| Show 0 1 7 they beat Plow plowshares into I 1 swords wor workers ers in a farm implement I 1 factory are turning out one afore of greatest adest fighting machines Ma hines of the war by ELMO SCOTT WATSON Ree aed by western newspaper paper union WHEN HEN the completed his tory of our struggle with japan finally is written considerable sid erable attention should be given the story gidry of how an agricultural implement parts nia manufacturer I 1 w whose h 9 s e products I 1 are used every day in every rural section of america developed one of the most spectacular V ecta cular fighter vehicles of the war the company is ingersoll steel steela disc division af 0 borg warner warnar r corporation po ration the war weapon its engineers designed designe dand and that one of its factories manufactures Is the beach buster 3 the very latest development ent in amphibian invasion tanks the beach buster made its combat I 1 debut at okinawa its performance M met with favor from high navy and marine marina officers so much so that space in the history books of the future might as well be reserved now so its story ma may y be told to the japs the amphibian tanks that have equipped our invasion forces the 1 the 2 I 1 the 4 and now the beach buster have pr proved oveda a lethal headache so while the record of their wartime usefulness cannot be completed until final victory a side lighton their development ind and manufacture la Is in order now it is a recital of which every american and particularly every farmer can be proud As ai early as 1933 the problem of designing an amphibian tractor ca pable of taking relief deep into In t the mangrove swamps i of the e florida everglades was vas assigned to donald no hoebling ebling a y earl ear around resident of clearwater by his ls father young roebling sprang from a line of inventors his grandfather col washington roebling being the designer of the famous brooklyn arld bridge and he hb and his father had see seen nand with their own eyes the devastation f human misery and helplessness that had been lift left in the wake of the 1033 florida hurricane roebling knew that only a vehicle that operated operate dj equally well on land and water could do thio the job that was needed for six years he experimented at clearwater with models ile ha designed and tested hulls and tractor treads power plants and ge gear ar ratios and finally the first roebling amphibian the thelva 1 or Ani gator rolled from his machine shop at clearwater that vehicle later was demonstrated I 1 to the navy oil off the virginia coast at a time when our military forces were occupied in peacetime I 1 war maneuvers man euvera british military of delate oyed eyed the performance of bf the 1 with koell keen int interest erest tor for they were already aawar at war i earby jearly in the tha falloon tall of 1941 C S davis nt and roy cinger C inger soil sell vice president of borg warner were mere called by the navy to washing ton i they agreed to study design and suggest improvements ants of the Ito ebling amphibian tank foremen fo tor even then wo we were close to war the rosul lot that agreement was typically american not a marine marina expert but bt arr an automotive engineer deal ben A Swe iines was charged with I 1 responsibility in tho job henegan he began experiments and design inthe in the borg warned laboratories at rockford III an ingersoll factory at kala mazoo alch contracted to build 50 60 I 1 of the alligators forthe for tho navy and folks along historic rock bock river which winds through downtown noc rockford kford began to stay awake nights because of that fellow won strange goings on ont I 1 while sap was applying automotive principles to a seagoing sea going job find and as am he be himself now admits incorporating corp orating unorthodox designs design that 1 r t y V www I 1 I 1 y Y A axy r aur w 1 I f affa Aff 1 y w wr Y WW 1 g K 1 1 N l fl 1 J 1 1 14 r az ia 1 i ty e 1 Z 11 ll i e ah 1 i l 1 g abt M g g i f J i i j I 1 r I 1 rt M i i 1 I 1 3 1 I 4 IDI t V 11 i 11 I 1 1 I 1 aw i V i I 1 11 1 1 I 1 f lev fx 41 kl alil 1 1 1 f Z 41 4 at 1 1 1 1 ja I 1 e t N 1 J g j 1 I 1 Z I 1 f 1 I 1 1 jjr qa f C va 1 I 1 1 ii I 1 1 i za 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 4 I 1 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 11 A 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 1 I 1 ia V I 1 1 l 1 1 f 1 5 1 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 I 1 I 1 A 1 I 1 41 al L 1 P it slitting the beach at okinawa these united states marines are unloading machine guns and equipment from a beach duster buster no marine engineer would waste ame with the ingersoll company began ind and completed its first am track contract meanwhile such agricultural ag r ae u I 1 t u r al necessities as heat treated spring teeth for or harrows cultivators tiva tors beeders and rakes continued in production later ingersoll received a 4 contract to manufacture the 2 on a design supplied by the navy hundreds of as were manufactured before the often a accelerated contract was completed ahead of schedule meanwhile had put together an amphibian tank that today as the beach buster Is reputed to incorporates Incorporate a greater amount of automotive design than any marine craft that floats floal it worked but bafo before re it was presented to the navys bureau of oU 1 ships watching testa tn in florida Ip lorida was seized with an inspiration 1 returning hurriedly to rockford he worked for 48 uninterrupted