The Manhattan Engineer District was the code name for the Army elements involved in the larger Manhattan Project. The project had its beginnings in 1939, with several respected physicists including Albert Einstein urging President Roosevelt—via the so-called Einstein-Szilárd letter—to consider the reality of the dangers of atomic power. They feared that Nazi Germany would develop such a weapon, and hoped to be allowed to research atomic power themselves and develop a weapon first. Roosevelt heeded their warnings, and immediately set up an advisory board to delve deeper into the issues raised.
The project was supported by Canada and the UK in addition to the US. All had a stake in its outcome and provided manpower and support for the production of atomic weapons. The Maud Committee in Great Britain had been doing its own independent research until joining up with the American initiative in 1941. That relationship, however, was never a comfortable one and the flow of information from country to country was essentially censored.
On 13 August 1942, the Army component of the project was officially activated and code-named the Manhattan Engineer District under the command of Col. James Marshall initially, and later Gen. Leslie Groves. The origin of the name came simply from the fact that Marshall worked out of Manhattan, and the bland name wouldn’t suggest the true, top-secret nature of the project.
The project had dozens of components, with sites in more than a dozen locations around North America. Those at Oak Ridge, Tennessee worked mainly with uranium. The actual design and research labs were located at Los Alamos, New Mexico. The first fruit of their labor was the successful Trinity Test in August of 1945. President Truman approved the use of the bombs, which were subsequently dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Though Truman believed he would ultimately be saving lives by forcing an end to the war in the Pacific, his decision remains highly controversial to this day.
The Manhattan Project employed more than 100,000 personnel and cost $2 billion dollars, or approximately $24 billion by today’s standards. The project only ceased to exist with the creation of the US Atomic Energy Commission in 1947.
Army Air Corps Capt. David Semple flew several of the more than 150 test flights performed as part of the Manhattan Project, and was responsible for training the bombardiers who completed the atomic missions. Gift of Patricia Cromiller, 2001.511
Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, chief scientist for the Manhattan Project, wrote this letter to Major C.S. Shields and Captain David Semple thanking them for their work in developing the atomic bomb. Gift of Patricia Cromiller, 2001.511
This service jacket was worn by Army Medical Corps physician Dr. Charles Prosser, Jr., who worked at both Oak Ridge and Los Alamos, without ever knowing what the men and women he treated were working on until the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Gift of Louise Prosser in Loving Memory of Dr. Charles S. Prosser, Jr. 2011.058
Military members working on the atomic bomb at Los Alamos wore this patch, whose design represents the splitting of the atom. Gift of Louise Prosser in Loving Memory of Dr. Charles S. Prosser, Jr. 2011.058
With the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps having already paved the way for women’s service in the military, the Navy soon followed suit with the formation of their female reserve unit, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) on this day 70 years ago. The Navy had long considered allowing women to serve, but hesitated until the attack on Pearl Harbor necessitated more manpower. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt also served as an advocate for the creation of a women’s branch in the Navy. Unlike the WAACS which were an auxiliary unit to the Army, at least initially, the WAVES began as a fully incorporated reserve unit with equal ratings and pay to men serving in the Navy. Women serving in the Navy was not a completely new phenomenon. During the First World War, women known as “Yeomanettes” served their country in the Navy.
WAVES’ service was initially limited to the United States, but by late 1944 they were sent to Hawaii and Alaska. To qualify, a women must be between the ages of 18 and 36, or 20 to 50 for officers, and pass aptitude and health exams. Once sworn in, an unmarried WAVE could not marry a man serving in the Navy, and couldn’t marry at all until training was complete. Women with children could not enlist. Those who qualified were trained at various women’s colleges around the country including Smith, Wellesley, and Hunter. Though trained and assigned ratings in many different occupations, the majority of WAVES were assigned to aviation units, followed by hospital and clerical duties. By the end of the war, approximately 86,000 WAVES had served their country, freeing up as many men—one estimate is enough to man a battleship, two aircraft carriers, and two heavy cruisers—to serve overseas.
Collection Highlight: Ensign Morna Dusenbury
Morna Dusenbury was working as an artist for New Orleans’ Times Picayune newspaper when she volunteered for the WAVES in October 1942. Accepted for service, she attending training at Smith College and was commissioned as an Ensign on 16 December 1942. Ensign Dusenbury was then assigned as an operations officer at the Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia. Arriving in January 1942, she remained there until reassigned to the Air Naval Commander in Seattle on 11 August 1945 after a promotion to Lt. (jg) in March 1944. With the surrender of the Japanese on 2 September 1945, the military began discharging the reservists, and Ensign Dusenbury was discharged from active duty on Christmas Day 1945.
