nearly one million troope were con­
centrated on thie front, within easy range of hoetile artillery,
during the few days just preceeding the initiation of the offensive,
but movements were so conducted that the enemy did not auspect
9
anything until the night preceeding the aseiWlt.
What made this
possible was the tact tha.t tile forward areas were well wooded.
Thousands of' troops, pieces o! artillery, Yagona and other impedi·
rnentia moved into the forward areas oach night, but early morning
always round a "quiet sector",· the troops, etc. having
bee~n
safely secured !rom enemy !:lbservation in the many patches of
woods, where they remained throughout the hours of daylight.
with the coming of darkness, the whole countryside v1ould be
swarming with troops once more.
And so on, each night and day,
until the concentration for the offensive had been CCIIIpleted.
The physical protection •!forded troops by stfUlding
t imbwr :is n::rt so mu.ch protection !rOO! project ilea and fra.gments
as it is protection from enemy observation.
Even though
the
enemy may know that troops occupy a certain patch of woods, it
ie extremely pcor tactics, and
~rohibitively
expensive ir1 ammuni­
tion to "strafe" the woods in hopes thr:.t they might kill solUe of
the opposing troops.
Artillery must have a definite object at
which to fire, and such strafing would, of course, be a matter of
guess work __. tr-usting to luck.
The result is t.h at fewer casual­
ties occur among troops when secured under protection of woods
than when camouflaged in colonies in the open, or in the trenches.
V'P.!r1':~ 1 SE:
ruring the latter part of tbe war, ideas of defense
changed from the old idea of defending a continuous line of
10 trenches, to the principle of defending a line of important
poir.ts on the terrain by defending each point with a
'rhe location of these
organization known as a strong point.
at rong points was so
ae~ected
grou~d
that each !lank
w~.s
covered by
fire from other strong pointe.
or
all
h. vor~ble
points for the- location of such
strong points, woods were by far, other features
I
b~ing
equfll,
the most favored, due to the fPlct, mentioned above, that they
aff ord absolute pr otection from enemy observation, thus pre­
senting an almost prohibitively expensive problem for adectuate
artillery preparation.
The truth of this 3tatanetrt can
readily be seen by reviewing Ame rican offensives and recalling
to mind those places which will go down in history as places
where the most terrible fighting occurred; such as 1 Belleau Woods,
Hois Quart de Reserve, the
de Brieulles, etc., etc.
thesto .. oods
WOUld
Ar~or~e
Forest,
de
B~ ia
L~e,
Bois
Ha.d our army been on the defensive,
have been of as grf!!j\t value t
0 US l!tS
they
~are
to our enemy, ard tile terrible price we1· were required to pay for
their capture would have been theirs to bear.
Problhle of field engineering dependent on 'Yood:
Problems of field engineering, in th e race of the enemy,
are, at be!!lt, extremely difficult.
If there be a lack of material
or a lack of t!"ansportation facilities, these difficulties are
greatly increased.
Tro.nsporte.tion i.n the forward areas, due
to the lack of road gpace, is always an
11
t
~x re~elJ
serious problem
and e;enerally
re~ults
in only n!aterial of the first class
(armn.mition, food, etc) being received by the troops en ga ged.
when this condition arises, engineer ing mate r ial must be o ­
t A.ined in t he area of combat.
With the exception of a small
percentage of captured material which can be converted to the
use of the attacking troops, all such material must be
e~cured
by exploiting the timber resources of the vincinity.
In thE' late war, the Germans made a very detailed
s tu dy of t he exploitat i on of tinib er in the invaded areas, a.nd
through this mes.rdl greatly redu ced t he drain on the timber re­
sources of Germany and the strain on t heir t rans portation
syst ems.
That the enemy fully realized the value of timber
in the forward areas is indicated by their attempts to destroy
standi.J'lg timber, orchards, ete. in all their r,-treata, thus to
deny our troops the benefit o! this essential material.
'l'~e
!ollo,_ing is a partial list of those ar-t icles,
us ed t o o.id, pr ot ec t or comfort troops in the !a.ce of t he
enemy,
wrd (· h usually must be made by the troops themselves fran timber
resources of the immediate vicinity:
1. l''aseines
2. Hurdles 3·· Gabions 4. Timber revetment mat erial
5·
Duck boards
12 6. Rifle racks 1·
Ammunition recess lining 8. Grenade containers
9. Dugout timbers
10. Grenade protection frames
11. Wire entanglement posts
12. Cheveaux de rriso
13. Abatis
14. Palisades
15. Temporary bridge material
16. Rafts
17. Gur.. emplacement timbers
18. Bomb proof's
19. Road Rnd trail material
20. Culverts
21. Drains
2 2. Grave markers, etc. etc. !._irew~£!:_
This material is, of course, an absolute eseential in the
proper care of troops.
oos.
