Page 14 - Wayne Dispatch Pages

Wayne during WWII

What were Wayne’s contributions
to the WWII war efforts? The first
contribution would be the human
one, over 800 men and 23 women
were directly in service to the coun-
try. Forty-nine men and one woman
from Wayne would lose their life dur-
ing the course of the war. Twenty-
three additional men from the
immediate township area around workers.
Wayne also lost their lives. In town huge bond drives were
Another contribution would be held to raise money for the war, with
the population explosion which hap- Charles Shaffer, owner of the Wayne
pened here. In 1940 Wayne’s popula- Theater, personally buying a
tion was just 4,200 people, but by $10,000 bond. Scrap drives were
the war's end that had doubled to held, and the old streetcar tracks
over 8,000 people. The proximity of down Michigan Avenue were ripped
Romulus Air Base, Willow Run, Stin- up and melted for the War. Wayne A Stinson L-5 "Flying Jeep"
son, and other war industries High School raised $32,000 in switched from making passenger welding. With the men away, women
caused a mass migration to this area bonds to buy a Stinson ambulance planes to the L-5 flying ambulance, a were the primary workers at many of
and a housing shortage. Any avail- plane for the war, they named it “The lightweight plane for medical evacu- the local plants, especially Stinson.
able room was rented out, and peo- Flying Zebra”. ations. The vacant Graham Paige Historical Society member Emma
ple created apartments in garages Wayne also contributed to the plant was requisitioned and turned Timmermann is an original "Rosie"
and unused buildings. The Avondale wartime industry. Unistrut secretly into a Bendix factory where they that worked at Stinson during the
subdivision was built to house these fulfilled contracts to make strut sup- made carburetors and airplane war. After the war, when a new high
workers, as well as Norwayne. While ports, mounting racks, and framing struts for P-51 Mustangs and P-38 school was built, it was decided to
these two subdivisions were being for Oakridge National Laboratory in Lightnings. An old car dealership at add "Memorial" to its name to honor
built, there was a temporary trailer Tennessee, where the atom bomb 35405 Main Street was turned into a the men and women from Wayne
park along Howe Road to house the was developed. Stinson Aircraft school for war workers, teaching who lost their lives in the war.

14 · March 2023 · The Wayne Dispatch