c. 1944 472nd Sub-Depot B-24 Liberator Tool Box

[Private Lugnutz]

Post 1 of 3

As first noted in the 2020 Garage Sale thread, I found a very special box at the flea market on Thursday.

I immediately recognized it as the 'suitcase' type of tool chest that the USAAF issued to all kinds of mechanics in all kind of ground crews. These are very lightweight boxes, made of plywood, with reinforced steel edges and corners.

I've had one before stenciled "KIT CREW CHIEF" and "T.O. 00-30-43"...

...and we actually have a copy of that Technical Order and what tools were in that particular kit...

That box is now happily on display, filled with tools, at the American Air Museum of Britain for the 361st Fighter Group at Cambridgeshire, England, donated by me to a colleague involved in that museum project.

For more context, here is another even better example of the type of tool box that a good friend and colleague of mine restored.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Post 2 of 3

The one I just found is missing its interior compartments...

...its original handle...

...and it has gotten pretty beaten up as it has made the rounds, as illustrated by the wear and tear, and this pre-1947 sticker from the Transportation Office at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas...

...and this railway sticker indicating that it was shipped from Phoenix, AZ to New York City in 1953.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Post 3 of 3

But I am 100% certain it dates to WWII, to 1944-45 - to be exact, and it's a real treasure.

You may have noticed the reference to the 472nd Sub-Depot in the title of the thread. You may have also noticed that the box is stenciled "472ND SUB-DEPOT".

That's not a reference to a Submarine Depot. That's "Sub" as in Subordinate.

The 472nd Sub-Depot was the maintenance unit and shop for the 466th Bomb Group at Attlebridge, near Norwich, in 1944 and 1945.

Attlebridge was originally constructed in 1941 for the RAF to use. With the news that it was to be assigned to the USAAF, the runways were extended and additional hardstandings and outbuildings constructed for heavy bombers. In actuality, the 319th Bomb Group flying medium B-26 Marauders were the first tenants. They arrived in October 1942 and used Attlebridge as a satellite field for Horsham. After they moved on to North Africa with the 12th Air Force, Attlebridge was used to train B-24 Liberator crews.

The 466th Bomb Group arrived in February 1944 with their 472nd Sub-Depot maintenance crews in tow. They flew 232 missions in the course of the year against strategic objectives like U-boat installations in Kiel, ball bearing works in Berlin, aircraft factories in Munich and oil refineries in Hamburg.

Note that the box is also stenciled "ENG. MECH." followed by hand-painted markings reading "Sgt. Tappin, F.D. and "Sgt. Eikenberg, Ted"

They were mechanics at the 472nd, they shared this carry box during their service there, and I reckon it followed one of them home from England.

Thanks to the American Air Museum in Britain for the information summarized above and also for the following period photos of the 472nd Sub-Depot at Attlebridge in 1944.

 

[MR.X]

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Extra Stuff

in the course of my research I ran into a very well-done and entertaining blog by a genealogist named Nat Taylor, some of which is dedicated to one of his cousins, a S/Sgt. Wilbur F. Whiting, who was assigned to the 472nd Sub-Depot during WWII.

Wilbur worked in the chute shop. He was also an artist who, according to the family, painted several of the B-24 nose cones. Links here and here for further reading, but here are a couple photos of Wilbur's original artwork.

A sketch...

...and a colored sketch.

This may have been an inside joke, or a plane that never went aloft, as there is no record of a B-24 Liberator nicknamed "Scrubbed Goose."

Here are some additional photos of the 472nd Sub-Depot chute shop from his personal effects.

What's interesting about this is it makes me wonder how many of the B-24 Liberators he painted under the hangar at the 472nd Sub-Depot at Attlebridge!

Here are a couple of them, photos courtesy of the American Air Museum of Britain...

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, X.

 

[wrenchguy]

Some awesome research and presentation! Thanks!

 

[tombell572]

Fascinating details and photos, Lugz--Thanks!

Tom B.

 

[coljar]

Thanks PL. I'm very interested in WWII. I have a lot of my dad's items he brought back at the end of the war.

