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(H)our History Lesson: Aviation and Defense Industry in Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio

Dark-haired white man and blonde woman test and inspect parts for ammunitions shells. The man wears an apron and the woman wears thick work gloves.
Photo 1: Cash registers to gun magazines. Women work side by side with men to smash the Axis. Arming test of M-48 fuse bodies part of the routine inspection of shell parts at a former cash register factory now engaged in war production. National Cash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio, February 1942

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Dark-haired white womans bends her head to assemble part of an ammunition shell. She is wearing an apron and completed shells are stacked in a pyramid to her right
Photo 2: Conversion. Cash registers to gun magazines. Assembly of M-48 fuse bodies. Huge quantities of these war essentials are coming off the production line of a converted cash register plant. National Cash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio, February 1942

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

About This Lesson

This lesson is part of a series teaching about the WWII home front, focused on Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio as an American World War II Heritage City. During the war many of the local manufacturers turned to necessary war production, and the local military bases expanded, particularly due to an expanding US presence in the air. The lesson contains photographs and readings to contribute to learners’ understandings of local advancements in aviation and defense industry. It was written by educator Sarah Nestor Lane.

Objectives:

  1. Describe the importance of war manufacturing in Dayton and Montgomery County with specific examples.
  2. Explain how the region supported military advancements in aviation.
  3. Interpret the short- and long-term impacts of war production and aviation advancements on the region, including how this history is connected to the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.
Map of Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park and the surrounding area
Map 1: Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park

Materials for Students:

  1. Photos 1 – 4 & Map 1 (can be displayed digitally)
  2. Readings 1 & 2 (one secondary and one primary source)
  3. Recommended: Map of the Dayton area, Montgomery County, or the state of Ohio, to mark historical locations.
  4. Extension / Resources (optional)

Getting Started: Essential Question

How did Dayton and Montgomery County contribute to the material and strategic needs of the US military during WWII?

Read to Connect

Two white women operate a machine that paints ammunition shells. Shells rotate along the outer edge of a circular track at the base of the machine to be painted. On the left, a woman adds completed shells to a tray. At right, the woman loads the track.
Photo 3: Cash registers to gun magazines. A machine (with women workers) paints the exterior and interior of each 37mm M-54 high explosive shell made at a former cash register factory now engaged in war production. National Cash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio, February 1942

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

By the numbers:

  • 300 million dollars designated by the federal government in 1940 to both improve Wright Field and establish an Air Corps with at least 5,500 planes. (In 2023, this is the equivalent of over 6 billion dollars!)

  • From 1939 to the peak of the war, Wright Field grew from under 4,000 workers to around 50,000.

  • Wright field produced almost 300,000 military aircraft, 802,161 engines, and 807,424 propellers.

Quotation to consider:

“Dayton and Ohio are the hottest targets in the country because of their war production, Ralph H. Stone, executive director of the Ohio Council of Defense, declared last night at a mass meeting of the Oakwood civilian defense corps at the National Cash Register company auditorium. . . . Stressing the importance of Dayton and Ohio as an enemy bombing target, the state defense director said the civilian population should not assure themselves ‘it can’t happen here.’” - The Journal Herald (Dayton, Ohio), Jan. 21, 1943, p. 3

Aircraft takes off from the ground towing a man on a long cable. The man is attached to the cable via a harness and is only a few feet off the ground, having just been picked up.
Photo 4: Experimenting with picking up a man on the ground by a flying aircraft, 1943, Wright Field. The plane is a Canadian-built UC-47 Norseman.

Courtesy of Wright State University Archives

Questions for Photos 1-3 and Reading 1

  1. What details do you notice in the photos?
  2. Why did local companies and factories hire women? What do you think was the short and long-term impact of these hires?
  3. Describe the importance of factories switching from peacetime products to war manufacturing.
  4. What challenges may women have had entering the war production workforce?
  5. Consider map 1. How would the location of the sites impact the designation of not just Dayton as the Heritage City, but also surrounding Montgomery County?
  6. How did Dayton and Montgomery Co. support the increasing role of aviation in military defense?

A group of uniformed soldiers practice loading an injured person on a stretcher into the back of an ambulance. A military camp is visible in the background.
Photo 5: Men of the Army Air Forces medical services, learning how to remove a "casualty" to the ambulance post ready for a speedy trip to a waiting transport which will evacuate the wounded, Dayton, Ohio, October 1942.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Questions for Reading 2

  1. Identify and describe at least two locations of importance for progress in aviation in Dayton. What was the impact of the work done there?
  2. Using information from the reading, why would Dayton and Montgomery County be considered a target for enemies?
  3. Consider the long-term impacts of war production and aviation on Dayton, Ohio. With today’s modern perspective, try answering the questions written by the author in the last part of the final paragraph. (If time, research current data, demographics, and businesses of Dayton over time since the 1940s to support your answer.)

Wrapping up: the lesson’s essential question

  1. How did Dayton and Montgomery County contribute to the material and strategic needs of the US military during WWII? Use evidence from the sources to summarize.

Extension

Corporal Mary Suzanne Groshong of the Army Air Forces/Corps (Interview)


Corporal Groshong served at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, from 1944-1945. She had experience working in a shipyard the summer before, contributing to the war efforts prior to enlisting. She took a train from Seattle to Ohio after enlistment.

“There weren’t many women who had been in the Armed Forces before this. I was twenty years old, and I had to get my parents’ permission...”

“Since this was Wright Field, and it was named after the Wright Brothers... I heard the first jet take off from the field. Everyone wondered about the roar...”

You can view the full interview at the Library of Congress website.

Additional Resources

The history of aviation in Dayton and Montgomery County


Dayton’s aviation history starts at the beginning of the history of flight, with the Wright brothers. Learn more about the history of aviation in the area leading up to the 1940s with these resources:

Part of a series of articles titled Dayton and Montgomery County, OH, WWII Heritage City.

Last updated: August 11, 2023