WAVES summer weight uniform, which would be worn with a neckerchief and rating insignia on the left sleeve. Gift of Jane Dusenbury Culver, 2001.321
Image Gallery
WAVES recruitment brochure. Gift of Dorothy Guthman Schlesinger, 2000.126
Descriptions of the type of work WAVES were assigned to as listed in a recruitment brochure. Gift of Dorothy Guthman Schlesinger, 2000.126
The WAVES sought to equate the value of their service to that of men serving in the Navy. Gift of Dorothy Guthman Schlesinger, 2000.126
Lt. (jg) Harriet Ida Pickens and Ens. Frances Wills at Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School in Northampton, Massachusetts. 21 December 1944
Units of WAVES march in formation during a rally at the Washington Monument in celebration of the second anniversary of the establishment of the corps. Washington, D.C. 31 July 1944
First WAVES to qualify as instructors on electrically operated .50 cal machine gun turrets walk to the target range at Naval Air Gunners School in Hollywood, Florida.
After the U-boat slaughter of May 1942, a convoy system was put in place for Allied merchant vessels in the Gulf of Mexico in an attempt to bring an end to the German offensive known as Operation Paukenschlag (Drumbeat). Although the threats on Allied vessels were lessening towards the end of July 1942, U-boats were still active in the Gulf. One of at least ten U-boats still on the prowl in the summer of 1942 was U-166, under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Günther Kuhlmann. After laying mines near the mouth of the Mississippi River and sinking three American vessels (the SS Carmen, SS Oneida, and SS Gertrude on June 11th, 13th, and 16th respectively), U-166 had an encounter with American vessels seventy years ago today, on 30 July 1942, that ended in tragedy.
On 30 July 1942, the SS Robert E. Lee was en route from Trinidad to New Orleans with 270 passengers escorted by the naval vessel, PC-566. Near Tampa, the captain tried to bring the ship into harbor, but was forced to continue on to New Orleans because of the lack of a harbor pilot. The Robert E. Lee was carrying additional passengers, survivors of U-boat attacks on the Norwegian motor tanker, Andrea Brøvig and the Panamanian steam tanker, Stanvac Palembang. Only twenty-five miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River, the Robert E. Lee was hit by a single torpedo from U-166. Most of the passengers were able to squeeze onto the sixteen life rafts and six lifeboats. As the ship went down, Kuhlmann surfaced U-166 and shouted to the survivors, apologizing and wishing them luck (a practice that had been seen before). As the U-166 dove under the surface, PC-566 dropped depth charges, in hopes of hitting the U-boat. Ten crewmen and 15 passengers were lost aboard the SS Robert E. Lee. One of the crew killed aboard the Robert E. Lee was a female mariner from New Orleans, Winifred Grey.
Although it was not immediately clear if U-166 had been hit by the depth charges, indeed the retaliatory attack by PC-566 was successful; U-166 was lost, resulting in the deaths of all 52 members of the submarine crew. The location of the wreckage of the Robert E. Lee had long been identified, close to the site of the U-boat attack, 45 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi. But it wasn’t until 2001 that BP and Shell discovered the wreckage of the U-166, close to that of the Robert E. Lee. After the vessel was located, a film crew documenting the discovery of the U-boat learned from Kuhlmann’s widow of the existence of a large collection of images from Kuhlmann’s service. She subsequently donated this material to The National WWII Museum through the PAST Foundation. More information can be found here. A selection from the material gifted by Kuhlmann’s widow can be seen below. It provides a rare and fascinating glimpse into the private life of an often demonized enemy.
Hans-Günther Kuhlmann.
Hitler appeared at a ceremony for new officers including Kuhlmann, on 17 January 1939.
June 1940 wedding announcement for Kuhlmann and Gertrude Wree.
Kuhlmann and his bride after the wedding ceremony.
Promotion certificate for Kuhlmann signed by Erich Raeder.
Condolence letter from March 1943 listing Kuhlmann's death as having occurred in the Caribbean on 3 August 1942.
