Robert McGowan Littlejohn

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Robert McGowan Littlejohn
Major General
Service numberO-3373
Commands heldAmerican Graves Registration Command
Battles/wars
Awards
Order of Orange Nassau (Netherlands)
Other workhead of the War Assets Administration

Robert McGowan Littlejohn (23 October 1890 – 6 May 1982) was a

Distinguished Service Medal. Upon retirement from the Army in 1946, then President of the United States Harry S. Truman appointed him head of the War Assets Administration
.

Early life and World War I

At West Point in 1912

Robert McGowan Littlejohn was born in

right tackle on the 1912 Army Cadets football team.[5]

On 12 June 1912, Littlejohn graduated 36th in the West Point class of 1912 (just ahead of

captain on 15 May 1917, almost six weeks after the American entry into World War I. Two days later the regiment moved to Douglas, Arizona, and was involved in strike duty in July and August during the miners' strike in Globe, Arizona.[4][6][7] He played polo on the 8th and 17th Cavalry teams.[6]

Littlejohn returned to West Point on 24 August 1917 as an instructor,

Camp Grant, Illinois, on 11 June.[4] This battalion was part of the 86th Division. On 27 July 1918, he married Mary Lambert from Glastonbury, Connecticut.[6] They had no children.[2]

The 332nd Machine Gun Battalion moved to France in September 1918, where it joined the

American Expeditionary Force (AEF) on the Western Front but did not see action before the armistice. In December 1918, he participated in the Occupation of the Rhineland, as commander of a battalion of the 39th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Division. On 1 March 1919 he assumed command of the 11th Machine Gun Battalion, the machine gun unit of the same brigade. On 1 May he was posted to the office of Chief Quartermaster of the AEF before returning home in July.[4][6]

Between the wars

From 28 July 1919 to 1 February 1920, Littlejohn was stationed in Raleigh, North Carolina, as Assistant District Inspector of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He then went to Charleston, South Carolina, as Assistant Department Adjutant on the staff of the Southeastern Department.[4] He reverted to his substantive rank of captain on 15 March 1920, but was promoted to major again on 1 July. On 1 August he was assigned to the Quartermaster of the Fourth Corps Area which replaced the Southeastern Department and soon moved to Fort McPherson, Georgia.[6][8]

Littlejohn transferred to the

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, from August 1925 to July 1926, and on graduation became an instructor there. He then attended the United States Army War College from August 1929 to July 1930.[6][8]

After graduation, Littlejohn served on the

War Department General Staff in Washington, D.C., from 15 August 1930 to 13 June 1934. He then returned to West Point for a second tour of duty, this time as a quartermaster. While there he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 August 1935.[9] This ended on 31 January 1938, and he was sent for a second tour of duty in the Philippines, this time as executive officer of the Quartermaster Depot, and then, from 30 May 1939, as Quartermaster of the Philippine Department. His tour of duty there ended on 20 May 1940, and he returned to the US in June.[10][9]

Second World War

From June 1940 to May 1942, Littlejohn commanded the Clothing and Equipage Branch in the Office of the Quartermaster General.[11] The division was primarily concerned with procurement, but was accustomed to working closely with the Standardization Branch, which was responsible for design and development.[12] He was promoted to colonel on 16 November 1940 and brigadier general on 30 January 1942.[11]

It will be my policy to hide nothing. Every successful businessman does make mistakes, admits them, profits from them, does not repeat them.

Robert Littlejohn, [13]

In May 1942, Littlejohn was appointed Quartermaster General of the

Order of Orange Nassau. His first Distinguished Service Medal citation read, in part:

General Littlejohn displayed marked aggressiveness, exceptional organizing ability, and a superior quality of leadership in rapidly establishing a quartermaster service throughout the theater which met and solved the many unexpected and seemingly insurmountable problems of supply. By his broad experience, foresight and splendid ability which was largely instrumental under his leadership in solving many complex questions in organization and supply of the African Task Force. His untiring efforts and devotion to duty in this connection contributed markedly to the successful landing of this force in North Africa on November 8, 1942.[15]

His later Oak Leaf Cluster citation noted that he "not only maintained anticipated requirements, but exceeded them".[16] However Littlejohn was severely criticised when winter clothing was not delivered in a timely manner, resulting in thousands of cases of trench foot and frostbite.[17]

Later life

Littlejohn hoped to become the next Quartermaster General, but was passed over in favor of Major General

Mediterranean Theater of Operations invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, and so had a wider command experience. Littlejohn retired with a disability discharge on 31 July 1946.[11] President of the United States Harry S. Truman appointed him head of the War Assets Administration (WAA), which had the responsibility for the disposal of some $34 billion worth of surplus government property.[2] The job was considered a thankless one, and corruption was a major concern. He instituted a sweeping reorganization of the WAA.[13] In one sale, the WAA sold 20,960 war planes, accepting bids of $6,582,156 for the lot, which had originally cost $3,900,000,000.[19] He left the WAA in 1948.[2]

In retirement, Littlejohn felt that his work was under-appreciated. He disliked the series of monographs written on Quartermaster operations in the ETO by historians at

Fort Lee, Virginia, and attacked Roland Ruppenthal's magisterial two-volume Logistic Support of the Armies (1953 and 1959) in the United States Army in World War II series as a slanderous attack on his reputation.[3]

Littlejohn died from

cardiorespiratory failure at a nursing home in Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C., on 6 May 1982.[2] His wife had predeceased him on 9 December 1978. They were interred together in Arlington National Cemetery.[20]

Dates of rank

Insignia Rank Component Date Reference
Second lieutenant
 8th Cavalry 12 June 1912 [4]
First lieutenant
 17th Cavalry 1 July 1916 [4]
Captain
 17th Cavalry 15 May 1917 [4]
Major National Army 7 June 1918 [4]
Captain
 reverted 15 March 1920 [8]
Major Cavalry 1 July 1920 [8]
Major Quartermaster Corps 20 October 1920 [8]
Lieutenant colonel Quartermaster Corps 1 August 1935 [21]
Colonel Army of the United States 16 November 1940 [11]
Brigadier general Army of the United States 30 January 1942 [11]
Colonel Quartermaster Corps 1 February 1942 [11]
Major general Army of the United States 3 November 1943 [11]
Major general Retired 31 July 1946 [11]

Notes

  1. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 192.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Retired Maj. Gen. Robert Littlejohn". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b Anders 1993, p. 35.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cullum 1920, p. 1586.
  5. ^ West Point Class of 1912 1912, p. 181.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g West Point Class of 1912 1922, pp. 80–81.
  7. ^ Overstreet 1977, pp. 216–217.
  8. ^ a b c d e Cullum 1930, p. 944.
  9. ^ a b "Biography of Major General Robert McGowan Littlejohn (1890−1982), USA". generals.dk.
  10. ^ Cullum 1940, pp. vii, 251.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cullum 1950, p. 158.
  12. ^ Risch 1953, p. 75.
  13. ^ a b Somerset Publishers 2000, p. 39.
  14. ^ "Robert Littlejohn – Recipient". Hall of Valor Project. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  15. ^ Congress, United States (1945). "Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 79th Congress, First Session, 3 January 1945 to 22 March 1945". p. A1075. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  16. ^ Somerset Publishers 2000, p. 38.
  17. ^ Anders 1993, pp. 37–38.
  18. ^ Anders 1993, p. 40.
  19. ^ "Sad Sale". Time. 9 September 1946. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  20. ^ Burial Detail: Littlejohn, Robert M – ANC Explorer
  21. ^ Cullum 1940, p. 251.

References

External links

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