The amount c onst~med by an Army is t remendu­
Jn the rear areas, firewood is secured by special forestry
or Quartermaster Corps units and distrituted to the troops, but in
the forward areas this mRterial must be secured by the troops on
13 the field.
offenei vee,
rt was not an uncommon sight, i n some of our
to
eee soldiers cooking with captured, slow- turn ing
powd e r , due to the absence of wood.
14 PART III AMERt CA~j .B:FFOR't'S IN FRANCE DURING THE WAR.
- - . - . - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - -- - - - - - ­
Due to the lack of shipping space for t.he supply of
.Ameri can lumber to our armies in the field, special units were
orga nized Rnd sent to France for the purpose of cutting French
timber for our uee.
mills
What thea@! units produced in the 81 Areerican
operating by October 1'18, is indicated by the following
official table:
189,56.,000 !t. b.m. Lumber
2 728 000 Standard Guage Ties 923 560 Narrov Guage Ties 2 739 000 Poles and pit props 38
200 Pile11
247 500 cords firewood.
The- amount of timber cut
and
coasumed by the troops
in the forward are as can never be computed, but probably would
be from five to ten tilnes more than that givf'n in the
15 ~bovl!
table.
PART IV
R!!CC!SMENDATIONS FOR WAR RESERVE
- - - - - - - - -- - -·- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - ­
In view of rur past experiences which show the value
of wood ( in some cases particular
speci~g)
in
~ny
scheme of
natiOJ\al defense, i.t is the firm conviction of the writer that
military timber reservations should be established in each
territorial department of the Army (see map attached), incluriing
s\.l~h
reservations in our insular pos seas ions.
l~'eatures
wilich should be observed in the eetabliahment
of military timber reservations are;
1. Securing proper spec ies
2. Strategic requirements
3·
Production of full war requirements
4. Accessibility to transportation
and shortest possible hauls to
points of manufacture.
The securing o! proper ape ciee, in eo!l'e
paramount
Cvn~ideration,
a~,
for
manufacture of aeroplane stock.
ex~wple,
ces~s,
the .Sitka Spruce rur the
The securing of this stock in the
late war car. 'llso serve to sh r::Nf the need of estR.bliah ing
16 is a
rrutet~
GENERA
RELKUIIII~ll
VI \..,L
*0
0
.p
ll to 11J
I
Main S tation~
Central Auxiliary
Recruit Depots
- · - Srate Boundaries
Recru•tmg Dl5fr•ct Bounderies
----- Depa.rl m •nt Boundar••s .
Stahon~
Rocruit Dopof Posts
'?'/.$$Jf'.&"J
Inspection Instruction District'
Pictur~ Distribution Zones
I to II Motion
{
0
\
Hf'adquartl'r5 of lnsp.lnslr. Oistr.
Department Headquarttrs.
i\._
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Ill
H
T
DAKOTA
~
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OPa-.n
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4
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10 It
OCLIHTOft
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CAMP-Ravss
f'
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lnsp./nsfr. Dist. Boundanes.
-
of transportation into regions from which Army war supplies must
come.
With the lack of
proper transportation to convey full
requirements of special and general species, the situation forced
on the annies in the field would be extremely embarrassing and
might prove diss.strous.
National troreats, and
Forest service administration
a.re of little value as such a reserve, due to strRtegic conditions
and the r,ener'll rule of inaccessibility.
Milit~ry
timber reservations
should ba administered by, and used for, the Army only, both in
times of peace and times of war.
During times of pea.c e, timber
could be cut from such reservations, by spec1A.l forestry units,
for the peace time requirementlOl of the Army, or ror puhlic sale.
Spacial
~orestry
units, which will always l:te an eeseutial
part of our Army when in active operations, require special training
to meet military requirements.
by these units,
in
timE:~e
'the administration of such 'tracts
of peace, would insure this training.
It is the belief of' the writer that such a scheme ! or
the este.blishment and control of military timber reservatione
should be promoted in the interests of national defense.
PART
V
PHOTOGRAPHIC
- - - - . - . -- - - - . . - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - ­
~
'l'he photographs which follow are
mo~tly
photographs
showirtg Americe.n lumbering activities in France during t he
trred. War .
They are all official photogra.phe, a.nd have been
secured with considerable difficulty e.nd e xp ense.
- - - - . - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ­
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