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 Delco-Remy in World War Two
World War Two Products and Product Applications

This page updated 4-21-2025.

This is one of four pages on this site to exhibit the contributions of Delco-Remy Division of GM in winning the World War Two.  "Delco-Remy at the Normandy Invasion" details the contribution of the Division during this historic amphibious invasion.  "Our War Job" is the complete reproduction Delco-Remy's 1944 booklet detailing its participation in the war effort up to that date.  "The Army-Navy "E" Award with Three Stars" page is a photo essay of Delco-Remy's World War Two "E" flag.  This page, "World War Two Products and Product Applications," complements the other three pages, by providing more detail on the many pieces of equipment which used Delco-Remy electrical components.  Many of these pieces of equipment were not at the Normandy Invasion.  They were either introduced into the European combat zone after the initial landings, or obsolete as front line fighting weapons prior to D-Day. 

This page has eight more pages linked at the top that provide more extensive information on Delco-Remy World War Two products and their applications.  There is too much information to add to one page. 

Prior to World War Two, Delco-Remy not only supplied General Motors cars and trucks with electrical components, but also supplied other car and truck makers as well.  Even before the United States entered World War Two after Pearl Harbor, Plant 7 was built in 1940 as an aluminum foundry to produce castings for the Allison V-1710 aircraft engine. This page shows many of Delco-Remy (D-R) products used in a plethora of military applications during World War Two.  Product applications fell into four basic groups:  trucks, tracked and wheeled armored vehicles, small boats and landing craft, and aircraft engines and equipment.

The information on this and the other eight related pages is not comprehensive but what is known of applications for Delco-Remy products during World War Two.  There were so many, and after 80 years, it is difficult to find all of the war products D-R built.  This, and the associated application pages, are a good snap-shot of how Delco-Remy helped win World War Two.

This is the original Anderson Delco-Remy Army Navy "E" Flag that the Division won during World War Two.  This historical treasure was saved for posterity and was photographed at the Madison County Historical Society's 2016 Delco-Remy display.  Authors' photo.
 
The Army-Navy "E" Award was the most sought after award during World War Two.  Only 5% of the eligible companies received it.  Of those 5%, only 18% were awarded three stars like D-R Anderson.  D-R Anderson originally won the Army-Navy "E" Award on May 4, 1943.  The stars were added on February 26, 1944, September 9, 1944, and April 21, 1945.

Delco-Remy World War Two Products:  Table 1 shows that Delco-Remy had a total of $53,221,000 in major contracts during World War Two.  This total shows the contracts amounts for Anderson, IN, Muncie, IN, and King Mills, OH.  Tables 2 through 5 show the individual contracts for each of the three locations.

Of special interest in Table 2 is contract Army Ordnance contract number 294-ORD-956 for $14,614,000 for 90mm anti-aircraft gun cables.  The $14,614,000 is 32% of the total contracts awarded to the Anderson plants.  What is of special interest is that cables were not a Delco-Remy core product like the generators, regulators, and starters that were contracted to the Anderson plants.  As the information from "Our War Job" below shows, Plant 8 was in the process of tooling up for this project when it was cancelled.  Because this was not a core product, Delco-Remy had to have sub-contractors provide the components for final assembly in Plant 8.  No doubt this was part of the reason why the project was cancelled, as this was a timely process.

Image added 4-21-2025. 
 

The Delco-Remy document shows 40mm anti-aircraft guns using the cable.  The contract was for M-1 cables to be used with 90mm anti-aircraft guns like the one shown here.  Author's photo added 4-21-2025. 

During World War Two, companies were not allowed to publicly publish production numbers, as they were considered to be a military secret.  In 1945 these regulations eased up.  In the February 9,1945 edition of the "Delco-Remy Clan," Delco-Remy was allowed to release production numbers of World War Two products to date.  The numbers are shown by general product groups and not by individual product; but they do give an insight into the amount of war material D-R produced up until early 1945.

The plants included in the production of the following parts were Anderson, IN; Bedford, IN; Kings Mill, OH; Muncie, IN; and  Yellow Springs, OH.  No specifics are given below for the number of batteries produced by Muncie.

1,500,000+ electrical sets consisting of generators, cranking motors, regulators, switches, distributors and coils for military trucks, tractors and DUKWs.
485,000+ heavy duty of generators, cranking motors, regulators, coils and switches for Army tanks and tank destroyers and for Navy landing craft and PT boats.
105,000+ aircraft generators and regulators.
295,000+ aircraft magnetos.  Two magnetos were used per aircraft engine.  During World War Two, 812,615 aircraft engines were produced.  DR supplied over 147,500 or 18% of them with magnetos.(62,000+ aircraft engine controls.
40,000+ Sperry automatic pilot servo controls. 
60,000+ complete sets of aluminum castings for the Allison V-1710 and V-3420 aircraft engines.  Allison produced (69,305) V-1710 and V-3420 engines during World War Two.

• Further research indicates that Delco-Remy also supplied:
  2,196 marine pitch propeller controls for 1,098 Landing Craft, Infantry, (Large) and 544 units for 243 110-foot subchasers.

