Back in 1941, when World War II had just started, Dayton joined the war effort. But it did so without Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
What would become Wright-Patt was two separate air fields at the time: Wright Field and Patterson Field, said Curt Dalton, author of “Home Sweet Home Front: Dayton During WWII.”
Wright Field and Patterson Field were used as experimental aircraft fields, Dalton said. He said some airmen would also have been trained to fly at the two airfields.
Manufacturing
During the war, Delco, National Cash Register and General Motors were among those Dayton companies producing products for the war effort, Dalton said. NCR made bomb sights, so people knew where to drop bombs. GM made revolvers and propellers for the B-17 and B-29 bombers. Delco made shock absorbers for tanks and trucks. Many other companies participated in the war effort.
The Bombe
In 1943, Navy WAVES, or Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, arrived in Dayton to work with NCR on a machine to break German codes, Dalton said.
Previously, the British had been able to crack German Enigma codes using a British “bombe,” according to “Home Sweet Home Front: Dayton During WWII.” But in 1942, the Germans switched their codes and rendered the British machine obsolete. NCR was chosen to create a new codebreaker.
The WAVES lived at Sugar Camp on Schantz Avenue in Oakwood and worked in Building 26 on Stewart Street to create the machines. Their secret was kept until the 1980s, when WWII documents were declassified.
“That (work) saved thousands of lives and shortened the war by a couple years,” Dalton said.
A Sugar Camp cabin is on display at Carillon Park.
Rationing
Like the rest of the United States, Dayton underwent rationing during the war.
Dalton said meat, poultry, fish, rubber, sugar, gasoline and canned vegetables and fruits. He added the one meat that was not rationed was horse meat, so the Cincinnati Enquirer told its readers to purchase horse meat as it was just as good as beef.
Dayton women would also have grown Victory Gardens so they didn’t need canned food, Dalton said.
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