WWII "Jungle Flotation Bladders" Matching pair. "Phila. Q.M.Depot, 1942" NOS!

Description: Here is a SCARCE EARLY-WAR-1942-dated matching pair of "JUNGLE FLOTATION BLADDERS" from the Firestone Rubber and Latex Company of Akron, Ohio, with crisply and legibly stamped Army Contract Numbers and Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot Stock Numbers, dated October 5, 1942. Lot of 2 Mint NOS Unissued! + Placed beneath a buttoned HBT utility jacket these afforded a degree of buoyancy for troops and Marines, laden with gear, weapons, and ammunition during amphibious operations and river crossings in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Secured to weapons, Signal Corps and Medical Department equipment they helped in their transport. Anecdotally, they were also carried and used as 'inflatable pillows' for "a better night's sleep." The USMC P44 Utility Jackets were designed, specifically to accommodate these Flotation Bladders. + This pair in early shade, mustard-khaki rubberized FABRIC are SUPPLE, flextible! ZERO stains, fraying, seam separations of breaks in the black rubber INFLATION TUBES!+ Dimensions: 14" x 9"+ Each is identically and legibly stamped in 1/4" serif font print:BLADDER, FLOTATION, JUNGLEFIRESTONE R. & L. CO.CONT. No. W-669-QM-21640, OCT. 5, 1942STOCK NO. 74-B-308SPECIFICATION P.Q.D. NO. 243PHILADELPHIA Q.M. DEPOTF-93INSPECTOR - - -+ Similar Bladders were manufactured with USMC Contract numbers. And other bladders of similiar dimensions were manufactured by other contractors with the INFLATION TUBES protruding from the shorter sides. Later iterations manufactured by the Firestone Company in 1944 (under USMC contracts) added 'grommets' and tape ties' to the corners to help secure bladers when not inserted in Jacket pockets.'+ I suspect that these Bladders with Army Contract numbers with the "W-prefix" found their way into the USMC Quartermaster supply system in the Pacific campaigns with the rapid expansion of the Corps which outstripped the Corps ability to supply Marine-specific materiel.*****Any overage in postage/shipping will be refunded immediately upon purchase. *****Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in World War Two Akron, OH 1900-Present (Since 1988 as part of Bridgestone) Headquarters are now in Nashville, TN The Firestone Rubber and Latex plant in Fall River, MA won the Army-Navy "E" Award three times. Firestone Textiles, a subsidiary of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Bennettsville, SC won the Army-Navy "E" Award once. The Firestone Rubber and Rubber Company, Nebraska Defense Corporation, Nebraska Defense Plant, Fremont, won the Army-Navy "E" Award once. Firestone Textiles, a subsidiary of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Gastonia, NC won the Army-Navy "E" Award three times. The Firestone Park plants in Akron, OH won the Army-Navy "E" Award three times. The original award was presented to the Firestone workers in a ceremony in front of the plant on March 27, 1944 Firestone Tire and Rubber's World War Two Products: As can be seen below, Firestone was prolific and varied in the products made for the US Armed Forces during WWII.Firestone Tire and Rubber's World War Two Product Statistics: 7,762 barrage balloons, 600,000 bullet proof fuel and oil cells, 24,500 drop tanks, 2,250 C-46 wing sets (3,198 C-46s built), 1,277,000 aircraft oxygen cylinders, 82,283 tank and half track tracks, 2,320,455 bogie wheels, 2,224,000,000 .50 caliber machine gun links, 7,393,000 gas masks, 1,882,000 M1926 life belts, 429,000 Mae West life vests, 126,500 rafts, 33,500 other types of flotation gear, 20,231 40mm Bofors gun carriages for the US Army, 10,434 40mm Bofors gun mounts for the US Navy, 765 CG-4A gliders, 1,550 M5 and M5A1 tank turrets, 3,100 M5 and M5A1 tank tracks, 350 Duplex Drive kits for M4A1 Sherman tanksFirestone Tire and Rubber's World War Two Product Statistics:1944 - 8,877,000 combat tires 1945 - 10,716,000 combat tiresMore Firestone Tire and Rubber's World War Two Products: Artillery shells, aluminum kegs for food transport, plastic helmet liners, aircraft rocket launcher tubes, barrage balloons, aircraft drop tanks, Bakelite stocks for Browning Automatic Rifles, tires, rubber tires for tank road wheels, Mae West life vests, self-sealing aircraft fuel and oil tanks, bomb casings, M1926 flotation belts, gas masks, .50 machine gun links, aircraft oxygen tanks, rocket motor boxes, M5 tank turrets, rockets, C-46 wing panels, aircraft, tires, wheels and brakes, pilot seats, tank tracks, submarine parts, pontoons, life rafts, crash pads for tanks, aircraft pressure-sealing bushings, aircraft tire bead loosening tool, army parkas, batteries, tire beadlocks, tire bead wedge rings, brake linings, bullet resistant tubes, camouflage bands, channel rubber, clothing bags, delousing bags, engine mounts, fan belts, flotation bladders, friction tape, gaskets, gun recoil mechanism seals, landing boats, masking tape, molded rubber parts, motorcycle tires and tubes, oxygen nurse bags, oxygen masks, plastic lenses for gas and oxygen masks, plastic