The years were 1939 - 1945

• 1939: Germany invades Poland, opening World War II (WWII) in Europe
• 1940: Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of England
• 1941-1945: War rages across much of the world, ending with an Allied victory in 1945

Meanwhile . . .

It seemed as though the world was coming to an apocalyptic end. And for the more than 56 million souls who perished in the maelstrom, it surely did.

It was WWII, a shattering experience in mass murder, clashing armies and territorial lust.

With most of Europe smashed under the Nazi boot, China and the rest of Asia and the Pacific felt the lash of Imperialist Japan.

The war began in Europe in 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. For the United States, its war years were 1941 to 1945. Diebold was there, having entered the fray early, both with purpose and resolve.

War clouds had formed clearly on the horizon by the mid 1930s, and so it was that in 1934 the U.S. government slowly began the precautionary stockpiling of war material. Among its early steps was to outfit the Army with better weaponry, particularly heavily armored tanks, half-tracks and scout vehicles for the anticipated, protracted land battles.

The mechanized vehicle development belonged to others, such as the White Motor Company of Cleveland, Ohio. Beginning in 1938, White Motor brought scout car frames and chasses to Diebold’s plant in Canton, Ohio, where new production lines were readied and waiting. The new vehicles were then assembled in Canton and outfitted with some of the finest armor plate that could be had. Our continuing research and new methodologies throughout the war made it even better.

These scout cars would go into battle looking like a Brink’s truck with a canon on top. They distinguished themselves in service, particularly in North Africa, in Sicily and on mainland Italy, which only led to more orders and more work for Diebold.

We soon earned a reputation for being not only among the very best at producing armor plate, but also one of the best war production plants of any kind in the nation. Employment swelled 1,300 to 2,900 as government contracts poured in, asking that Diebold’s excellence be applied to other areas, too, such as:

• Armored combat plane bucket seats
• Armored aircraft gun turrets
• Hatches and interior doors and frames for ships
• Landing barge parts
• Trailers for anti-aircraft guns
• Machine gun tracks
• 250,000 shell containers for 105 millimeter mortars
• 850,000 powder cases for 155 millimeter Howitzers
• Metal radio cabinets
• Torpedo tube mounts
• Diesel and gasoline engine blocks
• Escape scuttles
• Ammunition-passing hatches
• Army and Navy money chests

Nearly every bit of manpower Diebold could muster was thrust into war work. Few commercial projects were taken on. The company was involved 98 percent in direct defense work by mid 1942. Our workplaces hummed like a fine-tuned machine, although retooling and engineering changes abounded. New production lines were installed, disassembled, then reassembled again as military contracts for various parts changed and changed once more.

An in-house newspaper chronicled the exploits of associates in uniform and its cameraman photographed them back at the factory when they visited while home on leave. The wives of factory hands formed their own clubs and busied themselves with special projects to help the war effort.

For its dedication to task and its quality of manufacture, Diebold won the coveted Army-Navy E Pennant in August 1942, a rare and distinguished honor. Only five percent of all plants involved in war production during WWII won this honor and the right to display the swallow-tailed pennant. Presentation ceremonies were elaborate with a cadre of military brass on hand, oftentimes speaking against the backdrop of an Army Air Corps fly-over.

The E Pennant became a badge of patriotism in action. By war’s end, Diebold’s flag was also adorned with two stars – its first in August 1943, the second in February 1944 – each representing an additional period of six months of excellence on the job.

In February 1944, the scout car/half track program was cancelled. By then, Diebold had armored 21,045 scout cars and 15,418 half tracks for a total contract value of $82.68 million. Its open order value sank overnight to about $10 million.

By then, an end to the war was in sight. Diebold’s executives began to turn their eyes to post-war production activities.

At war’s end, only 4,283 of the nation’s best production facilities had earned the Army-Navy E Award for their part in the defeat of the Axis Powers. This number includes the Navy E Awards made prior to July 1942 when the Navy E, the Army A and the Army-Navy Munitions Board Star Awards were all merged and became known as the Army-Navy E Award.

Representing only five percent of the estimated war plants in the nation, just those that met the most stringent requirements received the E Pennant. They ranged in size from a one-man plant to large corporations and included facilities that converted from peace to war production, as well as new plants built especially for war purposes. They included Diebold.

Army-Navy E Pennants went to facilities that were particularly outstanding in their production for the war and Navy departments. Excellence in quality and quantity of production were two of the determining factors in granting awards. Others factors included:

• Overcoming production obstacles
• Low rate of absenteeism
• Avoidance of work stoppages
• Maintenance of fair labor standards
• Training of additional labor forces
• Effective management
• Superior record on accidents, health, sanitation and plant protection
• Utilization of sub-contracting facilities
• Cooperation between management and labor as it affected production
• Conservation of critical and strategic materials
  

The war years were among Diebold’s most difficult, filled with abrupt order changes, hurry-ups and cutbacks, product replacements and order cancellations, news of savored victories and demoralizing defeats. But they were also among our most proud. We had worked hard to help win that war. We had earned that E.