• There was an unknown amount of supercharger blowers produced for Detroit Diesel Division of General Motors 6-71 engines that were used on Sherman tanks, Wolverine tank destroyers, and most small landing craft used in World War Two.  In July 1943 Delco-Remy had a run rate of 6,500 blowers per month.

PT-305:

PT-305 is the only operating Higgins-built PT boat that is a World War Two combat veteran.  The three 1,500 hp Packard marine engines have D-R cranking motors and DC generators.  Author's photo added 3-29-2018.

The National World War Two Museum in downtown New Orleans, LA has this cut-a-way of a Packard marine engine on display which was used to power the World War Two PT boats.  A Delco-Remy starter is prominently displayed on the engine.  Author's photo added 3-29-2018.

LST-393:

Now this is a Delco-Remy cranking motor!!!  Note the size of the motor compared to the author's size 9-1/2 shoe.  It took this size of a cranking motor to start the Electro-Motive 900 hp diesel engine on US Navy LST landing ships.  This and a second D-R starter can be seen on LST 393 in Muskegon, MI.  Author's photo.

The Delco-Remy ID Tag shows that this was Serial Number 182 and built on 9-4-1942.  This 64 volt starter pulled 800 amps to produce 32.5 hp.  This is the largest D-R cranking motor the author has ever seen.  For more photos and information see my D-R World War Two LST 393 page. Author's photo.

The B-29 Project:  Delco-Remy was one of seventeen GM Divisions that built components for the B-29.  It was the most expensive project of World War Two, being even more expensive than the Manhattan Project.

No mention of the B-29 is made in the 1944 Delco-Remy booklet "Our War Job".  There are two reasons for this.  First, production on the B-29 did not start until mid-1944, and contracts and tooling were still being made when the booklet was published.  Second, the B-29 project was considered "Top Secret."  Delco-Remy would have only been able to state it was working on the project, but not what the project was.  As diverse as Delco-Remy produced aircraft-related products were during World War Two, the Division could have supplied any number of components for the B-29.

This Glenn Martin Company document shows the major airframe suppliers for its plant in Omaha, NE.  This was one of four plants that produced the B-29 during World War Two.  The Omaha plant relied on the American auto industry for many of the components for the B-29s it built.

Starting at the front of the fuselage and working towards the rear of the aircraft, the glass nose section was built by Libby-Owens-Ford, an automotive glass company.  The fuselage nose section was built by Chrysler's Plymouth Division in Detroit.  Goodyear in Akron, OH built the two bomb bay fuselage sections.  Briggs, an independent auto body manufacturer in Detroit, provided the bomb bay doors.  The three rear fuselage sections behind the wings were also built in the city of Detroit by the Hudson Motor Car Company, which combined with Nash in 1954 to become American Motors.  The entire tail section and the elevators with control surfaces were made by Goodyear, and the tail gunner's position was manufactured by the Fisher Body Division of GM at Cleveland, OH.

Martin Omaha provided the center section of the wing.  Chrysler provided the inboard leading edges.  Hudson built the outer wing sections, outer leading edges, ailerons, and wing tips.  Briggs provided the flaps.  All four engine nacelles and engine oil tanks came from the Fisher Body Division of GM along with the exhaust manifolds.  Omaha built the engine mounts; Dodge supplied the engines and Chrysler the engine cowlings.

Firestone provided the main and auxiliary wing fuel tanks.  BF Goodrich provided the fuselage auxiliary fuel tank.

While this is a Boeing-designed aircraft, there are no major fuselage, wing nor rear tail section components provided by that company for the Martin Omaha-built B-29s.  With the exception of the Martin wing center section, the rest of the wing was supplied by the American automobile industry. 

Inside the B-29 airframe and wing structural components listed above, there were tens of thousands of parts and components.  The engine nacelles produced by the Fisher Body Division of GM had over 3,000 parts in them.  Each nose fuselage section built by Chrysler had 5,000 parts in it.  Many of the parts for many of the major components would have been supplied by AC Sparkplug, Allison, Brown-Lipe-Chapin, Buick, Chevrolet, Delco Appliance, Delco Products, Delco Radio, Delco-Remy, Fisher Body, Frigidaire, Harrison Radiator, Hyatt Bearings, Moraine Products, New Departure, Packard Electric, and Rochester Products Divisions of GM as identified in the 1944 GM Annual Report.

Of significance is that the Martin Plant in Omaha, NE produced the Silverplate B-29 Nuclear Bombers.

No doubt some Delco-Remy part or component went on a ride to Hiroshima, Japan in the Enola Gay on August 6, 1945.  Author's photo.

Delco-Remy World War Two Products as listed in "Our War Job:"  Electrical Components for Military Trucks - Generators and generator regulators, starting motors, ignition distributors and coils, switches, and batteries; Electrical Components for Military Tanks and Armored Vehicles - Generators and generator regulators, starting motors, ignition distributors and coils, apparatus boxes, and batteries; Electrical Components for Military Aircraft - Generators and generator regulators, magnetos, and batteries; Automatic Aircraft Engine Controls; Solenoids for Sperry Autopilots; Automatic Trim Tab Controls; Electrical Components for Military Marine applications - Generators and generator regulators, starting motors, ignition distributors and coils;  Marine propeller pitch controls for landing craft and submarine chasers; Marine diesel equipment - pistons, blowers, pre-heaters and pre-heater fuel pumps, governors; Tubing - for electrical, fuel, brake, air conditioning, oil and air lines; Allison V-1710 engine castings - Various; Aircraft engine machined parts - Various; (1,000,000) 20mm shell bodies;  Various solenoids for starting motors, aircraft bomb release racks, guns and overdrive controls.

