The Archive Of Meyer J. Frechie, The Jewish American Army Officer Who Organized Covert Allied Transportation To Normandy For D-Day

MEYER J. FRECHIE (1907-1988). An American Army Lieutenant Colonel in World War Two, Frechie was Chief of the Operational Branch of the Transportation Office and was responsible for coordinating the transportation logistics of the Normandy Invasion (D-Day). Archive. More than 1,600 pieces. 1942-1953. The archive of Lieutenant Colonel (later Colonel) Meyer J. Frechie. The archive primarily dates from 1942 to 1945. It includes letters to and from his family in Philadelphia, including his wife, young son, parents, and sister, and military papers, including some interesting material directly related to his work in Allied transportation.Frechie, a graduate of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, worked as a traffic manager for the railroad and steamship industries before the war. After the United Statess entry into World War Two, the military actively courted Frechie for his skill in transportation logistics. He joined the war effort as a civilian traffic manager for the Army in 1941 before officially joining the Army at the rank of Captain in February 1942 and being sent to London. There, he was put in charge of coordinating the covert transport of Allied servicemen and supplies from England to Normandy for D-Day. According to the lengthy text accompanying his citation for the Legion of Merit, Frechies war-time activities were, in part, as follows:The Operational Branch, Movements Division, Office of the Chief of Transportation, was activated in August 1943. Lt. Col. Frechie, being the only officer available with amphibious operational experience, was designated Chief of said Branch. He developed his staff by sending his officers and men thru a series of strenuous exercises with the British and American Forces at various places in the United Kingdom in preparation for D-DayLt. Col. Frechie, as Chief of the Operational Branch, was responsible for the movement of all troops, vehicles, equipment and supplies for movement OVERLORD. From D-Day to 7 September 1944 a total of 1,302,954 personnel, 260,433 vehicles, and 1,272,532 deadweight tons of supplies have been shipped from the United Kingdom ports to the Continent. The entire OVERLORD movement program was executed by the movement instructions issued by the Operational BranchLt. Col. Frechie arranged for the building of scale models of various landing craft and scale wood blocks of various general purpose and special purpose vehicles to be used in movement OVERLORDParticipating in actual exercises where one or more of the plans were tested by actual execution, Lt. Col. Frechie analysed the results and proceeded t make final plans for movement to implement Army requirements. Lectures were made to the Air Force and Ground Services outlining movement plans; ports and depots were visited and careful studies made of their capacity to handle the vast quantity of supplies, vehicles and personnel necessary to sustain the operation. Many obstacles were confronted and surmounted by Lt. Col. Frechie in perfection of operation OVERLORDThis required the greatest flexibility in operation which the Operational Branch, under Lt. Col. Frechie, was able to exert with dispatchAt all times, Lt. Col. Frechies superior judgment, keen foresight, expert planning and unselfish devotion to duty, maintained an exceedingly high state of morale among the officers and men associated with him, and his efforts can be directly attributed to the prolonged success of this vitally important mission of the Transportation Corps.Frechie was discharged from active duty in November 1945 and served in the Army Reserves until 1953. He was promoted to Colonel in 1946.The archive contains two large boxes and three small boxes of letters and documents. All are in at least good condition, with the exception of a few torn letters. Highlights are as follows:One large box of military paperwork. The highlight is a book entitled Berth Allocation Ports UK and marked Most Secret on the cover; it examines many British ports and their capacity in preparation for the D-Day Landings. It includes a booklet of secret maps and information about ports in the United Kingdom. There is also a thick file of diverse paperwork relating to Frechies military career (a mix of originals and copies, some of it quite mundane, such as records of his travel within the UK), booklets written by Frechie, including Preliminary Analysis and Recommendations Cargo Documentation Procedure and Historical Critique of the United Kingdom Overlord Movements (three copies), certificates of appointment as Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel, copies of his Honorable Discharge, citations for the Bronze Star and Legion of Merit, and a thick file of documents relating directly to his work on the Normandy landings. Much of the most interesting and unique material can be found in this box. The two thick files are hundreds of pages each.One large box of hand-written letters and copies of V-Mail to and from Frechies wife, Rita, and son, Allen. There are 659 letters from Frechie to Rita and Allen, including many duplicates. They are dated 1942-1945 and 1947, and there are also numerous letters dated only with the month and day. The greatest number are dated late 1942 and 1943, when he wrote multi-page letters to her every day, often more than once per day. There are also 230 letters to Frechie from his wife and son, the majority dating to 1942. This is the bulk of the archive, both in number of unique items and in quantity of pages.One small box of hand-written letters and copies of V-Mail to (144) and from (246) Frechies parents, Bessye and Jack. There are numerous copies of V-Mail from Frechies mother, including some duplicates.One small box of hand-written letters and copies of V-Mail to (43) and from (206) Frechies sister Fleurette Lang, brother-in-law Stanley, and niece Jackie. The majority is copies of V-Mail letters from Fleurette.One small box of miscellaneous cards, newspaper clippings, assorted Army-related pamphlets, etc.This is the substantial archive of a man who made a unique and valuable contribution to the Allied victory in World War Two.