Lend-Lease Categories

Raw Materials

Copper – In an unusual twist the Soviet Union was providing copper along many other raw materials to Germany per the German–Soviet Commercial Agreement (1940).  Most of the copper was destined for electric equipment used extensively in major weapon platforms, energy systems and telecommunications. Lend-Lease was 41.1% of the copper available to the Soviet Union in World War II. 

Aluminum – Aircraft required lightweight and strong metals for their performance characteristics and in the 1940s none was better than aluminum.  Soviet aluminum production dropped from 59.9 thousand metric tons in 1940 to 34.5 thousand metric tons the following year.  Not until 1943 would Soviet production levels recover to their prewar numbers.  In the meantime, the Soviets needed more than even their prewar levels provided. Lend-Lease was 51.5% of the aluminum available to the Soviet Union in World War II.

Tin – Tin was classified as a strategic material since tin-coated steel cans prevented food acids from corroding the steel.  Tin coated packaging was also used in medical supplies for the same reason. Supplied tin was 69.0% of the tin available to the Soviet Union in World War II.

Cobalt – Military grade steel required cobalt. The British and Germans wrangled over control of Turkish cobalt exports each threatening trade embargoes.  Cobalt was another raw material that Germany negotiated with the Soviet Union in the German–Soviet Commercial Agreement (1940). Western supplied cobalt was 58.0% of the cobalt available to the Soviet Union in World War II.

Transportation

Railway Equipment – Lend-Lease took on many forms some less glamorous than others but still significant. Railcars and railway rails aren’t often thought of by the general public when thinking about supporting a war ally. However, not having to produce 1,977 locomotives, 11,075 railway wagons, or 622,000 tons of railway rails allowed USSR’s internal industries to concentrate on other needed war production. Lend-Lease was 91.1% of the railway wagon and 36.1% of the railway rails available to the Soviet Union in World War II.

Vehicle tires – All major combatants in WWII were deficient in rubber and the Soviet Union was no exception. Germany in the 1930s began synthesizing rubber knowing they would not have ready access to the raw material.  Vehicle tires – Lend-Lease was 30.4% of the vehicle tires available to the Soviet Union in World War II.

Military Grade Materiel

Explosives – Explosives are used at prodigious rates almost always well beyond the largest forecasts.  The Eastern Front with the millions on each side engaging on fronts hundreds of miles long consumed materiel like no where else. Lend-Lease was 34.6% of the explosives available to the Soviet Union in World War II.

Aviation fuel – The Soviet Union out produced all European Axis nations in crude oil production. However, octane boosters and aviation fuels were in short supply and Lend-Lease filled that gap.  Prior to the US entry into the war the US was responsible for 63%* of the world’s oil production. Additionally, the US had extensive adjacent industries developing and producing petroleum, oil, and lubrication products. In all 2,700,000 tons of petroleum products were supplied through Lend-Lease. Lend-Lease was 35.5% of the aviation fuel available to the Soviet Union in World War II.

* Source: American Foreign Relations, https://www.americanforeignrelations.com/O-W/Oil-Oil-and-world-power.html

Food

Often overlooked is the effect of the German invasion in 1941-42 on the USSR’s breadbasket, Ukraine.  The USSR lost 40% of its state farms as well as farm animals, farm equipment, and labor. Per US Embassy and Consulates in Russia 4,500,000 tons of foodstuffs were transferred to the USSR via Lend-Lease. There are stories of Soviet troops throwing empty Lend-Lease food cans at German troops just to irritate them.

• Sugar – Lend-Lease was 39.8% of the sugar available to the Soviet Union in World War II.
• Canned meat – Lend-Lease was 82.8% of the copper available to the Soviet Union in World War II.
• Animal fats – Lend-Lease was 51.6% of the animal fats available to the Soviet Union in World War II.

Other

• Wool – Lend-Lease was 21.4% of the wool available to the Soviet Union in World War II.

Lend-Lease Deliveries Compared to USSR Internal Production Data

The above graph can be downloaded as an image.
To download the data shown below from which the graph was developed click on the icon below corresponding to you desired format. Note: to ensure all data is downloaded choose the ‘All’ selection in the Show Entries dropdown list. Otherwise only the data visible on the screen will download.

