ASME - Milwaukee Section November Presentation - When Milwaukee Went To War: On The Homefront During WWII

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This November, the ASME Milwaukee Section is happy to host a presentation by our resident historian, Tom Fehring, entitled "When Milwaukee Went To War: On The Homefront During WWII."  

Prior to the Japanese attack upon the Navy base in Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941), the United States had allowed its military arsenal to deteriorate. Counting on distance and a policy of neutrality, the country did not believe it was necessary to fund its munition industry. As one example, the United States had fewer than 1,300 combat airplanes—most of which were technologically obsolete. 

However, when Germany invaded Poland, president Franklin Roosevelt announced plans to produce 50,000 planes a year, Hitler scoffed, “What is America but beauty queens, millionaires, stupid records, and Hollywood?” He was to find out.

Roosevelt told the American people that he was going to ask private industry to help and intended to tap key men in American business. On May 28, 1940, he invited Bill Knudsen, Chief Executive Officer of General Motors to Washington. Almost immediately, Knudsen left his job and signed up as the first ‘dollar-a-year’ man to head up the newly formed National Defense Advisory Commission. Knudsen got to work and invited a number of other manufacturing executives to join him.

Milwaukee industry was on the forefront of this military build-up. Military orders began pouring in, as the United States and other countries sought goods from Milwaukee industries. Over $175 million in military contracts were received by Milwaukee-area industry prior to the Japanese attack.[1] This was particularly true for Allis-Chalmers, A.O. Smith and Bucyrus-Erie. Allis-Chalmers received orders for steam-turbines for destroyers, baby flat-top escort carriers and ‘Victory Ships.’

Allis-Chalmers began work on new factories to produce turbo-supercharges for high-altitude bombers and to expand its steam-turbine production. The company produced over 100,000 superchargers during the war, totaling over 16-million horsepower. Superchargers allowed aircraft engines to operate efficiently at high altitudes (20-30,000 feet), where the air density is lower and where they were less vulnerable to enemy fire. Superchargers effectively increase the mass of air that can be drawn into the engine.  Allis-Chalmers also manufactured critical assemblies that were employed in the top-secret ‘Manhattan Project’ for the electromagnetic enrichment of uranium. It also built the compressors used to handle uranium hexafluoride used in the gaseous diffusion process. Both processes were used to separate the fissionable U-235 from U-238 to produce the atomic bomb.   

Tom Fehring is an engineer by training and practice, having worked at ‘keeping the lights on’ at Wisconsin Energy Corporation and its various subsidiaries. Earlier in his career, he also worked for a time at Falk Corporation, Briggs & Stratton and Ford Motor Company. He was born and grew up in Milwaukee in the shadows of the A.O. Smith factory. Tom attended Marquette University and attained bachelor and master's degrees in Mechanical Engineering. Tom's foray into industrial history began 40 years ago and escalated following his retirement when he was appointed to the history and heritage committee of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has also been involved with community history, serving on the Whitefish Bay Historic Preservation Commission and publishing four books on the Village’s history. Tom is also a ‘Life Member’ and a ‘Fellow’ of ASME and a member (and past chair) of its History and Heritage Committee.  His research into Milwaukee's early industrial companies, and their innovations, resulted in his books, “The Magnificent Machines of Milwaukee." and "When Milwaukee Went to War."

[1] Richard L Pifer, A City at War: Milwaukee Labor During WWII, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2003, pg. 11.