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  • 3 weeks later...

Here is a nice greenback for Bell Air Craft. A hard one to find!

 

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During World War II, Bell also built heavy bombers under license from other aircraft companies at a factory near Marietta, Georgia, just northwest of Atlanta. Online by mid-1943, the new plant produced hundreds of Consolidated B-24 Liberators and Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers. In mid-1944, the production of the B-24 was consolidated from several different companies (including some in Texas) to two large factories: the Consolidated Aircraft Company in San Diego and the Ford Motor Company's spawling factory in Willow Run, near Detroit, Michigan, which had been specially designed to produce B-24s. For the rest of the war, Bell's Marietta plant, under the management of James V. Carmichael concentrated on producing B-29s, producing 668 of them by the time contract expired in the fall of 1945. Bell ranked 25th among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts

 

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  • 1 month later...

Erie Proving Ground

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Proving_Ground

 

Erie Proving Ground is a decommissioned United States Army facility. Originally a camp to train gunners, the facility's foundation was due to the Spanish–American War's lack of skilled riflemen.[1] The facility was located in Ottawa County, Ohio. The facility was established in 1918 originally as Camp Perry Proving Ground. The facility was at various times named Erie Ordnance Depot and Erie Army Depot. During World War II over 5,000 people ended up being employed there.[2] The employed people were testing various weapon systems, armor, and such during World War II.[3] During peacetime it served as a storage, maintenance, and repair facility.[4] Erie Proving Ground closed in January 1967.[5]

 

The former Erie Army Depot is a formerly used defense site located in Carroll Township, Ottawa County, Ohio.

The former Erie Army Depot (EAD) was an artillery and air-defense artillery proving ground facility from 1918 to 1965. Plans for closure of EAD began in 1965 with final base closure in 1967. In 1967, the property ownership was transferred to the Community Improvement Corporation of Ottawa County and has since been subdivided and transferred to several private parties. The former EAD lake impact area that is adjacent to EAD is an active munitions impact area in Lake Erie used by the National Guard facility and private industry.

Congress established the Defense Environmental Restoration Program/Formerly Used Defense Site (DERP/FUDS) program to clean up properties that were under the jurisdiction of the Secretary and owned, leased, or possessed by the United States and transferred from Department of Defense (DoD) control prior to Oct. 17, 1986. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) manages the FUDS program.

 

 

https://ottawacountyhistory.org/central-east

 

 

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Here is an all blue AMP patch. WWII period, merrowed edge. Nice variation....not sure if I have seen more than 2-3 of these over the years.

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
ocsfollowme

There are two variations on this and I was able to add this one to my collection today.

 

Lodwick School of Aeronautics.

 

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodwick_Field

 

 

http://lakelandpubliclibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15809coll53

 

In 1940, aviation executive Albert Lodwick purchased an interest in the Lincoln (NE) Flying School and moved its operations from Lincoln, Nebraska to Lakeland, Florida. He renamed the school the Lakeland School of Aeronautics, later the Lodwick School of Aeronautics, and established its headquarters at the Lakeland Municipal Airport. A year later he established the Lodwick Aviation Military Academy in nearby Avon Park, Florida. Both schools were civilian operations under contract to the Army to provide primary flight training to army air force cadets.

The Lodwick Aviation Military Academy closed in at the end of October 1944 and the Lodwick School of Aeronautics closed in August 1945. More than 5000 flight cadets entered the Lodwick Aviation Military Academy and 3400 graduated. More than 8000 cadets entered the Lodwick School of Aeronautics, with just over 6000 successfully completing the training. Of those, 1,327 were British Royal Air Force cadets who received training at the Lodwick School of Aeronautics in 1941 and 1942.

In their spare time, of which they had little, cadets at both schools produced yearbooks and newspapers, of which a very few survived. This collection includes four “yearbooks” from the Lodwick School of Aeronautics and two from the Lodwick Aviation Military Academy, as well as a few “newspapers” from the Lodwick School of Aeronautics published in 1944 and 1945. The yearbooks list the members of each class, their hometown, and the college they attended, if any. The first yearbook published at the Lodwick School of Aeronautics was entitled Propwash, with subsequent issues of the yearbooks and the newspaper entitled Solo Land.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
ocsfollowme

Somerville, NY Quartermaster Sub Depot AMP Auxiliary Military Police patch

 

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Text below is from https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/somerville.htm

 

 

Sommerville Depot
152 U.S. Highway 206 South
Sommerville, NJ 08876-4135

The Somerville Depot is currently owned by the Federal Government and operated by the Department of Defense (DoD), Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). The Somerville Depot is operated under the National Stockpile Program for the purpose of storing metallurgical ores and other materials necessary for manufacturing defense materials or strategic materials used in national defense.

