At their heights, did the Allies or the Axis have the more efficient logistical arm during WWII?

by sonorousAssailant
TheFerritoJ

Definitely the Allies. Axis logistics were laughable.

For all the newsreel footage you see of "Blitzkrieg" that gives you the idea that every German soldier rode a tank, motorcycle or halftrack into battle, the fact is that the majority of the Wehrmacht relied on horse-drawn transportation. Indeed one of the best things to come out of the seizure of France for Germany was the large collection of French trucks.

(Tooze, Wages of Destruction)

Things were just as bad if not worse in the East. Japan had very little by way of infrastructure to transport war materiel on the home islands, but where their logistics chain falls apart was by sea. The IJN Merchant Marine was laughable - the invasions they pulled off in late '41/early '42 used nearly every available vessel.

Worse, there was no comprehensive antisubmarine warfare (ASW) doctrine, and once the troubles with US torpedoes were sorted out, American subs swept the waves clear of Japanese shipping.

Couple this with the fact that in one month of 1943 the US laid down more merchant shipping than the IJN did during the entire war and the picture becomes pretty clear.

(Parshall & Tully - Shattered Sword plus the excellent Combined Fleet website articles, Spector - Eagle Against the Sun)

An army fights on its stomach, and the Axis went hungry.