MANZANAR Historic Resource Study/Special History Study

TRANSFER OF SUPPLIES FROM ASSEMBLY TO RELOCATION CENTERS

Necessary supplies, equipment, and subsistence items for the relocation centers was the responsibility of the Quartermaster, Western Defense Command and Fourth Army. Some supplies and equipment used at assembly centers, including cots, mattresses, blankets, kitchen equipment, and eating utensils, were transferred to the relocation centers, while additional supplies were shipped from Quartermaster Depots. Each relocation center was provided with an initial supply of ten days' requirements of non-perishable foods, including canned goods, smoked meats, and staples such as beans, rice, flour, and sugar. According to the War Department's Final Report, the logistics of transferring evacuees from assembly to relocation centers were developed by the WCCA "in such a manner as to result in the use of a minimum of supplies and equipment." By providing the relocation centers that "received the first movements of evacuees with sufficient supplies and equipment to handle transfers for a three or four week period, and by scheduling the movement of supplies and equipment out of evacuated assembly centers to relocation centers in the order in which evacuees would be transferred to them," it was possible, according to General DeWitt, "to utilize again the supplies and equipment originally purchased for the Japanese in Assembly Centers." Transfer movements of evacuees were timed to provide a two-week period during which cots, blankets, mattresses, cooking and eating utensils, and other supplies and equipment to be moved from assembly to relocation centers could be inventoried, "renovated," and shipped to the new centers. [41]

TRANSFER OF EVACUEES FROM ASSEMBLY CENTERS TO RELOCATION CENTERS

According to the War Department's Final Report, evacuees were transferred from the assembly centers and custody of the military to the WRA under the provisions of the aforementioned April 17, 1942, agreement "as rapidly as Relocation Centers were completed for beneficial occupancy." Thus, evacuees passed from the custody of the Army to the WRA in the following ways during 1942:

1. Regular transfer movement from an assembly to a relocation center

2. Direct transfer of the Manzanar Reception Center on June 1, 1942

3. Direct evacuation from an exclusion area to the relocation centers at Colorado River, Gila River, and Tule Lake

4. Release to WRA on work furlough

5. Transfer of individual evacuees and special groups to WRA centers

6. Transfer to WRA during September and October the responsibilities for institutional cases remaining in hospitals, homes, prisons, jails, etc., physically located within the evacuated area

The total number of evacuees transferred by the WCCA to the WRA by these methods was 111,155. (A copy of a summary chart may be seen on the following page.) These transfers accounted for all the persons who came directly under the evacuation program with three principal exceptions. The exceptions included: (1) those persons who had been released from assembly centers in accordance with regulations governing the release of mixed-marriage cases; (2) a few persons who were deferred from evacuation and later release; and (3) some persons who were permitted to leave the assembly centers for interior points to join their families who had previously established residence outside the evacuated area.

TABLE 32.—SUMMARY OF TRANSFER OF EVACUEES FROM CUSTODY OF THE ARMY TO CUSTODY OF WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY

Figure 16: Table 32.—Summary of Transfers of Evacuees From Custody of Custody of the Army to War Relocation Authority U.S. War Department, Final Report, p. 279.

In accord with the provisions of the agreement between the War Department and the WRA, DeWitt authorized the Assistant Chief of Staff for Civil Affairs to make the necessary arrangements for the transfer of evacuees from assembly to relocation centers on May 23, 1942. His directive also granted authority to call on the sector commanders for necessary military assistance to facilitate the transfer.

A "schedule of movement" was prepared by the military as the first step in the plan for evacuee transfers. The following factors, although not always realized, were presumably considered in formulating this schedule:

1. Date when each relocation center would be available for "beneficial occupancy," including progress of construction and availability and transfer of supplies

2. Urgency of early evacuation of assembly centers "having pit latrines or which presented an abnormal fire hazard"

3. Desirability "for efficient operation, of transferring the evacuees in an entire Assembly Center in a continuous movement, and, if possible, to the same Relocation Center destination"

4. Need to balance the urban and rural populations in each relocation center, and the desirability of relocating together the rural and urban groups which had been evacuated from the same general area