Source: Real History Online. “Lend-Lease WW2 – American Supply to the Allies.” https://www.realhistoryonline.com/articles/lendlease-ww2/, Data accessed on June 28, 2022

Other Lend-Lease and Production Data

Recipients of US Aircraft Production

WW2 Allies: US Lend-Lease to the USSR, 1941-1945

US Lend Lease Dollar Value by Recipient Nation

Tanks Produced by Nation 1940 to 1945

Allies Axis Major Weapons Groups – Production Summaries

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Strong isolationist sentiment ran deep throughout the United States post World War I and grew during the 1930s.  The America First Committee, a leading isolationist organization, held rallies often featuring Charles Lindberg and were regular guests on national radio shows. Additionally, Congress enacted several Neutrality Acts during the 1930s barring or limiting arms trade with warring nations.  Even the rise of Hitler’s Nazism in Germany and Japan’s expansionism in the Pacific did little to quell the isolationists.

Against this backdrop Lend-Lease was not a foregone conclusion.  The Neutrality Act of 1935 strict bans were lessened in follow on acts. However, they were still an obstacle of providing support to potential future allies on a scale President Roosevelt thought necessary.  Isolationist sentiments started shifting with Germany’s Polish invasion, but it still took over a full year before more than 50% of Americans believed we should fight against the Axis powers. 

Enactment

The 77th US Congress on March 8, 1941, passed the Lend-Lease act (subtitled “An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States”) which President Roosevelt signed into law on March 11, 1941. The first beneficiary was Great Britain and her Commonwealth of nations. Lend-Lease was later extended to China in the spring of 1941 and to the Soviet Union in November 1941. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, fully ended isolation discussion in America. Lend-Lease allowed the United States to lend or lease war supplies to any nation deemed “vital to the defense of the United States.” 

Implementation

Complicating Lend-Lease was the need to further develop an undersized US Army.  The US Navy of 1940 could stand toe to toe with any nation. Conversely, the US Army ranked seventeenth, just after Romania, with 190,000 personnel worldwide.  On top of this the US Army’s equipment was either obsolete World War I leftovers or nonexistent. The strategy developed during American British Conversations and aligned with President Roosevelt’s policy was to aid nations already engaged with Axis powers first.

Lend-Lease exports in 1941 were mainly food and industrial goods destined for England. By 1943 a billion dollars per month of guns, tanks, planes, trucks, jeeps, gasoline, food, and more were being provided to allied nations. In the first six months of 1944 the dollar figure rose to 1.5 billion a month. By the end of the war about 15% of the US total war budget went to Lend-Lease.

US Lend-Lease Dollar Value by Recipient Nation Data

The above graph can be downloaded as an image.  

To download the data shown below from which the graph was developed click on the icon below corresponding to you desired format. Note: to ensure all data is downloaded choose the ‘All’ selection in the Show Entries dropdown list. Otherwise only the data visible on the screen will download.

Source: Real History Online. “Lend-Lease WW2 – American Supply to the Allies.” https://www.realhistoryonline.com/articles/lendlease-ww2/, Data accessed on June 28, 2022

Other Lend-Lease Data Links

Recipients of US Aircraft Production

Value of Materials Supplied by the US to its Allied Nations

WW2 Allies: US Lend-Lease to the USSR, 1941-1945

US Factory Deliveries of Military Airplanes by Recipient

This website, ww2data.com, has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third party internet websites referenced.  Nor does ww2data.com guarantee that any content on such websites are accurate or will remain accurate.

The 77th US Congress on March 8, 1941, passed the Lend-Lease act (subtitled “An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States”) which President Roosevelt signed into law on March 11, 1941. The first beneficiary was Great Britain and her Commonwealth of nations. Lend-Lease was later extended to China in the spring of 1941 and to the Soviet Union in November 1941. 

Over 17 million tons of Lend Lease equipment and material was shipped to the USSR during World War II of which ninety seven percent arrived safely.  Lend-Lease shipments used five major routes getting material to the USSR.  These shipments originated from both east and west coast US ports.

