U.S. #2838h
1994 Red Ball Express Speeds Vital Supplies, 1944 – World War II

• Part of the fourth souvenir sheet issued to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of World War II
• Sheet includes 10 stamps plus a world map

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Series:  World War II
Value: 29¢ (Individual stamps), First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue:  June 6, 1994
First Day City:  Two main ceremonies in Washington, DC and  St. Mere Egilse, Normandy, with additional smaller events in:  Fort Dix, New Jersey; Salt Lake City, Utah; New York, New York; Clarksville, Tennessee; Fort Sam Houston, Lubbock, San Antonio, and Houston, Texas; Bangor, Maine; Charleston, South Carolina; Virginia Beach and Richmond, Virginia; and Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Quantity Issued (if known):  120,600,000
Printed by:  Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method:  Offset, Intaglio
Format:  Sheetlets of 10 (arranged in 2 strips of 5, one across the top and one across the bottom of the sheetlet, with world map in between)
Perforations:  11.1 (Eureka off-line perforator)
Tagging:  Overall, large block covering stamps and part of selvage

Why the stamp was issued:  This souvenir sheet was issued to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of World War II.  It was the fourth in a series of five that were issued over the course of five years.

About the stamp design:  Shows an Army truck of the Red Ball Expres with a highway marker.  Bond made the driver African American as the armed forces was still segregated during World War II and he didn’t have many opportunities to include Black soldiers in the World War II set.

First Day City:  The stamps were dedicated in two ceremonies on June 6^th:  one at the National Postal Museum in Washington, DC, and one in the town of St. Mere Egilse in Normandy.  First Day of Issue postmarks read “USS Normandy.”  Thirteen additional cities held events for the stamps’ First Day of Issue and offered pictorial cancellations.  

The ceremony at Lubbock Texas, was special as it was the same city in which World War II pilots were given glider training at the old South Plains Army Air Field.  One of those pilots was Werner Birkelbach, who flew an antitank gun and four soldiers to Normandy before dawn on D-Day.  Fifty years later, on the World War II stamps’ First Day of Issue, Birkelbach flew a modern sailplane 35 miles from Littlefield, Texas, to Lubbock to deliver cacheted covers bearing the new stamps.  They were all given First Day of Issue postmarks at the end of the trip.

Pre-First Day Usage:  Linn’s Stamp News found that a “P-51s escort B-17s” stamp was used on cover postmarked Rock Hill, New York, on June 3^rd, three days before the stamps were officially issued.  This was the earliest known usage of the one of the World War II stamps.

About the World War II Series:  As the 50^th anniversary of World War II was approaching, the US Postal Service wanted a series that would recognize the key events of the war and the important contributions America made to the Allied victory.  Rather than issue a large number of stamps, the USPS decided to create five sheetlets, each commemorating one year of America’s involvement in the war.  Each sheetlet had 10 different stamps arranged in two horizontal strips of 5.  In the center was a world map with Allied and neutral nations in yellow and Axis-controlled areas in red.  Notes on the map highlighted key developments that occurred that year.  The stamps each featured important events that took place during the year, as well.

History the stamp represents:  By August 1944, it was clear the Normandy invasion had been a huge success.  Pursuing quickly-retreating Germans, the Allied troops had come within 100 miles of Paris.  However, the armies faced one basic problem – they had outrun the supply lines linking them to the Normandy beaches.  Unless the Allies could bridge the gap separating the supplies in Normandy and the troops, the Germans would have a chance to regroup and Paris would be lost.  The solution was the Red Ball Express.

Given the railroad nickname for a high-priority shipment, this long-haul supply system operated over a one-way set of roads to deliver bulk supplies each day to Patton’s and Hodges’ Armies.  When the express began on August 25^th, it provided 75 tons of supplies per day.  As the pursuit continued, the effort was expanded to include 5,400 trucks carrying over 8,200 tons each day over round-trip routes of up to 686 miles.

By mid-November, the critical need for emergency long-haul operations across northern France was over, and the service was disbanded on November 16, 1944.  During its 81 days of service, the Red Ball Express had provided the 1^stand 3^rd Armies with 3.5 tons of supplies a minute.