FRONTISPIECE.
"THE END OF THE WAR."
A GRAPHIC RECORD.
One minute before the hour.
All guns firing.
Nov. 11, 1918. 11 A. M.
One minute after the hour.
All guns silent.
This is the last record by sound ranging of artillery activity on the American front near the River Moselle. It is the reproduction of a piece of recording tape as it issued from an American sound-ranging apparatus when the hour of 11 o'clock on the morning of November 11, 1918, brought the general order to cease firing, and the great war came to an end. Six seconds of sound recording are shown. The broken character of the records on the left indicates great artillery activity; the lack of irregularities on the right indicates almost complete cessation of firing, two breaks in the second line probably being due to the exuberance of a doughboy firing his pistol twice close to one of the recording microphones on the front in celebration of the dawn of peace. The two minutes on either side of the exact armistice hour have been cut from the strip to emphasize the contrast. Sound ranging was an important means of locating the positions and calibers of enemy guns. A description of these wonderful devices, which were a secret with America and the Allies, is given in Book III, chapter 4.
America's Munitions
1917-1918
REPORT
OF
BENEDICT CROWELL
THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF WAR
DIRECTOR OF MUNITIONS
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1919
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Washington, D. C., December 24, 1918.
Dear Mr. Crowell: American munitions production, which for some time has been in your charge, played an important part in the early decision of the war, yet the very immensity and complexity of the problem has made it difficult for this accomplishment to be adequately understood by the public or in fact by any except those who have had occasion to give the matter special study. As the whole people have been called upon to make sacrifices for the war, all the people should be given an opportunity to know what has been done in their behalf in munitions production, and I therefore ask that you have prepared a historical statement of munitions production, so brief that all may have time to read it, so nontechnical that all may be able readily to understand it, and so authoritative that all may rely upon its accuracy.
Cordially yours,
Newton D. Baker,
Secretary of War.
Hon. Benedict Crowell,
The Assistant Secretary of War.
Washington, D. C., May 10, 1919.
Dear Mr. Secretary: Responding to your request, I transmit herewith a brief, nontechnical, authoritative history of munitions production during the recent war. The several chapters have been prepared in the first instance by the officers who have been directly responsible for production, and have been assembled and edited, under my direction, by Hon. Robert J. Bulkley, assisted by Capt. Robert Forrest Wilson and Capt. Benjamin E. Ling. Capt. Wilson has undertaken responsibility for the literary style of the report, and has rewritten the greater part of it, consulting at length with the officers who supplied the original material, and with officers of the statistics branch of the General Staff, in order to insure accuracy.
Maj. Gen. C. C. Williams, Chief of Ordnance; Brig. Gen. W. S. Peirce, Acting Chief of Ordnance; Maj. Gen. C. T. Menoher, Chief of Air Service; Maj. Gen. W. M. Black, Chief of Engineers; Maj. Gen. W. L. Sibert, Chief of Chemical Warfare Service; Maj. Gen. H. L. Rogers, Quartermaster General; Mr. R. J. Thorne, Acting Quartermaster General; Maj. Gen. G. O. Squier, Chief Signal Officer; Brig. Gen. Charles B. Drake, Chief of Motor Transport Corps; and Maj. Gen. W. M. Ireland, the Surgeon General, have cooperated in the preparation of the material transmitted herewith.
Special acknowledgment for the preparation and correction of the several chapters is due to the following officers:
The ordnance problem, Col. James L. Walsh.
Gun production, Col. William P. Barba.
Mobile field artillery, Col. J. B. Rose.
Railway artillery, Col. G. M. Barnes and Maj. E. D. Campbell.
Explosives, propellants, and artillery ammunition, Col. C. T. Harris and Maj. J. Herbert Hunter.
Sights and fire-control apparatus, Col. H. K. Rutherford and Maj. Fred E. Wright.
Motorized artillery, Col. L. B. Moody and Lieut. Col. H. W. Alden.