 

[nglauer]

That is awesome. This thread just happened to pop up on my Tapatalk app. So glad it did.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[ZRX61]

Horsham is the main Norwich airport these days. Attlebridge is covered in turkey sheds & stinks so bad you can smell it before you see it.

 

[Farmer J.]

Good find Lugz. Nice box, and great to have the story and pics posted up with it. There used to be so much stiff like that box laying around, but it's getting rare now.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice box and great history. That thing has done some traveling!

 

[Farmer J.]

Here's some more 'Extra Stuff'. As so often, this thread has sparked me off on a tangent only tenuously connected with the thread...! Sorry Lugz.

I had a look at the geneology website, that's interesting for family history..

Then looked up the American Air Museum at Duxford, part of Imperial War Museum.I have been there twice, it's a wonderfully well presented exhibition. Lugz donating the first box mentioned prompted me to look for a bomb trailer which I donated years ago... Some guy who was helping me service my Chevy truck saw it on the farm, and said something like "Wow, that's one of those bomb trailers, any chance you would part with it as the War Museum would surely like it?" The trailer had a flat tyre at the time and I couldn't undo the wheel nuts, it wasn't much use on the farm anyway so I said ok please take it and someone came and took it away very pleased and saying it would be no problem for them to restore.. It was an M5 trailer, maybe this same one I don't know!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, Mike, Tom, and NGLauer.

I have a lot of my dad's items he brought back at the end of the war.

That's how it started for me!

Horsham is the main Norwich airport these days. Attlebridge is covered in turkey sheds & stinks so bad you can smell it before you see it.

Appropriate, then, maybe, since it was likely agrarian before they built the airfield there. I do wonder if any buildings were left standing, though.

That thing has done some traveling!

Yes it has. And I am leaving everything as it is, including the makeshift handle.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

What a great historical find Lugz and such a good story to go along with it. Really nice nose cone art and info too. Ed.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

"Wow, that's one of those bomb trailers, any chance you would part with it as the War Museum would surely like it?" ...[ ]...It was an M5 trailer, maybe this same one I don't know!

Very generous, J.

I am already feeling the museum donation urge on this one, but I may keep it for awhile. It didn't take me too long to think of some appropriate and pseudo-appropriate things to keep in it!

First thing I grabbed was the snoopy. Then I remembered the extra deep spark plug socket. A roll-up. Oh, yeah, those WWII avionics instruments I picked up at that estate sale a few years ago. And where's that cap and goggles? I'm sure I could pack it if I keep going...

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I'll get a little nerdy on the cockpit instruments for Provincial and the rest of the aviation guys...

- 1942 U.S. Army Air Forces Allen Calculators Type C-1 Bank & Turn Indicator, marked “A.A.F. U.S. ARMY” and “BANK & TURN IND.” on the dial, marked S/N: AAF-42-24692, Order No. AC-28784 and last patent 2749914 (July 1941) on the data plate, with an “AN OCT 44” inspection stamp (Pics 1 & 2)

- 1941 U.S. Army Air Corps Bendix Aviation (Pioneer) Pitch Indicator, marked “A.C. U.S. ARMY” and “SERIAL NO. AC-41-1446” and “TYPE A-B” on the dial, marked Order No. AC-20662 and Spec No. 94-27955 and Mfgr No. 1718-2S-A2, last patent 2215570 (Sep 1940) on the data plate (Pics 3, 4, & 5)

 

[Private Lugnutz]

- 1942 US Army Air Corps Kollsman (Square D Company) Altimeter, marked Order No. AC-26969 on the data plate, last patent 2154273 (April 1939) (Pics 1 & 2)

- 1942 US Army Signal Corps Sparks-Withington Radio Compass I-81-A (PL-118), marked Order No. 12033-WF-42 with an “SC44” inspection stamp (Pics 3, 4, & 5)

 

[RubiconJK]

Lugz, as always your research and ability to then tell the story is way above and beyond. Great find and thanks for keeping the history alive for those of us who heard these stories from our fathers and perhaps even more importantly for those who haven't heard the stories yet.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

- 1942 US Army Air Corps Ternstedt (General Motors) Directional Gyro Indicator, marked AN-5735-1, S/N: AF 42-20061, and Order No. W535 AC 25804 on the data plate, with a “MAR 11 1943” inspection stamp

 

[Private Lugnutz]

...and perhaps even more importantly for those who haven't heard the stories yet.

