The American Automobile Industry in World War Two

An American Auto Industry Heritage Tribute

By David D Jackson
Overview 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 WWII Surviving Landing Craft Photos

Automobile Manufacturers: American Bantam Car Company Checker Chrysler Crosley Ford General Motors Graham-Paige Hudson
Nash-Kelvinator Packard Motor Car Company Studebaker Willys-Overland

General Motors Divisions (Undergoing development): 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 United Motors Service Vauxhall Motors

Other World War Two Manufacturers: Allis-Chalmers American Locomotive American LaFrance Autocar B.F. Goodrich Baldwin Locomotive
Works Brockway Motor Company Caterpillar Chris-Craft Clark Equipment Company Cleveland Tractor Company Cummins Engine
Company Cushman Motor Works Diamond T Federal Motor Truck Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Harley-Davidson Higgins
Industries Indian Motorcycle International Harvester John Deere Mack Truck Marmon-Herrington Company Massey-Harris Pacific Car and
Foundry Reo Motor Car Company R.G. LeTourneau Seagrave Fire Apparatus Sterling Motor Truck Company Ward LaFrance Truck
Corporation White Motor Company

Updates and Additions Links

Producing More for Victory Progress in Technology Toward Victory

General Motors Corporation in World War Two / WWII

Detroit, MI
1908-Current

"One Million Browning Machine Guns -

A Chapter in the History of General Motors War Production"
This page added 2-19-2015.

This November 1944 pamphlet published by the General Motors Corporation tells the story of how four GM component divisions, AC Sparkplug, Frigidaire,
Brown-Lipe-Chapin and Saginaw Steering Gear worked together as a team to produce between 1941 and October 1944, a combined total of one million
Browning machine guns. Included in this total were .50 cal M2 aircraft, .50 cal. M2 heavy barrel flexible and .30 cal. M1919 A4, A6 and M2 types.

Providing parts and raw material for the one million weapons were four other GM Divisions; Detroit Transmission, Guide-Lamp, Moraine Products and
Saginaw Malleable Iron.

The thirty-four page document below gives an excellent look of how General Motors met the challenge to supply the US military with needed machine guns.
Towards the end of the 34 pages are photos of the applications and uses for Browning machine guns, which were used on land vehicles, small ships and
boats and for all Army and Navy aircraft.

AC Sparkplug, Frigidaire, Brown-Lipe-Chapin and Saginaw Steering Gear all won the coveted Army-Navy "E for Excellence" award for their production of the
Browning machine gun. A fine job indeed by these Divisions.

Production of the machine guns did not stop at the four divisions in 1944. They went on to produce another 218,837 Brownings before the contracts were
terminated at the end of the war.
General Motors received an "educational order" for 500 .30 caliber Browning machine guns on May 29, 1940, which was one of the first or the first of such
type orders placed with the auto industry prior to WWII.
 In September of 1940 the War Department placed a production order with the Corporation for 71,225 Browning machine guns, which was then divided up
among the four assigned divisions. Saginaw Steering Gear was assigned to produce 20,005 .30 caliber M1919A4 and A6 models, Brown-Lipe-Chapin 9,097
.30 M2 fixed aircraft types, Frigidaire 19,998 .50 caliber M2 aircraft fixed models and AC Spark Plug was tasked with building 14,741 and 7,385 heavy barrel
M2 .50 machine guns. Four years later the four divisions had produced one million of the weapons.
GM of Canada had also produced 20,000 Browning machine guns for the war effort.
 Here is a Dodge WC-6/7 or similar type 3/4 ton WC vehicle is being unloaded from the Landing Craft, Mechanized (LCM). This is a rare photo in that one
does not usually see the WC Type Reconnaissance cars mounted with a .50 caliber Browning. The LCM was powered by two Gray/Detroit Diesel engines.
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