The Somerville Depot consists of approximately 77 acres of land owned by the federal government. There are 28 different types of materials stored at the Depot,including chrome ore, lead, tin, copper, zinc, nickel, graphite, rubber, and mercury. The Somerville Depot stores 2,615 metric tons (2,883 tons)of mercury in 75,980 flasks.The entrance to the Depot is controlled by security guards and a seven-foot high fence.

The Somerville Depot is located on the west side of Route 206, approximately 2.5 miles south of Somerville, New Jersey. The geographic coordinates are approximately 40° 32' 15" north latitude and 74° 38' 00" west longitude. The entrance to the Depot is through Veterans Administration property on the western side of Route 206, approximately two and one half miles (4.0 km) south of Somerville, New Jersey. The Depot can be reached by following Interstate 287 to the Route 206 exit, and by following Route 206 South to the main Depot entrance west of the highway. Entrance is through the main gate through the portion of the former Depot which is owned by the Veterans Administration (VA). The current Depot is located approximately 0.75 miles west of the main gate.

Warehouse storage at the Depot consists of four ground-level concrete-block buildings with open steel roof supports, with an aggregate indoor storage capacity of approximately 800,000 square feet. A small vault with an indoor storage capacity of approximately 5,625 square feet is also present. Outdoor open storage areas cover approximately 455,000 square feet. The facility also includes the following support buildings: administration building, maintenance building, decontamination trailer, pump house, scale house, switch gear house, and vault.

The Depot was originally constructed in 1942 and 1943 as an Army Quartermaster Depot and prisoner of war camp. In 1947, the VA acquired 355 acres for use as a supply depot. The VA currently occupies approximately 165 acres to the east of the Sommerville Depot. The Somerville Depot occupies 76.87 acres. The remaining acreage has been excessed to the U.S. Postal Service (to the southwest), Somerset County, and Hillsborough County.

Somerville Depot is a Defense National Stockpile Center (DNSC) facility. DNSC was created after World War II with a mission of acquiring and storing strategic and critical materials for national defense purposes. The stockpile of materials was intended to decrease dependence upon foreign sources of supply in the event of national emergency. Now that the Cold War has ended, the Congress of the United States has directed DNSC to sell excess materials. The revenues generated from these sales are being used to support military operation, reduce the deficit, and fund DNSC operations. By 2020, most - if not all - DNSC depots will be closed or converted to other uses.

The Somerville Depot consists of approximately 77 acres of land. The depot stores various materials, including metallic ores, refined metals, mineral substances, and natural organic materials. Ores are stored in both exterior bulk piles and within various containers at exterior and interior storage locations. Containerized materials are stored in four warehouses.

The depot property is owned by the General Services Administration (GSA), who is the landlord of virtually all Department of Defense (DoD) property not located on a DoD installation. The depot was originally constructed in 1942 and 1943 as an Army Quartermaster Depot and prisoner of war camp. The depot is operated by 17 employees with additional round-the-clock armed security.

The current Depot property is situated in the western portion of the original 355-acre Depot. The adjacent land to the east is part of the original depot now being used by the Veterans Administration. To the north is the Duke Estate, a tract of approximately 3,000 acres which is largely undeveloped, and a parcel which was once part of the Depot and is currently being used as a firing range. To the west, land use reflects a mixture of residences and commercial businesses along Roycefield Road. Land use to the south is primarily residential, with some commercial businesses. A park and recreational area is also present on land to the southeast which was formerly part of the VA Depot.

Security at the facility is provided by a seven-foot chain-link fence surrounding the current Depot property, VA Depot, and US Postal Service (USPS) facility, and by contracted security personnel. There are six entrance gates and two railroad entrances which are kept locked when not in use. The main gate is open but controlled during working hours. Buildings are kept locked.

The Depot has a septic system which flows to a leach field on the adjacent USPS property. Storm water is discharged through four outfalls to tributaries of either Royce Brook to the south or Dukes Brook to the north. Potable water is obtained through a public water utility, the Elizabethtown Water Company. Fire protection water is available from a 2,000,000-gallon reservoir on-site. This reservoir is supplied by a well located on the adjacent VA property.