Condolence letter from November 1942 from the Guenther Kuhnke, Commander of the 10th U-boat Flotilla, which explains that the fate of her husband is unknown.
One such WAC detachment graduates from training at the First WAC Training Center in Fort Des Moines, Iowa. 25 April 1944. Gift of Jane Dickman Schlaht, 2011.124
On 20 July 1942, 70 years ago today, the first group of the newly minted Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps arrived at Fort Des Moines in Iowa to begin their training. They studied management, administration, cartography, military protocol, and other disciplines that would enable them to serve aptly and efficiently. Thousands of women would go on to enlist and serve their country in what would become the fully incorporated Women’s Army Corps, freeing up men for duty overseas.
Sometimes even the most mundane artifact is weighted with the burden of history. Take this wooden German ammunition crate, for example. It was used to hold smoke grenades. At first glance, the crate seems quite ordinary. However, an examination of the packing label unearthed some information about Nazi Germany’s slave labor system. This particular crate from the Museum’s collection was shipped to the German army from the Lockstedter Lager train station. What was the Lockstedter Lager, you ask?
The Lockstedter Lager began as a training camp for the Imperial German Army in 1872. Located in the low-lying region of Holstein in northern Germany, thousands of soldiers trained there yearly. After 1918, a sprawling military complex was left in the camp’s wake. During the Weimar Republic, groups of extreme right-wing paramilitary extremists, including the Freikorps, used this facility. Such paramilitary organizations later formed the nucleus of the Nazi party.
During the 1930s, the lager became a training facility for the Sturmabteiling (SA), well known as the infamous Brownshirts. By 1938, a Heeresmunitionsanstalt (Muna), or munitions assembly plant, was added to the complex along with barracks for slave laborers and prisoners-of-war. Here, separate components of ammunition were assembled and armed, then packed into crates and shipped to various units. These assembly plants were scattered throughout Germany and were usually located in isolated areas like forests in order to minimize damage to the surrounding community in the event of an accident or air raid. The Lockstedter Lager was no exception; it stood on its own in the middle of a sparsely populated part of Holstein, making it ideally located for munitions assembly.
Slave laborers and German personnel in Heeresmunitionsanstalt Volpriehausen. Photo courtesy of Heimatverein Volpriehausen e.V.
Slave laborers in Heeresmunitionsanstalt Volpriehausen. Photo courtesy of Heimatverein Volpriehausen e.V.
Aerial view of the Lockstedter Lager c. 1908
The Lockstedter Lager was just like any other Muna. By 1944, the Muna had grown from a size of 1,000 workers to over 4,000. Of these 4,000, a majority were Zwangsarbeiter, or slave laborers from regions conquered by the Third Reich. The Third Reich enslaved over 12 million men and women over the course of the war. Of these, 7.6 million were enslaved in Germany itself, and more than half were women or teenage girls. These people were sent to Germany via train, and most were either housed on-site or in a satellite for a larger concentration camp. The laborers came from all manner of regions and were forced to work in factories, agriculture, mines, and public utilities. The majority came from Poland and the Soviet Union, victims of Nazi Germany’s racial crusade in the East. Others were prisoners-of-war and concentration camp prisoners from all of Nazi Germany’s “racial enemies.”
In late 1944, Lockstedter Lager began to house German refugees fleeing from the rapid Soviet advance in the East. At the end of the war, Lockstedter Lager was used as a camp for Displaced Persons, or DPs. These were mostly Eastern European refugees that had previously been slave laborers or concentration camp inmates. Today, the ruins of Lockstedter Lager stand amidst the community of Hohenlockstedt.It is important to remember that the Third Reich’s war machine was fueled in part by modern-day slavery. Although at first glance a wooden ammunition crate may not seem like something with a particularly interesting background, the likelihood that it was assembled and packed by slave labor is a chilling reminder of the criminal nature of the Third Reich.
On 26 June 1942, a prototype of the Grumman F6F Hellcat took to the skies for the first time. She flew fine, but not fast enough per the Navy’s orders. The 1,700 hp Wright engine was replaced with the 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney to great success. Despite the aircraft’s heavy weight, she was one of the quickest and fasting-climbing fighters of the war. The Hellcat went from design to production in record time, just over one year. The F6F began the war as a record setter, and finished the war in same fashion, with the most kills—more than 5,000—and the highest kill ratio—19 to 1—than any other Allied aircraft.
