Mortar battalions, 4.2-inch Company

The fighting in Italy had altered mortar commanders views as to the desirability of the -ton truck. Too much had been expected of these vehicles. The i%-ton trucks were still needed to haul ammunition from army supply points to the mortar battalion dumps and on to company dumps. Earlier thoughts on transportation had been conditioned by the experience of the fast-moving Sicilian campaign operations in Italy, characterized by slow movements and static situations, brought about the change. Opnl History of Cml Bns and the 4.2-inch Mortar in World War II, p. II, Italian Campaign, p. io . 

Field artillery officers were impressed by the amount of effective fire produced by a chemical mortar company as compared to that of an artillery unit. Maj. John D. Tolman, who commanded the 8zd Chemical Mortar Battalion from 26 April until the close of the Luzon Campaign, disclosed that infantry commanders felt they could not "properly accomplish [their] mission [without] 4.2-inch mortar sup-... 

In July 1941 the Chief, CWS, took action to get the question of weapons for chemical units settled. This he did by formally recommending to the Chief of Staff that the two active chemical weapons companies in the zone of interior be expanded to battalions and equipped with the 4.2-inch mortar. The Chief, CWS, encountered some difficulty with this suggestion in the General Staff, but General George C. Marshall decided the issue by directing that General Porter s proposal be carried out. ... 

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