Willow Run Glory Days Slideshow

[Lowell]

A friend sent a link to this slide show this morning. What an awesome display from the Henry Ford Museum collection from the get-it-done-yesterday days that earned Detroit the 'arsenal of democracy' title. Here are some screen snapped highlights.

How about this model?
Attachment 5518

I wonder where these bomb shelters are today.
Attachment 5519

Highway innovations.
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Watch out Axis powers Detroit is coming after you.
Attachment 5521

[GMan]

Thanks for sharing Lowell.

I attended a presentation by a representative of the Yankee Air Museum which included some of these slides. It certainly was a get it done time. Henry Ford put a lot of his money into the effort and it certainly is a history for the region to be proud of.
There was an amusing story as to why the production floor turned 90 deg's at the last stage of assembly where the finished bombers exited the factory. Had to do with a disagreement Mr. Ford had with the liberal government of Wayne Co. He wanted the finished product to emerge in conservative Washtenaw Co. The large bombers were turned on a large turntable built into the factory floor to acomplish this.

[Lowell]

Here is something I never knew that I am sure the aviation nerds know. They were producing jet engines by Nov. 1944, not doubt preparing for a longer war.

[Lowell]

Here is something I didn't know, but am sure the aviation geeks do. They were starting production of jet engines, no doubt preparing for prolonged war and jet powered bombers. They were already in production by Nov. 1944.
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Test site pic. More great stuff from our great Henry Ford Museum.
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[MikeM]

They built these for use in an American-made copy of the German V-1.

[Danny]

In 1941 when the U.S. Congress declared war against Germany, Italy and Japan, Congress proposed multi-million dollar war defense contract to Ford, Chrysler and GM to produce military equipment for the Army, Navy and Marines. GM and Chrysler refused, but Ford say yes. Willow Run Plant was constructed and upgraded into to WWII factory with a airport.

[One Shot]

That model alone demonstrates the sheer size of the place. Its huge even in model form! I'm still proud to know that our country was defended by the seemingly infinite production capabilities of the metro Detroit area.

[Jimaz]

Those photos look like pulse jet engines. The V1 was a pulse jet.

For a real kick, search YouTube for pulse jets. You can build one yourself!

[MikeM]

Here's the American V-1 I mentioned: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic-Ford_JB-2

[MikeM]

I've seen these slides before but never paid much attention to the housing photos. I knew there were problems with poor housing conditions or lack of housing, and the Virtual Motor City has a few shots of shacks described as defense housing, but I never gave thought to where the housing was located or the number of units until I came across these photos from the slide show:









Searching through the old DTE aerial photo collection, I was surprised that the complex was located northwest of the field and covered a considerable amount of land. The complex doesn't fit within one aerial photo, so I stitched a couple together:




The area now is covered with subdivisions, a golf course, schools, a shopping center, but there's still evidence of the former complex:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=42.255...,0.009484&z=17

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=42.255...,0.006786&z=18



The Army had a camp just west of the factory with barracks, a mess hall, a chapel, etc.:





But by 1949, it had been dismantled:

[luckycar]

In 1941 when the U.S. Congress declared war against Germany, Italy and Japan, Congress proposed multi-million dollar war defense contract to Ford, Chrysler and GM to produce military equipment for the Army, Navy and Marines. GM and Chrysler refused, but Ford say yes. Willow Run Plant was constructed and upgraded into to WWII factory with a airport.

The big 3 was into defense contracting before Pearl Harbor.Willow Run was a aircraft factory from the start.The US was well on its way to ramping up for war production in 1939-1940.The draft,the 50,000 planes Roosevelt talked about,the production of war material for European nations was all in the pipeline before Dec.7th1941.
The shipbuilding effort alone may have finally ended the Depression.Big steel,big labor,big shipyards=big contracts and BIG money.The ships sunk and damaged at Pearl Harbor were being replaced as the Japanese Navy set sail.They must have known this.It just took time to get everything built and the new navy trained.
Willow Run was repeated in many cities.Boeing in Kansas went from fields to B-29s in short order.Same for Dallas with P-51 production for North American..