6½, and Somervell asked the War Shipping Administration for twenty-five ships. Nineteen were ultimately provided, and USASOS loaded the convoy, which sailed in March 1943 with of supplies. In July, Somervell met with Giraud to discuss the latter's needs, and it was decided to ship another in July and August. The program ultimately provided eight divisions for the Allied cause that fought in the Italian and southern France campaigns, but the French were unable to provide a full complement of service units. China-Burma-India Although the war against Germany had top priority, ASF did not neglect the war against Japan. After the Casablanca Conference, Somervell flew to Karachi in British India, where he met with Lieutenant General Joseph W. Stilwell, the commander of American troops in the China-Burma-India Theater (CBI), and Field Marshal Sir Archibald Wavell, the British Commander-in-Chief, India. Somervell judged that the Assam line of communication (LOC) was inadequate to support the air bases sending supplies to China by air over the Hump, as the route over Himalayan Mountains was called, and the engineers working on the construction of the Ledo Road to link Burma with China by road and pipeline. Somervell pressed the British for permission for American troops to take over the running of the Bengal and Assam Railway and the barge traffic on the Brahmaputra River. For a time, Marshall considered having Somervell replace Stilwell, with Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers taking over ASF. While happy for the Americans to take over the river traffic, the British at first balked at handing over control of the railway to the Americans, but agreed in October 1943. Somervell appointed Colonel Paul F. Yount, who had operated the Iranian railway to Tehran, to head it and arranged for additional construction equipment, engineer supplies and service troops to be sent to CBI. By July, the railway had exceeded the per month target set at the Quebec Conference for 1 January 1946. In August, 16,439 cars rolled along it, an average of 530 per day, compared with 327 in March. By September, the it was carrying per day, and there was still ten percent capacity to spare. Shipping crisis Somervell did not directly involve himself in the affairs of the ETO nearly as much, for fear that Eisenhower and Lee would resent it, but in October 1944, a major shipping crisis developed that threatened to derail the global war effort. Inadequate