willow run bomber plant employees

Rosemary was among 200,000 southerners who flocked to southeastern Michigan for factory jobs, including 9,500 employed at Willow Run. Like virtually all of the United States' industrial concerns, Ford Motor Company, by this time under the direction of Henry Ford's only son Edsel, directed its manufacturing output during World War II to Allied war production. More than 18,000 were built. By the end of the war, Ford had pushed 8,865 B-24 heavy bombers out the Willow Run doors for the Army . It also provided a final inspection of the aircraft and made any appropriate final changes; i.e., install long-range fuel tanks, remove unnecessary equipment, and give it a final flight safety test. Copyright 2023. Sorensen and his team methodically broke the complex bomber plane into 11 major assemblies, and then further divided these into 69 sub-assemblies. Explore our Digital Collections and curate your own set of artifacts to share with others. In only one month, Ford had hired 2,900 workers but had lost 3,100. [46] The campaign attracted national, and even international, attention from media outlets that include many major news dailies in the US as well as National Public Radio, The History Channel magazine, National Geographic TV, The Guardian and the Daily Mail, the latter two of the UK. Riveting was an essential craft at Willow Run. FDRs goal exceeded the total of all planes built in the U.S. since the Wright brothers 1903 flight at Kitty Hawk, NC, and he challenged the aviation industry to match that number in succeeding years. The story of Willow run and the production miracle that produced as many as 25 B-24 bombers every day. Dies and machine tools were tossed out and redesigned, wasting precious time and millions of dollars. Sadly, one of the people most responsible for Willow Run's success did not live to see it. Sections included center wing, outer wings and wing tips, fuselage, nacelles, flight deck, nose and tail. At peak production, B-24s sheathed in 4,200 square feet of bonded aluminum rolled out the door every hour. Charles Sorensen boasted that Ford would produce B-24s at the rate of one each hour. In April 2013, the Detroit Free Press confirmed that the facility's current owner, RACER Trust, was negotiating with the Yankee Air Museum to preserve a small portion of the original bomber plant as a new home for the museum. Consolidated's method required 250 man-hours; Ford's needed one. Because of the urgent need for shelter, the Federal Public Housing Administration took action and built temporary housing. Since the 2010 closure of Willow Run Transmission, the factory complex has been managed by the RACER Trust, which controls the properties of the former General Motors. The water is treated in a modern treatment plant completed in 1939. Simply moving workers to and from the plant was a major logistical challenge. Between them, there was a shelter for more than 15,000 people, roughly the number of people living in Ypsilanti at the time. The aircraft manufacturer Douglas Aircraft, and the B-24's designer, Consolidated Aircraft, assembled the finished airplane. During this time he was a pioneer of American production. Consolidated maintained control over design changes and so did the Army Air Corps (retitled U.S. Army Air Force in June 1941). Overhead cranes would hoist completed sections onto the final assembly line for joining into a finished aircraft, the same way cars were put together, but on a grand scale in a massive new plant. But, as 1943 arrived, problems got solved and Willow Run turned a corner. Frank B. Woodford, 'Willow Run Poses Problems,' New York Times, 19 April 1942, E10; Glenn H. Cummings, 'Biggest War Plant,' Wall Street Journal, 26 May 1942, 1; 'Ford Stand Stirs War Housing Issue,' New York Times, 28 June 1942, 25; Agnes E. Meyer, 'Detroit's Willow Run Area Is A Housing Nightmare ,' MARC and WRL produced innovations, including the first ruby laser and operation of the ruby maser, as well as early research into antiballistic missile defense and advanced remote sensing. Managing the utilities and slowly shutting them off has been Lewis' biggest challenge, as the building is hard-pressed to give up its secrets. President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to American industrys war production efforts as the Arsenal of Democracy. Willow Run perfectly symbolized Roosevelts memorable phrase. The copper wiring and electrical fixturesthe veins and arteries of the plantare the first to be stripped away. After Kaiser left, General Motors leased and then purchased Willow Run. Workers at Willow Run built a staggering 8,685 B-24 bombers -- 6,792 complete planes and 1,893 knock-down kits -- by the time the last one was finished on June 28, 1945. During that time, the Ford Motor Company produced almost half of the B-24s built--8,685 out of 19,256. plant, each paid the same 85 cents an hour as their Winston Churchill called his specially outfitted B-24 the Commando. Cafeterias provided meals to administrative workers in the plant's offices. Company Description: Pegatron offers a wide range of electronics products in computing, communications and consumer electronics segment, including notebook PCs, desktop PCs, motherboards, cable modems, smartphones, set-top boxes, and automotive electronics, among others. Also constructed at this time was the Parkridge Community Center. The war's focus was shifting from Europe to Japan, where more-advanced B-29 