Gibson Refrigerator Company in World War Two
Greenville, MI
1877-1900 as Belding-Hall Company
1900-1956 as Gibson Refrigerator Company
1956-1967 as part of Hupp
1967-1986 as part of White Consolidated Industries
 1986-2006 as Electrolux

This page added 4-16-2021.

This photo shows a Greenville High School, MI senior on the same podium with a group of adult civilians and military personnel in Greenville, MI during World War Two.  Gibson-built CG-4A glider, serial number 42-46574, is behind the podium.  This is part of one of the most interesting stories of World War Two, beginning in Greenville, MI and ending in Normandy, France on June 6, 1944.  Yet it is largely unknown to the general public and even to the majority of World War Two historians, which included the author.   Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

I will come back to this photo later and give a full explanation of what is happening.

For me, this webpage on the Gibson Refrigerator Company began with one of my many visits to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, OH.  I was on a photo shoot of different parts of aircraft for my research of several different World War Two companies.  Gibson was not yet included on the list.

For some reason, I looked upward and took note of this Waco CG-4A Hadrian glider that is hanging from the ceiling in the museum's World War Two hangar.  I have walked underneath it many times over the years and have looked up at it before.  I walked over to the information plaque and noted it was built by the Gibson Refrigerator Company of Greenville, MI and was accepted by the Army Air Force in July 1945.  Looking at the manufacturer's name, I realized I could do a page on Gibson Refrigerator Company.  In the past I had no doubt noted the same information and done nothing with it.  My focus on this website has been evolving.  Originally, the scope of this website was exclusively the American Automobile Industry.  In the past couple of years, I have expanded the scope to include non-automotive companies.  The scope of my website has changed since its original inception in 2012.

I also remember thinking this should be a relatively simple page to do.  There was probably not much more information on Gibson Refrigerator Company except how many of the CG-4A gliders it built during the war.  How wrong I was!

This Gibson-built CG-4A is serial number 45-27948 and is one of the 1,078 that the company built during World War Two.  Of the sixteen CG-4A gliders on display in museums world-wide, this is the only one whose manufacturer is known.

Two weeks later, some research led me to the Fighting Falcon Military Museum in Greenville, MI where Gibson Refrigerator Company built the 1,078 CG-4A gliders.  Author's photo.

I have been to innumerable military museums over the years.  This is the first one I have visited that is in a former schoolhouse.  While this seems an unlikely location for a military museum, appearances can be deceiving.  Per square foot of display area, this museum is the best I have ever visited for telling the story of how the local companies helped win World War Two.  The museum not only has an excellent collection of items relating to the Gibson Refrigerator Company, but also has information related to other Greenville, MI companies.  Author's photo. 

This museum is well worth a visit for anyone interested in World War Two history, although it is somewhat off the beaten path and has limited visiting hours.  However, by contacting the museum, special appointments can be made to visit the museum.  This is what I did.  It will be well worth the effort to visit the museum. 

An addition was added to the rear of the original structure to house the CG-4A glider reconstruction which is the centerpiece of the museum.

This leads one back to the original photo.  It was May 19, 1943.  Sally Church, Greenville High School senior, helped and maybe even led the effort for the Class of 1943 to raise $72,000 to purchase four Gibson CG-4A gliders.  She is on the podium with Frank Gibson, Jr., President of Gibson Refrigerator.  In March 1944, the school children of the town took it upon themselves to sell enough war bonds to pay for one Gibson glider.  In two months, they raised $72,000, which actually paid for four gliders.  One glider, 42-46574, was picked out and named by the students "The Fighting Falcon."  This was the naming ceremony.   Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum. 

The Fighting Falcon was towed from the factory to nearby Black Athletic Field for the ceremony.   Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

$72,000 in 1943 is $1,094,624 in 2021, adjusted for inflation.  This was a herculean effort by the school children of Greenville.  One needs to remember there was no internet, no email, no Twitter, no GoFundMe, nor any other modern method of communication.  The only way for them to get the word out to the public was through public service messages on the local radio station and in the newspaper.  Gas and tires were being rationed, so any high school student with access to an automobile would not be able to go very far, if anywhere at all.  During World War Two, if families had an automobile, they only had one.  It is not like today where families have several.  So, to raise the money the students had to go door-to-door to raise the funds.  For this, the 1943 Greenville High School class was awarded the U.S. Treasury Distinguished Service Award.  This was the first time this award had been given to high school students.

The Fighting Falcon, serial number 42-46574, like every other GC-4A glider, was disassembled and boxed up for shipment.  It was shipped to England where it was re-assembled.  This was fortuitous, as most of the 60 gliders built by Gibson ended up staying in the United States as training aircraft.  A few ended up in North Africa and Sicily.  After its re-assembly, the Fighting Falcon was assigned to 434th Troop Carrier Group, which would be transporting members of the 101st airborne into Normandy.  In honor of the Greenville Class of 1943, the Army Air Force designated the Fighting Falcon, serial number 42-46574,to be the lead glider of the 52 in the first landing wave early in the morning of June 6,1944.  As the lead glider, the Fighting Falcon would carry Brigadier General Donald Pratt and his aide, along with the general's jeep. 

