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Cover of Chrysler War Work Magazine, July 1944 — a Boeing B-29 Superfortress over a bombing run with a red 'B-29 Look Out Japan! See Page 3' flash, over a red banner reading Chrysler War Work Magazine.
Cover · July 1944  ·  enlarge

Chrysler War Work Magazine  ·  Vol. 11, No. 2  ·  July 1944

Chrysler War Work Chrysler Corporation’s World War II employee magazine — the Fifth War Loan issue, led by the B-29 Superfortress

Published by the Chrysler Industrial Association

About this issue

Chrysler War Work Magazine was the wartime employee publication of Chrysler Corporation, covering the company’s divisions — Plymouth, Dodge, Dodge Trucks, DeSoto and Chrysler, plus Airtemp, marine and industrial engines, and Oilite — as they turned to war production.

This July 1944 number (Volume 11, Number 2) leads with Chrysler’s role in building the Boeing B-29 Superfortress — super-motors at Dodge-Chicago and pressurized nose sections at DeSoto-Warren — alongside the Fifth War Loan Drive, home-front canning, D-Day accounts, and a memorial to Chrysler’s honored dead.

Every page of the original is reproduced below. Click any page to view it larger; a printable version is linked under each.

In This Issue

  • You Are Writing Your Post-War Check Now
  • B-29s Crash Japan Again and Again
  • Can It Right — Can Plenty, Save Points
  • 5th Drive Success — oversubscribing the War Bond quota
  • Kercheval’s Limit
  • Fair, Fit and Fifty
  • He Paid — a fighting Marine from an earlier cover dies
  • Too Busy to Quit
  • Shot Down on D-Day
  • Hammering Harry
  • Meatballs
  • Calamity Eggs — Destruction Hatches from Them
  • Invasion Aid
  • More of Chrysler’s Honored Dead

The Complete Issue — Original Scanned Pages

Sixteen scanned pages, cover through page 15. Click any page to enlarge; “Large” opens the largest version.