Routes

Lend-Lease shipments of 8,244,000 tons transited over the Soviet Far East route with 99% arriving safely. Japan maintained neutrality with the USSR during WW2 until August 1945. Even though Germany requested Japan to intervene in Lend-Lease shipments they did not.  Japan’s would not intervene if the ships were under Soviet flags with Soviet crews.  Additionally, those shipments could not include war materiel.  Therefore, non-war material consisting of mostly food, trucks, railcars, locomotives, etc. utilized this route.  Just over 47% of all Lend-Lease tonnage was shipped via this passageway.  Most of these shipments originated in Auburn, Washington or Lathrop, California destined for Vladivostok, Russia. Many of these Soviet flagged ships were Liberty Ships.

An additional Pacific Lend-Lease route Alaska-Siberia Air Route (ALSIB) used to transport combat aircraft and some goods to Siberia.  This route was far enough north that Japan could not intervene.  The ALSIB delivered more than 8,000 aircraft.  Aircraft were ferried by US pilots to Ladd Army Airfield in Fairbanks, Alaska where Soviet crews took over and completed the trip to Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. 

The Persian Gulf route from the US east coast around the cape of southern Africa and north to the Persian Gulf ports was the longest sea going route but saw the second greatest tonnage of the five routes. Lend-Lease shipments of 4,160,000 tons transited over the Persian Gulf route with 99% arriving safely. Over 180,000 trucks were delivered via this route.

The Artic Route originated in many locations of the United States, Canada, Iceland, England, and Scotland.  Most were destined for either Murmansk or Archangel in Russia. Lend-Lease shipments of 3,964,000 tons transited over the Artic. Tanks, planes, raw materials, fuel, chemicals, food, and ammunition were the main cardo items via this route.  

The final route was the Black Sea route which was not utilized as much as the other sea going routes due to the gauntlet of the Atlantic and Mediterranean posed. Lend-Lease shipments of 681,000 tons transited over the Black Sea route.

Lend-Lease exports in 1941 were mainly food and industrial goods destined for England. By 1943 a billion dollars per month of guns, tanks, planes, trucks, jeeps, gasoline, food, and more were being provided to allied nations. In the first six months of 1944 the dollar figure rose to 1.5 billion a month. By the end of the war about 15% of the US total war budget went to Lend-Lease.

Lend-Lease Tons Shipped per Shipment Routes to USSR Data

The above graph can be downloaded as an image.  

To download the data shown below from which the graph was developed click on the icon below corresponding to you desired format. Note: to ensure all data is downloaded choose the ‘All’ selection in the Show Entries dropdown list. Otherwise only the data visible on the screen will download.

Source: Wikipedia. “Lend Lease” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease, Data accessed on June 28, 2022

Other Lend-Lease Data Links

Recipients of US Aircraft Production

Value of Materials Supplied by the US to its Allied Nations

WW2 Allies: US Lend-Lease to the USSR, 1941-1945

US Factory Deliveries of Military Airplanes by Recipient

This website, ww2data.com, has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third party internet websites referenced.  Nor does ww2data.com guarantee that any content on such websites are accurate or will remain accurate.

Background

The 77th US Congress on March 8, 1941, passed the Lend-Lease act (subtitled “An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States”) which President Roosevelt signed into law on March 11, 1941. The first beneficiary was Great Britain and her Commonwealth of nations. Lend-Lease was later extended to China in the spring of 1941 and to the Soviet Union in November 1941. 

Per the US Embassy and Consulate in Russia Lend-Lease provide the USSR support in fighting what Stalin described to Roosevelt as the “enormous and difficult fight against the common enemy — bloodthirsty Hitlerism”.  Both the United States and the United Kingdom and her Commonwealth of nations provided direct Lend-Lease support to the USSR. In turn the Soviet Union via Reverse Lend-Lease provided raw materials and other goods totaling $6.8 billion.

Germany had access to production within occupied territories, but it did not match the scale of Lend-Lease.

