Convoys to CBI Theater in 1943/44

[mjbollinger]

Hi everyone,

In the second half of 1943 and in early 1944 the Allies ran a series of convoys to bring troops from the US to the China-Burma-India theater via the Mediterranean. (Routes via Australia were also used.) US transports would ferry US Army personnel to Oran. From there they would be transported in British troopships in KMF convoys to Port Said or Alexandria, then down the Red Sea, then in AB convoys from Aden to Bombay, then continuing by rail to Calcultta and Burma.

I"m trying to understand who in the UK was responsible for allocating the troopships on these routes. I'm especially interesting in learning how the decision was made in 1943 to redeploy troopships formerly operating in the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean, in order to supplement existing troopship capacity. Since the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy seemed to both play a role, I'm uncertain about who made what decisions.

I have come across Sir John Gibson Graham, the head of the North African Shipping Board (NASBO), renamed in December 1943 as the Mediterranean SHipping Board. But that is as far as I've gotten.

Can anyone help me here? Thanks.

Marty