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   Haynes Stellite Company   Hercules Body Company   Horton Manufacturing Company   Howe Fire Apparatus   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   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   Gibson Guitar   Gibson Refrigerator Company   Goodyear   Hall-Scott   Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company   Harley-Davidson   Harris-Seybold-Potter   Herreshoff Manufacturing Company   Higgins Industries    Highway Trailer   Hill Diesel Company   Holland Hitch Company   Homelite Company   Horace E. Dodge Boat and Plane Corporation   Huffman Manufacturing   Indian Motorcycle   Ingersoll Steel and Disk   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   Queen City Manufacturing Company   R.G. LeTourneau   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   Youngstown Steel Door Company  
   

 W.W. Boes Company in World War Two
Dayton, OH
1940-1950

This page updated 9-4-2022.

Initial operations of the W.W. Boes Company began in July 1940 for the manufacture of electrical instruments at 3001 Salem Avenue in Dayton.  In February 1942, the W.W. Boes Company incorporated to enable the company to be more capable of manufacturing precision flight instruments and compasses for the war effort.  Prior to incorporating, the company had been a partnership which was manufacturing electrical and photographic instruments.  Funding from the issue of the stock was partially used to erect a new 40x80-foot one story building at its location at 3001 Salem Avenue.  The new addition tripled the size of the Boes factory. 


This is Mr. Boes in 1942.  He was 50 years old, having been born in 1892.  He passed away in 1959. Previous to starting the W.W. Boes Company, Mr. Boes was a salesman for the Hickok Electrical Company.

  
This all-woman assembly line is producing the Astro-Compass Mk II for the Army Air Forces.  In August 1942, 90%, or 135, of the company's 150 employees were women.  The women also operated drill presses, lathes, and other machine tools to make the small parts needed in the flight instrument and the Astro-Compasses.

In early 1946, it was announced that the W.W. Boes Company was being split into two companies.  The Stanhope Products Company was formed to develop and manufacture 35mm film equipment and radio test equipment.  The new Stanhope Products Company was originally based at 3001 Salem Avenue but later moved to 1059 South Patterson Avenue in Dayton.    Mr. Boes also announced that the 3001 Salem Avenue location would be sold.  In 1957 the W.W. Boes Company also moved to the South Patterson Avenue location.

On January 13, 1950, the historical record shows that Mr. Boes was still president of the W.W. Boes Company.  However, in October 1950, Mr. Boes was named chief deputy director for the Dayton and Montgomery Civil Defense.  It has to be assumed that he closed down the company at that time, as there is no more information on it in the historical record.  Mr. Boes was a salesman at heart, and in 1951 he began selling real estate in the Dayton area.  For ten years, he was president of his own instrument company that was no doubt boosted by the need for such equipment in World War Two.  He continued to sell real estate until 1958, when he moved to southern California.  He spent the last year of his life there. 

Mr. Boes was always interested in aviation and owned his own aircraft.  In 1946 he was the Chairman of the Dayton Airshow that was held on July 19-21, 1946, at the Dayton Municipal Airport.  He may have well been the first chairman of the Dayton International Airshow that continues as an annual event even to this day.  I have attended the Dayton Airshow many times over the years and find it most interesting that Mr. Boes was a key figure in getting this long running show going.
 

W.W. Boes Company World War Two Products:  Table 1 shows that the company's first product for the war effort was airplane instruments.  This was its second largest contract in dollar value.  The second contract, for $847,000, was the largest of the contracts.  It was the first of four contracts for Astro Compasses, which was the company's signature product during World War Two.  In total, the company had four contracts for the product for a total of $1,001,000 which was 40% of the W.W. Boes' total war contracts.

