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  
   

 Bailey Products Corporation in World War Two
Union City, IN

This page added 12-14-2022.


Normally, when I find a World War Two artifact with the company's name that manufactured it, I am able to learn more about the company and what it made before and after the war.  In the case of the M1 mine fuze shown above, I was only able to find the major contracts for the Bailey Product Corporation in Union City, IN.  Because Table 1 shows that it had contracts from 1941 through 1945, we know it was in existence during the war period.  There is also a reference to it in 1948.  Author's photo.

A 1943 newspaper article notes that it had two plant sites in Union City, IN.  Both were on streets that have apparently been renamed.  One plant was in a former hardware store on Oak Street, which no longer exists.  The main plant was on Division Street, East Side.  Currently, there is only a West Division Street in Union City, IN.  To complicate matters, there is also a Union City, OH as both towns are on the Indiana-Ohio State border.  That being said, there is no Division Street on the Ohio side of the border either.

Union City, IN currently has a population of 3,500 persons.  Its claim to fame is in the 1960s being the home of the McCoys, who became famous for their hit song "Hang On Sloopy."  "Hang On Sloopy" is Ohio's official rock song, even though the group resided in Union City, IN.  Go figure.

Bailey Products produced $1,511,000 worth of M1 anti-tank mine fuzes like the one shown above.  This fuze is on display at the Museum of the Soldier in Portland, IN, 25 miles northwest of Union City.

Table 1- Bailey Products Corporation'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 - Customer Contract Number Contract Amount Contract Awarded Date Completion Date
Ordnance Material - Army 294-ORD-752 $315,000 6-1941 12-1941
Housings - Army 294-ORD-763 $126,000 7-1941 4-1942
 Fuzes - Army 294-ORD-991 $122,000 3-1942 9-1942
 Fuzes - Army 294-ORD-1115 $614,000 4-1943 2-1943
 Mine Fuzes M1- Army 294-ORD-1210 $106,000 5-1942 11-1942
 Fuzes Mine - Army 294-ORD-2037 $248,000 12-1942 7-1942
 Fuzes Mine - Army 294-ORD-2372 $93,000 4-1943 4-1944
 Fuzes Mine - Army 294-ORD-2373 $328,000 4-1943 6-1944
 Fuzes PD M53 - Army 33008-ORD-619 $378,000 2-1944 10-1944
 Fuzes PD M53 - Army 33008-ORD-1030 $672,000 6-1944 5-1945
 Fuzes PD M53 - Army 33008-ORD-1727 $333,000 12-1944 6-1945
  Total $3,335,000    

 

Table 2 - Bailey Products Corporation's Major World War Two Product Categories

Product Amount Percentage
 Fuzes, Mine Fuzes M1, and Fuzes Mine - Army $1,511,000 45.3%
 Fuzes PD M53 - Army $1,383,000 41.4%
Ordnance Material - Army $315,000 9.4%
Housings - Army $126,000 3.9%
Total $3,335,000 100%


 There were 10,704,000 M1 anti-tank mines produced from 1942 through the end of 1943.  Bailey Products produced a small share of the fuzes for the M1 anti-tank mine.  Those contracts were replaced with the M6 and M7 anti-tank mine starting in 1944.  The company began making M-53 81mm mortar fuzes.  Author's photo.


 The fuze is in the "safe" position.  To arm it, the soldier would pull the safety fork out from the fuze.  The outside ring would then drop and the center post would be exposed.  When a vehicle ran over it, it would depress and set off the mine.  There was enough spring load on the center post that the weight of an individual soldier would not set off the mine.  Author's photo.


The Bailey-built fuzes were used in M1 anti-tank mines like this one built at nearby Durham Manufacturing Company in Muncie, IN.  Author's photo.


The M-53 fuze was for 81mm mortar shells and had a delayed action.  These were used with heavy charge shells where penetration was desired. 


An 81mm mortar is shown at the top of the photo. 81mm mortar shells with M53 fuzes were very similar to the 60mm mortar shells and fuzes on the sandbag.  Author's photo.

 

 

 

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