This study is designed as a general introduction to the storage and distribution of Quartermaster supplies in the United States during World War II. As such, it is an effort to examine distribution problems in such a manner as to guide newcomers in this field in their work and to help laymen understand these problems. The study is concentrated on the role played by the Quartermaster depots and Quartermaster sections of general depots in the storage and distribution of military goods. The location of depots, the types of warehouses, depot missions, depot administrative organizations, and the utilization of commercial storage facilities are considered in the opening chapters. The employment of materials-handling equipment, depot packing and crating activities, and the conservation of storage space are treated at length. The last three chapters are devoted to problems of properly accounting for stocks on hand, due in, and due out in the various echelons of supply. Problems of overstockages and understockages and of the disposition of surplus supplies are also treated.

This monograph is based primarily on data maintained in the main files of the Office of the Quartermaster General by the Mail and Records Branch. Demobilization activities cut across all functions of the Quartermaster Corps, and these files were supplemented by data obtained in particular branches, such as the Requirements Branch of the Military Planning Division, the Contract Termination Branch of the Procurement Division, and the Stock Control Branch of the Storage and Distribution Division. To correlate activities at the Office of the Quartermaster General and at the depots use was made of several monographs on depot activities prepared by historians at these installations. The depot record was further supplemented by interviews with key personnel, both military and civilian, at the major procuring depots.