During World War II, the city of Evansville manufactured vast amounts of armaments that were vital to the Allied victory. The Evansville Ordnance Plant made 96 percent of all .45-caliber ammunition used in the war, while the Republic Aviation Plant produced more than 6,500 P-47 Thunderbolts--almost half of all P-47s built during the war. At its peak, the local shipyard employed upward of eighteen thousand men and women who forged 167 of the iconic Landing Ship Tank vessels. In this captivating and fast-paced account, University of Evansville historian James Lachlan MacLeod reveals the enormous influence these wartime industries had on the social, economic and cultural life of the city.

World War II changed the face of Evansville, Indiana. In December 1941, the city was still recovering from the Great Depression, yet within three months, a series of blockbuster announcements transformed the region. Several corporations received major defense contracts to manufacture parts and ammunitions, while two new installations were launched: a shipyard to construct Landing Ship Tanks and a factory to manufacture P-47 airplanes. Industrial employment rose dramatically, producing social, economic, and racial tensions as thousands of newcomers poured into a city that lacked adequate housing and public facilities. The citizens of Evansville persevered, and most workers stayed following the end of the war. One federal official commented that the city--not just its many defense plants--deserved the coveted Army-Navy "E" (for excellence) award.

An amateur HAM radio operator intercepts a garbled shortwave transmission that indicates the Gestapo's top henchman is coming to America to kill Erika Lehmann, the Nazis' top spy.

A supplemental textbook for middle and high school students, Hoosiers and the American Story provides intimate views of individuals and places in Indiana set within themes from American history. During the frontier days when Americans battled with and exiled native peoples from the East, Indiana was on the leading edge of America’s westward expansion. As waves of immigrants swept across the Appalachians and eastern waterways, Indiana became established as both a crossroads and as a vital part of Middle America. Indiana’s stories illuminate the history of American agriculture, wars, industrialization, ethnic conflicts, technological improvements, political battles, transportation networks, economic shifts, social welfare initiatives, and more. In so doing, they elucidate large national issues so that students can relate personally to the ideas and events that comprise American history. At the same time, the stories shed light on what it means to be a Hoosier, today and in the past.

Details"Home Front Warriors" is the third book in a series of Evansville and Tri-state history books by Harold Morgan. Previous books in this series are "Home Front Heroes" and "Home Town History". Evansvilleʼs most renowned WWII products were the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter and the Landing Ship Tank; the LST. This book endeavors to illustrate how the devoted employees built the components and assembled the P-47 and the LST. The authorʼs goal is to provide as many war-time production employee photos as space allowed.Harold Morgan lived the war years and a total of 15 years of his young life immediately west of the airport and Republic Aviation. The many test flights and machine-gun test firing sounds became common enough to the author as a child as to be generally unnoticed.After collecting 40,000 historical photos and images of various subjects, the author wants to use as many of his photo collection as possible. The author selected 500 of these photos to illustrate how these war winning products were built and used.

This is a new release of the original 1946 edition.