This is where the story gets complicated.  On June 4, 1944,the pilot of the Fighting Falcon, serial number 42-46574, LTC Michael Murphy, decided to use another glider for the invasion.  This is because LTC Murphy was concerned about the safety of General Pratt.  Many of the other gliders for the invasion had extra bracing installed on the fragile nose of the aircraft to protect the occupants in case of a crash landing.  This was known as a Griswold Nose Protection Device. Therefore, LTC Murphy picked out the 45th glider in the formation of 52.  This turned out to be another Gibson-built CB-4A, serial number 43-41430.  It is unknown whether LTC Murphy picked out another Gibson glider on purpose, or by chance.  Serial number 43-41430 became the lead glider in the group.

Again, the story becomes more complicated as the new lead Gibson-built CG-4A glider was also named the Fighting Falcon and had this quickly painted on the aircraft similar the original glider.  However, the lettering was considerably smaller.  Therefore, there were two Gibson-built CG-4A gliders named Fighting Falcon that landed in Normandy with the 101st Airborne on the morning of June 6, 1944. Landing in the dark, the lead Fighting Falcon, serial number 43-41430, landed in a small field and crashed into a group of trees at the edge of the field.  The sudden deceleration from an estimated 50-70 mph resulted in the whiplash death of  Brigadier General Donald Pratt, who was sitting strapped in his command jeep in the glider.  The co-pilot, 2nd Lt. John Butler, was killed by an impact with a tree.  LTC Murphy had two broken legs, and the general's aide, 1st Lt John May, only suffered a concussion.  At this point, the outcome of the original Fighting Falcon's,serial number 42-46574, landing and status afterwards is unknown.

Assault gliders like the "Fighting Falcon" were only used during World War Two.  They supplemented the paratroopers by being able to bring in equipment and weapons that could not be air-dropped.  But it was dangerous to land a glider in the dark without the ability to do a go-around like an aircraft.  The "Fighting Falcon," along with many other gliders, were destroyed upon landing, not only at Normandy, but other landing zones during the war.  After World War Two, helicopter technology progressed to the point that they took over the function not only of the glider but also, for the most part, the paratrooper.

 This photo shows the size of the writing on the side of the original Fighting Falcon, serial number 42-46574.  Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

A week after I visited the Fighting Falcon Military Museum in Greenville, MI, I was at the Kentucky Military History Museum in Frankfort, KY.  There, mounted on the wall, is the fabric that was removed from the second and lead "Fighting Falcon," serial number 43-41430.  This was removed from the wreckage by an unidentified airborne trooper and eventually became part of the Don F. Pratt Museum at Fort Campbell, KY.  The fabric is on loan to Kentucky Military History Museum.  Author's photo. 

This airborne trooper has just removed the section of fabric from the wreckage of the lead Fighting Falcon, serial number 43-41430.  The size of the writing on the fabric is considerably smaller than what was written on the original Fighting Falcon, serial number 42-46574, at Greenville MI in May 1943. 

Gibson Refrigerator Company World War Two Products:

I had originally expected to only find information on the number of gliders Gibson Refrigerator built during World War Two.  However, on my visit to the Fighting Falcon Museum in Greenville, MI, I  was able to learn more about its World War Two products than I expected.  My experience is that most companies' war production is identifiable with one main product.  For Gibson, this was the CG-4A glider.  The Fighting Falcon Museum has a complete listing and many examples of what the company built.  The different products are listed in Table 1 below.  Gibson actually started producing a variety of military products before the United States entered the war.  It was already in production with many of these products when it took on the building of gliders. 

There were several other companies in Greenville that manufactured products that helped win World War Two.  The museum also has information on these companies, providing an excellent overall view of the manufacturing in the town during the war.  This information is in Table 3.

I grew up in Lansing, MI, which is 65 miles away from Greenville, MI.  I don't think I ever heard of Greenville, MI while living in Lansing.  I know I was unaware that refrigerators were being built there.  Michigan built automobiles, not refrigerators.  Therefore, I have learned information about my home state because of a chance look at a World War Two glider at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

Glider production at Gibson Refrigerator Company during World War Two.  Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

This is what one first sees when entering the addition to the Fighting Falcon Military Museum, which was added to display this reconstruction of a Gibson-built CG-4A glider.  This side of the glider does not have the fabric attached to it, and represents a full-size diorama of a glider under construction.  Author's photo.