Trucks

World War II is seen as the first truly mechanized war by many, however that was hardly the case between Germany and the Soviet Union.  Once away from a train depot approximately 80% of German logistics was horse drawn. About one in six German divisions were mechanized while the other five relied upon the foot soldier to march and the horse to pull. Even though the Soviet Union utilized more horses than Germany they utilized a far greater number of trucks, jeeps, and other motorized vehicles to transport men and materiel. Additionally, the food, materiel, and manpower Germany required to maintain their horses made these divisions less efficient than their enemy counterparts.

Prior to Germany’s invasion the Soviet Union had about 270,000 trucks in the military.  Soviet domestic truck production for military purposes were approximately 150,000 vehicles.  Via Lend-Lease over 430,000 trucks were obtained including:

• Over 200,000 Studebaker US6 U3, 2.5-ton, 6×6, Cargo Trucks,
• Almost 50,000 Willys MB, truck ¼-ton, 4×4, Command Reconnaissance aka Jeep
• Over 60,000 Chevrolet G-7107, 1½-ton, 4×4, with Cargo body includes Chevrolet G-7117, 1½-ton, 4×4, with BM-8-48 “Katiusha” rocket launcher

Aircraft

Soviet domestic aircraft production was firmly in place prior to the war and ramped up significantly during the war.  A total of 157,261 aircraft were produced by Soviet factories.  Due to the massive aircraft losses during Operation Barbarossa the Soviets requested additional quantities.  Via Lend-Lease over 21,000 units were delivered including:

• 4,719 Bell P-39 Airacobras fighters
• 3,414 Douglas A-20 Havocs medium bombers
• 2,397 Bell P-63 Kingcobras fighters
• 3,000+ Hurricane fighter aircraft
• 4,000+ other British aircraft
• Soviet Union requested B-17s and B-24s, but none were delivered

Tractors

The Soviet military lost many tractors for artillery and rocket launchers early in Operation Barbarossa.  Also, Soviets were lacking in tank recovery tractors even prior to Germany’s invasion.  Additionally, Soviet farms were ransacked by Germany including tractors and other farm machinery.  American and British supplied over 8,000 tractors via Lend-Lease.

Tanks

The Soviet Union produced 10s of thousands of tanks during World War II. Perhaps the most famous production site was the Stalingrad Tractor Factory which continued production through much of the Battle of Stalingrad. Like other weapon platforms the Soviet tanks were destroyed or captured in massive numbers during 1941-42, therefore the supply of over 12,000 tanks helped hold back the German onslaught. American and British tanks supplied included:

• 1,084 Matildas
• 1,380 Valentines from Canada
• 1,386 M3 Lees
• 4,102 M4 Shermans
• Other armored vehicles – 6,303

Rail Equipment

Lend-Lease took on many forms some less glamorous than others but still significant. Railcars and railway rails aren’t often thought of by the general public when thinking about supporting a war ally. However, not having to produce 1,977 locomotives, 11,075 railway wagons, or 622,000 tons of railway rails allowed USSR’s internal industries to concentrate on other needed war production. 

Other Lend-Lease Transfers

• Petrol products (tons) – 2,700,000
• Food (tons) – 4,500,000

WW2 Allies Lend-Lease to the USSR, 1941-1945 Data

WW2 Allies: US Lend-Lease to the USSR, 1941-1945

Sources: US Embassy and Consulate in Russia, “World War II Allies: U.S. Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union, 1941-1945”, https://ru.usembassy.gov/world-war-ii-allies-u-s-lend-lease-to-the-soviet-union-1941-1945/, and Wikipedia. “Lend Lease” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease, Data accessed on June 28, 2022

To download the data shown above click on the icon above corresponding to you desired format. Note: to ensure all data is downloaded choose the ‘All’ selection in the Show Entries dropdown list. Otherwise only the data visible on the screen will download.

How to sort by multiple columns – First sort by one of the columns. Then press the “Shift” key on the keyboard and while holding the Shift key click on a second header.  This column now becomes the second sorting column.  This feature is useful when the first sorting column has values that repeat for multiple rows.

Other Lend-Lease Data Links

Recipients of US Aircraft Production

Value of Materials Supplied by the US to its Allied Nations

US Lend Lease Dollar Value by Recipient Nation

US Factory Deliveries of Military Airplanes by Recipient

This website, ww2data.com, has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third party internet websites referenced.  Nor does ww2data.com guarantee that any content on such websites are accurate or will remain accurate.

