During the German occupation of Belgium, following the Battle of Belgium, occupying German forces turned Dolhain, Belgium into a wartime production factory for German-made for their war effort. Typewriters had become scarce as the war raged on, and the US government had started a domestic campaign to collect old typewriters for use by Allied forces. The Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine led to the liberation of cities in the vicinity of the city of Liege, including Dolhain, and subsequent the German destruction of the town as they retreated across the Rhine. The 64th Quartermaster Battalion (Base Depot) reestablished a base depot in Liege and Dolhain, repaired the heavily damaged typewriter factory in order to have typewriters reproduced, this time for the Allies' war effort.