The American Automobile Industry in World War Two
An American Auto Industry Heritage Tribute by David D Jackson

 Overview      Lansing Michigan in World War Two   The U.S. Auto Industry at the Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944    The U.S. Auto Industry and the B-29 Bomber   U.S. Auto Industry Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   The Complete listing of All Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   Sherman Tanks of the American Auto Industry   Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry    M26 Pershing Tanks of the American Auto Industry   M36 Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry   Serial Numbers for WWII Tanks built by the American Auto Industry   Surviving LCVP Landing Craft    WWII Landing Craft Hull Numbers   Airborne Extra-Light Jeep Photos  The American Auto Industry vs. the German V-1 in WWII   American Auto Industry-Built Anti-Aircraft Guns in WWII   VT Proximity Manufacturers of WWII   World War One Era Motor Vehicles   National Museum of Military Vehicles   Revisions   Links

 Automobile and Body Manufacturers:  American Bantam Car Company   Briggs Manufacturing Company   Checker Car Company   Chrysler Corporation   Crosley Corporation   Ford Motor Car Company   General Motors Corporation   Graham-Paige Motors Corporation   Hudson Motor Car Company   Murray Corporation of America   Nash-Kelvinator   Packard Motor Car Company      Studebaker    Willys-Overland Motors

General Motors Divisions:  AC Spark Plug   Aeroproducts   Allison   Brown-Lipe-Chapin   Buick   Cadillac   Chevrolet   Cleveland Diesel   Delco Appliance   Delco Products   Delco Radio   Delco-Remy   Detroit Diesel   Detroit Transmission   Electro-Motive   Fisher Body   Frigidaire   GM Proving Grounds   GM of Canada   GMC   GMI   Guide Lamp   Harrison Radiator   Hyatt Bearings   Inland   Moraine Products   New Departure   Oldsmobile   Packard Electric   Pontiac   Saginaw Malleable Iron   Saginaw Steering Gear   Southern California Division   Rochester Products   Ternstedt Manufacturing Division   United Motors Service   Vauxhall Motors

 Indiana Companies:  Bailey Products Corporation   Chrysler Kokomo Plant   Continental Steel Corporation  Converto Manufacturing    Cummins Engine Company   Diamond Chain and Manufacturing Company   Delta Electric Company   Durham Manufacturing Company   Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation   General Electric Kokomo Plant   Haynes Stellite Company   Hercules Body Company   Horton Manufacturing Company   Howe Fire Apparatus   International Machine Tool Company   J.D. Adams Company   Kokomo Spring Company   Magnavox   Muncie Gear Works   Pierce Governor Company   Portland Forge and Foundry   Reliance Manufacturing Company   Republic Aviation Corporation - Indiana Division   Ross Gear and Tool Company   S.F. Bowser & Co.   Sherrill Research Corporation   Tokheim Oil Tank and Pump Company   Warner Gear   Wayne Pump Company   Wayne Works

Commercial Truck and Fire Apparatus Manufacturers:  American LaFrance   Autocar   Biederman Motors Corporation   Brockway Motor Company   Detroit General   Diamond T   Duplex Truck Company   Federal Motor Truck   Four Wheel Drive Auto Company(FWD)   International Harvester   John Bean   Mack Truck   Marmon-Herrington Company   Michigan Power Shovel Company   Oshkosh Motor Truck Corporation   Pacific Car and Foundry   "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company   Reo Motor Car Company  Seagrave Fire Apparatus   Sterling Motor Truck Company    Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation   White Motor Company

Aviation Companies:  Abrams Instrument Corporation   Hughes Aircraft Company   Kellett Aviation Corporation   Laister-Kauffman Aircraft Corporation   Naval Aircraft Factory   P-V Engineering Forum, Inc.    Rudolf Wurlitzer Company-DeKalb Division  Schweizer Aircraft Corporation   Sikorsky Division of United Aircraft Corporation   St. Louis Aircraft Corporation   Timm Aircraft Corporation