Background

The 77th US Congress on March 8, 1941, passed the Lend-Lease act (subtitled “An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States”) which President Roosevelt signed into law on March 11, 1941. The first beneficiary was Great Britain and her Commonwealth of nations. Lend-Lease was later extended to China in the spring of 1941 and to the Soviet Union in November 1941. 

The Soviet Union like all other Lend-Lease recipients developed their own list of needed items based upon gaps in their military and economic survival needs. Tanks, aircraft, and trucks got the headlines but items such as food, chemicals, aluminum, steel, explosives, aviation fuel, tooling, and rail equipment were essential to Soviet victory.

Rail Equipment

Lend-Lease took on many forms some less glamorous than others but still significant. Railcars and railway rails aren’t often thought of by the general public when thinking about supporting a war ally. However, not having to produce 1,977 locomotives, 11,075 railway wagons, or 622,000 tons of railway rails allowed USSR’s internal industries to concentrate on other needed war production. 

Food

Often overlooked is the effect of the German invasion in 1941-42 on the USSR’s breadbasket, Ukraine.  The USSR lost 40% of its state farms as well as farm animals, farm equipment, and labor. Per US Embassy and Consulates in Russia 4,500,000 tons of foodstuffs were transferred to the USSR via Lend-Lease. There are stories of Soviet troops throwing empty Lend-Lease food cans at German troops just to irritate them.

Petroleum Products

The Soviet Union out produced all European Axis nations in crude oil production. However, octane boosters and aviation fuels were in short supply and Lend-Lease filled that gap.  Prior to the US entry into the war the US was responsible for 63%*of the world’s oil production. Additionally, the US had extensive adjacent industries developing and producing petroleum, oil, and lubrication products. In all 2,700,000 tons of petroleum products were supplied through Lend-Lease.

* Source: American Foreign Relations, https://www.americanforeignrelations.com/O-W/Oil-Oil-and-world-power.html

Five Routes

Lend-Lease shipments of 8,244,000 tons transited over the Soviet Far East route with 99% arriving safely. Japan maintained neutrality with the USSR during World War II until August 1945. Even though Germany requested Japan to intervene in Lend-Lease shipments they did not.  Japan’s would not intervene if the ships were under Soviet flags with Soviet crews.  Additionally, those shipments could not include war materiel.  Therefore, non-war material consisting of mostly food, trucks, railcars, locomotives, etc. utilized this route.  Just over 47% of all Lend-Lease tonnage was shipped via this passageway.  Most of these shipments originated in Auburn, Washington or Lathrop, California destined for Vladivostok, Russia. Many of these Soviet flagged ships were Liberty Ships.

An additional Pacific Lend-Lease route Alaska-Siberia Air Route (ALSIB) used to transport combat aircraft and some goods to Siberia.  This route was far enough north that Japan could not intervene.  The ALSIB delivered more than 8,000 aircraft.  Aircraft were ferried by US pilots to Ladd Army Airfield in Fairbanks, Alaska where Soviet crews took over and completed the trip to Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. 

The Persian Gulf route from the US east coast around the cape of southern Africa and north to the Persian Gulf ports was the longest sea going route but saw the second greatest tonnage of the five routes. Lend-Lease shipments of 4,160,000 tons transited over the Persian Gulf route with 99% arriving safely. Over 180,000 trucks were delivered via this route.

The Artic Route originated in many locations of the United States, Canada, Iceland, England, and Scotland.  Most were destined for either Murmansk or Archangel in Russia. Lend-Lease shipments of 3,964,000 tons transited over the Artic. Tanks, planes, raw materials, fuel, chemicals, food, and ammunition were the main cardo items via this route.  

The final route was the Black Sea route which was not utilized as much as the other sea going routes due to the gauntlet of the Atlantic and Mediterranean posed. Lend-Lease shipments of 681,000 tons transited over the Black Sea route.

Allied Shipments (tons) to the USSR Data

The above graph can be downloaded as an image.  

