Allies in Wartime: The Alaska-Siberia Airway During World War II

Too often wars are described in terms of presidents and generals, emperors and kings, grand strategy and elaborate campaigns. But wars affect the lives of all people - the soldiers who fight and the women, children, and men who support the effort from home. The Lend-Lease program was a turning point during WWII, and an essential home front undertaking. Early in 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared: "Give us the tools and we will finish the job." The Lend-Lease operation eventually provided the British, Soviets, and other Allies with $50 billion worth of "tools" - much more than the $32 billion cost to the United States for World War I. In May of 1945, when war ended in Europe, Winston Churchill stated: "It was American war production that won the war in Europe." Indeed, from 1941 to 1945, American factories poured out an avalanche of weaponry: 40 billion bullets, 300,000 aircraft, 76,000 ships, 86,000 tanks, 2.6 million machine guns, and massive amounts of non-military items. In the three years of the Alaska-Siberia Lend-Lease Airway, thousands of Americans worked with Soviets on the cooperative program. At its height, up to 600 Soviet pilots and other personnel served in Great Falls, Montana; and Fairbanks, Galena and Nome, Alaska. From 1942to 1945, the Alaska-Siberia Lend-Lease program demonstrated that two nations could set aside differing views, cultural values and principles to achieve a common, mutually beneficial goal - the defeat of Nazi Germany and its Axis powers. This book is a moving testimonial to what peace-seeking nations can achieve when they cooperate in the face of a common enemy. Dr. Jeffrey W. Hahn, Professor of Political Science, Villanova University.