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Giessen
Army Depot |
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| Depot History | ||||
| 19.. - 19.. | ||||
(Source: STARS &STRIPES, July 1, 1970) |
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| The 56th Quartermaster Base Depot arrived at the German air base at Giessen in June of 1945. Of the 51 buildings on the air base, only 8 were still in good condition. Of the remainder, 28 buildings required extensive construction or repair and 15 were completely destroyed. In 1970, there are over 250 structures of various types located on the Giessen Armt Depot (524-acres in size). Enclosed within the 5-mile long perimeter fence are 16 miles of railway and 24 miles of surfaced road. A marshalling yard within the depot has a capacity of 260 rail cars. The Depot today serves as a major EES supply depot which has the mission of receiving, storing and issuing brand-name non-perishable food items to 79 commissaries throughout Europe. The supplies are received from the US in sea containers - nearly 17,000 containers were received in 1967. Col James M. Staigers is CO of Giessen Army Depot and Col Robert F. Higgens is CO of the EES Depot at Giessen. |
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| If you have more information on the history or organization of the Giessen Army Depot, please contact me. | ||||
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| Newspaper Articles | ||||
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| (Source: STARS & STRIPES, Sep 8 1958) | ||||
| Streamlined Quartermaster Cornucopia Army installations from Scandinavia to North Africa are served by big supply center at Giessen, Germany By THURSTON MACAULEY, Staff Writer THANKS TO A NEW streamlining of Quartermaster Corps operations in Europe, the Army today is uniforming its men, supplying messhalls, commissaries and gas stations, and furnishing offices and living quarters 3,000 and more miles from home, better, more efficiently and at less cost to Uncle Sam. The brains of these far-flung operations, which range from Scandinavia to North Africa, are at Giessen, Germany, where last July 1 three major QM agencies in Europe were merged into the newly designated U.S. Army Quartermaster Supply Center. The agencies were the Giessen QM Depot, Giessen QM Supply and Accounting Center, and Frankfurt QM Market Center. Just as the Army itself went pentomic for the nuclear era, so QM services underwent drastic revision In keeping with aims for increased efficiency. Under the reorganization, the same QM operations are now being carried out by 821 fewer persons, representing a saving of $1.7 million in annual salaries and wages. The Giessen center is within the command of Mai Gen Edward J. O'Neill, Com Z CG, with its headquarters reporting to Col Robert C. Kyser, Com Z Quartermaster In France. Commanding officer at Giessen is 43-year-old Col Joseph S. Kujawski, former Giessen Depot CO. A West Pointer, class of '38, Kujawski has had a distinguished record in QM Corps dating from 1940. Serving in the Pacific in World War II as G4, Hq Middle Pacific, his assignment entailed QM planning for the Iwo Jima, Mariannas, Leyte and Okinawa operations. Kujawski's Giessen bailiwick -- "a little bigger than the principality of Monaco," according to him -- covers 474 acres, with 26 warehouses having 1,464,000 square feet of storage space, and 928,000 square feet more in the open. Center personnel number more than 2,000. Kujawski' s deputy is Col Maxwell B. Fogarty, who is also chief of the Center's supply division. Other key men at Giessen include Lt Col John A. Ford, subsistence; Lt Col Harlan W. Hendricks, in charge of clothing and textiles; Lt Col Henry G. Challen, general supplies; Lt Col William S. Brown, maintenance; Lt Col Robert E. A. Richert, comptroller. QM cold storage facilities presently provide a total of 1,588,064 cubic feet in Bremerhaven, Paris, Munich, Mannheim and Frankfurt, but a new cold storage plant is now being built at Kaiserslautern. It will have about 1.3 million cubic feet of storage space and will replace facilities at Munich, Frankfurt and Mannheim. Every one of the thousands of QM items needed by U.S. forces overseas is under direct control of the Giessen center. The storage division receives, checks and stores incoming supplies, then ships them throughout Europe as needed. Field representatives insure that troops and dependents have fresh meat, milk, fruits and vegetables that meet strict health and sanitation requirements. The center's maintenance division repairs or rebuilds QM equipment for return to users or command stocks. Items repaired or rebuilt include all kinds of mechanical equipment and furniture and office appliances. In a special laboratory, quality of clothing for uniforms is rigorously tested by experts. "Besides supplying our Army commissaries throughout Europe, we also supply the Air Force commissaries in Germany and France," Kujawski said. "In England, however, the Air Force does the job for its commissaries there. "By combining our major operations at Giessen, we can operate more efficiently by having everything side by side. Besides manpower savings we are also cutting down on long distance telephone calls. "Our primary mission is to support the combat-readiness of our 7th Army here." The Giessen commander said QM surveys are made twice yearly to determine what commissary customers want and compare these preferences with items in stock so additional supplies can be ordered from the U.S. The Quartermaster Corps does the purchasing for all services to eliminate overstocking in any one branch, he added. Subsistence purchases are made through a central office in Chicago, clothing and textiles in Philadelphia, and general supplies in Richmond, Va. Shortly after the end of the war, the 56th QM Base Depot came to Giessen. Besides its wartime support of U.S. operations, the 56th helped in the 1948-49 Berlin Airlift, and sent relief for victims of the Po River floods in Italy in 1952 and of the Holland floods the following year. Today the Giessen QM center is playing an important part in the NATO defense of the free world. |
