Gièvres—Hub of the AEF's Supply Chain

The Refrigeration Plant at Gièvres

General Pershing's AEF constructed its largest intermediate supply depot at Gièvres, Loire-et-Cher, France, located  185 miles  east  of   the port  of St. Nazaire  and 300 miles southeast of Brest. The small village was chosen for the critical base because it was positioned near the Sauldre River and  on two major rail lines that allowed it to dispatch food, ammunition, and equipment to eastern France where the bulk of American forces were deployed. This depot was officially named the G.I.S.D (General Intermediate Supply Depot) and received the personal attention of General Pershing. Its construction began in December 1917 and was still expanding when the Armistice came earlier than anyone had anticipated.  

Click on Image to Enlarge

This Air Service Composite Captures the Massiveness
of the Depot (Total area, approx. 12 sq.-miles)

The site included a remarkable variety of specialized units, such as forestry, tractor repair, airplane assembly, refrigerated warehouses, and the Army's largest remount depot—a center for horse, mule, and dog procurement and care. (This is a short version of  a long list.) Also, a number of AEF base hospitals were located in the Loire region and received supplies and support from Gièvres,

Note That Gièvres Has Rail Lines to All the Ports of
Western France and to the AEF Training Camps and Battlefields in the East

Some of the statistics from  Gièvres are astonishing and give a sense of the size and scope of the operation.

• 4.5 million sq.-ft. of warehousing in 165 buildings
• The world's third-largest refrigeration plant (shown above)
• 4 million gallons of fuel storage
• Stables for 4,000 mules and horses
• 140 miles of internal trackage

Rail Lines Ran Through the Heart of the Depot

Gièvres was built to support the full  four-million-man American Expeditionary Force that was planned to be in theater by mid-1919. To build and operated it involved nearly 30,000 Doughboys and officers. In writing this article, I tried to find photos of those men who made the deport work but could only find  mostly postwar images of the buildings and tracks.  However, I did find one, and I'd like for it to represent all the troops who made Gièvres the big achievement and success it turned out to be.

The Vets of the 11th Veterinary Hospital, Gièvres