To download the data shown below from which the graph was developed click on the icon below corresponding to you desired format. Note: to ensure all data is downloaded choose the ‘All’ selection in the Show Entries dropdown list. Otherwise only the data visible on the screen will download.

Source: Wikipedia. “Lend Lease.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease, Data accessed on June 28, 2022

Other Lend-Lease Data Links

Recipients of US Aircraft Production

Value of Materials Supplied by the US to its Allied Nations

WW2 Allies: US Lend-Lease to the USSR, 1941-1945

US Lend Lease Dollar Value by Recipient Nation

Lend-Lease Deliveries Compared to USSR Internal Production

This website, ww2data.com, has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third party internet websites referenced.  Nor does ww2data.com guarantee that any content on such websites are accurate or will remain accurate.

Recipients of US Aircraft Production

According to Table 79 of the “United States Air Force Statistical Digest World War II” document, the distribution of aircraft to various allied nations during World War II was as follows:

United States Army Air Force (USAAF): The USAAF received the largest number of aircraft during the war, with a total of 158,880 aircraft. This included 47,050 fighters, 47,481 bombers, 34,469 trainers, and 15,769 transport planes.

United States Navy: The US Navy received a total of 73,711 aircraft during the war, including 27,163 fighters, 20,703 bombers, 13,859 trainers, and 2,702 transport planes.

British Empire: The British Empire received a total of 38,811 aircraft during the war, including 8,003 fighters, 13,385 bombers, 7,640 trainers, and 3,789 transport planes. This includes aircraft given to the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other British Commonwealth air forces.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR): The USSR received a total of 14,717 aircraft during the war, including 9,868 fighters, 4,031 bombers, 85 trainers, and 703 transport planes.

It is worth noting that the USAAF received most of the aircraft produced by American manufacturers during the war, while the US Navy, British Empire, and USSR received smaller but still significant amounts.

Transportation to Great Britain and the USSR

American aircraft were flown from factories in the United States to airfields in Great Britain. One was the North Atlantic Ferry Route. The North Atlantic Ferry Route was typically used for fighters flying from New England to Newfoundland to Scotland and was used for thousands of aircraft during the war. 

Another was the Crimson Route utilizing the Great Circle route to ferry aircraft from manufacturing plants in Southern California and Seattle via Montana over Canada to Greenland using Arctic air routes. These were typically bombers and transport aircraft.

To transport aircraft to the Soviet Union utilized a route known as the Alaska-Siberia air route. This route involved flying from airfields in the United States, across Alaska, and then over the Bering Strait to airfields in Siberia. From there Soviet aircrews took over and flew them westwards.

Why Supply Allies Versus Retain Aircraft for Own Usage

The United States provided significant military aid to its allies under the Lend-Lease Act. This aid included the shipment of US-manufactured aircraft to countries such as Great Britain and the Soviet Union. 

The US recognized that the defeat of the Axis powers was a global objective, and that it would be easier to achieve this objective if its allies had the necessary military resources to fight the war. By providing aircraft to its allies, the US aimed to strengthen their military capabilities, which would help to defeat the Axis powers more quickly and effectively.

Sending aid to its allies also had political and diplomatic considerations. It helped to build and maintain diplomatic relationships with Great Britain and the USSR. The aid provided to its allies ensured that they would be able to continue to fight the war. In summary, the US sent aircraft to allied nations during World War II as part of a larger effort to defeat the Axis powers.

Recipients of US Aircraft Production Data

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To download the data shown below from which the graph was developed click on the icon below corresponding to you desired format. Note: to ensure all data is downloaded choose the ‘All’ selection in the Show Entries dropdown list. Otherwise only the data visible on the screen will download.

Source: Abstracted from United States Air Force Statistical Digest World War II, Office of Statistical Control, December 1945, p. 127, https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA542518.pdf, accessed April 5, 2023

Other Lend-Lease Data Links

Value of Materials Supplied by the US to its Allied Nations

WW2 Allies: US Lend-Lease to the USSR, 1941-1945

US Lend Lease Dollar Value by Recipient Nation

US Factory Deliveries of Military Airplanes by Recipient

This website, ww2data.com, has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third party internet websites referenced.  Nor does ww2data.com guarantee that any content on such websites are accurate or will remain accurate.