In the early 1940s, the land on which the current Depot is located was purchased from Doris Duke, and construction of the Jersey City Sub-Quartermaster Depot began. The area was used for supplying the U.S. military with food, clothing, etc. during World War II. A prisoner of war (POW) compound was also located on-site during this time period. Following the war, the property was taken over by the VA for use as a supply depot. Additional land leased from the Duke Estate brought the area under control by the VA to approximately 355 acres. In March 1952, just over 165 acres were transferred to the GSA for use as a depot. Excessed property since 1952 has reduced the area under control of the GSA to 76.87 acres. This excessed property has been transferred to the US Postal Service (for use as a warehousing facility), and to Somerset County (a portion of this land is being used as a firing range). Additional land from the original VA depot was transferred to Hillsborough Township under the Green Acres program for development of a park.

The strategic materials at the Somerville Depot are currently stored both outdoors and inside the warehouses. Materials stored outdoors are in drums or in piles, either on concrete pads, asphalt, or on a crushed, compacted stone surface. Other materials are stored in warehouses in drums, boxes, bags, etc. The warehouses are single story concrete block construction with concrete floors. They are protected by dry pipe sprinkler systems, and are kept locked and sealed unless required to be open for use. All commodities in the warehouses are arranged neatly with several feet of aisle space between pallets. As of March 31, 1998, the warehouses were used to store drums and other containers of the following materials: antimony, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, cobalt, iodine, mercury, mica, quartz, rubber, tannin, titanium sponge, tungsten, ferrochrome, graphite, columbium carb, ferrocolumbium, ferrotungsten, talc, tantalum, and asbestos. Additional storage of germanium, indium, jewel bearings, quinidine, and quinine was provided in the vault. As of March 31, 1998, approximately 496,470 square feet of warehouse and vault space were occupied. In the outside open storage area, lead, nickel cathodes, chromite ore, ferrochrome, bauxite, aluminum oxide, manganese ore, and zinc were stored on compacted stone and asphalt and concrete pads (Reference 8). The occupied square footage in the open storage areas was approximately 270,720 square feet as of March 31, 1998.

Materials are delivered to the Depot by tractor trailer or railcar. Stockpiled materials are moved on-site by forklifts or front-end loader/backhoes.

 

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This is believed to be the Sacramento Signal Depot Police patch

 

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http://www.militarymuseum.org/SacramentoArmyDepot.html

 

The 1991 Base Closure and Realignment Commission closed the Sacramento Army Depot (SAAD) on March 3, 1995 ending an era lasting well over 50 years. The history of the Depot began back in the hectic pre-war days of the early 1940s, when America started gearing up for the inevitable war that would become World War II and continued operation through Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and lasted well into the 1990s. SAAD was a high tech facility responsible for the support of numerous, Department of Defense Weapon Systems, Army Material Systems and other associated Communication-Electronics end items. It occupied some 485 acres within the city limits of Sacramento, California. SAAD was an important part of the Sacramento landscape for well over 50 years providing more than 3,000 civilian jobs and operation of a community domestic action program known as, "Operation Santa Clause." As a Major Depot, SAAD was built as a city within a city having its own water facilities, fire department, restaurant and Clubs, infirmary, Chaplin, gas station, railroad, police force, credit union, motor pool, movie theater, and even an aircraft runway, known as Reed Army Airfield. Generations of its work force were able to work their entire federal service careers there. The Depot became a reality with the realization by the War Department that an impending War on two fronts would deluge the need for war materiel and swamp existing storage facilities in the continental United States. This forced them to move quickly and decisively to enact a plan of action that would offset this reality. Their answer was to create 12 new Depots across the entire county with SAAD eventually established as a Signal Depot. The city of Sacramento was selected by the War Department as a site for a Depot because of its far western location and close proximity to major water, railroad, and highway corridors running through it. This allowed the Army access to its Western bases and a direct sea portal to the South Pacific. This concept of leasing provisional quarters allowed a quick response to meet the pending needs of war, which came all too soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

 

