Sixth Army

Roth, Addendum to Bulletin Sixth Army-Navy Solid Propellant Group Meeting (1950), p 41 7) M.A. Cook M.T. Abegg, IEC 48, 1090 (1956) 8) A.I. Serbinov, ZhFizKh 33,... 

German Sixth Army War Diary, Extracts in Rudolf Hanslian, Der Chemische Krieg, Berlin E.S. Mittler und Sohn (1927), pp. 86-98. 

King was later commissioned and served in the Sixth Army Chemical Section. 

The move to higher headquarters and the completion of the first theater gas warfare plan in March again brought to the fore the problem, which had been troublesome from the beginning, of providing a chemical staff. Copthorne had still received no allotment of officers in which each officer was earmarked for the kind of job he was intended to fill. The only officers with appropriate rank, military education, and experience to fill the top positions were Col. Carl L. Marriott who arrived in April as Chemical Officer, Sixth Army, and Colonel Riegel-... 

Persoml Ltr, Copthorne co Marriott, 19 Nov 4. Sixth Army Cml Sec Memos. (Lennon s was the beat hotel in Brisbane and a highly prized officer s billet.)... 

Memo, Capt John M. McDonald, OpnsO, for Col Bums, CmlO Sixth Army [i May 45], in Sixth Army 333 Inspections (7) Ri man, Coves of Biak, passim (8) Riegelman Interv, 10 Oct 36. 

Lcr, CmlO 41st Inf Div to CmlO USAFFE, 7 Jun 43, sub Mold on Gas Mask Carriers. Sixth Army 47s—Weapons for Jungle Warfare. (2) Mollen, Cml Warfare Sup—SWPA World War II. ( ) Ltr, CO 42d Cml Lab Co SWPA to Chief Tech Div OCCWS, 1 Sep 45, sub Transmittal of Mold Cultures. 

Army, 22 Oct 43, sub W earing Tests on New Type Masks. Sixth Army AG 47<> 7 — Protective Apparatus. 

Ltr, AG USASOS to CG s Sixth Army et /., 26 Mar 4), sub Cml Varfare Protective Clothing. USASOS GSQMS 421 in Sixth Army 422.3 Protective Clothing. 

CO Advance Subbasc B to CG 41st Div, 30 May 43, sub Impregnated Clothing. USAFFE Advance Subbase B 422 in Sixth Army 422.3 Protective Clothing. 

When Sixth Army became the major SWPA American ground element, on a level co-ordinate with USASOS, in February 1943, it assumed responsibility for tactical supply. Colonel C. L. Marriott, Sixth Army chemical officer, arrived in Australia with the second echelon of the army in April but remained only a short time before moving forward to Milne Bay with Alamo Force, a task force created in June 194 from Sixth Army troops, and in fact a forward echelon of the army. Marriott s office was thus separated by i,aoo air miles from Copthorne s. Marriott s assistant. Major McKinney, remained in the Sixth Army headquarters. The only expeditious means of communication was by radio, but with such heavy demands on the radio net, normal communication was by letter or informal memo. ... 

Marriott spent much of his time in 1943 simply in determining how SWPA interpreted chemical supply, what channels existed, how much subordinate elements wanted, and where to store the immediate supply demands of organizations. In June 1943 USASOS provided that requisitions for TBA equipment should be submitted to base section chemical officers who could fill them without further reference. Requisitions for supplies in excess of TBA had to be approved by Marriott and forwarded to USASOS. The availability of non-TBA items in USASOS depended upon the ability of the USASOS Chemical Section supply officers to predict unusual issues and to persuade the United States authorities to ship them. Transportation could be obtained either by theater allotment of space, which was controlled in GHQ, or by San Francisco Port of Embarkation allotment. USASOS sometimes issued credits for controlled (non-TBA or scarce) items to Sixth Army for Marriott s suballotment, but each issue against credit had to be approved... 

Ltr, CmlO USASOS to Base Sec and Subbase CmlO s, 6 Jun 43, sub Requisition Channels for CVS Sups. USASOS GSCW 400.312 in Sixth Army 400 Sups (General). 