Initially conceived of as an improved version of the Grumman F4F Wildcat which had been in service since the 1930s, the Hellcat turned out to be an entirely different animal. The plane was designed with its greatest opponent, the seemingly unconquerable Mitsubishi A6M Zero, in mind. The single-engine fighter was suitable for service as a carrier-borne craft, as well as land based. Despite her heavy weight, the Hellcat proved incredibly fast with a maximum speed of about 375 miles per hour and a vastly improved climb rate. The F6F was also more heavily armed, with six staggered .50 caliber machine guns in addition to six 5-inch rockets, ideal for ground assault. Yet despite all these superpowers of the Hellcat, she was no more difficult to pilot than other planes.
Rearming Hellcats on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Gift In Memory of John Valdemor Peterson, 2011.228
"It was a bit ungraceful, but definitely a happy landing that ‘Lucky 13’ made on the deck of its carrier following a strike at Kwajalein on December 4, 1943." Gift of Charles Ives, 2011.102
Deck crew guide a Hellcat to takeoff. Gift In Memory of John Valdemor Peterson, 2011.228
A Hellcat prepares for takeoff. Gift In Memory of John Valdemor Peterson, 2011.228
A group of F6F Hellcats on the deck of the USS Lexington. Gift of Charles Ives, 2011.102
Formation of F6Fs over Japan. Gift In Memory of John Valdemor Peterson, 2011.228
Courtesy of the National Archives
A line of Hellcats prepares to head out. Gift In Memory of John Valdemor Peterson, 2011.228
"A Navy Grumman F6F Hellcat lands on its carrier following a strike at Japanese installations in the Philippines" on 6 February 1945. Gift of Charles Ives, 2011.102
The victors of the Battle of the Philippine Sea aboard the USS Lexington. Courtesy of the National Archives
A Hellcat warms up before taking off in October 1944, somewhere in the Pacific. Gift of Charles Ives, 2011.102
A Hellcat speeds by in a blur. Courtesy of the National Archives
Another high point of the Hellcat was her ability to withstand a beating. One could certainly make an argument that the Vought F4U Corsair was the better plane. Many pilots, however, preferred the Hellcat for her well-known ability to endure hits. Her ability to stay in the air despite being hit may account for the impressive kill-to-loss ratio. She may best be remembered for her role in the so-called “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot” of the Battle of the Philippine Sea, where the kill-to-loss ratio was a staggering 30 Zeros taken down to the loss of 1 Hellcat.
More than 300 pilots flying Hellcats became aces by shooting down 5 or more enemy aircraft, making “the ace-maker” a common nickname for the plane. The vast majority of all enemy aircraft shot down by naval aviators in the Pacific, approximately 75%, were taken down by pilots flying the F6F Hellcat. And it all began on this day 70 years ago.
F6F-3 Specs
Armament: Six .50 cal machine guns + six 5-inch rockets
Engine: 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine
Max speed: 300 mph at sea level, or 375 mph at 23,000 feet
Max range: 1,075+ miles when at speed of about 170 miles per hour
As the old saying goes, “Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do!” World War II was a time of hardship and sacrifice, as well as ingenuity and creativity. In both the public and private sector, people were forced to adapt to the changing realities of a society at war.
The Girl Scouts of the United States of America were unable to produce and sell their famous cookies due to the rationing of sugar, butter, and flour, and the conversion of baking factories to the needs of wartime production. As a result, the Girl Scouts turned to selling calendars as the major source of funds for their activities.
These patriotic calendars featured photos of real life girls, marked important dates, and stressed the need for patriotism and good citizenship.
Pictured Above: Girl Scout Troop 27180 from Pearland, TX – San Jacinto Council – with a 1945 Girl Scout calendar while visiting The National WWII Museum. Until their visit to the Museum, the girls were unaware of this part of their organization’s history.
Share your memories of wartime rationing and restrictions at our Kitchen Memories site today!
Post by Anna Wysuph, Education Intern at The National WWII Museum
Crater caused by Japanese shelling, Fort Stevens, Oregon, June 1942. Image courtesy of the National Archives.
In the wee morning hours of 22 June 1942, a Japanese submarine crept close enough to the North Pacific coast to successfully shell Fort Stevens, situated on the Columbia River in Oregon. Though this was the second time the continental United States was hit by the Japanese from the sea during World War II, it was the first and only attack on a military installment on CONUS. It had been 130 years since an enemy succeeded in attacking a military structure on contiguous US soil, the last time being during the War of 1812. No personnel were harmed and the only result was a handful of craters in the fort’s baseball field.
