X-Nico

39 unusual facts about United States Department of War


1943 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

In February 1943, the United States Department of War announced the Department would take over both classroom space and athletic facilities at 271 colleges and universities to be utilized in the training of United States Army soldiers.

Air Cargo World

The United States Department of War was relying on aircraft to deliver war supplies, but the long-term future of air cargo as an independent industry was in question.

Bessie Margolin

Following World War II, Margolin was termporarily assigned to the War Department at the Nuremberg trials.

Budd RB Conestoga

Because of initial fears of a shortage of aluminum, the War Department explored the use of other materials for aircraft construction.

Bureau of Pensions

Naval pensions were administered by a commission composed of the Secretary of War, Secretary of the Navy, and Secretary of the Army from 1799 to 1832.

Canton Island Airport

The War Department approved a plan with orders effective 4 October 1941 to build an alternate air ferry route skirting the mandated islands and capable of handling planes such as the B-17s.

Casimir Pilenas

He answered questions regarding his investigation of reports made by Boris Brasol to the War Department "regarding alleged radical activities by Jews during the war."

Columbus Air Force Base

The installation's history began 26 June 1941, when the War Department approved establishment of an Army Air Field for the Columbus, Mississippi area.

On that date, the War Department announced the installation would be named Kaye Field, in honor of Capt Sam Kaye, a World War I flying ace from Columbus.

Coraopolis Bridge

While the Pittsburgh City Council and the Municipal Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Commerce argued for the retention and upgrading of the existing bridges, the issue was ultimately decided by the Department of War, acting under the authority of Section 18 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of March 3, 1890 (30 Stat., 1121–1153).

Cry Slaughter!

For the duration of World War II, the novel was suppressed by the United States Department of War in Washington, D.C. When published, the novel was mass marketed in paperback format.

Cultural assimilation of Native Americans

The Office of Indian Affairs (Bureau of Indian Affairs as of 1947) was established March 11, 1824, as an office of the United States Department of War, an indication of the state of relations with the Indians.

Education of freed people during the Civil War

While the War Department made no initial provision for the slaves, many generals, most notably General William Tecumseh Sherman, advocated providing immediate aid and appealed to various philanthropic agencies to send teachers to provide religious and vocational instruction.

Edward L. Pierce

The care of the negroes on the islands having been transferred to the war department, he was asked to continue in charge under its authority, but declined.

Engineering Division

The Engineering Division was a division of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps in the United States Department of War.

Frederic Adrian Delano

For a time he was consulting engineer to the United States War Department in respect to the railroads of the Philippine Islands.

Handbook On Japanese Military Forces

The US Army's TM E 30-480 Handbook On Japanese Military Forcesis a War Department Technical Manual dated 15 September 1944.

Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays

The War Department had been intending to send three additional AA regiments and two brigade headquarters, however this was not accomplished before the Japanese invasion in December 1941.

Harris A. Houghton

At the time of obtaining the text from Miss de Bogory, Dr. Houghton was a military intelligence officer of the United States Department of War attached to the Eastern Department offices located on Governor's Island in the City of New York.

Harris-class attack transport

Accordingly, a dozen of the Dollar class vessels were purchased by the War Department and converted into troop transports for service with the US Army, which named most of them after distinguished Army leaders.

Homer Burton Adkins

After receiving his degree, he began work as a research chemist for the United States Department of War.

James P. C. Southall

During the First World War, he was a consultant to the War Department on range finders, periscopes, gunsights and similar optical equipment.

K. Leroy Irvis

Irvis proceeded to teach English and history in Baltimore high schools until World War II, when he became a civilian flying instructor in the War Department.

Martin XB-48

In 1944, the U.S. War Department was aware of aviation advances in Germany and issued a requirement for a range of designs for medium bombers weighing from 80,000 lb (36,287 kg) to more than 200,000 lb (90,718 kg).

Metropolitan Railroad

One from the Capitol to the War Department at 14th and I Streets NW and a second along H Street NW from Massachusetts Avenue NW to 17th Street NW.

Natalie de Bogory

She worked as the assistant of the physician and military intelligence officer in the service of the U.S. War Department, Harris Ayers Houghton, who paid for her services out of his own private funds.

Nicola Napoli

However, both the U.S. Department of Justice and the War Department had difficulty and no cooperation in gaining Artkino's full compliance with the FARA Act, an investigation under the Internal Security Act revealed.

North Magnetic Pole

At the start of the Cold War, the United States Department of War recognized a need for a comprehensive survey of the North American Arctic and asked the United States Army to undertake the task.

Santa Anita Golf Course

In 1935, through an act of Congress, the United States Department of War deeded 185 acres to Los Angeles County with the provision that it be used as a park and recreation center.

Secret Intelligence Branch

With the post-war abolition of the OSS, in October 1945, the Secret Intelligence branch became part of the Strategic Services Unit of the Department of War.

SIOR

Over 200 brokers from across the United States and Canada surveyed suitable facilities and reported their findings to the War Department (now the Department of Defense).

SS Arizona

After a few Pacific voyages, Arizona was sold to the War Department and used as an Army transport.

Thomas D. Milling

Milling reported to the 15th Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in September 1909 but his tour of duty was cut short when War Department Special Order 95, dated April 21, 1911, assigned Milling and 2d Lt. Henry H. Arnold to "aeronautical duty with the Signal Corps," and instructed them to "proceed to Dayton, Ohio, for the purpose of undergoing a course of instruction in operating the Wright airplane."

Travis Air Force Base

On 13 October 1942, following negotiations that had begun in September, the War Department assigned the new facility to the Air Transport Command (ATC) in recognition of the base's potential to become a major aerial port and supply transfer point for the Pacific War Zone.

United States Army No. 101

It is one of two survivors of the 1,500 General Pershing locomotives built in 1916–1918 for the War Department in World War I.

United States Department of War

Yielding to pressure from Congress and industry, Secretary Baker placed Benedict Crowell in charge of munitions and made Major General George W. Goethals acting quartermaster general and General Peyton C. March chief of staff.

United States Military Railroad

The U.S. Military Railroad (USMRR) was established by the United States War Department as a separate agency to operate any rail lines seized by the government during the American Civil War.

USS Restless

Restless, a steam tug, built at St. Louis in 1861, was transferred by the War Department to the Navy on 30 September 1862 and renamed Mistletoe.

William Frishmuth

In 1861 Frishmuth became a special secret agent to the War Department at the request of Abraham Lincoln.


Alexander B. Montgomery

He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses).

Charles Addison Russell

He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Fifty-seventh Congress).

Fred H. Albee

With the cooperation of the War Department and the United States Surgeon General, William C. Gorgas, Dr. Albee was given free rein to open "United States Hospital Number 3", at Colonia, New Jersey, as the first purely orthopedic hospital.

John A. M. Adair

He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Sixty-third and Sixty-fourth Congresses).

Peter J. Dooling

He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Sixty-fifth Congress).

School of Practice

The official training guide, adopted by the War Department, was George G. Bruce's The Drummers and Fife Guide, which was used until the end of the Civil War.

United States Army Air Forces in the South Pacific Area

As defined by the War Department, this consisted of the Pacific Ocean areas which lay south of the Equator between longitude 159° East and 110° West.

Victor's justice

For example, at the trial of Otto Skorzeny, his defense was in part based on the Field Manual published by the War Department of the United States Army, on 1 October 1940, and the American Soldiers' Handbook.

West Wing

Today, most of the staff members of the Executive Office of the President are located in the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building—originally the State, War, and Navy Building, after the departments it was built to house.

William J. Graham

He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Sixty-sixth Congress).