Ltr, CG USAFFE to CG s Sixth Army, Fifth Air Force, and USASOS, 8 Sep 43, sub Allocation of Ordnance and Cml Warfare Functions (USAFFE ECW 321,011), with i t Ind, CG Sixth Army to Oistr, 22 Sep 43 (Sixth Army AG 322>W), in Sixth Army 400 Sups (General). 

Sixth Army was not long in seeing the point. On 12 October 1943, Marriott notified the Chemical Officer, Advanced Echelon, USASOS,... 

Mcmc Marriott for McKinney, 14 Nov 43. Sixth Army AG 300.6 Misc Memos. 

Ltr, CmlO Alamo Force to CmlO Adv Echelon USASO > Oct 43, sub Stochage of CVS Class V Items. Sixth Army 475 Veapons for Jungle Varfare. 

Memo, CmlO Intermediate Sec USASOS, for G-4 Intermediate Sec, 44 Nov 43. USASOS Intermediate Sec 400.314 in Sixth Army 400.314 Estimated Rqmts. 

Ltr, CmlO Sixth Army to CmlO 44th Div, 43 Nov 43, sub Training Masks, Waterproofed for 24th Infantry Div. Sixth Army Cml Warfare 470.7a in Sixth Army 470.72, Gas Masks No. 4. 

As new campaigns began in early 1944, it became obvious that it was no longer possible to start from scratch. In order to keep supplies moving, the Sixth Army Chemical Section had to know what had been expended and what was on hand. Marriott and McKinney experienced considerable difficulty in obtaining expenditure and status reports from task forces in widely scattered locations. This failure was particularly frustrating since, at the expense of much effort, they had secured service detachments or at least junior officers to accompany those task forces without chemical sections. The primary duty of these detachments was flame thrower service, but the officers were also charged... 

I Dec 43, sub Routing of Requisitions. Sixth Army 400.3 ii Requisitions. (3) Ltr, CmlO Alamo Force to CWSO Backhander Task Force, 1 Dec 43, sub Routing of Requisitions. Sixth Army 400.311 Requisitions. (4) Memo, Marriott for Riegelman, CmlO I Corps, 13 Dec 43, no sub. Sixth Army AG 300.6 Memos—1 Corps. (5) Ltr, CCmIO USASOS to CmlO ADSOS, 30 Dec 43, sub Shipment of Sups by Alamo Force. Sixth Army AG 300.6 Memos—ADSOS. 

Marriott for Riegelman, 30 Nov 43. Both in Sixth Army AG 300.6 Memos. 

By the end of February 1944 Marriott was thoroughly disgusted with the detailed supply operation which had been the lot of the Sixth Army Chemical Section. He wrote to Copthorne that he had come to the conclusion that "we were sweeping water up hill. Considering the small quantity of chemical supply, he believed that Ordnance would feel no additional strain on handling chemical ammunition, and he felt that Ordnance would not need a separate system as did the CWS. He wanted more time to devote to tactical policy and gas warfare protection and he felt he could get the time only by disposing of a part of his supply burden. ... 

There was some justice in Marriott s comments. The quantity of chemical supply was very small, but perhaps precisely for that reason, chemical materials tended to be lost when handled by another service. But Marriott was not to be relieved of his supply burden if anything, it increased. USASOS did offer some help. The Distribution Division, USASOS, had been created in January specifically to handle Sixth Army s most vexing problems—transportation and distribution policy. The veteran CWS supply manager, Maj. Arthur H. Williams, Jr., moved into the position of Chemical Officer, Distribution Division. The Distribution Division operated as a field element of USASOS and it moved forward ahead of the main echelons. The USASOS commander, Maj. Gen. John L. Frink, also redefined the duties of USASOS Advance and Intermediate Sections. Effective i March 1944, Advance Section became a transportation and handling agency and Intermediate Section took over the command of all forward bases and the supervision of supply policy. Since the Distribution Division soon moved into Intermediate Section, the Sixth Army Chemical Section at last had... 

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