Other World War Two Manufacturers:  Air King Products   Allis-Chalmers   American Car and Foundry   American Locomotive   American Stove Company   Annapolis Yacht Yard   Andover Motors Company   B.F. Goodrich   Baker War Industries   Baldwin Locomotive Works   Blood Brothers Machine Company   Boyertown Auto Body Works   Briggs & Stratton   Burke Electric Company   Caterpillar   Cheney Bigelow Wire Works   Centrifugal Fusing   Chris-Craft   Clark Equipment Company   Cleaver-Brooks Company   Cleveland Tractor Company   Continental Motors   Cushman Motor Works   Crocker-Wheeler   Dail Steel Products   Detroit Wax Paper Company   Detrola   Engineering & Research Corporation   Farrand Optical Company   Federal Telephone and Radio Corp.   Firestone Tire and Rubber Company   Fruehauf Trailer Company   Fuller Manufacturing   Galvin Manufacturing   Gemmer Manufacturing Company   General Railway Signal Company   Gerstenslager Company   Gibson Guitar   Gibson Refrigerator Company   Goodyear   Hall-Scott   Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company   Harley-Davidson   Harris-Seybold-Potter   Herreshoff Manufacturing Company   Higgins Industries    Highway Traile    Hill Diesel Company   Holland Hitch Company   Homelite Company   Horace E. Dodge Boat and Plane Corporation   Huffman Manufacturing   Indian Motorcycle   Ingersoll Steel and Disk   Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company   John Deere   Johnson Automatics Manufacturing Company   Kimberly-Clark   Kohler Company   Kold-Hold Company   Landers, Frary & Clark  Lima Locomotive Works   Lundberg Screw Products   MacKenzie Muffler Company   Massey-Harris   Matthews Company   McCord Radiator & Mfg. Company   Metal Mouldings Corporation   Miller Printing Machinery Company   Morse Instrument Company   Motor Products Corporation   Motor Wheel Corporation   National Cash Resgister Company   Novo Engine Company   O'Keefe & Merritt Company   Olofsson Tool and Die Company   Oneida Ltd   Otis Elevator   Owens Yacht   Pressed Steel Car Company   Pressed Steel Tank Company   Queen City Manufacturing Company   R.G. LeTourneau   Richardson Boat Company   R.L. Drake Company   St. Clair Rubber Company   Samson United Corporation   Shakespeare Company   Sight Feed Generator Company   Simplex Manufacturing Company   Steel Products Engineering Company   St. Louis Car Company   Twin Disc Company   Victor Adding Machine Company   Vilter Manufacturing Company   Wells-Gardner   W.L. Maxson Corporation   W.W. Boes Company   Westfield Manufacturing Company   York-Hoover Body Company   York-Shipley, Inc.   Youngstown Steel Door Company  
   

Guide Lamp Division of General Motors in World War Two
 Anderson, IN
1906- 1984
Rest in Peace

This page updated on 7-29-2021.
Guide Lamp was one of two GM Divisions located in Anderson, IN.  Its core product lines before and after the war were headlights and tail lights for General Motors vehicles.


Guide Lamp won the Army-Navy "E" award on September 9, 1942, and added stars on May 15, 1943 and December 7, 1943.  It added two more stars of unknown dates for a total of five Army-Navy "E" awards.

Guide Lamp World War Two Production Statistics:  (8,500,000) total of headlamps, tail lamps, dome lamps, blackout lamps and signal lamps;  (3,400,000) Stimsonite reflector units;  (22,000) Bell Aircraft P-39 Airacobra spinner noses; (1,000,000) water jacket sleeves for Allison aircraft engines;  (36,750,000) cartridge cases for 37mm, 40mm, 90mm and 105mm constructed of both brass and steel;  (1,600,000) .50 caliber Browning machine gun barrels;  (682,163) complete M3 and M3A1 submachine guns.

The M3 Submachine Gun: 
1943 - 85,130 M3
1944 - 343,372 M3
1945 - 178,192 M3
1945 - 15,469 M3A1
Total Production of M3 - 606,694
Total Production of M3A1 - 15,469


This World War Two-era photo shows a portion of the military headlight production line at Guide Lamp.

