The American Automobile Industry in World War Two
An American Auto Industry Heritage Tribute by David D Jackson

Overview      Lansing Michigan in World War Two   The U.S. Auto Industry at the Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944    The U.S. Auto Industry and the B-29 Bomber   U.S. Auto Industry Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   The Complete listing of All Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   Sherman Tanks of the American Auto Industry   Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry    M26 Pershing Tanks of the American Auto Industry   M36 Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry   Serial Numbers for WWII Tanks built by the American Auto Industry   Surviving LCVP Landing Craft    WWII Landing Craft Hull Numbers   Airborne Extra-Light Jeep Photos  The American Auto Industry vs. the German V-1 in WWII   American Auto Industry-Built Anti-Aircraft Guns in WWII   VT Proximity Manufacturers of WWII   World War One Era Motor Vehicles   National Museum of Military Vehicles  
Revisions   Links

 Automobile and Body Manufacturers:  American Bantam Car Company   Briggs Manufacturing Company   Checker Car Company   Chrysler Corporation   Crosley Corporation   Ford Motor Car Company   General Motors Corporation   Graham-Paige Motors Corporation   Hudson
Motor Car Company   Murray Corporation of America   Nash-Kelvinator   Packard Motor Car Company      Studebaker    Willys-Overland Motors

General Motors Divisions:  AC Spark Plug   Aeroproducts   Allison   Brown-Lipe-Chapin   Buick   Cadillac   Chevrolet   Cleveland Diesel   Delco Appliance   Delco Products   Delco Radio   Delco-Remy   Detroit Diesel   Detroit Transmission   Electro-Motive   Fisher Body   Frigidaire   GM Proving Grounds   GM of Canada   GMC   GMI   Guide Lamp   Harrison Radiator   Hyatt Bearings   Inland   Moraine Products   New Departure   Oldsmobile   Packard Electric   Pontiac   Saginaw Malleable Iron   Saginaw Steering Gear   Southern California Division   Rochester Products   Ternstedt Manufacturing Division   United Motors Service   Vauxhall Motors

 Indiana Companies:  Bailey Products Corporation   Chrysler Kokomo Plant   Continental Steel Corporation  Converto Manufacturing    Cummins Engine Company   Diamond Chain and Manufacturing Company   Delta Electric Company   Durham Manufacturing Company   Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation   General Electric Kokomo Plant   Haynes Stellite Company   Hercules Body Company   Horton Manufacturing Company   Howe Fire Apparatus   International Machine Tool Company   J.D. Adams Company   Kokomo Spring Company   Magnavox  
Muncie Gear Works   Pierce Governor Company   Portland Forge and Foundry   Reliance Manufacturing Company   Republic Aviation Corporation - Indiana Division   Ross Gear and Tool Company   S.F. Bowser & Co.   Sherrill Research Corporation   Tokheim Oil Tank and Pump Company   Warner Gear   Wayne Pump Company   Wayne Works

Commercial Truck and Fire Apparatus Manufacturers:  American LaFrance   Autocar  
Biederman Motors Corporation   Brockway Motor Company   Detroit General   Diamond T   Duplex Truck Company   Federal Motor Truck   Four Wheel Drive Auto Company(FWD)   International Harvester   John Bean   Mack Truck   Marmon-Herrington Company   Michigan Power Shovel Company   Oshkosh Motor Truck Corporation   Pacific Car and Foundry   "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company   Reo Motor Car Company  Seagrave Fire Apparatus   Sterling Motor Truck Company    Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation   White Motor Company

Aviation Companies:  Abrams Instrument Corporation   Hughes Aircraft Company   Kellett Aviation Corporation   Laister-Kauffman Aircraft Corporation   Naval Aircraft Factory   P-V Engineering Forum, Inc.    Rudolf Wurlitzer Company-DeKalb Division  Schweizer Aircraft Corporation   Sikorsky Division of United Aircraft Corporation   St. Louis Aircraft Corporation   Timm Aircraft Corporation

