The Ordnance Department

The U.S. Army fought World War II with matériel much of which was developed in the decade prior to our entry, particularly in the period following the German blitz in Poland. Our efforts to develop munitions to the point where our armies could cope on equal terms with those of potential enemies are covered here in this, the first of three projected volumes on the history of the Ordnance Department in World War II. How well the Ordnance Department succeeded in matching the Germans in quality continues to be a matter of debate both within the Ordnance Department itself, and between the using arms and the Department. That the battle of quantity was won-with the help of a superb industrial machine-can hardly be denied. This volume, the result of diligent research by Dr. Constance McL. Green and her associates, should interest not only military men but also scientists, industrialists, and laymen in general. Among other things, it shows the urgent necessity of a directed, continuous, and intensive research program and the danger in failing to recognize and profit by developments abroad. Also shown is the inherent time interval between the drawing board and the production of the end item in quantity.
About the Author: Constance McLaughlin Green, the principal author of this volume, holds a Ph.D. degree in history from Yale University. Before entering government service, first as Historian, Springfield Armory, and later as Chief Historian, Ordnance Historical Branch, she taught at the University of Chicago, Smith College, and Mount Holyoke College. Her extensive writings and lectures in American local, social, and economic history have won her widespread recognition as an authority in these fields both in this country and abroad. She is at present the historian of the Research and Development Board, Department of Defense. Harry C. Thomson received his doctorate in government from Harvard University. During World War II he was a historian with the Army Air Forces, serving both as an enlisted man and a commissioned officer. Since 1948 he has been a member of the Ordnance Historical Branch, which he now heads. Peter C. Roots has a B. S. degree in Foreign Service and a law degree from Georgetown University. Before joining the Army, in which he served with Ordnance units between 1942 and 1945, he was the production manager of a machine tool plant in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1948 he accepted employment in the Translation Section, Office of the Chief of Military History, and later transferred to the Ordnance Historical Branch. He is now practicing law.