From Airfields to the Invasion Beaches: The Clubmobiles’ mission to bring a taste of home to American servicemen
As dawn broke on 16th July, 1944, a GMC 6x6 truck rolled off a Landing Craft Tank (LCT) onto Utah Beach – one of thousands of similar vehicles to arrive in Normandy in the weeks following D-Day. However, this truck was different. The “Daniel Boone” was remarkable for being the first ‘Clubmobile’ to land on the continent. Fitted out with an electric doughnut-making machine and equipment for brewing coffee, the Clubmobile would bring the morale-boosting work of the American Red Cross to the allied forces advancing through Europe.
Also landing on Utah Beach that day was Katherine Spaatz, the 23-year-old daughter of the commander of the Strategic Air Forces in Europe, Lieutenant General Carl “Tooey” Spaatz. Katherine, nicknamed “Tatty”, was one of 31 American Red Cross personnel attached to Group B. Between them, they were responsible for eight Clubmobiles and one Cinemobile. Group B was one of ten Clubmobile units to land in France in the summer of 1944.
The Creation of the Clubmobile
For another member of the ARC contingent, the Red Cross's arrival on the continent had an extra layer of meaning. Scottish-born Hope Simpson had been evacuated from France in 1940 while volunteering for the Anglo-Polish American Red Cross. Impressed by Simpson's proven war record, the Commissioner of the American Red Cross in Britain, Harvey Gibson, approached her in early 1942 to help set up a new service that he had named the "Clubmobile". By this time Red Cross service clubs were being established in towns and cities across Britain, but these facilities were only available to men on leave. Gibson was convinced that the Red Cross could significantly improve morale by bringing simple home comforts to the men when they needed them most. The idea was simple: Red Cross vans and trucks would travel around US bases in Britain to provide much-needed refreshments and good cheer to homesick men on duty.
By October 1942, the first Clubmobiles were in service, manned by a handful of pioneering American Red Cross volunteers, and overseen by Hope Simpson. The British vehicles they’d requisitioned were prone to breaking down, and the women were glad when the fleet was supplemented by converted Bedford trucks and London Greenline buses, manned by British drivers. The latter was of a particular relief to the Americans, who on top of their other duties, had been tasked with navigating narrow lanes in the blackout; a difficulty that Ann Newdick experienced firsthand. Ann found herself in trouble with the local constabulary when her clubmobile ran out of gas on a lonely country road. After a British soldier drove her to a petrol station, she was baffled to find that her truck had disappeared on her return. A local policeman informed her that the clubmobile had been impounded due to a missing taillight. Ann was ordered to attend court, where she was given a warning.
Early Pioneers
As the Clubmobilers adapted to their difficult new assignment - fighting flat tires, smoking stoves, and icy roads – several field modifications were made. They requested smocks to cover their uniforms, as well as slacks, waterproof trenchcoats, and fur-lined boots. The rear of the trucks was fitted out with a lounge, containing a Vitrola record player and the latest American songs, hometown magazines, and a map of the USA. American cigarettes, candy and gum were handed out for free.
Clubmobile headquarters in the UK were usually located at a central point surrounded by military bases. Usually, a Clubmobile would visit twelve installations a week on a rolling basis. Some days the women would cook 2,000 doughnuts. Coffee was made in the mess halls in huge 50 gallon cauldrons and decanted into urns. As part of their extensive Stateside training at the American University at Washington D.C., Red Cross volunteers were taught how to make doughnuts to a precise recipe. This process involved weighing out the water to ensure a perfect consistency. This mundane task inspired the Clubmobilers’ motto: “We weigh the water”.
In her book titled "ARC in the Storm", Marjorie Lee Morgan reflected on her time as a Clubmobile volunteer in the UK and France, “Doughnuts and coffee were our props. Our wages were faith and friendship, trust and good cheer. And for those there will always be a need!” Applicants for Red Cross postings overseas underwent a rigorous selection process. They usually had to be college graduates, with excellent interpersonal skills. ARC volunteer Elizabeth RIchardson quipped to a friend, "Damn glad I have a degree—it helps so much in making doughnuts."
< Two American Red Cross workers in a mobile canteen preparing food and drink for USAAF airmen. The image caption reads: "American Red Cross Clubmobile "Somewhere" In Great Britain. "American Doughgirls".
Arriving on the Continent
As the number of American soldiers arriving in Britain increased in the build-up to the invasion, Clubmobiles were dispatched to Liverpool to welcome the disembarking troops. Acknowledging the effect that the women were having on morale, General Eisenhower insisted that units of Clubmobiles should be deployed to the continent in the wake of Operation Overlord. From the arrival of the first ARC trucks on Utah Beach on 16th July until the end of the war, Clubmobiles were never far from the fast-moving frontlines.
Living conditions on the front were harsh, and at times, dangerous. Marjorie Lee Morgan recalled, "as we moved with Corps, we became experts in our own ways. Camouflaging the trucks each night, digging our slit trenches, and learning to bargain for eggs or potatoes with a handful of cigarettes." The Red Cross suffered numerous casualties during the war, including one fatality through enemy action. Katie Cullen of Larchmont, New York, was killed on 20th December 1944 when a German shell struck the hospital in Belgium where she was being treated for a cold. Even after the war in Europe had ended, Clubmobile units stayed on the continent to support the occupation forces. Elizabeth Richardson was travelling from Le Havre airport to Paris on the morning of July 25, 1945 when her Piper Cub crashed near Rouen. Liz Richardson is one of four women buried at the American Cemetery in Normandy. Writing to her parents in September 1944, Liz disclosed, "I consider myself fortunate to be in Clubmobile—can't conceive of anything else...It's a rugged and irregular and weird life, but it's wonderful. That is, as wonderful as anything can be under the circumstances."
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