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  
   

 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.

Table 1 - Gibson Refrigerator Company World War Two Products
The information below was obtained from the Fighting Falcon Museum in Greenville, MI.  It in turn was provided to the museum by Mr. William Delp, former Gibson Refrigerator Company employee.  Mr. Delp was a tooling engineer with Gibson, and one of the engineers responsible for putting the CG-4A into production.  Without his historical knowledge of Gibson during World War Two, the information below and at the museum would have been lost forever.

Quantity Product Comments
1,078 CG-4A Combat Gliders Gibson was fifth in the number of CG-4A gliders built by the company.  It produced 7.7% of them.
17,130 B-24 Wing Flaps These were built for the Ford Motor Company B-24 production at Willow Run, MI.  This quantity of flaps was enough for all of the B-24s built by Ford.
17,158 500 Pound Navy Practice Bombs  
750,000  Four Pound Thermite Incendiary Bombs These were built on contract W799-CWS-152.  The original contracted amount in mid 1941 was 700,182 for a cost of $513,000.  The contract was for only the bomb casings.  The bomb casings were then sent to an ordnance plant to be filled with explosive and incendiary material.  These were used in the low-level firebombing raids by the B-29s over Japan.
100,000 100 Pound Chemical Bombs  
53,052 AN-M26 Parachute Flares These were built on contract W-374-ORD-1344 and W-374-ORD-1899.  The total cost of both contracts was $2,508,000 or $47.27 a piece.  The metal cases were made in the Greenville plant and then shipped to Gibson's Blending Plant C.  There, the parachutes and flares were installed.
41,860 165 Gallon Drop Tanks  
16 Multi-Spindle Lens Polishing Machines These were for Argus Camera in Ann Arbor, MI, which was making lenses for the Norden Bombsight.
224,214 Parts for 20mm Cannon The information at the Museum indicates these parts were for 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns and were supplied to Reo in Lansing, MI.  Reo did not make the 20mm Oerlikon nor did it do any sub-assembly work on them.  This leads to two different possibilities as to what 20mm parts Gibson actually made.  The first possibility is that the parts actually went to Oldsmobile in Lansing, which did make 77,010 20mm M2 aircraft cannons.  It sub-contracted out all of the parts for the weapon and only did the final assembly.  The location of the Olds and Reo plants were within a mile of each other in Lansing.  Also, the names are similar because they were both started by Mr. R.E. Olds.

The second possibility is if they were actually 20mm Oerlikon parts, then they would have gone either to the Pontiac Motor Division of GM in Pontiac, MI, or to U.S. Navy's ordnance plant in Centerline, MI, which was originally managed by the Hudson Motor Car Company, and then later during the war by Westinghouse.  Both locations built the 20mm Oerlikon.

299,929 AN-B-7 and AN-B10 Bomb Shackles These were used by both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army during World War Two.  The B-7 bomb shackle could hold 100 to 1,100 pound bombs.  The B-10 was for 100 to 1,600 pound bombs.
1,500 Refrigerators These were used for military housing.
72,931 Sperry T-1 Aluminum Computer Cabinets These went to the AC Spark Plug Division of General Motors which was building the Sperry Computers under license.  The original design was British, with Sperry building them under license.   The T-1 bombsight was used in several RAF bombers and was well suited for the night bombing that the RAF engaged in during the war. 
144,914 Sets of Aircraft Parts These were for the Packard-built Rolls-Royce V-1650 Merlin aircraft engine.
64,295 Gear Blanks for Tank Engines These were for use in tank engines built by Continental Motors Company in Muskegon, MI.  The parts would have been used in either or both the W-670 and R-975 radial tank engines.
15,754 Sets of Bomb Hoisting Bands These were produced for the Cook Electric Company of Chicago, IL.
105 Sets of Drop Tank Internal Parts These were produced for the Tappan Stove Company of Cleveland, OH.
1,646 Rotary Vibrators These were made for the Bendix Aviation Company of South Bend, IL.
Thousands 40-Inch Electric Ranges These were used for military housing and built in Gibson's Belding, MI plant B.

 

Table 2 - Gibson Refrigerator Company CG-4A Contracted Serial Numbers
U.S. Army Air Force Serial Numbers Number Comments
42-46552 through 42-46611 60 42-46574, the original Fighting Falcon, was one of several from this group to end up in Normandy.  Other gliders in this group were used as trainers in the U.S.  Others were sent to Tunisia and Sicily.
42-46619 through 42-46631 13 Several of the CG-4As in this group went to the RAF. 
42-52853 through 42-52881 29 Several of the CG-4As in this group went to the RAF. 
42-55785 through 42-55844 60 42-55833 was part of Operation Varsity landing 17 Airborne Division to Wesel, Germany on March 24, 1945.  Many others were transferred to the RAF from USAAF inventory in India.
42-68306 through 42-68335 30 42-68334 landed with the 82nd Airborne Division at St. Mere-Eglise in Normandy on June 6,1944.
42-73750 through 42-74112 363 Gibson gliders from this group served in Tunisia, Sicily, and Normandy.
43-41279 through 43-41778 500 Many of the CG-4As in this group served at Normandy and Operation Market Garden.
45-27936 through 45-27948 13 45-27548 is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.  It is the CG-4A Hadrian glider that initiated this page for the website.
45-27949 through 45-27961 13 Three units cancelled.
45-27962 through 45-27971 10 Order cancelled.
Total 1,091  


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:

Table 3 - Greenville, MI Company World War Two Products
The information below was obtained from the Fighting Falcon Museum in Greenville, MI.  It in turn was provided to the museum by Mr. William Delp, former Gibson Refrigerator Company employee.

Company Quantity Product Comments
Metzgar Ltd.   20,000 lbs./per day of Dehydrated Potatoes These were purchased by the Army, Navy, Lend-Lease Agency and the British Maritime Commission
Belshaw Manufacturing Company   CG-4A Pilot and Co-Pilot Seats, Three Man Seats and Vertical Stabilizers These were built under sub-contract to Gibson
Greenville Machine Company   Various Stampings and Machined Parts These were for products built by Gibson, Ranney, and Towers
Wolverine Shoe and Tanning Corporation, Glove Division   Various Military Gloves The primary product was all leather, heavily insulated gloves for the Army Air Force.  These were used by American bomber flight crews.
Ranney Refrigerator Company   Front Panel for Sperry T-1 Computer This was a sub-contract to Gibson.
Ranney Refrigerator Company   20mm Oerlikon Anti-Aircraft Gun Parts These were built under sub-contract to Gibson.
Ranney Refrigerator Company   Various Wooden Ammunition Boxes and Crates These were produced for both the Army and Navy.
R.J. Tower Iron Works   Thousands of Bench Mounted Grommeting Machines These were used to fasten metal grommets to all types of cloth material.
R.J. Tower Iron Works   Various Stampings These were sub-contracted from Gibson
Federal-Mogul   Brass Castings for Marine Propellers Federal-Mogul Produced all of the propellers for American-built PT and rescue boats.  It also produced the propellers for the DUKW.


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. 

 

 

 

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