Durham Manufacturing Company in World War Two
Muncie, IN
Circa 1910-1970

This page updated 12-9-2022.

An American Auto Industry in World War Two Special Edition

If disaster hadn't struck Durham Manufacturing Company on February 3, 1956, I might have been able to drive the 13 miles from my residence and take current photos of the Durham factory for this page.  However, on that date much of the Durham factory in Muncie, IN was destroyed in a $2,000,000 fire.  The company survived the fire and stayed in business until 1970.  I became aware of the company while working on my "VT Proximity Fuze Manufacturers of World War Two" page.  It was one of three companies in Indiana that participated in the U.S. Navy's VT proximity fuze program. 

The earliest historical date for the company is 1910.  With the exception of World War Two, Durham made metal chairs and tables. 

Card tables and folding chairs were the main product line of the company in peacetime.

An artist's rendering of the Durham Manufacturing Company's plant in Muncie, IN.  The company's address is given as the corner of Mound and Cleveland Streets in Muncie.  In the above image, Cleveland is the street that runs in front of the company's sign.  Mound runs north all the way to the railroad tracks behind the factory.

This Sanborn Insurance map shows a later version of the Durham factory that had expanded southwest along the railroad tracks.  Mound Street stops at Cleveland.  Cleveland runs parallel to the railroad tracks and is only two blocks long.  The location of the former plant is several blocks south and west of downtown Muncie.

Today Cleveland Street is gone.  New factories and warehouses are in the location of the former Durham plant.

Durham Manufacturing Company in World War Two:  Durham was a supplier to the U.S. Navy of 20mm and 40mm shells for much of the war.  For this effort, the company received the Navy "E" flag once and the Army-Navy "E" flag four times.  The Navy "E" flag was awarded to excellent suppliers until July 1942 when it was combined with the U.S. Army to create the Army-Navy "E" award.  Companies that had originally been given the Navy flag had the choice of staying with the Navy award or converting to the new Army-Navy award.  Durham chose to convert.  Historical photos show company officials with both types of flags.  The photos also show Navy officers attending the award ceremonies indicating the Durham was a Navy supplier.

The Navy "E" flag awarded Durham Manufacturing Company would have looked just like this one.  It would have been awarded in the first six months of 1942.  This example is actually a Navy "E" flag won by the American Blower Corporation, Dearborn, MI.  Photo courtesy of Mary Pamula.

Stars were added to the flag approximately every six months if a company continued to exceed production quotas.  After Durham received its fifth award, it had an Army-Navy "E" flag just like this one.  It would have received its fourth star in 1944.  This example is actually an Army-Navy "E" flag won by the American Blower Corporation, Dearborn, MI.  Photo courtesy of Mary Pamula.

Durham Manufacturing Company in World War Two:  Table 1 shows that the Durham Manufacturing Company had $54,715,000 in major contracts during World War Two.  The company converted from making tables and chairs to providing both the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy with shells, fuzes, and other types of similar ordnance items and related products.  It also manufactured anti-tank mines for the U.S. Army during 1941 and 1942.  Table 1 shows that shells and projectiles were main products for those same years with fuzes then becoming the focus of the company's products for the second half of World War Two.  Most likely the Army and Navy determined that it was capable of producing more the just projectiles and began giving the company more complicated products as it proved itself capable. 

Table 2 shows that the U.S. Navy projectiles were the company's largest product category.

Before and after World War Two, Durham Manufacturing manufactured card tables and chairs like this set.  These are from the Mary McFarland collection.  The U.S. Army and U.S. Navy didn't need any card tables and chairs to win World War Two.  Durham Manufacturing re-tooled for war products and produced fuzes, projectiles, and land mines as shown in the photo below. Photo courtesy of Mary McFarland.

How cool is this?  This display case of Durham World War Two products has survived both the end of World War Two and the destruction of the company's plant by a fire in 1956.  Someone in the company no doubt saved this historic product collection and donated it to the Museum of the Soldier in Portland, IN.  Author's photo added 12-9-2022.

In the lower left of the display case is an anti-tank mine. The four different types of fuze bodies are to the right of the anti-tank mine.  The upper row of items contains from left to right four fuze bodies, a 20mm projective, a fuze, and then two 40mm projectiles.  All of the parts except the land mine have been chromed, or partly chromed.  This has kept these examples from rusting since they were made in World War Two.   

The fuzes and projectiles are machined parts.  Durham machined the fuze bodies which were then forwarded to an ordnance plant were explosive detonator components were added to make the final fuze assembly. 