Many of the parts for this reconstruction came from the local area.  Many others came from across the United States as word spread of the project.  At the end of World War Two, Gibson had 60 gliders packed in 300 crates ready for shipment.  However, they were no longer needed, and the company sold each crate for $50 each.  Many were purchased for the wood in the crates, which was used by local farmers to build small buildings.  For the most part, the glider parts were thrown away or left in a field.  The center section of this glider is the assembly of three center sections found on farms in the Greenville and Belding areas.  The three provided enough good parts to make one glider for this reconstruction.  Author's photo.

Each of the following photos shows a different section of the glider and all of the different parts that went into its construction.  The tail section of the fuselage came from a barn ten miles east of Greenville.  Author's photo. 

 The vertical and horizontal stabilizers, along with the rudder, came from a farm in New Hampshire.  Author's photo. 

Author's photo. 

The tail section had two weighted bags installed to provide the proper weight and balance for the glider.  Author's photo. 

Author's photo. 

Author's photo. 

Author's photo. 

The landing gear was found at an aircraft parts collector in Chicago, IL, while the wheels and tires were donated by the Kalamazoo Air Museum.  Author's photo. 

The other side of the glider has been covered with fabric and painted.  Author's photo. 

The wings were too large for the addition made to the former school, so only the center section of the wings were added.  Author's photo. 

The tow rope is attached to the top of the fuselage.  A communication cable ran down the center of the tow rope so the pilots in the glider and tow aircraft could communicate with each other.  The tow plane pilot needed to notify the glider when it needed to release the cable to land in the combat zone.  Author's photo. 

This original World War Two glider tow rope is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.  The tow rope was a complete assembly that included the shackle that attached to the tow aircraft, the rope and then the attachment and release lever that attached to the glider.  The electrical cable that allowed communication between the tow aircraft and the glider ran down the middle of the two rope. It is the black rubber cable.  The release handle is the red device.  Author's photo. 

The metal frame for the nose section came from Ohio and has some of the original larger steel tubing in it.  However, if it the glider crashes into a grove of trees, as the Fighting Falcon did at Normandy, the front end is going to collapse.  Author's photo. 

 Author's photo. 

The co-pilot's control wheel came from a garage sale in Greenville.  The instrument panel was found on a farm in Pennsylvania.   Author's photo.  

Other CG-4A Gliders and Pieces: 

  This CG-4A glider on display at the Kalamazoo Air and Space Museum has been named the Fighting Falcon.  Author's photo.

This is the fabric that was cut from the Ford-built CG-4A glider that also crashed at Normandy.  It is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.  Thirty-eight percent of all of the CG-4A gliders were built in Michigan by the Ford Motor Company and the Gibson Refrigerator Company.  Author's photo.

Other Gibson Refrigerator Company World War Two Products:

This Ford-built B-24J is on display at the Barksdale Global Power Museum at Barksdale AFB in Bossier City, LA.  The aircraft has Gibson Refrigerator Company-built flaps on it.  Author's photo.

Gibson was Ford's largest sub-contractor.  Author's photo.

Here is the port side Gibson flap.  Author's photo.

This factory photo shows the wooden fixtures that were used to build the flaps.  The operators in view of the camera are holding rivet bucking bars.  On the other side of the flap are other operators that have rivet guns.  The bucking bar is pushed up against the rivet to flatten the rivet.  The operator at the right end of the "Fix-11-RH" appears to be new on the job, as a supervisor is showing her how to buck rivets.  The numbers on the fixtures show that there were at least thirteen of them for the right hand flaps.  Each fixture has at least eight operators installing the rivets, and there were thousands that were used in the construction of each one.  This was a very labor intensive and tedious operation.  Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

On the left is an air-powered rivet gun and on the right is a bucking bar.  The operator with the rivet gun would push a rivet through the pre-drilled holes in the sheet metal pieces being riveted together.  The other operator would then push up against the un-flattened end of the rivet with the bucking bar while the rivet gun hammered against the head from the opposite side.  The vibration caused the rivet to flatten under the bucking bar.  Above the tools is an example of sheet metal with some rivets in it.  Rivets held World War Two sheet metal parts and aircraft together.  There were probably tens of thousands used in each flap Gibson made for the Ford B-24s.  This was tedious yet very important work for the operators.  Author's photo.

This AN-M26 aircraft flare container was built by the Gibson Refrigerator Company in November 1942.  The AN-M26 would be dropped by an aircraft over an area for night photo reconnaissance missions.  The parachute would allow the flare to stay in the air long enough to burn a yellowish color of 800,000 candlepower for up to three minutes.  Gibson built 53,052 of these.  Author's photo from the Fighting Falcon Museum.

The practice bomb had all of the ballistic characteristics of the normal 500 pound bomb.  The U.S. Navy would fill the practice bombs with sand and flour, so when the bombs struck the practice target area it could be seen where they hit.  Author's photo from the Fighting Falcon Museum.