bombers were needed. [49] The majority of the $8 million goal reflects separation costs to make the preserved portion of the plant viable as a standalone structure. But when we send the 24's out, most of them don't. Mass production of B-24s must rely on continuous assembly flow, or they couldnt be built at all. The company resumed automobile production within a week. The Willow Run Plant had many initial startup problems, due primarily to the fact that Ford employees were used to automobile mass production and found it difficult to adapt these techniques to aircraft . It was an attempt to reverse the trend toward ever-increasing weight of the Liberator as more and more armament, equipment, and armor had been added, with no corresponding increase in engine power. "It was a like a town of its own," said Rancour, 88 . 34,533 employees at peak; We . The 60-year-old production czar viewed mass production of B-24s as the crowning achievement of his career. Ford Motor Company had reinvented the concept with the Model T's moving assembly line. Willow Run Bomber Plant IPMS - USA. Sorensen stayed up all night formulating a B-24 assembly process on the backs of Coronado Hotel placemats. [1] Construction of the Willow Run Bomber Plant began in 1940 [2] and was completed in 1942. Hundreds bought their first pair of shoes upon arrival. The 2023 Detroit Area Crosstown Challenge. Despite intensive design efforts led by Ford production executive Charles E. Sorensen,[30] the opening of the plant still saw some mismanagement and bungling, and quality was uneven for some time. Kaiser-Frazer moved into Willow Run and built civilian-style Jeeps, Henry J sedans, and C-119 cargo planes until going under in 1953. Each kit -- consisting of 80 percent of the parts for a finished B-24 -- was shipped via two tractor-trailers. At its peak, Willow Run employed more than 15,000 women -- some 35 percent of its total staff. It was thought to be the largest factory under one roof anywhere in the world. Twelve thousand women stepped in to fill the void, each paid the same 85 cents an hour as their male counterparts for nine-hour morning or afternoon shifts. In addition to making automatic transmissions, Willow Run Transmission also produced the M16A1 rifle and the M39A1 20mm autocannon for the US military during the Vietnam War. The team developed the B-24's build sequence from these divisions. By the mid-1920s, a local family operating as Quirk Farms had bought the land in Van Buren Township that became the airport. Ultimately, more than seven million square feet of floor space were completed for B-24 production at Willow Run. The standard workweek for all hourly employees was 54 hours, with time-and-a-half pay for each hour over 40. The bombings curbed Germany's manufacturing capabilities and wore down its citizens' morale. Sorensen was shocked. [7] Indeed, the majority of the plant was demolished in late 2013 and early 2014. [3][41], During June 1944, the Army determined that the San Diego and Willow Run plants would be capable of meeting all future requirements for Liberator production. Rugged and versatile, Liberators served in every theater of the war with 15 Allied air forces, stalking and destroying German U-boats in Atlantic shipping lanes, flying The Hump from India over the Himalayas to bring critical fuel and supplies to the besieged Chinese army, and dropping special agents into France and the Low Countries to organize sabotage operations against Nazi occupiers. [3][4] Even then it would take nearly a year before finished Liberators left the factory. GM used the building to store files until an undetermined time, where it was sold to the Cherry Hill Baptist Church. those hangar doors represent the end of the plant, the end of the assembly line where 8700 b-24s rolled out. The first Ford-built Liberator rolled off the Willow Run line in September 1942; the first series of Willow Run Liberators was the B-24E. Willow Run Lodge[19] was a series of dormitories for single people and was built on the land north of Michigan Avenue and south of Geddes Road. Completed planes flew off to field modification centers for fixes, upgrades and customizing. Efforts to desegregate Willow Run Lodge and Village and build additional integrated housing were rebuffed by the Detroit Housing Commission and the National Housing Agency,[25] so noted African-American architect Hilyard Robinson was contracted to design an 80-unit community. In early 1941 the Federal government established the Liberator Production Pool Program to meet the projected demand for the B-24, and the Ford company, joined the program shortly thereafter. The whole plane it would be, with the agreement that Ford would truck B-24 parts and finished sections called knockdowns to Consolidated plants in San Diego and Fort Worth and to Douglas Aircraft in Tulsa. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. [17], Architect Albert Kahn designed the main structure of the Willow Run bomber plant, which had 3,500,000 square feet (330,000m2) of factory space, and an aircraft assembly line over a mile (1600m) long. Not only did Ford build 490 complete planes, but it also supplied components of B-24Es as kits that could be trucked for final assembly at the factories of Consolidated in Fort Worth and Douglas in Tulsa, 144 and 167 kits. Willow Run, also known as Air Force Plant 31, was a manufacturing complex in Michigan, United States, located between Ypsilanti Township and Belleville, built by the Ford Motor Company to manufacture aircraft, especially the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber. RACER Trust has been supportive of the campaign, even reconfiguring engineering and demolition plans to save cost for the museum. Now signifying "the arsenal of democracy", at the outset Ford's Willow Run Bomber Plant was nearly a failure. Perhaps, when peace returned, customers would remember Ford's achievement when it came time to shop for a new car. Its goal was to apply auto-making mass-production principles to . By 4 a.m. he had configured floor space and time requirements for sequential assembly of the planes principal sections, each fabricated in choreographed progression through separate, self-contained cells. With so many young men drafted into the armed forces, Willow Run's workforce was unusually diverse for its time: African Americans, whites, older people, younger men unable to serve in the military, and -- most notably -- women. More than 3,200 feet long and 1,279 feet across at its widest point, the plants 80-acre interior exceeded the Empire State Buildings floor space by 20 percent. Willow Run workers built 1,893 kits over the course of the war. The residents of the Willow Run Camp planted, tended, and harvested field crops and collected maple syrup, selling their products at the farm market on the property. [8], Coordinates: 421428N 833304W / 42.241N 83.551W / 42.241; -83.551. most enormous room in the history of man.. In 1968, General Motors began reorganizing its body and assembly operations into the GM Assembly Division (GMAD). The main building's "L" shape prevented its crossing into neighboring Wayne County. Employee training was a constant process at Willow Run. Ford created a permanent jig into which wings could be moved in and out by overhead crane. It was the company that perfected the moving assembly line in the 1910s and, as a privately owned firm, it could move faster than publicly traded corporations. Expectations were crushed and the sarcastic appellation Willit Run gained wide circulation. Considerable water was furnished to the Willow Run bomber plant from the Ypsilanti public-supply system during the period from August 1941 through March 1943. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. [23] The flat-tops contained four, six, or eight apartments with one, two, or three bedrooms. Even with people driving 100 miles or renting every spare room between Ann Arbor and Grosse Pointe, the sheer size of Willow Run led inevitably to a housing shortage. [3][41], Ford had switched over to the single-tailed B-24N in May 1945, but the end of the war in Europe in the same month brought a rapid end to Liberator production; the contract with Ford was officially terminated on 31 May 1945 and orders for 5168 unbuilt B-24N-FO bombers were cancelled as well. Five main contractors hurried the project along, and parts of the plant began production in September 1941. Construction began April 18, 1941. After the war, Ford sold the chapel to Kaiser-Frazer, who in turn sold it to General Motors as part of the purchase of the Willow Run bomber plant. Because of production delays encountered at Willow Run as a result of the inevitable difficulties and snags involved in the adaptation of automobile manufacturing techniques to aircraft, the B-24Es produced at Willow Run were, generally, obsolete by the time that it began to roll off the production lines, and most were relegated to training roles in the United States and hence few ever saw combat. Labor shortages made women essential to war industries, and the government actively recruited them to join the workforce. ", Willow Run Bomber Plant Manual, 1943-1944, 1947 Kaiser-Frazer Advertisement, "One Every Minute is Not Enough! In 2009, General Motors announced that it would shut down all operations at the GM Powertrain plant and engineering center in the coming year.[6]. The 1st CC was responsible for completing the organization and equipment of tactical and combat bombardment squadrons prior to their deployment to the overseas combat theaters. This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. It seems like a production miracle that the people working at Willow Run bomber plant were able to produce the B-24 Liberator at such tremendous speed. Among the 37 workers surveyed, nearly 10 percent were Negroes.4 Men as young as 19 and as old as 71 were employed; the age range for . The Fords built seven of these: The first at Greenfield Village, Michigan, was completed in 1929. Ford now planned to build 650 planes each month -- one every 45 minutes. The plant began production in summer 1941; the dedication plaque is dated June 16. Few new hires had ever been in a factory, so Ford built the Aircraft Apprentice School on the grounds to familiarize these industrial novices with tools and techniques of high-precision aeronautical manufacturing. you can see the two big hangar doors behind me. Approximately one-third of the plant's assembly line workers were female. [7], For a period of time before the eventual demolition of Willow Run Assembly, portions were used as a warehouse, about a quarter of which was leased by GM as a facility for parts distribution.