Delco-Remy manufactured one million 20mm shell projectiles.  The U.S. Navy was the primary user of the 20mm cannon during World War Two.  Author's photo added 5-8-2020.

Delco-Remy World War Two Products at the Madison County Historical Society:  The Madison County Historical Society in Anderson, IN has an excellent collection of Delco-Remy-built World War Two era components.  Below are photos from the 2016 Delco-Remy exhibit at the historical society.  Some of the parts are experimental, and others production items.

This is a carbon pile aircraft regulator.  It was developed by Delco-Remy.  At the request of the U.S. Army Air Force, Delco-Remy then licensed to other manufacturers to assure an adequate supply.  Author's photo added 5-8-2020.

This is an experimental hydrogen filled distributor model number EX-38983.  Author's photo added 5-8-2020.

Model number EX-38983 as seen from the bottom.  Author's photo added 5-8-2020.

Experimental four-cylinder magneto with partial model number EX-3674x.  It is of 1941 vintage.  Author's photo added 5-8-2020.

Ignition coil 1115143 is also part of the collection.  Author's photo added 5-8-2020.

The servo control motor on display at the Historical Society is model number 1889646 with serial number 8959hk.  This was part of the Sperry auto-pilot that Delco-Remy produced for such aircraft as the B-24 Liberator bomber.  Author's photo added 5-8-2020.

Author's photo added 5-8-2020.

World War Two Experimental Alternator:  This Delco-Remy engineering sample was found on the 1943 Chevrolet Airborne Extra-Light 1/4-Ton Jeep Program.  More photos and information can be found on the Delco-Remy Military Truck page.

This has all of the appearances of a Delco-Remy alternator.  Author's photo added 5-8-2020.

Delco-Remy Clan Photos:

This Allison V-1710 was on display at Delco-Remy in February 1942.  It came back from Libya with five bullet holes in the nose housing.  The Royal Air Force P-40 Tomahawk was able to land safely. 

This is the Allison V-3420 engine as shown in the 'Delco-Remy Clan' dated June 2, 1944.  Only 160 were made, of which four were used to replace the R-3350 engines on a test B-29.  The coming of jet propulsion doomed this engine.  Delco-Remy Plant 7 provided many of the Aluminum castings for the limited run of the engine.

From the March 9, 1945 'Delco-Remy Clan.'

From the June 1, 1945 'Delco-Remy Clan.'

Bedford, IN:  It was announced in the August 14, 1944, issue of the 'Delco-Remy Clan' that Delco-Remy had purchased the Salem and Walters Mills and the property of the Indiana Lime Stone Company in Bedford, IN.  The new plant became the Bedford Foundry Plant of the Delco-Remy Division.  The complex consisted of two mill buildings totally 140,000 square feet and an office building.  It, along with plant 7 in Anderson, produced aluminum castings for the Allison aircraft engine.

According to the March 9, 1945 edition of the 'Delco-Remy Clan,' Bedford had received new contracts for increasing production on the Rolls-Royce aircraft engine.  This implies that Bedford had already been producing casting for the Packard-built Rolls-Royce V-1650 Merlin engine.  This is the only reference I have ever seen that Delco-Remy was supplying castings to any other aircraft engine manufacturer besides Allison.  The Packard-built Merlin engine was the most important and best engine used in an Army Air Force fighter during World War Two.  It made the P-51 Mustang into the best Army World War Two fighter aircraft.

This is a Packard-built Rolls-Royce Merlin V-1650 aircraft engine.  Delco-Remy's Bedford plant produced castings for this engine.  There may not have been much publicity for this within the General Motors organization, as this was a direct competitor to the Allison V-1710.  The Merlin was also a better engine than the Allison, which was no doubt an embarrassment to Allison and General Motors.  Author's photo added 5-8-2020.

Kings Mill, OH:  On April 28, 1944 it was announced that the U.S. Navy had taken control of the former Kings Mill Army Ordnance plant in Kings Mill, OH, and that Delco-Remy would build cranking motors for diesel powered landing craft.  By the end of the war, in just a year's time, the plant had produced 64,000 naval cranking motors and 375,000 switches.  This was done with a work force of 900 employees. 

Before Delco-Remy took over management of the plant, Remington Arms produced ammunition in it until March of 1944.  The .30 carbine ammunition being made in the plant could not be produced in the quantities needed and was moved to a larger plant.  Then the U.S. Navy took control from the U.S. Army.  Delco-Remy tooled up the plant in 60 days for the production of naval cranking motors and switches for landing craft.

Currently, the former location of the plant is contained within the grounds of an Army Reserve Center.