From the Annals of WWII Detroit

[oladub]

During WWll, Canadian servicemen would take leave in Detroit instead of Toronto because Detroit was more lively and Detroit was very friendly to Canadian servicemen. Buses and streetcars were free to anyone in a Canadian military uniform.

My parents met on the east side at a roller skating rink. Some time later, when my father was invited to meet my mother's parents, a steak dinner was served at their house. My father said he was surprised because in Canada the news reported that beef was rationed in the States. Later, my mother told him that they had eaten horse steaks. My father said it was very good steak but he would not have eaten it had he known it was horse meat.

[Jimaz]

While watching a video of Hurricane Ida in New Orleans I happened upon an image of a storefront sporting "Arsenal of Democracy" signage. Curious, I looked it up and found Becoming the Arsenal of Democracy.

• The National WWII Museum

[Lowell]

October 13, 1944 American troops have obtained a toehold in Germany and have encircled the first major German city, Aachen. The Russians are closing from the west, besieging Warsaw and preparing to enter East Prussia. In the War in Pacific the Americans are island hopping toward the Philippines and Japan.

The end is in sight and newspaper articles are turning to the post war world including this futurist car bit from Detroit.

[Lowell]

From today 1945. The American Army has broken through the Siegfried Line and is closing in on Cologne while the Red Army sits 30 miles away from Berlin preparing its final push. On the home front yet another wildcat strike erupts in Detroit as the labor shortage, long hours of overtime, and company retaliation and reluctance share profits disrupt production. Reminds of our current pandemic-created labor situation to some degree.


Meanwhile State Legislator Alpheus Decker [R] Deckerville wants death by electrocution for strikers.

[Richard]

Briggs - 161 strikes in 3 years,the Jews in forced labors camps were sabotaging the weapons they were forced to make for their enemies,while here the ones getting paid to support the war effort for their country,were sabotaging production from within.

They did not call each other fellow workers,they referred to each other as Comrads.

[Jimaz]

1944 Bombing of Miles City, Montana

It was one of those dramatic events in time of war. Civilians, threatened by an invasion by a remorseless and intractable enemy, desperately calling for military bombers to attack that enemy as it surged towards the defenseless town. In a raging storm a brave crew of volunteers for the dangerous mission, with the fate of the city in their hands. Such brave acts were often required during the violence of the Second World War. Just not usually in Montana.

It makes me wonder if this could ever be used on the occasional St. Claire River ice dams.

[Jimaz]

Total duration 2 hours, 53 minutes:

The Great War Factories Of WWII America

From revolvers to battleships, jetfighters to nuclear bombs, we take a look at some of the giant production enterprises that quickly turned America into the dominant military force of WW2.

[Richard]

^ there is another one out there equally cool that completes that production circle.

It covers what happened when all of those factories were running full production then at the end of the war received that phone call that told them to cease production immediately.

Imagine a supply chain running like a freight train and then stopped on a dime,the amount of materials that were in the process from start to finish were frozen in place in a matter of minutes.

The factory’s had to then scramble to convert back to regular production with little notice.

[Jimaz]

Here's a YouTube channel that belongs here.

World War Two

World War Two dives into the history of one of the most devastating wars in human history. Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson and their team of dedicated historians cover the events of World War Two week by week in real time. Additionally, we take an in-depth look at the war against humanity, key figures in all camps, military hardware, impact on culture, military strategies and life at the home fronts or under occupation.

[RGK20m3]

I actually read 1945 first and found it so interesting that I embarked reading the entire war, starting Sep. 1, 1939. I had just read Ian Buruma's Year Zero, a history of 1945 which drew me in.

All along the way I had screen snapped articles for a digital scrapbook, particularly anything mentioning Detroit. But since you asked, here was the big news. What's interesting is that they simultaneously released a trove of hitherto top secret information about the bomb development--such as the until then virtually unknown Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Hanford.

FIRST ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED ON JAPAN
NEW AGE USHERED
Day of Atomic Energy Hailed by President, Revealing Weapon
HIROSHIMA IS TARGET '
Impenetrable' Cloud of Dust Hides City After Single Bomb Strikes
Japanese Solemnly Warned Most Closely Guarded Secret FIRST
A Sobering Awareness of Power Explosive Charge Is Small Investigation Started in 1939

Click the image to view it larger...
Attachment 40344

I find the article about the death of Maj. Ira Bong more interesting on that front page; died flight testing a jet fighter [[P59 if I recall).

[Jimaz]

I often wonder how my parents became aware of the formerly secret atomic bomb. I imagine it took a while for it to sink in how fundamentally different that bomb was from the more familiar explosives used in WWII.

Flashback: ‘My God!’: Eyewitness accounts reach Detroit after Hiroshima bombing in 1945

The United States dropped an atom bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, 78 years ago today. The following story, which ran in the Free Press on Aug. 8, was the first detailed report to appear in Detroit.

[lpg]

^ there is another one out there equally cool that completes that production circle.

It covers what happened when all of those factories were running full production then at the end of the war received that phone call that told them to cease production immediately.

Imagine a supply chain running like a freight train and then stopped on a dime,the amount of materials that were in the process from start to finish were frozen in place in a matter of minutes.

The factory’s had to then scramble to convert back to regular production with little notice.

I still have a letter my mom received from Steelco a maker of pots and pans. The letter states her order for pots and pans will be processed as soon as they are able to convert from making parts for bombers back to consumer items. We are still using some of them.

[Henry Whalley]

Total duration 2 hours, 53 minutes:

The Great War Factories Of WWII America

Never again. Neoliberalism and President Slick Willy's Peace Dividend ​pretty much destroyed our industrial base.

[Jimaz]

Someone posted a few related newspaper clippings on Reddit:

You won't believe what I read in the paper this morning

I love the artwork in those old ads.