[45]. male counterparts. Ford officials looked for every efficiency they could find in B-24 production. those represent the end of the plant. A never-ending stream of water gurgles through the pipes to parts unknown like an underground stream. That April, employees in two nine-hour shifts, working six days a week, produced 453 airplanes in 468 hours -- a production rate equal to one finished B-24 Liberator every 63 minutes. The heavies of choice were the B-17 Flying Fortress from Boeing Airplane Co. and the B-24 Liberator from Consolidated Aircraft. Access the "best of" at The Henry Ford and other great visit planning resources. The factory was nearly an hour's drive from Detroit, and the imposition of wartime gasoline and tire rationing had made the daily commute difficult. At its peak, Willow Run employed more than 42,000 people. The Yankee Air Museum acquired a portion of the plant, for preservation and exhibit purposes, in 2013. Ford had no say in the matter; production chaos ensued. Willow Run is an Albert Kahn-designed World War II bomber plant near Ypsilanti, Michigan. Ford Motor Company president Edsel Ford passed away on May 26, 1943. Construction on the Willow Run Bomber Plant began that spring and it soon became the largest factory under one roof in the world. you can see the two big hangar doors behind me. After the war, these residences served students attending the nearby University of Michigan on the G.I. This was largely because of Henry Ford. A technological marvel for a new age of aerial warfare, the B-24 was now obsolete. In 1972, the University spun off WRL into the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, which eventually left Willow Run for offices in Ann Arbor. Workers on the factory floor could purchase meals from lunch wagons that traveled the facility. The delivery of seven YB-24Ns by Ford in June 1945 marked the end of Liberator production at Willow Run.[3][42]. Paperwork was handled, necessary specific B-24 life support equipment was issued and some technical training for supporting the aircraft accomplished. Up to 8,000 students per week completed training and reported for work. Warren Avis, a decorated B-24 pilot in the 376th Bombardment Group, opened the nations first airport rental car service in the terminal and grew it into Avis Rent A Car Systems. They presented the plan to Consolidated President Reuben Fleet and George Mead, procurement director for the Advisory Council for National Defense, who countered with an offer to produce a thousand sets of wings. The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was taking over the long-range bombing role in the Pacific Theater and no new B-24 units were programmed for deployment in the other combat theaters of Europe, the Mediterranean or in the CBI. Sixty-seven feet long, the B-24 had 450,000 parts and 360,000 rivets in 550 sizes, and it weighed 18 tons. Media coverage hyped by Ford and military publicists wove extravagant tales of a mammoth industrial citadel where 100,000 dedicated workers would produce hundreds of Liberators each week to roar across the oceans and obliterate enemy sources and seats of power. Out of sheer necessity, Willow Runs 42,500-member Quirk Farms was purchased by automobile pioneer Henry Ford in 1931. Factory golf and bowling leagues provided additional opportunities for relaxation. At the request of the government, Ford began to decentralize operations and many parts were assembled at other Ford plants as well as by the company's sub-contractors, with the Willow Run plant concentrating on final aircraft assembly. It sat 35 miles west of Detroit, at a site without existing highway or streetcar connections. The massive plant turned out 8,645 Liberators vs. 9,808 manufactured by four factories of Consolidated, Douglas Aircraft, and North American Aviation. Those who stayed hunkered down in tarpaper shacks, tents, garages, and beat-up trailers and jalopies. Ford would eventually sell its land to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation's Defense Plant Corporation in July 1944, shortly after the Ford farms were transferred to the company's ownership. Part of the airport complex operated at various times as a research facility affiliated with the University of Michigan, and as a secondary United States Air Force Installation. After Ford declined to purchase the plant, it was sold to the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation, a partnership of construction and shipbuilding magnate Henry J. Kaiser and Graham-Paige executive Joseph W. Frazer. Women represented approximately one third of the workers at Ford Motor Company's Willow Run plant during World War II. Adjacent to the factory complex, Ford constructed a 1,484-acre airport with six runways and three aircraft hangars. "C-SPAN Cities Tour - Ann Arbor: Willow Run Bomber Plant", GM Powertrain plant and engineering center, Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, "Willow Run and the Arsenal of Democracy", "Willow Run Bomber Plant, Beginning Construction, 1940", "How Ford's Willow Run Assembly Plant Helped Win World War II", "Former GM Willow Run plant attracts $9 million offer from redevelopers", "Former GM Willow Run plant may be demolished", "Willow Run | Detroit Historical Society", "Do you have any information on Camp Legion and Camp Willow Run? Eighty years ago this month, workers began clearing land near a small creek in Ypsilanti Township to make way for the largest factory in the world, the Willow Run Bomber Plant. [21], Also in the Willow Run Village were the West Court[24] buildings, with peaked rooftops and space for couples or three adults. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Ford Motor Company built everything from jeeps to generators during World War II, but nothing else was on the scale of Willow Run. The automaker had . Willow Run stepped up outsourcing of parts production and subassemblies to almost 1,000 Ford factories and independent suppliers while focusing on building B-24s in more predictable designs that minimized shutdowns. The first section of an 850-acre airfield adjoining the plant opened three days prior to Pearl Harbor, signaling the Liberators primary war mission: long-range flights over Pacific waters to bomb networks of enemy-held islands stretching from Australia and Guadalcanal to the Japanese mainland some 3,000 miles distant. Years later, that stretch would become a section of I-94. The iconic Rosie the Riveter may seem to be simply a fiction from the past but she has a name - and an important history. High school graduates worked the line next to 70-year-olds. [36][37], While the planes were being serviced and made ready for overseas movement, personnel for these planes were also being processed. Apart from a new tail turret, the B-24M differed little from the B-24L. Blacks and other minorities were welcomed and so were immigrants. Four 1,200-hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines assembled by Buick Motor Division shook the earth as the newly minted war machines cast aloft on test flights. B-24 Liberators line the airfield at Willow Run Airport in this June 1945 photo. While . DETROIT -- The public will get the chance to visit the former Willow Run bomber plant in Ypsilanti Township, Mich., one last time Saturday before the factory is demolished. You must have JavaScript enabled to enjoy a limited number of articles over the next 30 days. With so many young men drafted into the armed forces, Willow Run's workforce was unusually diverse for its time: African Americans, whites, older people, younger men unable to serve in the military, and -- most notably -- women. The B-24H differed from earlier B-24s by having a second turret placed in the nose of the aircraft to increase defensive firepower. That was the schedule six days a week. Planes were assembled outdoors, exposed to a hot sun that distorted parts out of shape. Ford Motor would not only build the bombers, it would supply the airfield as well; the farm at Willow Run was an ideal location for the airfield's runways, being under the personal ownership of Henry Ford (thus solving any land acquisition problem) and sited between the main roads and rail lines connecting Detroit with Ann Arbor and points to the west. After nearly a year of work, the cost to keep the plant shuttered and standing is $7 million annually. Lewis, charged with dismantling the facility, has found it's taken more detective work than he thought to shut the plant down. With the pressures of wartime production schedules -- and the sense that victory itself depended on their efforts -- Willow Run's employees needed occasional relief from their burdens. The bomber plant produced its first B-24J in April 1944; 1587 were built at Willow Run. Use this Artifact Card to share this great find with others. The bugs were eventually worked out of the manufacturing processes, and by 1944, Ford was rolling a Liberator off the Willow Run production line every 63 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. AskUs", "Oral History Interview with John W. Snyder", "Ford May Convert Willow Run Into Huge Tractor Plant", "History of the original Willow Run Village", "They may save our honor, our hopesand our necks", AFHRA Document 00155775 1 Concentration Command History, AFHRA Document 00150138 AAFTC Technical Training Command, "Tucson International Airport's Historic Hangars", "History of the Willow Run Plant, Part 3", "Preservation group gets extension to raise money for historic Willow Run factory", "Willow Run bomber plant preservationists get more time to reach goal", "Yankee Air Museum signs deal for part of Willow Run Bomber Plant", "YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP: RACER Trust reaches demolition, development agreements for Willow Run plant", "Death of a factory: inside the Willow Run GM Powertrain plant for the last time", "Willow Run assembly plant demolition proceeding", "A Future NEW Home for the Yankee Air Museum", Detroit Edison Company Willis Avenue Station, Michigan Bell and Western Electric Warehouse, Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District, Frederic M. Sibley Lumber Company Office Building, List of Registered Historic Places in Michigan, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Willow_Run&oldid=1134554587, Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States, Motor vehicle assembly plants in Michigan, United States home front during World War II, Michigan State Historic Sites in Washtenaw County, Michigan, Defunct manufacturing companies based in Michigan, Articles with dead external links from September 2020, Short description is different from Wikidata, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, military draft each month 8,200 workers drafted into military service, school the Aircraft Apprentice School had up to 8,000 students per week completed training and reported for work, dimensions More than 3,200 feet long and 1,279 feet across at its widest point, subassemblies parts production and subassemblies at almost 1,000 Ford factories and independent suppliers, This page was last edited on 19 January 2023, at 07:10.
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