hours emerging with the design for a ramp gate which can be raised and lowered at the rear of the am track this single feature is credited with saving hundreds of lives using it our invasion forces unload men equipment ammunition or supplies while facing the enemy an entire tank load of materiel may be yanked out jia matter of moments the importance of this Is more fully realized when it is known that the beach buster easily handles pounds of cargo or 50 men fully equipped danger Dan gerlof of stalling in the face of the enemy Is avoided by the tanks hy dramatic transmission which feels tor for the beach shifting automatically mati cally calli to the required gear ratio without attention from the driver as soon as the tracks on which aruns it runs encounter any obstacle 1 numerous battle reports have hae come babit to Kalamazoo to the men and women who make the am tracks of the prowess of their product tough landings they have made easier almost impossible landings landing st I 1 like tarawa carawa saifan and most recently iwo alma they have made mada possible rear adm C H woodward iward told them last march when the navy returned tor for permanent exa exhibit the pilot model B amphibian tank that had designed at rockford Rock tord I 1 other facts acts idere were revealed by admiral woodward tarawa carawa proved the absolutely indispensable bior successful amphibious attack that at saifan the were stars of the show sliding over reef hitting the beach with juns guns blazing plowing through the jungle y and 1 most agniz amazing that made a surprise mile sweep wel ain tn a flanking movement ar around ond the tha southern horn born of leyte I 1 MN 1 T q R ml W X 1 I 1 1 I 1 M N I 1 I 1 I 1 1 ingvi IN iVI 1 I 7 V t A V 31 ansi k M W 40 V 1 4 N 1 ft 1 I I 1 of na X 11 1 1 4 4 I 1 S ag 1 t I 1 L lk 11 X I 1 I 1 I 1 11 I 1 I 1 w ap A T 1 11 1 11 1 I 1 40 4 AA i 4 I 1 I 1 1 I I 1 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 f 1 11 I 1 I 1 41 I 1 j i I 1 I 1 I 1 1 II 1 1 1 I japs eye I 1 view of a beach buster as it roars ashore in pi landing attack from iwo jima maj gen keller E rockey commanding the fifth marine division wrote to his friend roland D doane ingersoll sales manager naturally the tall tail gate gata jobs were much more useful ball but all of them really saved our bacon in tho the early days of the show because they were the only vehicle that could negotiate the sand hills leading from the waters edge to the fighting zone so the carried the beans and bullets directly from the ships to the front line units and carried the wounded on the return trip and they did this tor ford some five or six days before we could get our motor metor transportation running such reports heartened the ingersoll workers put production schedules were upped J again and again in the fall of 19 1944 44 additional employees vere sorely needed and ingersoll officials tried a novel experiment into such typical rural ma michigan I 1 communities as paw paw augusta vicksburg schoolcraft decatur and lawton 10 towns all told within a 30 20 mile radius of kalamazoo moved a caravan in whose success tibe hie american people had a stake the caravan was fashioned around a newly completed beach buster accompanying it were navy navy veterans including a navy nurse just jus i I 1 home borne from battle duties the vets told their stories and follow up lip crews received job applications the next day from those who wanted to join ingersoll many were farmers who had harvested their crops the caravan idea raws rates as the spearhead that helped beach buster employment rise at Inger from a peacetime to moye more than 1 1800 8 00 i persons I 1 national recognition of tion record of these workers followed last march 26 20 when vox pop broadcast its regular weekly pio pro grem from kalamazoo pala mazoo plant employees employee i it come came again on may 21 when tho the army navy E was awarded the borg warner factory ingersoll inaugurated another novelty aty with free rides on the amphibians asa as a reward to workers for superior attendance records the practice interfered not at all with routine as all tanks are battle test ed on land and one in every 50 a tested on water 1 1 ter before they are ara placed in pairs on flat cars a and nd started westward fron from kalamazoo 1 with the help of navy engineers constant tests are being conducted on the aro am tracks and refined refinement antl that are indicated by battle performance per lOrM added the headquarters of ben has been moved to td kalamazoo and the results ot of his te search are proved dally on lake land and in swamp coordinator co of all Ws this activity Is R S 1 VB bob ob ingersoll son of roy and grandson of the late 5 A ingersoll ger soll founder of the company his hl aly two 0 uncles harold G and St stephen epher L inge ingersoll are directors of bf the borg warner organization harold manages the Ingeri ingersoll oll plant at new castle ind stephen L established the west pullman works in 1829 1929 when the emergency of world war 11 II arose tour four ingersoll plants at chicago Xhi chicago cago heights now new castle ind and kalamazoo mich were in operation those nose who knew him film say that ba had d S A ingersoll been alive to participate hi he would lave have found abiding satisfaction in the promptness with wl th which all four were converted from producing ng implements of peace to instruments of war for here truly is a company that has beaten plowshares into swords |