Not shown in the Guide publication below are the 1,000,000 FP-45 .45 caliber "Liberator Pistols" that it built in three months during 1942 as it was totally top secret.  The 300 women that built them worked in a part of the Guide factory on the west side of Anderson in an area that was completely walled off for security purposes. The workers were sworn to secrecy.  Not even their husbands nor boy friends knew what they were doing.  With it being so secret it obviously did not end up in the Guide Lamp World War Two history.  This was a GM Inland Division design, but Guide did all the final assembly, Frigidaire Division of GM chambered the barrels, Saginaw Steering Gear Division of GM made barrel bushings, and Detroit Transmission Division made barrel collars.  Moraine Products Division built the barrel and trigger guard.  This was a true cooperative effort among the six GM Divisions and a host of other outside sub-contractors.

 The FP-45 fits into the category of "it sounded like a good idea at the time".  The pistols were to be given to partisans in German occupied territory to attack German soldiers.  Cooler heads prevailed, as firing a .45 caliber pistol is an acquired skill as it creates significant recoil.  The light weight of the FP-45 would not have been able to absorb the amount of recoil.  Firing the weapon would probably have been more dangerous to the shooter than the target.  There was also the issue of what happened to the shooter if the shooter missed with the first shot, which was highly likely, and then killed by return fire from the German soldier.  The pistols were never used as intended and most were subsequently scrapped.  In the end, it took massive well-trained armies to end the war.


 As seen at the Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, OH.  Author's Photo.


This pristine Guide Lamp-built FP-45 is on display at the Indiana Military Museum in Vincennes, IN.  Author's photo.


Even more interesting is the reverse side, which has been cut away.  Author's photo.


The M3 Submachine gun as seen at the World War Two Museum in New Orleans, LA.  Author's photo.


Many of the M3s on display in museums are reproductions.  Not this one, as "Guide" can be seen stamped on the magazine receiver.  Author's photo.


This Guide Lamp-built M3 submachine gun is on display at the Indiana War Memorial in downtown Indianapolis, IN.   Author's photo.


One can see the actual "Guide" stamped on this one as well.   Author's photo.


This M4A1 Sherman tank on display in Foster Park in Kokomo, IN has two Guide Lamp blackout lights on it.  Author's photo added 2-7-2019.


 The two Guide Lamp blackout lamps are 49 miles from where they were built in Anderson, IN.  Author's photo added 2-7-2019.


This Guide blackout headlamp is on the driver's side of the tank.   Author's photo added 2-7-2019.


This blackout lamp is on the assistant driver's side of the tank.   Author's photo added 2-7-2019.


This M5A1 Stuart Light tank was on display at the 2014 Indiana Military Museum's World War Two Days.  Guide Lamp was the supplier of the lighting for the 8,884 M5 and M5A1 tanks produced during World War Two.  Author's photo added 10-27-2020.


The blackout lamp is on the driver's side of the tank.  Author's photo added 10-27-2020.


Author's photo added 10-27-2020.


Guide Lamp also supplied the external lighting for the M24 light tank.  It also furnished the interior dome light for the tank.  There were 4,731 M24 Chaffee tanks built.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


Guide Lamp supplied all of the exterior and interior lighting for the 2,414 M26 and M45 Pershing tanks built during World War Two.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


International Harvester built 5,872 M1 and M1A1 13-ton high speed tractors to pull artillery pieces.  Guide Lamp furnished all of the exterior lighting for the vehicle.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021. 


The vehicle also had rear flood lights supplied by Guide Lamp.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


Allis-Chalmers built 5,811M1 and M1A1 18-ton high speed tractors with Guide Lamp lighting.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


The Guild Lamp lighting also included rear flood lights.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


All of the lighting for the 281,570 Chevrolet 1-1/2-ton 4x4 trucks built during World War Two were provided by Guide Lamp.  Author's photo.