As with the projectiles, Durham did not install the explosives in the anti-tank mine.  That was for an Ordnance plant to complete.  Durham only fabricated the metal casing and upper spider web pressure plate of the mine.  The anti-tank or anti-vehicle mine is designed such that when a soldier stepped on the pressure plate, he did not activate the device.  He did not have enough weight for the top spider web pressure plate to collapse.  However, the weight of a vehicle forced the bottom of the legs on the spider web pressure plate to break away from lip around the mine.  The spider web pressure plate then collapsed and the vehicle's tire or tank track set off the detonator in the center of the mine.  Author's photo added 12-9-2022.

This Diamond T M3A1 half-track has five anti-tank mines in its storage rack.  Author's photo.

Next to the anti-tank land mine in the display case are these four fuze housings.  Author's photo added 12-9-2022. 

The first four pieces from the left are fuze housing.  The item to the right of the fuze housings is a 20mm projectile.  All of the 20mm projectiles that Durham manufactured were for use in the Navy's 20mm Oerlikon 20mm anti-aircraft guns.  The fuze on the far right has a Bakelite, rather than steel, housing.  Author's photo added 12-9-2022. 

This is a photo of the complete 20mm projectile, fuze, and shell casing.  Author's photo.

The 20mm Oerlikon started appearing on U.S. Navy ships in early 1942.  By the end of the war, every Navy and U.S. Merchant Marine ship was armed with the 20mm Oerlikon for close-in defense against air attack.  Durham was a significant contributor to keeping these weapons firing and protecting American ships and sailors.  Author's photo.

This shows both the M52B1 mortar shell fuze with a Bakelite body.  These were fuzes were used with both 60mm and 81mm mortar shells and had a quick firing detonator.  On the right hand side of the photo are two 40mm projectiles or shells.  The Navy denoted them as projectiles while the Army called them shells.  Both examples have a brass ring installed.  Author's photo added 12-9-2022. 

Durham Manufacturing also produced the 40mm Bofors projectile for both the Navy and Army.  The projectile is the black piece.  The gray fuze on the tip of the projectile, the projectile, and the shell casing were all installed at an ordnance plant.  Author's photo. 

The complete 40mm Bofors shells came in clips of four.  Author's photo taken at the Michigan Technical and Historical Society.

The completed projectile weighed 1.985 pounds. The gray portion of the shell is the portion Durham manufactured.  Author's photo taken at the Michigan Technical and Historical Society.

The 40mm Bofors was the intermediate range anti-aircraft weapon for the U.S. Navy.  As the war progressed, more and more 40mm cannons were added to ships to protect against the very real threat of air attack.  Author's photo.

Members of the 466th AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion (Colored) are depicted in this full scale diorama of loading a 40mm Bofors gun in readiness for an enemy attack on Dreger Airfield in northeast New Guinea during World War Two.  This and other dioramas are on display at the National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir, VA.  The 466th AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion was one of two segregated all African-American anti-aircraft units that served at Dreger Airfield in 1944.  Author's photo added 12-9-2022. 

  Each 40mm round weighed 4.75 pounds.  Each four round clip weighed over nineteen pounds.  This diorama depicts the size of the clip in relation to the soldier holding it.  Author's photo added 12-9-2022. 

Shown in this image is a 60mm mortar and a 81mm mortar.  Laying on the sandbags are two 60mm mortar shells.  Author's photo added 12-9-2022.   

The U.S. Navy was no doubt impressed by the performance of the Durham Manufacturing Company because it was chosen to be a supplier for the top secret VT fuze program.  Durham was probably unaware of the significance of the part or parts it provided for the VT fuse.  No doubt it was given engineering drawings and specifications by the Navy factory representative and told to build the part.  Author's photo.

This image shows many of the parts that went into a typical VT fuze.  Most likely Durham produced one of the steel pieces on the fuze.  There are several of these in the fuze.  The closest final assembly plant for the fuze was at the RCA plant in Bloomington, IN.  There were only three companies in Indiana involved with VT fuze production during World War Two.

An Afterword:  An internet search will produce information from two historical archives in Muncie, IN.  One of them has several photo files of Durham's World War Two production of 20mm and 40mm projectiles.  Machining operations and heat treat ovens are in the photos.  There are also photos of the anti-tank mines being painted and then assembled.  It was in the paint room that the fire on February 3, 1956 started and destroyed the most of the factory.