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PROJECT 19 "Secret" Documents


siege1863
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Here is an interesting little item. It was a "bonus" thrown in with a bunch of other letters I had purchased. At first glance it looks rather ordinary. However, when I made a search of the APO and the date, I realized it needed to be researched further. The APO was for Gura, Eritrea, in Africa. The date of cancellation and holiday message on the card are for December 1942. I wondered how the US Army had established an Army Post Office in this remote British sector being that we had only landed in North Africa the month previous. Here is what I found on Boeing's website:

 

 

PROJECT 19

 

During the Second World War, customer service took on an entirely new level of meaning -- as illustrated by the Douglas and Boeing machinists who took part in the top-secret mission referred to as "Project 19."

 

By the summer of 1941, the British were facing disaster in North Africa. German Field Marshall Rommel's armored divisions were besieging Tobruk, threatening to gain control of the Suez Canal. A battle-damaged Royal Air Force urgently needed a repair base in the region. Desperate for aid, Britain called upon America -- who, as yet, had not entered the war.

 

By Presidential directive, a secret meeting was convened with representatives of the nation's top planemakers. The upshot: a top-secret repair base, designated "Project 19," would be established at Gura in the Eritrean hills, 60 miles from the Red Sea port of Massawa. High on the mountain plateau lay an abandoned Italian airplane plant, complete with luxury barracks, well-equipped machine shops, and new hangars.

 

Recruitment and management were assigned to Douglas Aircraft. Under an oath of strictest secrecy, volunteers were drawn from the principal U.S. airplane manufacturing centers -- Seattle, the Midwest, and Southern California.

 

The Boeing and Douglas men who rode the first trucks from Massawa, winding up hundreds of curves to Gura, saw a mile-high desert valley that reminded Californians of the upper Mojave. They also saw a pitted airstrip, surrounded by a rubble of bombed-out barracks and shop buildings -- the remains of the Italian plant, blasted by Allied bombers months earlier.

 

Awaiting them was a field littered with ruined aircraft, along with crates of battered wings, fuselages, empennages, and engines. The Americans regarded them with dismay. Their task was to make these aircraft battleworthy. But how, they asked themselves. And with what tools? Bereft of even the barest necessities, they responded with the only resource available to them -- Yankee ingenuity.

 

Tools were improvised and salvaged from ship cargoes. Barrack walls and roofs were patched, bomb craters filled in. There were forests of propellers to be straightened, but no hydraulic press to do the job. The machinists contrived a simple vice to hold the bent props, then proceeded to unbend them manually with the longest available two-by-four.

 

They made a crude but accurate level steel table and a homemade protractor to check the pitch and curve of the blades. They improvised a balancing stand and pit. From junk steel, aluminum, and rubber, they built a working bench to test the flow of oil through pitch controls.

 

One day on the docks of Massawa, the Americans discovered a new German milling machine, crated and bound for Japan. With part of the group creating a suitable diversion, the milling machine was gleefully liberated, then trucked over the hills to Gura. As the days went by, proper machine tools arrived, one by one, to replace the original makeshifts.

 

Soon, the members of Project 19 were fixing every kind of American plane that limped or was hauled in from nearby North African fighting fronts. They serviced and assembled P-40s, C-47 Skytrains, C-54 Skymasters, B-24 Liberators, B-17 Flying Fortresses, Havocs, Hudsons, and a host of others. Those that couldn't be repaired were dismantled for spare parts.

 

On October 23, 1942, the third and final battle of El Alamein commenced with continuous attacks from RAF aircraft. Many of the Allied planes had been patched together by Project 19. By November 4, the Axis forces in the Western Desert were in full retreat. No fuel had succeeded in reaching Rommel's forces for six weeks. Air interdiction -- made possible by Project 19's field maintenance and repair -- had tipped the balance in the Allies favor.

 

On March 9, 1943, a group hanging around the wireless heard the news first: Rommel had abandoned North Africa. Soon after, in groups large and small, the exodus back to the U.S. began -- some by airplane, some aboard ship by way of Australia. One day in late 1943, a small group of machinists -- the last remnant of 2,500 civilians and 500 soldiers -- nailed the final crate, heaved it on the bed of the last truck, and rode the six-wheeler down the escarpment road to the Red Sea.

 

 

 

 

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Very cool! My grandfather had a friend from Boeing who was involved(my grandfather worked for Lockheed and was in charge of wing production for the P-38), so had heard from him about it but this is far more info than I have heard before. Excellent!

 

 

Gary

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That was a fantastic story. I live in Seattle area and often visit their air museum and next time I am in I will inquire about this story.

 

thanks,

 

pmshindy

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That was a fantastic story. I live in Seattle area and often visit their air museum and next time I am in I will inquire about this story.

 

thanks,

 

pmshindy

 

 

HEY...Have they got their B-17 back on display yet?

I was there a few years ago specifically to see the B-17 and it was in the repair shop.

That is one KILLER museum and worth another trip to see it.

