"The Red Ball Express was an enormous convoy system created by Allied forces to supply their forward-area combat units moving through Europe following the breakout from the D-Day beaches in Normandy. The term "Red Ball" was a railroad phrase referring to express shipping. The system lasted only three months, from August 25 to November 16, 1944, when the port facilities at Antwerp, Belgium were opened. Almost 75% of all Red Ball drivers were African Americans,[1] able-bodied soldiers who were denied front-line service because of racial discrimination, but who had been attached to various units for other duties. The term Red Ball is often used incorrectly to refer to all WWII European supply convoys by historians and the veterans themselves" --
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Ball_Express
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