The Combined Munitions Assignments Board was a major government agency for the U.S. and Britain in World War II. With

Harry Hopkins Harry Lloyd Hopkins (August 17, 1890 – January 29, 1946) was an American statesman, public administrator, and presidential advisor. A trusted deputy to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Hopkins directed New Deal relief programs before servi ...

, Roosevelt's top advisor in charge, it took control of the allocation of war supplies and

Lend lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

aid to the Allies, especially Britain and the Soviet Union. Churchill's original plan called for two offices for the Board, one in London which he controlled, and one in Washington under Harry Hopkins. The US Army strongly protested, and insisted that the board be under the control of the

Combined Chiefs of Staff The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) was the supreme military staff for the United States and Britain during World War II. It set all the major policy decisions for the two nations, subject to the approvals of British Prime Minister Winston Churchil ...

, the body that brought together the top American and British military commanders. General

George C. Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the US Army under Pre ...

, US Army Chief of Staff, argued that the distribution of munitions was so essential to military strategy, that it could never be left to civilians. His argument won out. Hopkins became the head of the Board, but he always saw his role as subordinate to the Combined Chiefs. Canada asked for a seat on the Board; it was refused but was given a seat on other, much less powerful combined boards. President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

and Prime Minister

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

set it up in January 1942 with a threefold mission:''Keesing's Contemporary Archives'' Volume IV, January, 1942 p. 5001 :1. The entire munitions resources of Great Britain and the United States will be deemed to be in a common pool, about which the fullest information will be interchanged. : 2. Committees will be formed in Washington and London under the combined Chiefs of Staff in a manner similar to the S.W. Pacific agreement. These committees will advise on all assignments both in quality and priority, whether to Great Britain and the United States or other of the united nations, in accordance with strategic needs. : Combined Munitions Assignments Board

3. In order that these committees may be fully apprised of the policy of their respective Governments, the President will nominate a civil chairman, who will preside over the committee in Washington, and the Prime Minister will make a similar nomination in respect of the committee in London. In each case the committee will be assisted by a secretariat capable of surveying every branch and keeping in touch with the work of every sub-committee as may be necessary.

Notes

'' no. 109 #3, 1946. pp 243–7
in JSTOR
detailed statistical data on Lend Lease *Clarke, Sir Richard. ''Anglo-American Economic Collaboration in War and Peace, 1942-1949''. (1982), British perspective *Dobson, Alan P. ''U.S. Wartime Aid to Britain, 1940-1946'' London, 1986. * Hall, Hessel Duncan, and Christopher Crompton Wrigley. ''Studies of overseas supply. Vol. 1'' (London: HM Stationery Office, 1956), the official British history *Herring Jr. George C. ''Aid to Russia, 1941-1946: Strategy, Diplomacy, the Origins of the Cold War'' (1973
online edition
*

Kimball, Warren F. Warren Forbes Kimball (born December 24, 1935) is a historian of the Second World War and American foreign policy. He was an academic adviser to the International Churchill Society, Churchill Centre in London. He graduated from Georgetown Univers ...

''The Most Unsordid Act: Lend-Lease, 1939-1941'' (1969). * Leighton, Richard M., and Robert W. Coakley. ''Global Logistics and Strategy, 1940-1943'' (1955) 813 pages
online
* Llewellin, Colonel J.J. "Machinery of Wartime Cooperation between the British Commonwealth and the United States." ''World Affairs'' (Sept. 1943) 106#3 pp. 157–16
in JSTOR
*Roll, David. ''The Hopkins Touch: Harry Hopkins and the Forging of the Alliance to Defeat Hitler'' (2012
excerpt and text search
an
author webcast presentation
* Sherwood, Robert E. ''Roosevelt and Hopkins'' (1948), memoir by senior FDR aide; Pulitzer Prize
online edition
* Tuttle, Dwight William. ''Harry L. Hopkins and Anglo-American-Soviet Relations, 1941-1945'' (1983) *Woods, Randall Bennett. ''A Changing of the Guard: Anglo-American Relations, 1941-1946'' (1990) {{Franklin D. Roosevelt United Kingdom–United States relations Military logistics of World War II

See also

Notes

Further reading