Cheers

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HEY...Have they got their B-17 back on display yet?

I was there a few years ago specifically to see the B-17 and it was in the repair shop.

That is one KILLER museum and worth another trip to see it.

Cheers

 

Alonzo,

 

The 17 was on loan and is not here at the present time. It usually shows up for the summer. I did get to ride in one and a B-25 last summer on their tour in the Seattle area.

Their is a new wing added to the museum, a WWI and WWII with lots of new plans and artifacts. Great place to visit.

 

Do enjoy next time through.

 

pmshindy

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  • 1 year later...

Here is a contract and insurance policy for a man hired by Douglas Aircraft Company to work at the secret repair plant in Gura, Eritrea, in Africa. The employment agreement covers such subjects as type of work, salary, transportation, death benefits, compensation in the event of capture, and safeguarding secrecy of the project.

 

Some history on the project...

 

PROJECT 19

 

During the Second World War, customer service took on an entirely new level of meaning -- as illustrated by the Douglas and Boeing machinists who took part in the top-secret mission referred to as "Project 19."

 

By the summer of 1941, the British were facing disaster in North Africa. German Field Marshall Rommel's armored divisions were besieging Tobruk, threatening to gain control of the Suez Canal. A battle-damaged Royal Air Force urgently needed a repair base in the region. Desperate for aid, Britain called upon America -- who, as yet, had not entered the war.

 

By Presidential directive, a secret meeting was convened with representatives of the nation's top planemakers. The upshot: a top-secret repair base, designated "Project 19," would be established at Gura in the Eritrean hills, 60 miles from the Red Sea port of Massawa. High on the mountain plateau lay an abandoned Italian airplane plant, complete with luxury barracks, well-equipped machine shops, and new hangars.

 

Recruitment and management were assigned to Douglas Aircraft. Under an oath of strictest secrecy, volunteers were drawn from the principal U.S. airplane manufacturing centers -- Seattle, the Midwest, and Southern California.

 

The Boeing and Douglas men who rode the first trucks from Massawa, winding up hundreds of curves to Gura, saw a mile-high desert valley that reminded Californians of the upper Mojave. They also saw a pitted airstrip, surrounded by a rubble of bombed-out barracks and shop buildings -- the remains of the Italian plant, blasted by Allied bombers months earlier.

 

Awaiting them was a field littered with ruined aircraft, along with crates of battered wings, fuselages, empennages, and engines. The Americans regarded them with dismay. Their task was to make these aircraft battleworthy.

 

Soon, the members of Project 19 were fixing every kind of American plane that limped or was hauled in from nearby North African fighting fronts. They serviced and assembled P-40s, C-47 Skytrains, C-54 Skymasters, B-24 Liberators, B-17 Flying Fortresses, Havocs, Hudsons, and a host of others. Those that couldn't be repaired were dismantled for spare parts.

 

On October 23, 1942, the third and final battle of El Alamein commenced with continuous attacks from RAF aircraft. Many of the Allied planes had been patched together by Project 19. By November 4, the Axis forces in the Western Desert were in full retreat. No fuel had succeeded in reaching Rommel's forces for six weeks. Air interdiction -- made possible by Project 19's field maintenance and repair -- had tipped the balance in the Allies favor.

 

On March 9, 1943, a group hanging around the wireless heard the news first: Rommel had abandoned North Africa. Soon after, in groups large and small, the exodus back to the U.S. began -- some by airplane, some aboard ship by way of Australia. By late 1943, the last employees left Gura.

 

 

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post-211-1248748032.jpg

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The Meatcan

that is a fascinating episode of WW2 I've never heard of! Really interesting - thanks for posting not only the background story but the nifty documents as well :thumbsup:

Terry

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Sgt. Boghots

I read it all with great interest !!

 

Thanks for posting the information and documents.

 

Best regards,

Paul

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  • 5 years later...

Service pin and badge presented to Douglas Aircraft Employees who served at Gura and other locations in the middle east.

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  • 3 years later...

Received my signed first copy of the book Project 19: A Mission most secret. Even before beginning to read it, I flipped through the photos. Chapter 15, photos 15-5 and 15-6.....My Dad is in both. My Dad is smack dab in the middle of the picture of the group. 1st row, 5th from the left. Also in next picture...the guy in the dark plaid shirt leaning over what I suspect is an engine or part of an engine. I have Dad's certificate from Douglas Aircraft for his service on Project 19, along with the paperweight/emblem that documents the effort. Was thrilled to see a copy of the same certificate in the book (for the project photographer....not for Dad), references to the emblem and pics of my Dad! I have tons of pictures from his time on Project 19...Dad in front of one of the P-51 Mustangs and one of him in the cockpit of same plane. He was a pilot, and also an engineer...worked for Allison for years and years, and also worked on Bell helicopters. It is also interesting that many of the same guys that we have photos of with Dad.... are in the pictures in the book. Can't wait to start reading.Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image

 

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

 

 

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  • 5 years later...
Salvage Sailor

USS CHATEAU THIERRY (ex-USAT CHATEAU THIERRY)

 

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In service 1921-1944, shown after her return to the states from her secret Project 19 mission to East Africa

Benjamin Watkins Cloud commanding

 

American sculptor Lawrence Tenney Stevens, (1896-1972) Volunteered for WWI service (Pvt. Lawrence T. Stevens, 469698. 11th Company, Coast Artillery Corps, A.E.F., shipped over on 7/15/1918 as a Chauffeur in the training detachment). He was quite a patriotic yet an independent, private individual despite his international awards and fame in the 1920's and 30's.