Cover: a Boeing B-29 Superfortress over a bombing run, 'B-29 Look Out Japan!', red Chrysler War Work Magazine banner, July 1944
Cover — B-29 “Look Out Japan!”
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Chrysler War Work Magazine, Volume 11 Number 2, July 1944. Cover photograph of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress in flight over a bombing run, with a red flash reading "B-29 Look Out Japan! See Page 3." Red banner: Chrysler War Work Magazine. Divisions listed: Plymouth, Dodge, Dodge Trucks, DeSoto, Chrysler; Airtemp heating, cooling and refrigeration; Chrysler marine and industrial engines; Oilite powdered metal products.
Page 2: 'You Are Writing Your Post-War Check Now', a War Bond editorial with a photo of a hand writing a check
Page 2 — You Are Writing Your Post-War Check Now
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"You Are Writing Your Post-War Check Now." War Bond editorial urging Chrysler employees to invest their wartime earnings in War Bonds against post-war uncertainty; income and victory tax are now withheld from each paycheck. Photograph of a hand writing a check on the Industrial National account.
Full-page Navy photo 'Impenetrable Wall': a Japanese bomber driven off an American ship at Saipan by Chrysler-built 40-mm guns
“Impenetrable Wall” — Saipan (Chrysler 40-mm guns)
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Full-page official U.S. Navy photograph, "Impenetrable Wall": furious Japanese assaults on American land and sea forces at Saipan. A Betty twin-engine bomber tried to run a wall of anti-aircraft steel toward an American ship and was driven off; the 40-mm guns, made in great quantities by Chrysler Corporation, proved their worth.
Page 3: lead article 'B-29s Crash Japan Again and Again' with a B-29 engine going into a test cell
Page 3 — B-29s Crash Japan Again and Again
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"B-29s Crash Japan Again and Again." Lead article on Chrysler's part in building the Boeing B-29 Superfortress: super-motors at Dodge-Chicago, and the vital nose section, engine nacelles and leading edges at DeSoto-Warren. Photograph: a B-29 motor, nearly as powerful as a giant locomotive, built at Dodge Chicago, going into a test cell.
Page 4: B-29 article continued, 'Pressurized Cabins New in Air Warfare', nose sections assembled at DeSoto-Warren
Page 4 — Pressurized Cabins New in Air Warfare
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B-29 article continued: nearly 10,000 horsepower in four Wright Cyclone motors, with Dodge-Chicago expecting to build about 90 percent of them. "Pressurized Cabins New in Air Warfare," by Ralph Watts of the Detroit News: air-conditioned, supercharged cabins built by DeSoto and the Hudson Motor Car Co.; "Produced in 1937" recalls the Boeing Stratoliner. Photograph: vital nose sections being assembled at DeSoto-Warren.
Page 5: B-17 versus B-29 size comparison and the pressurized cabin; 'Actual Test Occurs'
Page 5 — B-17 vs B-29; the pressurized cabin
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Pressurized-cabin feature continued. Size-comparison photograph: the B-17 Flying Fortress (104-foot span, 1,200 hp each) beside the B-29 Superfortress (141 feet, 2,200 hp each). Supercharged cabins, oxygen at altitude, and explosive-decompression tests; "Actual Test Occurs" describes a side-gunner's blister blowing out at 30,000 feet, the crew saved by oxygen masks.
Page 6: 'Ray Tucker's Letter' on the B-29, and a boxed notice 'More Good Work — Anniston Warehouse Corporation'
Page 6 — Ray Tucker’s Letter; More Good Work
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B-29 feature concluded; "Ray Tucker's Letter" (National Whirligig) argues that super-bombers like the B-29 may guarantee post-war peace. Boxed notice, "More Good Work — Anniston Warehouse Corporation, operating the Anniston Ordnance Depot, Anniston, Alabama," a Chrysler subsidiary chosen as the final training center for the 613th Ordnance Base Armored Maintenance Battalion.
Page 7: '5th Drive Success', a Marysville flying ambulance, and 'Former Fighting Tiger Buys War Bond'
Page 7 — 5th Drive Success
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"5th Drive Success — Chrysler Employes Oversubscribe War Bond Quota": the Fifth War Loan Drive passed $10,200,000, employees reaching $10,710,000. Marysville employees' investment will buy 18 Stinson flying ambulances. "Former Fighting Tiger Buys War Bond": Curtis R. Dunn, who served with Chennault's Flying Tigers in China, buys a $50 bond from saved nickels.
Page 8: 'Can It Right', a home-canning feature on preserving food and saving ration points
Page 8 — Can It Right
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"Can It Right." Home-canning feature: in 1943 some 25 million families added over 4 billion containers of home-canned food to the nation's supply; guidance on doing a better job, avoiding lost jars, and saving ration points.
Page 9: home-canning 'Do' and 'Don't' guidance continued
Page 9 — Canning: Do and Don’t
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Home-canning "Do" and "Don't" guidance continued: can only fresh, ripe fruits and young, tender vegetables; keep everything scrupulously clean; know your jars and seal them airtight; bring food to a boil and pack hot into hot jars; avoid overripe or spotted produce.
Page 10: Chrysler group-insurance report for June 1944 and 'Fair, Fit and Fifty'
Page 10 — Insurance Report; Fair, Fit and Fifty
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Chrysler group-insurance report for the month of June 1944 (E. K. Baxter, Central Insurance): 50 deaths, 6 permanent disabilities, and 2,790 sickness and accident claims, with cumulative totals since 1929. "Fair, Fit and Fifty — One-Time Irish Sports Star," a profile of an older employee still in fighting trim.
Page 11: 'He Paid', a tribute to a fighting Marine pictured on an earlier magazine cover who was killed in action
Page 11 — He Paid
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"He Paid — Fighting Marine on the Cover Dies." A tribute to the Marine pictured on an earlier Chrysler War Work Magazine cover, killed in action in the Pacific.
Page 12: 'Too Busy to Quit' and 'Shot Down on D-Day' with Lt. Adams and a telegram from General Somerville
Page 12 — Too Busy to Quit; Shot Down on D-Day
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"Too Busy to Quit": Corporal John F. Pilat, former Tank Arsenal worker, trains with an Eighth Army Air Force unit after the North African and Sicilian campaigns. "Shot Down on D-Day": Lt. David C. Adams, son of C. T. Adams of Amplex, whose transport ditched in the English Channel after dropping paratroopers over Normandy. Boxed telegram from General Somerville, Chief of Supply, urging more castings and forgings.
Page 13: 'Hammering Harry', boxer Sgt. Bugaiski of Dodge Forge, and 'Meatballs' on Chrysler 40-mm guns; a Sherman tank enters Rome
Page 13 — Hammering Harry; Meatballs
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"Hammering Harry": Sgt. Harry Bugaiski of Dodge Forge, a Golden Gloves lightweight contender with the 516th Field Artillery. "Meatballs": the origin of the "meatball" kill mark, and Chrysler-built 40-mm guns downing Japanese planes on Bougainville. Photograph "First in Rome": a Sherman tank and jeep entering the Holy City.
Page 14: 'Calamity Eggs' on Marauder pattern bombing, and 'Invasion Aid' on Lt. Dinger's ration form
Page 14 — Calamity Eggs; Invasion Aid
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"Calamity Eggs — Destruction Hatches from Them": B-26 Marauder "small egg" pattern bombing over Normandy, with a photograph of a Marauder releasing 26 bombs; DeSoto workers helped build the ships. "Invasion Aid": Lt. Martin L. Dinger, former Marysville employment worker, commended for a new ration form used by the invading forces.
Page 15: 'More of Chrysler's Honored Dead', a memorial page of photographs of fallen Chrysler employees
Page 15 — More of Chrysler’s Honored Dead
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"More of Chrysler's Honored Dead." A memorial to Chrysler employees killed in the war, with photographs: Anthony J. Drabicki (Plymouth), John Petrovich (Jefferson), Frank S. Soldatek (Dodge Main), A. S. Schutte (Amplex), Francis A. McGlin (Plymouth), Frank C. Hoelsecker (Dodge Main), James E. Armpriester (New Castle), Revil Loudermilk (Dodge Main), Ed J. Daraszkiewicz (Dodge Main), Joseph Francesco (Highland Park) and others.