A few months previous to the Fort Stevens shelling, another enemy submarine had hit an oil field near Santa Barbara. In such context, the sense of paranoia felt by Americans on the Home Front that a Japanese invasion or bombing run could be imminent was given credence. Citizens on the West Coast were surely more likely to follow blackout regulations after such incidences.
How to blackout your home from the Office of Civilian Defense booklet “What To Do In An Air Raid.” Gift of Peter & Lucy Trentadue, 2011.509
Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel earned his infamous moniker “Desert Fox” in the sand dunes of North Africa, where he served as commander of the German 5th Light Division (later redesignated the 21st Panzer Division). On 21 June 1942, Rommel laid siege to British-held Tobruk, which was strategically important for its inland harbor. its geography made it ideal for defense, although the British failure to stave off the German onslaught suggests otherwise. It was for Rommel’s success in taking Tobruk on this day 70 years ago that Hitler personally awarded him the title and symbolic baton of the rank of Field Marshal. Tens of thousands of Allied prisoners were taken, but more importantly, so were thousands of tons of supplies including the liquid gold of war: gasoline.
Tobruk
The Luftwaffe over Tobruk, Libya. Images are a gift in memory of Lt. Bernard L. Horowitz, 2010.225
Rommel attempted to replace the might of his tank corps with aerial bombardment by the Luftwaffe, with the intention of preserving the tanks for a further drive east once Tobruk was secure in German hands. This goal wasn’t reached, however, and the battle to take Tobruk cost Rommel dearly in terms of men and armor, ultimately denying him the ability to secure victory at El Alamein in the following months.
Fresh from his eighteenth birthday, Franz Gockel was one of thousands of German soldiers defending the Atlantic Wall on the watershed morning of 6 June 1944. He served as a machine gunner with the 352nd Infantry Division in Widerstandsnest, or Resistance Nest, number 62. That morning, Gockel was wearing his hobnail boots, the type that accounted for the ominous rhythm of marching German troops heading through the cities of Europe they had already taken or soon would.
Gockel received these boots–now held in our collection–during basic training in Holland in 1943. The hobnails, however, have all been worn off. Gockel was wounded in the hand while retiring from his position on Omaha Beach. He was captured by American forces in Northern France soon after recovering from his wound. As a prisoner of war he aided in offloading supplies in Cherbourg. Upon his release from custody, Gockel walked all the way to his home in Germany in those very boots, wearing down the hobnails in the process. In 2004, he gifted the boots and his soldbuch, or individual pay record, to the Museum. His is one of several oral history accounts from the German perspective in the holdings of the museum’s Research Department.
Gockel's soldbuch. Gift of Franz Gockel, 2004.235
Gockel's boots. Gift of Franz Gockel, 2004.235
Hughes breaks for a quick meal. Gift in Memory of Patrick J. Hughes, 2012. 081
Inside cover of Gockel's bible. Gift in Memory of Patrick J. Hughes, 2012.081
Patrick J. Hughes
Eight years after Gockel’s donation, the collections staff here at the museum was reminded how small the world really is. We were contacted by the family of Joint Assault Signal Company (JASCO) lineman Patrick J. Hughes, who landed at Colleville-sur-Mer on D-Day. He landed ahead of the main invasion force to lay lines for ship to shore communications. On that day, Hughes came across and picked up a German bible and kept it as a souvenir of his overseas service.
The collecting of German items as souvenirs was common practice for GI’s. The bible that Hughes picked up, however, bears special significance as relates to our collection. The inside cover of the bible reveals handwritten information about the very same Franz Gockel, his military service, and the names of family members and their birth dates and locations, and even pictures of his sweethearts. Nearly seventy years after D-Day, the bible and boots are reunited.
What may have otherwise been viewed as a wartime souvenir representing a faceless and vanquished enemy, now represents the human side of the enemy: an eighteen-year-old boy as scared of the incoming invasion as the American boys headed for the bloodied beach that morning. Hughes’ daughter generously donated the bible and other items from her father’s service to the Museum earlier this year.
Crater caused by Japanese shelling, Fort Stevens, Oregon, June 1942. Image courtesy of the National Archives.
