Thanks for posting ,cool stuff. They had the equipment and knowledge of how to press metal into a product . Maytag cast intakes for airplane engines and many other aluminum parts . IH built M-1 rifles , trucks ,tanks and parts for aircraft . Ford ,GM ,Studebaker built trucks , tanks and aircraft parts . The Nations manufacturing companies came together as did the work force to produce the things needed for the War effort . A late Great Uncle of mine worked with a mechanic who was in the Germany Army , Han's told him at the end of WWII the older foot soldiers said that there was no way that Hitler would win. That the Americans had huge black men with shovels . Shoveling tin cans into a funnel and airplanes ,tanks ,trucks ,guns and ammo were coming out the end.
This is an absolutely great read. World War II war production via civilian plants was amazing. South Bend, IN was also a hub for such activity as the Studebaker plant produced engines for B-17's, US-6 trucks and the Weasel. Like the Guide story the engineering and manufacturing sectors of every aspect of American industry put all their efforts into the war effort. The Guide effort is a perfect example of this. Thanks for posting this story.
during that war all sorts of companies made stuff that you would never ***ociated them with. right here in my small southern Minnesota town the Norden bombsight was made by a company that made jewelry...Josten's , if you have a cl*** ring it was probably made by them i have heard stories from old timers that no one person there could see all the parts , and the people doing the final ***embly had to do it blind
I had the same experience driving at night with those black out lights. We where at Mountford Point North Carolina. It was Camp Lejuenes motor transport school. Driving a 5 ton multi fuel at night in the woods and dust everywhere was not a pleasant experience
Wow! Great history lesson! Never knew the extent of Guide's war effort. In fact I didn't know they were stamping hubcaps, bumper guards, etc. for GM cars even before the war. The headlights on my OT S-10 are made by Guide so I ***ume they are still part of GM. Great read. Thanks Ryan, and Kevin.
I have a couple of military guides in their orig boxes. will use em on something one day, dunno what yet
What a great American history lesson. What a testimony of America's strength and the civilian war effort. Thanks for sharing it.
Never knew they were part of GM. 1000's of US firms supported the war effort this way, whether they wanted to or not, as the country was mobilized for the war effort. And when it was over, BOOM.... the cry was give me some new **** please! I'm freaking tired of these same old boring dammed head lights!!! LOL. Gary
American ingenuity at it's finest. As Don eluded too I never knew Guides involvement in the production of weapons for the war effort,machine guns,who would have thought? Off Topic? yeah but I think we all learned something.HRP
On here everyone mentions Ford's WW2 production... But GM and it's divisions produced more than anyone, a lot more.
I've got a demilled grease gun in my collection.The Liberator pistols show up once in a while at gun shows.I've got a Remington Rand 45ACP and several M-1s,my favorite being a Rock Ola(Jukebox Manufacturer)I love my milsurp as much as my old cars.
Guide wasn't the only GM didvision doing this either... Saganaw and Inland were cranking out M1 Carbines (one of which I own) AC Spark Plug made M1919 .30-Cal Machine Guns Buick built engines for B-24's and others (the airplanes themselves being ***embled by Ford, oddly) Other Auto companies stayed involved too. Studebaker, in addition to trucks and other vehicles, produced the lion's-share of B-17 engines Packard made contract-built Rolls-Royce engines for the P-51 and PT-Boats Ford, under contract from Willy's made the GPW Jeep, trucks, engines, and provided an ***embly plant for the afore-mentioned B-24. And then we can get into the elephant in the corner; GM, Ford, and many others played both sides of the coin. It is a oft forgotten, or overlooked, fact that the VAST majority of trucks used by the German military were produced by Ford, in Henry's plant in Cologne. And GM wasn't far behind, cranking out trucks through their subsidiary Opel...
........................I've read that the reason they came to be called Jeeps was that they arrived on site partially ***embled and crated with GP stamped on the crates for Government Production. As time went on the troops would just say, "Look, more GPs have arrived for us to put together". GP eventually came to be referred to simply as "Jeep".
Well that explains the green lamps that show up here and there .... I always thought "who the heck would paint them green" ? Now I know.
Here are some pics that should fit here.. http://pavel-kosenko.livejournal.com/303194.html?thread=22669914
Cool, never heard this. Great stuff, Boss. How 'bout this: " (36,750,000) cartridge cases for 37mm, 40mm, 90mm and 105mm constructed of both br*** and steel". Wow, one little headlight company.
Guide was the sign of quality in automotive back in the day compared to the western auto stuff and yankee.
and what does that factory make today? who nearby can tell us? or is it torn down and all production moved overseas?
Guide from Anderson, is this the same Anderson as Gene, the moonlighter and HRP? If so, a lot of good things was made in Anderson! And most big firms took part in the war business, you just started a little faster. That why the U.S. Was/is so good at cranking out cars, truck and machinery. And thanks to the American war effort Germans are top experts in recycling. But they had to recycle most everything, just to stay alive to this day and time. Or was that a cruel joke? Now this thread is so OT but still good/cool, I got to ask did any of you go to Germany post war? I know Johnny Cash and Elvis did, but so did the average joe. So please tell if and where you went?
most of GM in Anderson is gone and lots of the places were heavily polluted from the chroming operations they did over the years
Off topic, but pertinent none the less. Lots of things that I didn't know and I just skimmed most of it. It seems that the entire country mobilized to support the war effort. The company I worked for, Sandy Hill Iron and Br***, located in Hudson Falls, N.Y. was awarded a Navy E for their part and I'm sure those working there at the time were damn proud of it! One thing that I didn't know (or forgot) was that the US made a "grease gun". Thanks for the history lesson and have a blast at the drags.
My grandfather made tachometer gears for the P-W engines in Chicago then over at the Dodge plant (Tucker- Ford City ) as a gear hobber before he enlisted in the USAAC.
...................................Can't speak for Gene but, HRP is in South Carolina. It's a pretty good hike to Indiana.
The Jalopy Journal
