User Panel
Posted: 11/28/2015 7:36:38 AM EDT
1942 – The first production Ford bomber, the B-24 Liberator, rolled off the assembly line at Ford’s massive Willow Run plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Two years before, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had urged an isolationist America to prepare for its inevitable involvement in the war, declaring that U.S. industry must become "the great arsenal of democracy.” Roosevelt established the Office of Production Management (OPM) to organize the war effort, and named a former automotive executive co-director of the OPM. Most Detroit automobile executives opposed the OAW during its first year, and were dubious of the advantages of devoting their entire production to war material. However, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and American citizens mobilized behind the U.S. declaration of war against the Axis powers. Since profit ruled Detroit, the government made Ford and America’s other automakers an economic offer they could not refuse. For their participation in the war effort, automakers would be guaranteed profits regardless of production costs, and $11 billion would be allocated to the building of war plants–factories that would be sold to private industry at a substantial discount after the war. In February of 1942, the last Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line for the duration of the war, and soon afterward the Willow Run plant was completed in Michigan. Built specifically for Ford’s war production, Willow Run was the largest factory in the world. Using the type of assembly line production that had made Ford an industrial giant, Ford hoped to produce 500 B-24 Liberator bombers a month. After a gradual start, that figure was reached in time for the Allied invasion of Western Europe, and by July of 1944, the Willow Plant was producing one B-24 every hour. By the end of the war, the 43,000 men and women who had worked at Ford’s Willow Run plant had produced over 8,500 bombers, which unquestionably had a significant impact on the course of the war. |
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I went for a ride in Collins 24, smooth and fun ride. I liked the chin turret as that is a completely different experience of flight.
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It's amazing when you think of how the quickly the country mobilized industry on that massive of a scale back then.
There's whats left of a 20,000 acre arsenal near me that went from farms to producing munitions in about 10 months. |
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My grand mother worked there during the war. She always mentioned the midgets that wired the wings.
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It's amazing when you think of how the quickly the country mobilized industry on that massive of a scale back then. There's whats left of a 20,000 acre arsenal near me that went from farms to producing munitions in about 10 months. Ravenna. It's mostly dismantled now, but some of it has been turned into a joint training facility (Camp Ravenna). I was in there on an archery deer hunt once. Place is huge and was still full of bunkers and rail lines back then. |
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I don't think we could do that today. Not enough production facilities and lack of will power.
That's incredible the amount of stuff they produced back then. |
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My grandfather was a radio operator on a PB4Y (Navy variant). His plane was shot down in Europe. Crew managed to get the plane over Spanish airspace before bailing out. He ended up in a hospital bed next to a kraut soldier in a Spanish hospital. Guess that really pissed him off. He passed away in 92, never talked much about his time in the war, but he continued to work in the radio industry for the rest of his life. I was able to acquire his amateur call sign after he passed.
Great plane, thanks for sharing some history. |
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It's amazing when you think of how the quickly the country mobilized industry on that massive of a scale back then. There's whats left of a 20,000 acre arsenal near me that went from farms to producing munitions in about 10 months. View Quote A lot of the manufacturing base had ground breaking in the late 1930s. My first real job was at a US Steel plant in west miffkin PA. It started production in 1938, so had its ground breaking around 1936. Documents I've found said even then it was built for war preparations. The government and industry knew it was coming. Just not exactly when, and they also knew that the US military that was left was completely unprepared and ill equipped for war against a major power. Ad things like the CCC and WPA were also designed to get young men acclimated to the military lifestyle and hone leadership skills, not just planting trees. |
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Kaiser took over the plant after the war,and produced the Henry J and maybe C-119s. Then GM took the plant over and produced cars like the Corvair and Chevy II. Right next the Willow Run was Buick's Hydramatic plant, which made M-16A1s.
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Kaiser took over the plant after the war,and produced the Henry J and maybe C-119s. Then GM took the plant over and produced cars like the Corvair and Chevy II. Right next the Willow Run was Buick's Hydramatic plant, which made M-16A1s. View Quote And some buildings are still there! I donated a little chunk of money to the Yankee Air Force Museum to help save the plant so they can move into it. They also have the front end of a B-24 on display that was purchased from a farmer who was using it as a chicken coop. |
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I went for a ride in the Colling's Foundation B24, great fun and worth the money.
My Great Uncle Jack, was shot down over Germany in his B24, and had the pleasure of being a POW for the duration of the war. |
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Ford made a shitload of money. The workers in the plants made a shitload of money.