screening, pontoons for bridges, raincoats, rescue boats, rubber caster wheels, rubber band tracks for half-tracks, rubber hose, rubber tape, spark plugs, synthetic foamed latex, tire and tube repair material, torsion bearings, track link bushings, 60mm mortar base, aircraft rivet cement, aircraft parachute seat cushions, air-spring landing gear struts, glider wheels, mooring anchors and buoys, parachute rafts, pneumatic lifting bags, propeller anti-icers, repair kits for floatation gear, eye guards for gun sights, marine transmission parts, mine seals, plane tending barges, seadome contact lighting buoysManhattan Project: In 1943-44 Firestone worked with Monsanto in Dayton, OH which was managing the manufacture of polonium for use as nuclear triggers, or initiators in nuclear weapons. Polonium is a source of alpha particles. The alpha particles then bombard beryllium in the initiator which is a large source of neutrons. These neutrons then bombard uranium in the Little Boy gun type weapon, or the plutonium in the implosion device to start the nuclear explosion.Monsanto explored the Dillon Method that was being used on Firestone Sparkplugs. It took several chemical process to produce small amounts of polonium. This process was only partially successful, and other methods of polonium extraction were found to be more efficient. The Dillon Method was discarded by the Dayton Manhattan Project group. But Firestone was a participant in the Manhattan Project during WWII.Firestone had nine plants in Akron during WWII. Products coming out those plants were tires, aircraft wings, industrial products, steel products, 40mm AA gun mounts and carriages, barrage balloons, Butaprene N, molds and machinery. and rubber reclaim. Fuel cells were made at fourteen plants located in Akron, OH, Los Angeles, CA, Dallas, TX, New Castle, IN, Memphis, TN, Pasadena, CA, Compton Junior College, CA, Santa Ana, CA, Ferndale, WA, Coshocton, OH, Zanesville, OH, Patterson, NJ, Bristol, VA and Hamilton, ONT.Cotton tire cord for military tires was made at the Gastonia, NC. In 1942 the plant also manufactured 500,000 pounds of duck material for military tents.The Atlanta, GA plant also built aircraft wings, while Memphis also made raincoats, and Indianapolis assembled tank tracks. The rubber for the tank tracks were produced at the Noblesville, IN plant. A complete listing of Firestone's US and international plants during WWII is included in "Producing for War Preparing for Peace." Firestone's signature war product was the 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun carriage. The actual gun mechanisms were produced were provided by Chrysler and Pontiac and the the gun tubes were built by Chrysler, Pontiac, and Otis-Fensom. Firestone mounted them on the carriages. Firestone was one of three companies that built the carriages for the US Army during WWII. It built, as of March 31, 1944, 84.5% of the total as shown below. The information provided below comes from " The History of the Americanization of the Bofors 40mm Automatic Antiaircraft Gun" written by the Historical Section of the Ordnance Department in May 1944.Firestone, Aircraft Fuel Cells, and the B-29 "Enola Gay:"Firestone Tire and Rubber built a plethora of products in support of the effort during WWII. One of the many products were fuel cells for military aircraft. Nine Firestone plants produced aircraft fuel cells during the war. Coshocton, OH built fuel cells for the B-24, B-29 and P-38.Firestone Tire and Rubber produced over 600,000 fuel cells for the P-51, B-25, P-39, P-38, P-47, SB2C, B-24, B-17, and B-29. The Firestone plant making the fuel cells included Akron, OH, Los Angeles, CA, Dallas, TX, New Castle, IN, Memphis, TN, Pasadena, CA, Compton Junior College, CA, Santa Ana, CA, Ferndale, WA, Coshocton, OH, Zanesville, OH, Patterson, NJ, Bristol, VA and Hamilton, ONT.The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) brought portable automatic fire down to the squad level during WWII. Originally the stocks were made of black walnut like the handgrip. Shortages of black walnut lead Firestone to make them out of a combination of Bakelite, Resinox, and shredded fabric. They were then sandblasted to reduce glare. Firestone Tire and Rubber in Los Angeles, CA also produced 1,550 turrets used M5 and M5A1 Stuart tank built by the Southern California Division of General Motors in South Gate, CA. It also provided the 3,100 tank tracks required. Helmet liners went into the M1 steel helmet. The helmets, sometimes called "steel pots," and their Firestone liners were still used through the end of the Vietnam War. "Mae West" life preserver made by the Firestone Rubber and Latex Products Company. were used by the AAF, USN, and USMC. Firestone made 429,000 of these life preservers. Firestone made 2,224,000,000 .50 caliber machine gun links. The .50 machine gun was used by all services during WWII. They were used on bombers and fighters, tanks, trucks, ships, and as stand-alone weapons.

Price: 85 USD

Location: Little Rock, Arkansas

End Time: 2024-11-25T19:32:45.000Z

Shipping Cost: 11.85 USD