This Diamond T M3 half-track is one of 53,623 half-tracks that were produced by Autocar, Diamond T, International Harvester, and White Motor Company during World War Two.  Author's photo.


  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Brian Mulcahy took this photo of a halftrack along the Normandy beach in 2013.  It is one of many relics on display in the area.    Photo courtesy of Brian Mulcahy.


The halftrack has the original Guide Lamp Division of General Motors headlight in it.  Many of the vehicles that landed at Normandy were equipped with Guide Lamp headlights, taillights and blackout lamps.  Photo courtesy of Brian Mulcahy.


Typical of one of the 8.5 million lamps produced by Guide for military vehicles during World War Two.  This one is on an American Bantam-built 1/4 ton trailer.  Author's photo.


GMC built 624,873 2-1/2-ton 6x6 trucks of various types for the war effort.  They all came equipped with lighting furnished by Guide Lamp.  This is the CCKW-353 version with a winch, one of 120,671 of this type built.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


21,147 DUKW amphibious trucks were also built by GMC with Guide Lamp waterproof lighting.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


This 1944 Autocar U-7144-T 4-ton tractor was one of 11,104 built during World War Two which came equipped with external lighting built by Guide Lamp in Anderson, IN.  Guide Lamp supplied several non-General Motors truck manufacturers during World War Two.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


There were 3,946 White Motor Company 666 prime movers built like this one that came with Guide Lamp lighting equipment.  White also built another 3,047 666 series trucks with different cargo bodies with lighting from Guide Lamp.


The White M3A1 scout car was another non-GM product to be equipped with Guide Lamp products.  20,894 were built.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


The Diamond T-built Model 969 4-ton wrecker was equipped with lighting by Guide Lamp.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


This Ward LaFrance M1 heavy wrecker was one of 4,925 M1 and M1A1 the company built.  They were equipped with lights built by Guide Lamp.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


Federal Motor Truck Company built 2,307 C-2 7-1/2-ton 6x6 wreckers for the Army Air Force with Guide Lamp lighting.  Photo courtesy of Jeff Lakaszcyck added 7-29-2021.


This International Harvester-built M-1-4 233 1/2-ton 4x4 truck is one of 1,123 built with Guide Lamp lighting during World War Two.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


International Harvester manufactured 9,094 M-2-4-233 one-ton 4X4s for the Navy and USMC during World War Two.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


Guide Lamp lighting was used on the International Harvester 1-1/2-ton 4x4 U.S. Navy crash truck.  It is one of 6,542 model M-3L-4 and M-3H-4 trucks built.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021. 


The International Harvester M425/M426 series 5-ton 4x2 tractors all came equipped with lights built in Anderson, IN by Guide Lamp.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


Guide Lamp provided the lighting equipment for the International Harvester-built KR-11 5-ton 4x2 truck.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.
 
Both Reo and Federal built a 20-ton tractor during World War Two that were equipped with Guide Lamp exterior lights.  Federal built 1,443 and Reo 700.  Image added 7-29-2021.


There were 1,372 M1 and M1A1 "Dragon Wagon" tank retrievers built with Guide Lamp equipment.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


The 60,486 Harley-Davidson WLA motorcycles were produced with Guide Lamp lighting.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


The Indiana War Memorial in downtown Indianapolis, IN has one whole room dedicated to military products built in the state during WWII and since that time.  Here is a Guide built Blackout Lamp.  Author's Photo.


Also on display is this World War Two military tractor lamp.  Author's Photo.


Guide Lamp stamped out 22,000 nose cones for the Bell P-39 Airacobra.  Author's photo added 7-29-2021. 


Author's photo added 7-29-2021.


Guide built one million water jacket sleeves for Allison V-1710 aircraft engines like this one on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.  Author's photo.


  Guide made 1.6 million  Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun barrels during the Second World War.  Author's photo.

"Guide's page in the history of American Industry at War"
This gives an excellent overview of what Guide Lamp did by those who worked there during the Second World War.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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