The Services of Supply or "SOS" branch of the Army of the USA was 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. Services of Supply became one of the three autonomous components of the

Army of the United States The Army of the United States is one of the four major service components of the United States Army (the others being the Regular Army, the United States Army Reserve and the Army National Guard of the United States), but it has been inactive ...

on 9 March 1942. It was renamed the

Army Service Forces The Army Service Forces was one of the three autonomous components of the United States Army during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces, created on 9 March 1942. By dividing the Army into three large comman ...

on 12 March 1943, as it was felt that the term "supply" did not accurately describe its broad range of activities. From the day of inception (and even before) in 1942 through the end of WWII, the SOS/ASF was commanded by Lieutenant General (later General) Brehon B. Somervell. Most theaters of war had their own logistical organization, usually also named the Services of Supply. The European Theater, and its SOS was subdivided into the ETO and the MTO (Mediterranean Theater of Operations) for the

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – 16 November 1942) was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while al ...

invasion of North Africa, then Sicily, then Italy, though the MTO was largely supplied by the SOS out of Great Britain. The SOS-ETO became TSF/ET (Theater Service Forces—European Theater) on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, 6 June 1944, the term SOS was abolished, and its activities on the continent were referred to as COM-Z, or

Communications Zone {{Short description, Aspect of military theater of war operations Communications Zone is a US Army and NATO term which describes a part of the theater of war operations. The Communications Zone is the rear part of theater of operations (behind but ...

Southwest Pacific Area

United States Army Services of Supply, Southwest Pacific Area (USASOS SWPA) in the South West Pacific Area were a direct outgrowth of the U.S. Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA), formed from command elements arriving in Australia with the

Pensacola Convoy The Pensacola Convoy is a colloquialism for a United States military shipping convoy that took place in late 1941 as the Pacific War began. The name was derived from that of its primary escort ship, the heavy cruiser . ''Pensacola'' was officiall ...

. They were commanded by

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

Richard J. Marshall Major General Richard Jaquelin Marshall (16 June 1895 – 3 August 1973) was a senior officer in the United States Army. He served in the 1st Division during World War I and became the Chief of Staff of United States Army Forces in the Pacific ...

, and later Brigadier General J. L. Frink from September 1943. They were abolished in April 1945, and absorbed into Army Forces, Western Pacific (AFWESPAC).

European Theater

The Services of Supply,

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground For ...

(ETO), was established in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, England on 24 May 1942 under the command of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

John C. H. Lee John Clifford Hodges Lee (1 August 1887 – 30 August 1958) was a career US Army engineer, who rose to the rank of lieutenant general and commanded the Communications Zone (ComZ) in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. A gra ...

. Almost two years of build up followed, supporting the North African Campaign and eventually the

Invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

. The command was redesignated COMZ (Communications Zone) after the 6 June 1944 invasion. Within COMZ was ADSEC (the Advance Section, Communications Zone) and FECOMZ (Forward Echelon, Communications Zone). This command was divided in the fall of 1942 to include service and supply functions in the North African Theater of Operations to support the

invasion of North Africa, and the subsequent invasions of Sicily, Italy, and southern France. Lee's deputy, Brigadier General Thomas B. Larkin, was spun off from the SOS-ETO to direct this effort for the duration of the war, ending the conflict with the title Commanding General, Army Service Forces, Mediterranean Theater of Operations. The development of telecommunications infrastructure in the region of Cheltenham was one of the major reasons why the

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Uni ...

was moved to the town after American operations ceased.

Citations

General references

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Services of Supply Military units and formations of the United States Army in World War II

Southwest Pacific Area

European Theater

See also

Citations

General references