January 1998
Volume 6 Number 5
Published by The WW II History Roundtable
Edited by Jim and Jon Gerber
Happy New Year and welcome to the Dr. Harold C. Deutsch World War Two History Roundtable.
Tonight’s program is about the Military Railway Service. Mr. Dave Meyer will give us an overview
of the history of the Railway Service and then three of our local veterans will tell of their
experiences in military railroading.
The American Civil War marked a time of terrible conflict. It also was a time of the birth of many
inventions. One of them was the Army’s first use of military railroads. At first there was much
controversy over the fact that northern railroads were making unjustified profits off of the war
effort. Frequently the needs of the military were ignored in favor of other greedy pursuits. In
January of 1862, the Congress gave President Lincoln the authority to nationalize the railroads.
The Army was directed to operate and manage them as needed in order to bring the war to a
successful end. It was soon noted that there was not enough equipment to carry soldiers and
supplies to the front lines and to bring back the wounded. The Army began its own program of
building equipment and by the end of the war, it had over 500 of its own steam locomotives and
nearly 4000 rail cars plus a force of 25,000 soldiers to operate and maintain its railroads.
Congress again nationalized the railroads with America’s involvement in WW I. Based on
experience from the Civil War, the Army’s Corps of Engineers was able to quickly set up 51
military railroad units in the United States and Europe. By the end of the war, over 83,000 soldiers
were involved in rail operation, maintenance and construction. By the end of the war, it was very
clear that transportation, especially the ability to move troops and supplies quickly, would play a
decisive role in any future wars.
In January of 1939, the Army’s Military Railway Service (MRS) consisted of only a few reserve
units. Two years later, the 711th Railway Operating Battalion was activated in June at Fort
Belvoir, Virginia. On December 8th, 1941, when the US declared war on Japan, the 711th was
the only railway operating battalion that was mobilized. Fortunately, the units on reserve status
included 5 railway grand divisions, 20 railway operating battalions, and 3 railway shop battalions.
In early 1942, the President issued orders establishing new agencies in order exercise strict
control over the deployment of the nation’s domestic transportation resources. The organization
of the MRS during this period was based upon the proven principles of successful commercial
railroading. Modifications were made as railroading experience dictated. One of the adjustments
made was to transfer the MRS from the jurisdiction of the Chief of Engineers to that of the newly
created Chief of Transportation.
With invasion of North Africa, the MRS received its first combat test. It performed very well. For
example, in Tunisia the MRS took control of a 300 mile meter-guage line over which the former
operators had been able to haul only four 250-ton trains per day. Within 24 hours of assuming
control and inaugurating proven practices, the MRS had 12 trains moving in each direction.
Prior to the invasion of N. Africa, the MRS officers prepared seven major railway reports,
including detailed railroad maps of various nations in which the service was expected to operate.
So thoroughly was this done, that when the invasion of France took place, followed by the
subsequent overrunning of Germany, the MRS had a detailed map over 40 feet in length, a map
so accurate that not once during the movement of supplies to the front did a question of available
rail facilities arise. In addition, locomotive and car erecting shops were established adjacent to
principal supply ports. The new cars could thereby be loaded as fast as they were built(125 per
day was the average after the invasion of France), thus preventing the loss of precious days or
the waste of valuable engines and man-hours due to the hauling of empty cars.
In Alaska, on the White Pass & Yukon Line, the soldier-railroaders encountered temperatures as
low as 80 degrees below zero. When that mission was completed, most of the men were sent off
to Iran for the construction and operation of railways in temperatures reaching 140 degrees.
Without those lines, manned by American GI’s, Marshall Zhukov would not have been able to
reach Berlin.
Because Allied Military operations were worldwide, US troops operated railways around the
world. By instituting American operating methods and providing modern efficient power, the men
of the Military Railway Service accomplished what the peacetime personnel of these countries
considered impossible. Accepting as routine the hazards of bombing, strafing and sniping, train
crews in combat roles not only hastily repaired tracks and shaky bridges, but willingly hauled
troops and supplies to forward railheads in ever-increasing volume until the nation’s enemies in
Europe and the Pacific crumbled under the weight of Allies power.
TAPS
According a story in “The Encyclopedia of Amazing But True Facts” by Doug Storer, this is how
Taps came to be played at military funerals. It all began in 1862, during the Civil War, when a
Union Army captain, Robert Ellicombe, was with his men near Harrison’s Landing in Virginia. The
Confederate Army was on the other side of this narrow strip of land.
During the night, Ellicombe, heard the moan of a soldier who lay mortally wounded on the
battlefield. Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate soldier, the captain decided to risk his life
and bring back the stricken man for medical attention.
Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire, the captain reached the soldier and began pulling
him back toward his encampment. When the captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered
it was actually a Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead.
The captain lit a lantern, suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock. In the dim light of
the lantern he saw the face of the soldier....it was his own son! The young man had been studying
music in the South when war broke out, and without telling his father, he had enlisted in the
Confederate Army.
The following morning, the heartbroken father asked permission of his supervisors to give his son
a full military funeral, despite the young man’s enemy status. The captain’s request was partially
granted.
He asked if he could have a group of army band members play a dirge for his son at the funeral.
His request was refused because the soldier was a Confederate. Out of respect for the captain,
they said they could loan him one musician. He chose the bugler. The captain asked him to play
a series of musical notes found in the pocket of the dead youth’s uniform. This wish was granted.
That music was the haunting bugle melody we now know as “taps”.
Further reading on tonight’s topic:
Military Railway Service; America’s Soldier-Railroaders in WW II
by Don DeNevi and Bob Hall
The Boston Mills Press
Erin, Ontario 1992
America’s Fighting Railroads; A WW II Pictorial History
by Don DeNevi
Pictorial Histories Publishing
Missoula, Montana 1996
Railroading in Eighteen Countries
by Carl Gray
Chas Scribners & Sons
New York, NY 1955
Civil War Railroads
by George B. Abdill
Bonanza Books
New York, NY 1956
We continue to solicit your stories and other info on WW II for inclusion in the Round Tablette .
See you next month.