The Army Service Forces is a short film that provides viewers with an overview of the different corps within the Army Service Forces, what they do, and the logistics they handle to enable an effective war effort. The film opens with tanks moving and firing during World War II; heavy artillery fire at enemy targets, and bombs are dropped from a plane. Tanks knock over trees as they move out into a field. Paratroopers jump out of a transport plane (02:23). The film shows some of the fighting in Poland, Norway, and Greece. This is followed by shots of corpses killed in combat with Nazi forces. Japanese generals look at several maps (04:09). Undersecretary of War Robert P. Patterson speaks to the camera about the progress made in WWII (05:25). At a factory, women move steel sheets. U.S. Army Service Forces men march (07:23). General Brehon B. Somervell speaks to a room of men. Allied tanks move in Libya. U.S. Army Service Forces men conduct inventory and move equipment (10:20). Men assemble machine guns. An army truck convoy moves along a road (12:12). Members of the Corps of Engineers build a road and lay railroad tracks. Men of the Quartermaster Corps feed troops (14:38) and issue clothing to soldiers. The Ordnance Corps issue guns and train new recruits. The film shows the recruits swim across a river and go through an obstacle course. At Ordnance School, men train with ordnance and weapons (18:10). Signal Corps men run telephone wires. The Medical Corps give shots and blood transfusions to soldiers (20:09). Wounded are cared for at one of the Corps’ hospitals. Women in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) drill (20:39). Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby, the head of WAC, smiles for the camera. There is a shot of the Alcan Highway (21:26) and of Engineers laying Marston mats for airfields in the Pacific. MPs patrol a base and oversee POWs. Men go to a theatre to view a War Department film from the Signal Corps (23:55). Singers and actors entertain the troops. An Army chaplain leads a church service. Next, the film shows an aerial view of the White House (25:58) and footage of Hitler meeting with his advisors. Engineers draw maps of North Africa for the upcoming invasion (27:22). Supplies are organized in a warehouse in preparation for the Allied invasion of North Africa (28:23). Men test ride jeeps, trucks, tanks, and motorcycles. A tank is loaded onto a train for transportation (30:14). Trucks and motorcycles are also loaded onto the train. Soldiers climb aboard a train to ship out for a port of embarkation. Navy ships wait at America’s harbors to take equipment and troops over to North Africa (32:42). Hundreds of tanks, trucks, and other equipment wait to be loaded onto the ships. Soldiers carry their weapons and gear aboard (34:20), and then they wave goodbye from the ship’s deck. Men play games, exercise, and stand for inspection while sailing to Africa (36:26); the ships pass several North African cities. Navy guns fire at Nazi targets (37:30). A German plane is shot down (38:18). The Army Service Forces move supplies and machines onto the beach (39:24) and organize them. Men fuel tanks while others prepare mortar shells. A montage of shots show U.S. factories producing supplies, trains hauling the equipment and supplies, and clips of men fighting on the front lines in North Africa. The film ends with a shot of the American Flag being raised.

The Army Service Forces were one of the three autonomous components of the Army of the United States during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces. They were created on 28 February 1942 by Executive Order Number 9082 "Reorganizing the Army and the War Department" and War Department Circular No. 59, dated 2 March 1942. Army Service Forces brought together elements of five different components of the Army: elements of the War Department General Staff, especially its G4 component; the Office of the Under Secretary of War; the eight administrative bureaux; the nine corps areas, which became the service commands; and the six supply arms and services, which became known as the technical services.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com