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| (Source: Giessen Courier (Giessen MILCOM newspaper), August 15, 1990) | ||||
| Planes, trains,
automobiles - 45 years and still moving
By Anthony Reed Giessen Courier staff |
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| The Transportation
Division in the Giessen Military Community, perhaps Giessen's most
important historical site, is celebrating its 45th Anniversary with
"the U.S. Army Transportation Organization Day" on August 24 within
the depot in front of building 119. "This celebration is supposed to be a surprise for me," revealed the Chief of Transportation Division and Director of Logistics, Hans Koeler. "It was done behind my back." Assistant Transportation Officer, Rolf D. Schneidmueller and his cohorts are finding it difficult to keep the celebration from the man who, from his own acknowledgement, "opened up the depot in 1945." "I never did anything else but transportation," Koeler said. "I started as an interpreter, helping the Germans and Americans understand each other. I went from an interpreter to manager," he said. According to Koeler, transportation was the backbone of the Army during World War II. "You couldn't move food, POL or bullets to the front line without transportation," he said. In 1945, after the war, the EUCOM Quartermaster Depot began operations. "The transportation office was located at the railroad station in a small building with railcars serving as extra offices;" Koeler revealed. "We were the main U.S. Quartermaster Depot in all of Europe," he added. Transportation's responsibities included maintaining Class I through IV items such as food, ammunition, etc. Giessen Depot became the largest transpottation facility in Europe in 1946 when many Italian and French depots were closed. Trainloads of coffee, flour, POL, sugar, tents and other items arrived in Giessen daily. New storage warehouses were built. The entire area between Miller Hall and Pendleton Barracks was used as an open storage area for excess shipments. "When we had only troops in Europe, soldiers packed their footlocker or dufflebags and carried them," Koeler said. "When dependents began to arrive in 1946, they were provided with all the necessities needed to maintain a household." The first U.S. dependent in Europe was Mrs. Dunford, wife of theGiessen Depot Commander. She and others aboard the train at the Bremerhaven Port were treated to a parade and other special services, guarded by the Third Army Constabulary from Wetzlar and were moved to quarters at Roedgenetstrasse. Commercial movement of household goods began in 1950. "Mr. Voelk, of Wetzlar, the father of the present owner, handled the first commercial shipment in our area," Koeler said. Dependent schools overseas was established in 1951. Transportation motor pools were responsible for school bus transportation. Today these services are provided by commercial bus companies. In 1966, transportation began containerization, changing from the old method of break bulk cargo by ship and rail. "Sea container shipping became the major mode of inbound transportation," Koeler said. This ended the Giessen Quartermaster Depot. In 1971, AAFES, in an attempt to save money, moved into the facilities vacated by the Quartermaster Depot. Merchandise began arriving and was reshipped to AAFES facilities throughout Europe. "The Army has steadily modernized our equipment," Koeler said. "In the past, we used a lot of manpower, mostly prisoners, and little equipment. Now we have less manpower and lots of equipment." Koeler added, "We want to continue to develop and improve. We want to do better and quicker service at minimal cost." Koeler also was quick to praise his staff: "We have good workers here and I'm the director. I realize that, as a supervisor, I am nothing without the support of my workers and the backing of my superiors." Reflecting on his 45 years of experience, Koeler noted positive changes. "The climate here is better. The Germans and Americans have drastically changed from being enemies to becoming a partnership. Both have learned to give and take." "The Transportation staff is proud in affecting transportation preparedness for the defense of the free world as one of the strongest guarantees of security and peace." |
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| ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: (Source: Email from Larry Ross) |
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| That building was also the home to HHB, 42nd Artillery Group in the mid ‘60’s. It housed the office of the commander (a Colonel), command SM, S-1, S-2 offices and the personnel division (which I was in). It sat at the top of a gentle hill and overlooked the vast material center. There was a huge conference room, which in retrospect, must have been the passenger waiting area. That can be seen as the rectangular windows on the ground floor in the photo. | ||||
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