Southern France Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 24, 1945, Nice, Provence Alpes Cote d�?TAzur                               Tunnel canal carries supplies through a Mountain Rove water system provides Soldier operated Barge vital army link . Dumps to by Johnnie Brown stars and stripes staff writer sixth port hq., Marseille. May 23�?thirty-four years ago the French started blasting a Hole in the Rock Mountain of Estaque. Twenty seven years later they came out the other Side of the Mountain Northwest of Marseille to Complete the four and one half Rove canal biggest maritime Tunnel in the world last november the . Army started using the Rove for movement of supplies Inland from. Marseille Harbor and since that time the canal has provided an invaluable vital link with such Points As Cognac port de Bouc port Chamas near Miramar Burke s Landing and other Supply dumps and Railhead to the North of Marseille. New ships expected capt. George e. Burma of Brooklyn sixth port Craft officer in charge of All traffic through the Rove said up to 1,000 tons of supplies currently move through it daily on i opera text barges and boats. Col. Lowry Sai this daily Load probably will double due to arrival of 10 Navy i jets to augment the Barge and boat Fleet. Small army operated Tanker barges also Are used to carry fuel through the canal to Navy tankers and Liberty ships at port de Bouc. This saves them the time and trouble of coming to Marseille itself for fuel. Beyond its North exit from the Mountain the Rove canal enters Lake de Berre. From the Lake another canal links with the Rhone River. The Rhone is linked by canal Seille to Calais the part of the canal inside the Mountain is straight As an Arrow. From one end you can see the Light at the opposite Entrance. The canal tunnels Overall height is 26 feet. It is 64 feet wide and the water is eight to nine feet deep. A considerable amount of repair work was necessary before the americans could Start using the Rove. The germans blasted its South Entrance before they left Marseille. Opposite the other end a Bridge was blown. But the repair work has been Worth All the trouble. The canals service was particularly important when the armies were pushing into Germany and 26 of 29 truck companies used for Clearing cargo out of the port Here were suddenly ordered North. Routing traffic through the canal is a 24-hour Job. Control stations at each Entrance to the Tunnel As Well As capt. Bumas office at Martin Beach Marseille maintain constant watch to prevent traffic trouble. No passing in Tunnel the Speed limit through the Tunnel is four knots. There is a strict Rule against passing Craft in the Tunnel except in opposite directions or in the event one Craft is secured. A Craft must Stop at burkes Landing at the North Entrance to find out. Before entering if the Tunnel is Clear. A sgt Arol Helle of Yonkers n. Y., fac James j. Drummond of Malta Mont., and pvt. James Ginty of Springdale Conn., Are in charge of the burkes Landing Are moving tons of Materiel daily Buma gives the order for a trip. The dispatcher who know from Contact with their control stations that the Tunnel is Clear fill out a trip ticket and Send it out to a boat. On a Large Chart they indicate that this particular Craft is on a trip and where it is . Melvin o Hall of new Britain Conn., and a sgt. Ralph Crisculo of new Haven Conn., Are Bumas dispatchers on the Day shift. A sgt. Robert Dietel of Chicago Cpl. Charles Grandalski. Of Moundsville w. Va., and a sgt Peter Karvelis of South Boston mass., do the dispatching at night. Army vessels that go through the Tunnel Are operated by such i a a seamen As sgt. Thomas Hudson of Columbia life worked in Bizerte before City ind. Hudson a Printer in civilian the ports of Oran Naples Algiers and coming to Marseille. Variety of supplies handled Hudson makes the Rove trip daily. He and All other personnel connected with the Tunnel Supply movement Are members of the 372nd Harbor Craft co. T-5 James West of Indianapolis operates a Crane that unloads ammo at. The port de Bouc end of the route. Port de Bouc is a sea port but supplies Are handled there for Corr efstation a they work eat and sleep in a single build Inland dumps. West is assigned to the 686th port co. Of ing at the Edge of the canal the 515th port in. 2-lt. Harold l. Martin of Westphalia Back at Burnas Martin Beach office Craft Are sent Mich is in charge of his Crew through the Mountain waterway in much the same manner other i port Crews do similar work at the several As assignment of cars from a motor Pool dispatcher s other loading office. Other loading and unloading Points where Engineer medical signal. Pm pm and ration supplies Are handled. We a it 7 it. Ltd of. A big Crane on Caterpillar track transfers ammo from barges to rail cars at port de Bouc. One of several Transfer Points served by the Rove canal. Canal connects Marseille Harbor with Frances Inland waterway system. By devious path shipments from Marseille could reach the North sea at Calais. Unloaded by 5s6th port co. Gis Barge returns to the North Entrance to tha Rove canal four and a half mile waterway blasted through the Rook Mountain i1 Estaque. Since the canal opens on the Tea at Marseille Harbor traffic Bro baby will be reversed As troops and supplies leave Europe for the Pac Flo War theater. Thursday May 24. 1945 the stars and stripes a Page 5 safety precautions Are taken in use of canal signal lights used to guide boat Crews Are kept in repair by pvt. James Ginty of Springdale Conn. A sgt. Arol Halle of Yonkers n. Y., and pro. James j. Drummond of Malta Mont. Quot the Hermitage is their Billet. Headed for Inland Supply depot string of barges loaded with . Army Materiel approaches South a Tranos of the Rove canal Tunnel construction of which took 27 years. The Tunnel is straight As an Arrow has a waterway eight to nine feet deep and 64 feet wide control stations at each end of Tunnel regulate traffic. All canal photos were taken by Cpl. John p. Verg is and pit Earl c. Nolan of army pictorial service