5. Attainment of a minimum climatic change consistent with the placement in available centers

6. Transfer of evacuees to a relocation center as close to their community of former residence as possible

7. Availability of sufficient train equipment to transport the evacuees without interrupting the prearranged schedules of major troop movements

A preliminary "schedule of movement" was drafted in early June. In addition to the proposed transfers from assembly to relocation centers, it allowed for the direct evacuation of Japanese from the California portion of Military Area No. 2 to relocation centers. Because of the delay in construction of some relocation centers and the unavailability of some types of supplies and equipment, however, this preliminary schedule was revised in August. The initial schedule had called for the evacuation of all assembly centers by October 12, while the revised schedule set October 30 — "the realized goal" — as the date of the final movement. (The logistics of transfer prescribed by the WCCA is represented in the chart on the following page.)

Figure 17: Transfers from Assembly to Relocation Centers, U.S. War Department, Final Report, p. 281.
(click on the above image for an enlargement in a new window)

Specific transfer orders, a list of which may be seen in Appendix D, were issued covering all of the regular transfer movements of evacuees from assembly to relocation centers. The transfer orders were prepared by the Civil Affairs Division, General Staff, issued by Headquarters, Western Defense Command, and addressed to the Commanding General of the Sector in which the movement originated as well as to all WCCA agencies concerned with transfer operations. Transfer orders Nos. 1-5 and 7, however, were issued directly by the WCCA director. Such orders were usually issued 12 to 19 days prior to the departure of the first train of evacuees to be moved under the order.

Each transfer order directed the agencies concerned to make the necessary arrangements for the transfer of the evacuees. The orders contained information on the approximate number of persons, the assembly center of origin, the relocation center destination, the dates of movement, and, where necessary, a specific description by family numbers or civilian exclusion order of the exact group of evacuees who were to be moved. It also directed that a suitable military escort be provided and that the necessary transportation and meals be furnished to the evacuees, Caucasian medical attendants, and military escort. A formal operating procedure developed to prepare the orders was formalized in a "Procedure Memorandum" issued on June 26, 1942 (a copy of which is printed in the Final Report, pp. 592-99)

As much as possible, the evacuation of an assembly center was accomplished by blocks or other administrative areas within the center, thus permitting the closing off of unused portions of the center for cleanup by the remaining evacuees and for the removal, inventory, and storage of government property. A cleanup crew of evacuees was retained for a short period after the main body of evacuees had been transferred to a relocation center. These workers performed services necessary to prepare the center for reoccupancy and assisted the center staff in the completion of fiscal and property records and the storage of government property As each assembly center was evacuated, residents of the evacuated area were required to perform necessary policing of the barracks, latrines, and grounds immediately surrounding the barracks. All shelving, wiring, and other facilities installed by evacuees in their living quarters were removed.

Once evacuation of an assembly center started, it was generally continued until the center was empty. Evacuees were normally moved by special train in increments of approximately 500 persons, because the military considered that number to be an optimum train load. It was also the maximum number that could be efficiently handled in departing an assembly center and quickly processed on arrival at a relocation center. Movements occurred daily or on alternate days until the ordered transfer was competed. Of the evacuees transferred, only 710 were moved by bus — for relatively short distances. All other transfers were conducted with the use of 171 special trains.

Coordination for transportation necessary to move the evacuees, baggage, and freight was the responsibility of the Rail Transportation Officer in the Western Defense Command's Office of the Quartermaster. The U.S. Public Health Service provided medical personnel to accompany the evacuees to the relocation centers, providing one doctor and one or two registered nurses to accompany the longer transfers. The Sector Commander furnished the necessary military personnel, including a sector transportation officer, a train commander, and sufficient military personnel "to assure the safe conduct of the evacuees." The train commanders took responsibility for the evacuees at the exit gate of the assembly center. The evacuees were permitted "to take on the same train only such personal effects and bedding as required by the evacuee immediately upon arrival at the War Relocation Center." Two baggage cars were to be provided for each train. Excess baggage was to be sent to the relocation center by freight. When two or more meals were required enroute, dining cars were included in the train equipment. For movements involving only one or two meals, lunches were provided by the assembly center management. [42]