Other World War Two Manufacturers: 
Air King Products   Allis-Chalmers   American Car and Foundry   American Locomotive   American Stove Company   Annapolis Yacht Yard  
Andover Motors Company   B.F. Goodrich   Baker War Industries   Baldwin Locomotive Works   Blood Brothers Machine Company   Boyertown Auto Body Works   Briggs & Stratton   Caterpillar   Cheney Bigelow Wire Works   Centrifugal Fusing   Chris-Craft   Clark Equipment Company   Cleaver-Brooks Company   Cleveland Tractor Company   Continental Motors   Cushman Motor Works   Crocker-Wheeler   Dail Steel Products   Detroit Wax Paper Company   Detrola   Engineering & Research Corporation   Farrand Optical Company   Federal Telephone and Radio Corp.   Firestone Tire and Rubber Company   Fruehauf Trailer Company   Fuller Manufacturing   Galvin Manufacturing   Gemmer Manufacturing Company   General Railway Signal Company   Gibson Guitar   Gibson Refrigerator Company   Goodyear   Hall-Scott   Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company   Harley-Davidson   Harris-Seybold-Potter   Herreshoff Manufacturing Company   Higgins Industries    Highway Trailer   Hill Diesel Company   Holland Hitch Company   Homelite Company   Horace E. Dodge Boat and Plane Corporation   Huffman Manufacturing   Indian Motorcycle   Ingersoll Steel and Disk   John Deere   Johnson Automatics Manufacturing Company   Kimberly-Clark   Kohler Company   Kold-Hold Company   Landers, Frary & Clark  Lima Locomotive Works   Lundberg Screw Products   MacKenzie Muffler Company   Massey-Harris   Matthews Company   McCord Radiator & Mfg. Company   Metal Mouldings Corporation   Miller Printing Machinery Company   Morse Instrument Company   Motor Products Corporation   Motor Wheel Corporation   National Cash Resgister Company   Novo Engine Company   O'Keefe & Merritt Company   Olofsson Tool and Die Company   Oneida Ltd   Otis Elevator   Owens Yacht   Pressed Steel Car Company   Queen City Manufacturing Company   R.G. LeTourneau   R.L. Drake Company   St. Clair Rubber Company   Samson United Corporation   Shakespeare Company   Sight Feed Generator Company   Simplex Manufacturing Company   Steel Products Engineering Company   St. Louis Car Company   Twin Disc Company   Victor Adding Machine Company   Vilter Manufacturing Company   Wells-Gardner   W.L. Maxson Corporation   W.W. Boes Company   Westfield Manufacturing Company   York-Hoover Body Company   Youngstown Steel Door Company  
   

 Wells-Gardner & Company in World War Two
Chicago, IL
1925-Current

This page updated 11-27-2021.

The Wells-Gardner Electronics Corporation of today began in 1925 as the Wells Radio Manufacturing Company.  It was started in Chicago by Albert Wells and Frank Dillbauer.  In 1926 George Gardner joined the company as an owner and it became Wells-Gardner and Company.  Before World War Two the company built radios.  After the war, it not only built radios but televisions as well.  The televisions were built for Montgomery Ward, Gambles, and W.T. Grant.  As Japanese imports began to replace American-built televisions and radios, Wells-Gardner was able to find a niche in producing monitors for arcade games.  It was the only company to produce monitors for the Pac-Man games in the 1970s.  Since that time, the company made a successful transition into making flat screen monitors for arcade and gambling games.  The company survived almost a century by adapting to new products for new markets.  Most companies have been unable to do this.


The Wells-Gardner & Company won the Army-Navy "E" award three times during World War Two.
The company received its first award in 1944 for building radio receivers and transmitters under budget and returning the cost savings to the U.S. Government. 

Wells-Gardner World War Two Products:  Military receivers and transmitters.  The company built BC-348 radio receiver for the United States Army Air Corps and RBL-4 radio receivers for the U.S. Navy.


This Wells-Gardner-built Model CWQ-46230 radio receiver is on display at Vermilion County War Museum in Danville, IL and is one of several World War Two radios on display.  It is part of the Model RBL-4 which also included the CWQ-10124-A mounting base.  Author's photo


Both the Model RBL-4 and Type CWQ-46230 have the same serial number of 43.  The receiver was accepted by the U.S. Navy on April 28, 1944.  The unit appears to have never been put into service.  If so, this is essentially a brand new unused unit.  Author's photo

The BC-348 receiver was used with a BC-375 transmitter for airborne long range air-to-ground radio communications in large and medium bombers and transports.  Together the two radios were identified as the SCR-287.  There were 102,508 SCR-287 sets built from 1941 through 1944 by four different companies.  Wells-Gardner made an estimated 40,000 of them.  The aircraft in which they were used were the B-17, B-24, B-25, B-26, B-29, C-46, C-47, and C-54.  Each of these aircraft had a dedicated radio operator.


In the B-17, the BC-348 air-to-ground receiver was located on the radio operator's desk.  Author's photo.


This Wells-Gardner BC-348 is part of the large collection of radios at the Indiana War Memorial in downtown Indianapolis.  The Memorial has re-created an entire U.S. Navy ship radio shack.  The BC-348 was grouped separately with several other non-naval radios adjacent to the radio shack.  Author's photo.


It is serial number 10123.  Author's photo.


The B-29 Enola Gay had a BC-348 in its radio room on its bombing run to Hiroshima.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


One of the most famous B-17s is the Memphis Belle.  It carried a BC-348.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


The B-24 Witchcraft has a Wells-Gardner BC-348 in its radio room.  Author's photo.


The Martin B-26 Marauders of World War Two were equipped with BC-348 receivers.  Author's photo.


The B-25 medium bombers came with BC-348 radios. Author's photo.


Transport aircraft like the C-46, C-47, and C-54 aircraft shown in this and the next two photos had BC-348 receivers.  Author's photo. 


Author's photo.


Author's photo.

 

 

 

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