The guys who flew the B-24s didn't make a shitload of money. |
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I went for a ride in the Colling's Foundation B24, great fun and worth the money. My Great Uncle Jack, was shot down over Germany in his B24, and had the pleasure of being a POW for the duration of the war. View Quote I had a great uncle who was a pilot on one, shot down over Germany and became a POW, as well Pilot who shot him down contacted him in the '70's for a reunion in the states |
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Quoted: I had a great uncle who was a pilot on one, shot down over Germany and became a POW, as well Pilot who shot him down contacted him in the '70's for a reunion in the states View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I went for a ride in the Colling's Foundation B24, great fun and worth the money. My Great Uncle Jack, was shot down over Germany in his B24, and had the pleasure of being a POW for the duration of the war. I had a great uncle who was a pilot on one, shot down over Germany and became a POW, as well Pilot who shot him down contacted him in the '70's for a reunion in the states |
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That's a pretty cool story. Did they ever meet up? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I went for a ride in the Colling's Foundation B24, great fun and worth the money. My Great Uncle Jack, was shot down over Germany in his B24, and had the pleasure of being a POW for the duration of the war. I had a great uncle who was a pilot on one, shot down over Germany and became a POW, as well Pilot who shot him down contacted him in the '70's for a reunion in the states Yes. I believe it was in D.C. sometime in the 1970's There was a write up about it in a local paper and I've been meaning to contact an aunt that may have saved it If I do, I've been wanting to post it here. I really hope to find it |
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1942 – The first production Ford bomber, the B-24 Liberator, rolled off the assembly line at Ford’s massive Willow Run plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Two years before, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had urged an isolationist America to prepare for its inevitable involvement in the war, declaring that U.S. industry must become "the great arsenal of democracy.” Roosevelt established the Office of Production Management (OPM) to organize the war effort, and named a former automotive executive co-director of the OPM. Most Detroit automobile executives opposed the OAW during its first year, and were dubious of the advantages of devoting their entire production to war material. However, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and American citizens mobilized behind the U.S. declaration of war against the Axis powers. Since profit ruled Detroit, the government made Ford and America’s other automakers an economic offer they could not refuse. For their participation in the war effort, automakers would be guaranteed profits regardless of production costs, and $11 billion would be allocated to the building of war plants–factories that would be sold to private industry at a substantial discount after the war. In February of 1942, the last Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line for the duration of the war, and soon afterward the Willow Run plant was completed in Michigan. Built specifically for Ford’s war production, Willow Run was the largest factory in the world. Using the type of assembly line production that had made Ford an industrial giant, Ford hoped to produce 500 B-24 Liberator bombers a month. After a gradual start, that figure was reached in time for the Allied invasion of Western Europe, and by July of 1944, the Willow Plant was producing one B-24 every hour. By the end of the war, the 43,000 men and women who had worked at Ford’s Willow Run plant had produced over 8,500 bombers, which unquestionably had a significant impact on the course of the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_B-24_Liberator#Notable_B-24_crewmen View Quote What does OAW mean? |
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There was a guy on our island that flew in B-24's with the 445th BG. (not sure which squadron) He did a lot of missions including one where they ditched in the channel. Another where they lost two engines and one where they lost about 2/3's of their planes. He was a a nose gunner and later on a bombardier. Jimmy Stewart was his CO and he used to play the guitar in the officer's club and Jimmy would sing along. .
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If talking to me I think about 9 months, at the en of the war, the German's started to walk them West away from the Russian's.
then one morning they woke up and all of the guards were gone, they then continued West and the British found them. |
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Yes. I believe it was in D.C. sometime in the 1970's There was a write up about it in a local paper and I've been meaning to contact an aunt that may have saved it If I do, I've been wanting to post it here. I really hope to find it View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I went for a ride in the Colling's Foundation B24, great fun and worth the money. My Great Uncle Jack, was shot down over Germany in his B24, and had the pleasure of being a POW for the duration of the war. I had a great uncle who was a pilot on one, shot down over Germany and became a POW, as well Pilot who shot him down contacted him in the '70's for a reunion in the states Yes. I believe it was in D.C. sometime in the 1970's There was a write up about it in a local paper and I've been meaning to contact an aunt that may have saved it If I do, I've been wanting to post it here. I really hope to find it Please find it and post it. |
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The B-17 has always gotten the glory but the B-24 was the workhorse.
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Interesting caption on a photo.
Willow Run had a sharp turn to avoid Washtenaw County, which Ford said was full of liberals. View Quote From here |
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My Grandfather flew over Europe as a B-24 waist gunner doing secret squirrel-type stuff.
He gave me a large aerial photograph of some 80 B-24's parked at the St. Paul airport waiting to be fitted for bomb sights. |
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It's amazing when you think of how the quickly the country mobilized industry on that massive of a scale back then. There's whats left of a 20,000 acre arsenal near me that went from farms to producing munitions in about 10 months. View Quote It's amazing how quickly shit can get done when Communism needs defending RFN. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I went for a ride in the Colling's Foundation B24, great fun and worth the money. My Great Uncle Jack, was shot down over Germany in his B24, and had the pleasure of being a POW for the duration of the war. I had a great uncle who was a pilot on one, shot down over Germany and became a POW, as well Pilot who shot him down contacted him in the '70's for a reunion in the states Yes. I believe it was in D.C. sometime in the 1970's There was a write up about it in a local paper and I've been meaning to contact an aunt that may have saved it If I do, I've been wanting to post it here. I really hope to find it Please find it and post it. Can you imagine the initial introduction "Hey man sorry for shooting you down." |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I went for a ride in the Colling's Foundation B24, great fun and worth the money. My Great Uncle Jack, was shot down over Germany in his B24, and had the pleasure of being a POW for the duration of the war. I had a great uncle who was a pilot on one, shot down over Germany and became a POW, as well Pilot who shot him down contacted him in the '70's for a reunion in the states Yes. I believe it was in D.C. sometime in the 1970's There was a write up about it in a local paper and I've been meaning to contact an aunt that may have saved it If I do, I've been wanting to post it here. I really hope to find it Please find it and post it. |
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Interesting caption on a photo. http://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/5/2015/10/Ford-Plant-aerial-view.jpg?interpolation=lanczos-none&fit=around%7C660%3A%2A From here View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Interesting caption on a photo. http://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/5/2015/10/Ford-Plant-aerial-view.jpg?interpolation=lanczos-none&fit=around%7C660%3A%2A Willow Run had a sharp turn to avoid Washtenaw County, which Ford said was full of liberals. From here The museum staff said it was to avoid the higher tax rate across the county line. Can't blame him! |
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Interesting coincidence. I just posted something on the Book forum about a book I just bought. Its by a friend from work about his grandfather who was a radioman on a B-24.
http://www.amazon.com/Jolly-Roger-Airmans-Survival-World/dp/1457539519/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449009474&sr=1-1&keywords=the+jolly+roger Just published this year. |
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The man who my grandmother was engaged to went down in a B-24 over Ploesti during Operation Tidal Wave.
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