A-15 B-24 Nose Turret - St. Louis, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 37.743 W 090° 11.995
15S E 743746 N 4279333
Display inside the Soldiers Memorial Museum.
Waymark Code: WM17FZG
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 02/15/2023
Views: 0
County of display: St. Louis Independent City
Location of display: Chestnut St., Soldiers Memorial Museum, E section, St. Louis
Display a gift of Gertrude & William Bernoudy & Missouri Historical Society
Marker Text:
EMERSON ELECTRIC COMPANY
Emerson Electric Company had been manufacturing electric products in St. Louis for half a century prior to the start of World War II. When fighting broke out in Europe, the company employed about 1,500 workers. By 1944, under the leadership of company president W. Stuart Symington III, 12,000 Emerson employees were working 24 hours a day, 7 days a eek fulfilling contract to produce 2,200 aircraft gun turrets a month. Following the war, Symington became the first secretary of the Air Force.
A-15 Emerson Electric Company nose turret for B-24 Liberator bomber, ca. 1943. Each A-15 Emerson Electric Company nose turret was made of more than 3,000 parts designed to synchronize the control and firing of the two .50-caliber machine guns.
Photo Captions:
(1): Emerson Eclectic Company plant at 8000 W. Florissant Ave., was built to fulfill the demands of World War II production. Emerson Electric Company manufacturing operations in this new 700-thousand-square-foot plant began before the building was even completed.
(2): Consolidate B-24 Liberator bomber, June 1944. Emerson Electric Company turret on the nose of the aircraft.
(3): Foreman Delbert Potts showing Elsie Holdenbach hos to install an electric control in a top turret at the Emerson Electric plant, ca. 1944. During World War II, 4 out of every 10 Emerson workers were women.