Early in January 1942 with six Officers and 144 Civilians under command of LTC John M. Piner the Depot's first Commander, operations began for an all encompassing depot set up in a temporary staging area at the old California State Fairgrounds located at Broadway and Stockton Boulevards. The 1990 special edition of the Depot's newspaper, The Intercom, reported the Depot was first called the "Sacramento Advanced Communications Zone Depot," and later designated as the Sacramento Signal Depot. The mission in those frantic days that followed Pearl Harbor was to consolidate, pack, and ship all war supplies to Army installations across the West Coast and to the Pacific theater. The Quartermaster Corps had to relieve congestion at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation and made Sacramento a temporary relocation annex of the port. This total logistic effort of war supplies continued until the spring of 1942 when the sections supplying equipment other than Signal Corps Equipment was moved to the California Quartmaster Sub-Depot in Tracy, California. In the fall of 1942 the temporary staging area moved to the leased temporary quarters of the Bercut-Richards packing plant at the intersection of 7th and B St in downtown Sacramento. Bercut-Richardson picture)This was the original location of the Sacramento Signal Depot, according to the book, "Sacramento the Indomitable City." The location and plant facilities were ideal for rapid supply connections in downtown Sacramento. The packing plant site was officially established in 1943 as the "Sacramento Signal Depot," according to the Intercom when the official paperwork caught up. Its name was later changed as a result of an Army-wide reorganization in 1962, to the "Sacramento Army Depot." The Packing Company site also served as a prisoner-of-war (PW) camp for German prisoners with a "tent" enclave. Some 425,000 German prisoners were interned at 511 different camps across the United States during the War. About 16 camps were operating in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys including the Depot. These German Prisoners were carefully screened from the time they came from the East Coast. "All the serious Nazis were weeded out" by the time they came to Sacramento. The Depot's command structure at that time, according to the "Depot Movement Plan," was the Signal Corps, Army Service Forces, Force headquarters and staff.

As a Signal Depot, SAAD was operationally geared to supply ground Communications-Electronic (C-E) equipment for the U.S. Army. Supply for the Signal Corps at that time was centered in the Philadelphia Procurement District with its huge Signal Depot physically located there. Other major Signal Depots across the United States were located in Boston; Baltimore; Dayton, Ohio; Chicago; and Lexington, Ky. SAAD had to apply Signal Corps logistics - the production, storage and distribution of C-E equipment. This necessitated a great number of military and civilian workers and the population of the Depot grew. Among the major tasks involved in Signal Corps logistics was to contract with industry to produce massive quantities of communication end-items, components and spare parts. SAAD would receive, store, issue, and maintain these various end-item electronics, supplies, and commodities.

The Bercut-Richards packing plant was used for the duration of the War. Its success to the war effort was very apparent to the War Department and a permanent site was approved for a new Signal Depot in Sacramento. The reason sited for the need for a permanent location change, according to the "Depot's Movement Plan" was to eliminate the many minor activities required for operation at the scattered Bercut-Richards packing facility. According to the SAAD Intercom, LTC Joseph J. Healy of the Office of Chief Signal Officers in Washington D.C. flew to Sacramento to begin a search for a lasting Depot location. Healy's picture) The site he discovered was near the small Southern Pacific railroad stop of "Polk Station." It was mostly low-lying areas of open fields surrounded by small truck farms. Construction began on the new Depot on July 10, 1945, but with "VJ Day," according to the Intercom a hold was put on all state side Military Constructions. Colonel Healy felt strongly a permanent facility with a "major signal corps" mission/presence was needed on the West Coast, just in case any possible future military conflict arose...especially in the Pacific region. History would attest to the wisdom of Colonel Healy with the breakout of the Korean War in 1950 just five years later. It was thus, almost through his singular efforts in persuading higher Army command to continue the Sacramento Depot site construction because of the need to maintain a presence on the West Coast that that authorization was given to complete the project. On September 24, 1945, the new Signal Depot was finished and ready for occupancy and use by the Army. Its location was 9.7 miles from the downtown Bercut-Richards facility at 8350 Fruitridge Road, Sacramento California. It was divided into two parts the industrial area on the main post and the Signal Corps enclave on the South Post. Colonel Sultzer was the first Commanding Officer of the permanent Sacramento Signal Depot. A camp was also set up for transfer of the remaining German prisoners of war that were moved from tent city. According to the "Movement Plan" it served as a temporary location for the return of PWs back to Germany.

