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  
   

 Landers, Frary & Clark in World War Two
New Britain, CT
1865-1965

This page added 2-14-2021.

Landers, Frary & Clark was a home products company that specialized in cutlery.  It also made many products that are used daily such as toasters, coffee pots, food scales, coffee grinders, and other kitchen and household appliances.  Yet, during World War Two, Landers, Frary & Clark produced what has become one of the iconic weapons of the war, the Multiple Caliber .50 Machine Gun Mount M45, more commonly known as the Maxson Quadmount.  The Landers, Frary & Clark M45 gun mount not only served in World War Two, but also in Korea and Vietnam.  In Vietnam it was used by both the French and the American forces in that long war.

In 1965 Landers, Frary & Clark was purchased General Electric, which still markets several of the products today.


When the M45 is mounted onto an M20 trailer, the combination was known as the M55, as seen here at the Military Veterans Museum in Oshkosh, WI.  Landers, Frary & Clark was one of two companies that built the M45.  Author's photo.


 Landers, Frary & Clark built 12,049 M45 and M45C Quadmounts during World War Two.  This was 68% of the total built.  Author's photo.


Landers, Frary & Clark won the Army-Navy "E" Award four times.

Landers, Frary & Clark World War Two Production:  1,882 Multiple Caliber .50 Machine Gun Twin Mount M33s, 8,297 Multiple Caliber .50 Machine Gun Mount M45s,  3,752 Multiple Caliber .50 Machine Gun Mount M45Cs, M54 fuzes, mess hall and mess kit cutlery, electrical washing machines, water heaters, ranges, and electric generators.

At the end of 1941, the company was scheduled for 60,000 M54 fuzes per month.  These were used on 155mm shells. 
By June 1942
Landers, Frary & Clark was scheduled for 1,000 .50 caliber gun mounts per month.

Landers, Frary & Clark M33 and M45 Gun Mounts Accepted by Detroit Ordnance, US Army
The information below comes from "Summary Report of Acceptances, Tank-Automotive Material, 1940-1945."
Published by Army Services Forces, Office, Chief of Ordnance-Detroit, Production Division, Requirements and Progress Branch
January 21, 1946.
Mount Type and Company 1942 1943 1944 1945 Total
M33 428 1,454     1,882
M45   4,961 3,336   8,297
M45C     2,023 1,729 3,752
Totals 428 6,415 5,359 1,729 13,931


The Multiple Caliber .50 Machine Gun Mount M45 is more commonly known as the Maxson Quadmount.  It is named after W.L. Maxson who invented the weapon.  This is one of the few weapons of World War Two that is known by the inventor's name.  The M45 was the second multiple gun mount that W.L. Maxson invented.  The first was the M33 twin .50 caliber mount, which was standardized by Army Ordnance on 2-26-1942 as the Twin Caliber .50 Multiple Machine Gun Mount.  It was primarily mounted on the M13 halftrack.  While W.L. Maxson invented and built prototypes of his gun mounts, his company did not receive the production contracts.  These were won by Kimberly-Clark and Landers, Frary & Clark.  Maxson did produce the variable speed drives for the weapons.

Author's Note:  For the M45 Quadmounts shown on this page, no information is available as to which of the two companies built each unit.


The M17 trailer was one of the methods of transporting the M45 during World War Two.  Author's photo.


 Author's photo.


The most popular method of transporting the M45 was on an M16 half-track.  The Louisiana Army National Guard used this type of weapon during World War Two to shoot down 127 German aircraft.  The 105th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion destroyed the aircraft while operating in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy.  Author's photo.


 Author's photo.


This White M16 Halftrack was on display at the now closed National Military Historical Center in Auburn, IN.  Author's Photo.


 This M16 with a Maxson Quadmount was photographed at the Dayton Airshow.  Author's photo.


This is one of three half-tracks and two M16 versions on display at Camp Blanding, FL. 
Author's photo.


 In the M16 the M45 Maxson mounts had spacers between it and the vehicle floor for clearance when rotating.  These were added in 1952 before the half-tracks were sent to Korea.  This allowed the guns to depress to defend against human wave attacks.  Author's photo.


 The internal drive system has been removed.  This view shows that the turret was constructed using metal weldment fabrication.  The unit weighed 2,400 pounds.   Author's photo.


 This is the second M16 on display at Camp Blanding.  Author's photo.


This M16 with a Maxson M45 mount is at the Russell Military Museum in Zion, IL.  Author's photo.


It is not very often that one can frame a photo with an F-15 in the background.  Author's photo.

 

 

 

Email us at:  Webmaster