Porter, Maj. Gen. William

In the process of CWS expansion gray areas of mission responsibility were clearly defined, much of this work done under the direction of Maj. Gen. William N. Porter who became Chief, Chemical Warfare Service, in May 1941. This effort to define responsibilities resulted in expanded duties for the CWS, for example, development of a high explosive shell for the 4.2-inch mortar and the acquisition of complete responsibility for the incendiary bomb program. In 1941 the War Department gave the CWS the mission of biological warfare research. 

General Baker retired as Chief, CWS, on 30 April 1941 and was succeeded on 31 May by Maj. Gen. William N. Porter. The activities of the service continued to expand, and General Porter immediately began to take steps to crystallize the CWS mission, steps which would shortly result in still greater expansion of activities. Porter, like many other military men of the time, was convinced that American entry into the war was all but inevitable and that the CWS had to be prepared for nothing short of full-scale operations. Therefore in the summer of 1941 he reorganized his office. ... 

Maj. Gen. William N. Porter Lt. Col. Charles E. Loucks Col. Paul X. English Col. Edward Montgomery Lt. Col. Maurice E. Barker Lt. Col. Geoffrey Marshall Capt. Thomas E. Rodgers Col. Arthur M. Heritage Maj. Norman D. Gillet Lt. Col. Crawford M. Kellogg Lt. Col. Charles S. Shadle Col. J. Enrique Zanetti... 

Maj. Gen. William N. Porter Col. Charles E. Loucks Brig. Gen. Paul X. English Brig. Gen. Alexander Wilson Col. Edward Montgomery Col. Lowell A. Elliott Col. Geo e J. B. Fisher Col. Geoffrey Marshall Col. John C. MacArthur Col, John A. Smith... 

Maj. Gen. William N. Porter Col. Lowell A. Elliott Brig. Gen. Rollo C. Ditto... 

The authors are indebted to the many veterans of the Chemical Warfare Service who through interviews and otherwise aided them in writing the volume. Among these were several whose assistance was most helpful Maj. Gen. William N. Porter, Maj. Gen. Alden H. Waitt, Maj. Gen. Charles E. Loucks, Brig. Gen. Henry M. Black, Col. Harry A. Kuhn, Lt. Col. Selig J. Levitan, and Col, Raymond L. Abel. 

Testimony of Maj Gen William N. Porter before Patch Board 13 Sep 45, in CofS files Reorganization of Wat Department (Patch-Simpson Boards). Copy of this note is also in CWS 300.4-1945. 

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