 

 

The new depot cost the government some 6 million dollars to build as reported by the Sacramento Union in its August 18, 1945 edition. It was comprised of 4 massive storage warehouses, one especially constructed to also serve as the Supply headquarters, and the Administration Building, identified as Building 150. (Supply Picture) Its structure included the required office facilities necessary for running and operation an Army Signal Depot. The new headquarters building would be adorned with Signal Corps flag logos on either side of the name, "Sacramento Signal Depot." The flags would later be removed with the name change in 1962 to the Sacramento Army Depot The 9.7 miles distance for the move required that the city be contacted to schedule the mass movement of the entire Bercut-Richards packing facilities to the new Fruitridge location. According to the "Movement Plan" representatives from IBM, Multigraphic Sales Company and the Elliot Fisher Companies were contacted and involved in the move to assist in setting up their respective equipment at the new Depot. The new Depot would eventually have 11 miles of railroad trackage and an 8 Track marshaling yard connected to the Southern Pacific's mainline enabling loading and unloading at all of its Warehouses. At some point during 1957-61, Reed Army Airfield (AAF) was built on the Depot to handle small aircraft. Reed AAF had a 3,100' unpaved runway, which at some time after 1961, the runway was paved. Single-engine Otters, Beavers, and helicopters flew in & out of Reed for various maintenance support and other essential Depot mission needs. Generally visiting officials would use the runway facility to conduct change-of-command and other formal Army functions. The airfield was located just to the south end of the industrial complex of warehouses & ran east/west. Batteries and Instrumentation repairs and replacements were provided at Building 320 for various Aircraft that landed at the Depot. The entire strip was closed in the early 1970s and the Depot mission for this type of support was transferred to Sharp Army Depot. Helicopters, however, continued to fly in and out of the Depot using only a small part of the remaining runway. South Post was set up to house the Depot's Officers and Signal Corps units in three separate multiple housing units.

 

 

In February 1947 the Depot became one of the first members of the newly formed Army Signal Association (ASA), later known as the Armed forces Communications Electronics Association (AFCEA). The Army Signal Association was established in 1946 as chronicled in the release of the first issue of "SIGNALS" in September-October of 1946. The Army Signal Association was a result of the success of the relationship established during the Second World War between the Armed Forces and private industry. ASA wanted to continue this highly successful military industrial connection that was created to support the war effort. It felt such a relationship furthered National Defense and more closely integrated a solid liaison between industry and the Armed forces. This was outlined in the opening credits of first issue of the magazine. Chief of Staff and General of the Army, Dwight D. Eisenhower expressed this association in his letter to the Army Signal Association, a connection that has lasted to this day. The Sacramento Chapter, as it was known was formed under the guidance of the Depot's Commander, Col. A.M. Shearer. Sacramento was among the first ASA Chapters. As such, the Depot was a hub for Communication Electronics goings-on in the Northern California area with meetings held in the Depot's Officers Club. An example of an ASA meeting held on November 3, 1948, as reported in the 1948 November Edition of "Signals Magazine," by Chapter president, L. J. Brunridge. "Dr. Otto Smith of the University of California, addressed Russia's Bomb with an added feature of the screening of the, "Tail of two Cities, Nagasaki and Hiroshima." The Last AFCEA meeting at the Depot was in 1993 with Colonel William Gundy, Commander of the Depot presenting an overview of the accomplishments achieved in transitioning the Depot's work force to other installations in the DOD and private industry. After the closure of the Depot the local AFCEA Chapter eventually was disestablished. The Depot also sponsored meetings of the Association of the United States of America.

One of the most honored community service programs realized at the Depot was the establishment of "Operation Santa Claus." It was a major community domestic action plan that served thousands of needy Sacramentans during the Christmas Season. Operation Santa Claus began in 1948 with the humble beginnings to help two military families with illnesses and other personal tragedies by Depot employee Jim Nelson at Christmas time. His unassuming efforts grew into a total community domestic action program by 1976. It was a first class act that involved McClellan and Mather Air Force Bases, the Salvation Army, California National Guard, and the Naval & Marine Corps Reserve Center. It evolved into a yearly program that supplied needy families with food, clothing, and toys during Christmas. In 1976 the Depot Commander, Colonel Munnelly made permanent space available at the Depot for the administration and logistics involved in doing Operation Santa Claus year round. Operation Santa Clause also provided food for Sacramento Children attending summer camps for the underprivileged. In addition to its routine services in 1976 complete dental laboratories with an estimated value then of $42,000, used clothing weighing 4,200 pounds and 1,500 pounds of medical supplies valued at more than $5,000, were collected in the Sacramento Area, and distributed to three Indian Tribes in Arizona to help out their special needs. The hours it took to make this community service program work and the donated time by the Depot employees were unbelievable. While the Depot was active Operation Santa Claus was always a tradition in Sacramento just before Christmas. Operation Santa Claus eventually was disestablished.
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ocsfollowme

Really excited to add another subdepot patch to the collection. This came with a letter.

 

MacDill Sub-Depot Tamp, Florida

 

post-122868-0-78484100-1555817583_thumb.jpg

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