Table 1 - W.W. Boes Company's Major World War Two Contracts
The information below comes from the "Alphabetical Listing of Major War Supply Contracts, June 1940 through September 1945."  This was published by the Civilian Production Administration, Industrial Statistics Division.
Product Contract Amount Contract Awarded Completion Date
Airplane Instruments $748,000 1-1942 5-1943
Compasses $847,000 1-1943 1-1944
Communication Equipment $78,000 9-1943 11-1943
Astro Compasses $70,000 1-1944 2-1944
Astro Compasses $51,000 4-1944 10-1944
Electric Switches $95,000 1-1945 3-1945
Coupling Units $164,000 3-1945 5-1945
Electric Switches $168,000 3-1945 8-1945
Astro Compasses $132,000 4-1945 11-1945
Test Sets $151,000 7-1945 12-1945
Total $2,504,000    

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The W.W. Boes Astro Compass was used by navigators in many Army Air Force multi-engine aircraft during World War Two.  A few examples are such well known aircraft as the B-17, B-24, B-25, B-26, and the C-53 shown here.  This was long before the introduction of the current GPS that is now used for aviation navigation.  A navigator was a necessary part of the crew to make sure the aircraft arrived safely at it destination.  Author's photo added 9-4-2022.


This W.W. Boes Company Astro Compass MK. II, instruction manual, and carrying case are on display at the USAF Armament Museum outside of Eglin AFB, FL.  Author's photo.


I have been involved with warbirds for most of my adult lifetime and have seen many World War Two aircraft that have been restored to flying condition.  C-53 "Beach City Baby" is the most well restored to World War Two configuration that I have ever seen.  The Vintage Wings, Inc. took six years to restore what was a derelict C-53 sitting at the Beach City, OH airport into the most historically accurate C-47/53 flying today.  Author's photo added 9-4-2022.

This C-53 served in North Africa with the Air Transport Command.  After the war, it was used as a commercial airliner until in 1963 it became "Buckeye One" and was the Governor of Ohio's personal aircraft until 1983.  This is truly a historic aircraft. 


This is the navigator's position on the "Beach City Baby."   Here, the navigator plotted the C-53's course and provided the information to the flight crew just forward of this station.  The navigator had a compass, drift meter, and not shown in this photo an Astro-Compass allowing him to keep the C-53 on course.  Author's photo added 9-4-2022. 


In the astrodome above the navigator's station was the Astro Compass.  This is the only World War Two aircraft I have been in where the Astro Compass is mounted in the astrodome.  Here the navigator could determine true north by sighting the moon, sun, or the stars.  Author's photo added 9-4-2022.   


While most of the data plate on the Astro Compass is missing, the name W.W. Boes remains.   Author's photo added 9-4-2022.


 Here is a continuation of the photos of the W.W. Boes Astro Compass at the USAF Armament Museum outside of Eglin AFB, FL.  Author's photo.

The Astro Compass MK. II was designed to provide the navigator of a multi-engine aircraft with three vital pieces of information.  They were:

  • True heading of the aircraft

  • True bearing of a distant object

  • Positive method of star identification

This was accomplished by mounting the compass in the navigator station and sighting it on a known star.  The bearing of the aircraft was then determined by using and aligning the different indexing scales on the instrument.


 Author's photo.


 Author's photo.


Contract no. W 535 AC 36491 was the contract dated 1-1943 to 1-1944.  This particular Astro Compass was part of the first and largest contract for this type of instrument.   Author's photo.


 Author's photo.


This W.W. Boes Astro Compass is on display at the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler, GA.  Author's photo added 8-4-2022. 


Author's photo added 8-4-2022.


The name "The W. W. Boes Co." can be seen on the data plate.  Author's photo added 8-4-2022.


This cockpit section of a B-24D is on display at the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, CA.  The navigator's station was in the front section of the aircraft underneath the astrodome on top of the aircraft.  Author's photo added 8-4-2022.


This image shows how the Astro compass was located in the astrodome for the navigator's use.  Author's photo added 8-4-2022.

The following photos are from the operating instructions for the Astro Compass, MK. II.

 

 

 

 

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