 

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Many of his largest bronze sculptures in public parks and spaces he had melted down for the war effort and then again volunteered for the secret mission Project 19 sent to support the British and Commonwealth forces in North Africa, 1941.

 

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"Commemorating the voyage of Douglas Foreign Project 19 on the man of war U.S.S. CHATEAU THIERRY Departed Charleston South Carolina May 28, 1942 arriving Massaua Africa July 22, 1942 Dedicated to Captain Benjamin Watkins Cloud and his crew"  The plaque is signed by Lawrence Tenney Stevens, Sculptor and is made by medalic art co. N.Y. (stamped) Bronze.

 

This is a bronze commemorative plaque made by Stevens for his fellow members of the Project 19 mission to Eritrea. It is made by Medallic Art co., a foundry which Stevens had knowledge of being a bronze sculptor and client.

 

The plaque itself is a highly detailed piece & is the work of a master American sculptor/artist. Depicted upon the face are the land masses of the SE US coastline, Eastern South America & Africa. There is a spouting whale, seagull, four porpoise, and posideon with his trident. The central figure is a raised profile of Captain Cloud in his naval uniform, above the CHATEAU THIERRY in heavy seas, flanked by the US & UK standards. The uniform, ship & other objects are extremely accurate in period detail.

 

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Lawrence Tenney Stevens, a prominent sculptor, was a WWI veteran who volunteered for & was a member of "Foreign Project 19" during the early days of WWII. This project was a neutrality circumventing secret initiative sanctioned by FDR to send Douglas aircraft civilian employees to the recently liberated Italian territories of Eritrea & Ethiopia.

 

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This program was initiated prior to the Pearl Harbor attack and the intention was to assemble new lend-Lease aircraft and also service battle damaged British aircraft. By the time the civilian volunteers were assembled and dispatched to Africa, the US had become an ally of Britain, but Project 19 sailed to Massawa regardless as the British & Commonwealth forces were fighting for their lives in the Western Desert against the Afrika Korps. Africa hung in the balance during this period (prior to El Alamein) and Egypt was in grave danger of falling to the Axis.

 

The ship was an Army Troop Transport, commissioned into Navy service from 1941 to 1943. After the Sicily landings, she was returned to the Army and converted into a Hospital Ship.

 

What is not in her public records on DANFS & elsewhere are her covert missions. In 1941 (under CDR, later ADM, J.K. Davis) she delivered civilian & USAAF personnel to Greenland & Iceland to set up secret bases for an air bridge to Ireland & the UK.

 

Captain Cloud was her second USN commander, and he brought the secret Douglas Foreign Project 19 to Africa in 1942.

 

Stevens put his foundry skills to use working in Eritrea fabricating parts for damaged aircraft at Gura, Eritrea alongside of 3,000 American volunteer civilians working for Douglas Aircraft supporting the RAF (Desert Air Force) and the USAAF.

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  • 6 months later...
Salvage Sailor

 

On 8/24/2017 at 3:01 PM, ndredbud70 said:

Received my signed first copy of the book Project 19: A Mission most secret. Even before beginning to read it, I flipped through the photos. Chapter 15, photos 15-5 and 15-6.....My Dad is in both. My Dad is smack dab in the middle of the picture of the group. 1st row, 5th from the left. Also in next picture...the guy in the dark plaid shirt leaning over what I suspect is an engine or part of an engine. I have Dad's certificate from Douglas Aircraft for his service on Project 19, along with the paperweight/emblem that documents the effort. Was thrilled to see a copy of the same certificate in the book (for the project photographer....not for Dad), references to the emblem and pics of my Dad! I have tons of pictures from his time on Project 19...Dad in front of one of the P-51 Mustangs and one of him in the cockpit of same plane. He was a pilot, and also an engineer...worked for Allison for years and years, and also worked on Bell helicopters. It is also interesting that many of the same guys that we have photos of with Dad.... are in the pictures in the book. Can't wait to start reading.Posted Image

 

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

Your 'paperweight' is actually a commemorative medallion also crafted by the American sculptor and Project 19 veteran Lawrence Tenney Stevens in 1942 and cast by Medallic Art, N.Y.

 

U.S.A.T. Monterey Medal
Lawrence Tenney Stevens
Washington, DC
Stevens, Lawrence Tenney 3-inch; no dieshells recorded
1945

Screenshot2024-01-30143830.png.7f5dee56fd124e3877b846fcf0bb8123.png

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