Amen, brother.

 

[MShaw]

Just a side note. My first job out of college was at a company that made the carburetors for the Pratt & Whitney radial engines during ww2. These aircraft were used at the start of the Vietnam war as they had a short takeoff length. I was in charge of resurrecting tooling and overseeing the making of spares for these units.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

What a great historical find Lugz and such a good story to go along with it. Really nice nose cone art and info too. Ed.

Thanks, Ed.

The nosecone art and aircraft nicknames are easily some of the most iconic imagery from WWII.

I put "jeep" names in the same subject area. As I was getting my 1943 Willys MB on the road and contemplating a nickname prior to the paint job, I got so engrossed in and curious about the practice of soldiers naming their jeeps, and what it might tell us about them, that I created a database of 655 discrete names that I culled from scrolling through several thousands of LIFE and Getty images. The database included theater, unit ID (derived from bumper markings on the same jeep), location on the jeep (cowl, fenders, etc), and classifications, including masculine, feminine, humorous ("NUMONIA WAGON", "MY ACHIN BACK"), esprit de corps ("MUD N' GUTS", "HITLER'S HEARSE"), places ("HOOSIER EXPRESS", "JERSEY JERK"), quirky, animals, endearment ("ALWAYS RUTH", "JUST ANNE", "BABY DUMPLING", "NANCY GIRL"), vulgar ("THE ***** MACHINIST", "WRECKTUM"), etc. What I was able to quantify was what everyone already knows. That the men who fought WWII were as ingenious, raunchy, loving, and funny as they were bold and courageous, and that those characteristics were necessarily interdependent.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Thanks, Ed.

The nosecone art and aircraft nicknames are easily some of the most iconic imagery from WWII.

It may be that the scrubbed goose lady never graced the nose cone of a bomber but she would have been perfect for the famous Howard Hughes flying boat which lives about 20 miles from me in McMinnville now. Ed.

 

[captain14]

Great research search and presentation, Private Lugnutz.

 

[landrover bodger]

just seen this RAF Attlebridge is about 10 miles from here it now has turkey sheds on the old runways .

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It may be that the scrubbed goose lady never graced the nose cone of a bomber but she would have been perfect for the famous Howard Hughes flying boat which lives about 20 miles from me in McMinnville now. Ed.

Haha. Clever, Ed. Hard to believe that was made of spruce!

Great research search and presentation, Private Lugnutz.

Thanks.

 

[landrover bodger]

just took a drive out to RAF Attlebridge here's a few photos as it is now . if anybody would like any photos of any Norfolk airfields please let me know .

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thank you for gracing my thread with those photos, bodger. Hallowed ground, regardless of the current tenants. And that's a well-kempt decent-sized memorial. Very kind of you to take that jaunt.

 

[landrover bodger]

glad you liked them we are grateful to those that flew from there to give us the freedom we have today .

 

[Farmer J.]

glad you liked them we are grateful to those that flew from there to give us the freedom we have today .

Amen to that. Those places are sometimes so atmospheric sometimes you can almost hear the B-24's.
Thank you for posting the pics, it was a pleasant morning earlier today for a Land Rover ride out, but mine had electrical problems as they often do! Bad earths...

 

[jabberwoki]

I love it when treasure like this falls into the right hands

 

[tym]

I love it when treasure like this falls into the right hands

Indeed! The box was lucky to have found Lugz vs an uncertain fate.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I love it when treasure like this falls into the right hands

Indeed! The box was lucky to have found Lugz vs an uncertain fate.

Thanks, fellas. I will admit that it's the finds like that every once in awhile keep me going, and make it seem like this is way more than just a pastime.