Roosevelt’s Garden Hose Analogy

“Suppose my neighbor’s home catches fire, and I have a length of garden hose four or five hundred feet away. If he can take my garden hose and connect it up with his hydrant, I may help him to put out his fire…I don’t say to him before that operation, “Neighbor, my garden hose cost me $15; you have to pay me $15 for it.”… I don’t want $15–I want my garden hose back after the fire is over.”

Source: Roosevelt, Franklin D., “Franklin Roosevelt’s Press Conference, December 17, 1940”, http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/odllpc2.html

With this analogy Franklin Roosevelt argued for the final transition away from the Johnson Debt Default Act of 1934 and the Neutrality Acts of the 1930s.  The 1934 Johnson Debt Default Act barring the United States providing loans to nations who defaulted on World War I loans including Great Britain and France.  The Neutrality Act of 1935 imposed an embargo of trading arms and munitions to any nation involved in a war.  However, after Germany invaded Poland the US Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1939 ending the munitions embargo on a “cash and carry” basis.  However, upon Churchill’s personal notification to Roosevelt that England would soon run out of cash prompted passage of the Destroyers-For-Bases and the Lend-Lease acts. Destroyers-For-Bases was a barter to transfer fifty United States’ destroyers to Great Britain. Whereas Lend-Lease allowed the United States to “sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend or otherwise dispose of” items to other countries if they were not vital to national security.

Recipients

Britain and its Commonwealth nations received the lion’s share of Lend-Lease materiel, at $31.4 Billion or 64.9% of all Lend-Lease transfers.  Followed by the USSR at $11.0 billion or 22.7%, France at $3.2 billion or 6.7%, China at 1.6 billion or 3.4%, and Brazil at $0.4 billion or 0.8%.  In all thirty-eight nations received $48.4 billion in Lend-Lease aid.

Source: ” GI Roundtable: How Shall Lend-Lease Accounts be Settled”, Published by The American Historical Association, Washington 25, D.C., 20 January, 1945, Page 19, https://books.google.com/books?id=LI8xVaajHacC&printsec=frontcover&dq=lend+lease&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiL-dn8kND8AhXOLkQIHbsnBu8Q6AF6BAgEEAM#v=onepage&q&f=false

These top five recipients fit well with the US Army’s Victory plan five primary assumptions: 

1. Monroe Doctrine: Resist with all means Axis penetration in Western Hemisphere. 
2. Aid to Britain: Limited only by U. S. needs and abilities of British to utilize; insure delivery.
3. Aid to other Axis-opposed nations: Limited by U. S. and British requirements.
4. Far-Eastern policy: To disapprove strongly Japanese aggression and to convey to Japan determination of U. S. to take positive action. To avoid major military and naval commitments in the Far East at this time.
5. Freedom of the Seas. 

Other Army assumptions were that the principal theater of wartime operations would be Europe and that the defeat of potential enemies, among whom were listed Italy and Japan, would be “primarily dependent on the defeat of Germany.” For want of essential equipment, U. S. field forces (air and/or ground) would not be ready for “ultimate decisive modern combat” before 1 July 1943. *

* Source: Matloff, Maurice, and Snell, Edwin, M. “Strategic Planning For Coalition Warfare 1941-1942”, Center Of Military History United States Army Washington, D.C, 1999, page 60, https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/SP1941-42/index.htm.

US Lend-Lease Supplied to Allied Nations Data

The above graph can be downloaded as an image.  

To download the data shown below from which the graph was developed click on the icon below corresponding to you desired format. Note: to ensure all data is downloaded choose the ‘All’ selection in the Show Entries dropdown list. Otherwise only the data visible on the screen will download.

Wikipedia. “Lend Lease.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease, Data accessed on June 28, 2022

Other Lend-Lease Data Links

Recipients of US Aircraft Production

WW2 Allies: US Lend-Lease to the USSR, 1941-1945

US Lend Lease Dollar Value by Recipient Nation

US Factory Deliveries of Military Airplanes by Recipient

This website, ww2data.com, has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third party internet websites referenced.  Nor does ww2data.com guarantee that any content on such websites are accurate or will remain accurate.