The Red Ball Express and the Women Who Ran It

Prior to the D-Day invasion, the Allied armies worked to destroy transportation infrastructure on the European Continent in order to pin down the Germans and prevent them from easily accessing supplies. After the invasion, however, as Allied troops advanced through France, the U.S. Army had to determine its own avenue for transporting supplies to the front lines. One of the solutions was the Red Ball Express, a system of trucks, largely driven by African American soldiers, which ran around the clock. Behind the scenes, the Women's Army Corps worked to keep these truck drivers informed regarding the advancing front line and new obstacles in their path.

Photo Caption: A Red Ball Express convoy of 2 1/2 ton trucks weaves through a French town in 1944. Note the convoy flag and large Red Ball insignia on the front of the truck. Courtesy of the U.S. Army Transportation Museum (V3395).