Tanks, Lieut. Col. H. W. Alden.
Machine guns, Col. Earl McFarland and Lieut. Col. Herbert O'Leary.
Service rifles, Maj. Lewis P. Johnson and Maj. Parker Dodge.
Pistols and revolvers, Lieut. Col. J. C. Beatty and Maj. Parker Dodge.
Small arms ammunition, Lieut. Col. J. C. Beatty, Maj. Lee O. Wright, Maj. A. E. Hunt, and Capt. C. J. Evans.
Trench warfare material, Lieut. Col. E. J. W. Ragsdale, Capt. J. R. Caldwell, Capt. R. D. Smith, and Lieut. J. T. Libbey.
Miscellaneous ordnance equipment, Lieut. Col. S. H. MacGregor, Maj. Bashford Dean, Capt. A. L. Fabens, and Capt. James S. Wiley.
The aircraft problem and airplane production, Lieut. Col. George W. Mixter.
The Liberty engine and other airplane engines, Lieut. H. H. Emmons, United States Navy.
Aviation equipment and armament, Lieut. Col. E. J. W. Ragsdale, Maj. E. Bradley, Capt. Robert D. Smith, Capt. H. E. Ives, and Lieut. John M. Hammond.
The airplane radio telephone, Col. C. C. Culver and Lieut. Col. Nugent H. Slaughter.
Balloons, Capt. H. W. Treat.
The Engineers in France, Lieut. Col. J. B. Cress and Capt. C. Beard.
Military railways, Col. J. M. Milliken and Mr. S. M. Felton.
Engineer activities at home, Lieut. Col. J. B. Cress and Lieut. Col. R. W. Crawford.
Sound and flash ranging and searchlights, Lieut. Col. J. B. Cress and Maj. W. D. Young.
Toxic gases, Col. M. T. Bogert, Col. W. A. Walker, Lieut. Col. E. M. Chance, and Lieut. Col. William McPherson.
Defensive gas equipment, Col. Bradley Dewey and Lieut. Col. A. L. Besse.
Subsistence, Lieut. Col. J. H. Adams and Capt. S. B. Johnson.
Clothing and equipage, Lieut. Col. F. A. Ellison and Capt. W. H. Porter.
Miscellaneous quartermaster undertakings: Music, Maj. George H. Richards; fuel, oil, and paints, Mr. J. Elliott Hall; brushes, Capt. T. W. S. Phillips; rolling kitchens, Capt. J. G. Williams and Mr. M. A. Dunning; tools and tool chests, Mr. W. F. Fusting and Mr. M. E. Moye; hardware, Lieut. Col. H. P. Hill and Mr. William A. Graham; factory enterprises, Lieut. Col. H. P. Hill; shoe fitting, Col. F. A. Ellison; meat cutting, Dr. W. O. Trone; packing, Capt. R. H. Moody; horses and mules, Maj. A. Cedarwald.
Motor and horse-drawn vehicles: Motor vehicles, Col. Fred Glover; horse-drawn vehicles, Maj. A. Volgeneau.
Medical and dental supplies, Lieut. Col. J. P. Fletcher and Capt. W. G. Guth.
Salvage, Col. J. S. Chambers and Capt. F. C. Simpson.
Mr. W. L. Pollard, Mr. Aaron Rachofsky, and Lieut. J. J. Cameron have rendered very valuable assistance in assembling data concerning quartermaster activities.
Cantonments and camps, and miscellaneous construction, Maj. W. G. Maupin.
Signal Corps material, Brig. Gen. C. McK. Saltzman and Capt. Donald MacGregor.
The accuracy of all statistics and direct statements of fact has been checked and approved by the statistics branch of the General Staff, under the direction of Maj. W. R. Burgess.
Respectfully submitted,
Benedict Crowell,
The Assistant Secretary of War,
Director of Munitions.
Hon. Newton D. Baker,
Secretary of War.