  This stainless steel AN-B10 bomb shackle and 100 pound chemical bomb are on display in the Fighting Falcon Museum.  Author's photo from the Fighting Falcon Museum.

One hundred pound chemical bombs are traveling on a monorail at the Gibson plant.  The bombs in the foreground appear to be coming out of the paint shop.  Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

 Gibson produced 750,000 four pound thermite incendiary bombs during the war.  It only produced this outer casing, as the internal incendiary and explosive material were installed at an ordnance plant.  This example at the Fighting Falcon Military Museum is the only one the author has found in his research.  Author's photo from the Fighting Falcon Museum.

 Gibson built sixteen multi-spindle lens polishing machines for Argus Camera in Ann Arbor, MI.  Argus used them to polish lenses for the Norden bombsight.  Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

This drop tank was produced at the end of the war and immediately became surplus.  This and a second drop tank were found in the barn of two of the officers of the museum.  The second drop tank is at the Air Zoo Aerospace Museum in Kalamazoo, MI.  Author's photo from the Fighting Falcon Museum.

Gibson built 41,860 drop tanks to extend the range of American fighter aircraft during World War Two.  Author's photo from the Fighting Falcon Museum.

Author's photo from the Fighting Falcon Museum.

This finished drop tank is on display at the National Museum of WWII Aviation in Colorado Springs, CO.  Author's photo added 5-5-2021.

Gibson produced 64,295 gear blanks for radial tank engines built by Continental Motors in nearby Muskegon, MI.  This is an example of a Continental R-975 that was used in various tanks during World War Two.  The most famous tank in which it was used was the M4/M4A1 Sherman tank.  Author's photo.

This is an early World War Two M4A1 Sherman tank powered by the Continental R-975 engine.  Author's photo.


Another armored vehicle that utilized the R-975 engine was the M18 Hellcat tank destroyer produced by Buick in Flint, MI.  Author's photo. 

Continental also produced a smaller radial engine, designated the W-670, which was used in armored vehicles.  One such application was the LVT-4.  Many of these were built by the Graham-Paige Motors Company in Detroit, MI.  Author's photo.

Gibson-built gear blanks could have been used in over a dozen different types of armored vehicles during World War Two.

The Packard V-1650 Merlin engine is legendary for its high altitude performance in the P-51 Mustang over Europe in World War Two.  Gibson Refrigerator helped this performance by producing 144,914 parts for the 54,714 engines built.  Author's photo.

The North American P-51.  Author's photo.

This is a Pontiac Motor Division-built 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun.  Gibson produced 224,214 components for this weapon.  Author's photo.

This Sperry T-1-A bombsight computer in the left of the photo was built by A-C Sparkplug in Flint, MI.  It was used with the sighting head also shown and was used by the Royal Air Force in many of its bombers.  Gibson produced 72,931 T-1-A cabinets for AC Spark Plug during the war.  Author's photo. 

Gibson Refrigerator Plants:

This is the Gibson Refrigerator complex in Greenville, MI in the early 1950s.  Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

Gibson also had several factories in Belding, MI, several miles to the south of Greenville.  Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

This is plant B and D in Belding.  Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

This is plant E in Belding.  Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

Gibson Refrigerator Post-World War Two Military Products: 

Gibson built the wheel bogies for the M51 Skysweeper 75mm anti-aircraft gun.  This weapon was developed to protect American cities from a Soviet air attack after World War Two.  The small number of weapons that were built were quickly replaced by the Nike anti-aircraft missile system.  Gibson also made the shells for this weapon.  Author's photo.

This photo shows the progression of the cold forming process Gibson used to make over a million 75mm shells for the Skysweeper anti-aircraft gun.  Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

On October 20, 1954 Gibson produced its millionth 75mm shell.  Photo courtesy of the Fighting Falcon Military Museum.

Gibson also built engine parts for the X-15.  Author's photo.

The company also produced parts for the C-119 that was built by Kaiser-Fraser in the former Ford Motor Company B-24 plant at Willow Run, MI.  Author's photo. 

Other Greenville, MI World War Two Manufacturers:

Federal-Mogul produced three propellers for each of the 531 PT boats built during World War Two.  This is Higgins-built PT-305 located in New Orleans, LA.  Author's photo.

This is the aft end of Higgins-built PT-796 at Battleship Cove, MA, which shows the Federal-Mogul-built propellers.  Author's photo.

Ranney Refrigerator in Greenville, MI stamped out the front T-1 bombsight computer panels under sub-contract to Gibson during World War Two.  Author's photo.

Ranney also built large quantities of wooden boxes for both the Army and the Navy.  Author's photo from the Fighting Falcon Museum.

The Wolverine Shoe and Tanning Corporation, Glove Division in Greenville, MI made heavy, insulated gloves like this for bomber crews.  Author's photo.