Established depot locations can make a logistics system difficult to adapt when its requirements change. American forces had some benefit from Civil War experience and could also learn from mistakes that other armies were already trying to correct. British, French and German armies faced similar problems over railhead locations and distribution through the last hundred miles, ten miles and final mile. Artillery and machine guns consumed ammunition at rates well above those familiar from earlier warfare. Troop rotations created further movement between front and rear. The system had to develop while the war was in progress, with early infrastructure decisions continuing to constrain distribution.
Chapter · 49:10-51:21
How railheads and the last mile shaped the Western Front
Rail capacity was only the beginning: armies had to solve the last 100 miles, last 10 miles, and last mile while ammunition demand, troop rotation, and early depot locations locked operations into imperfect systems.