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WW2 effects: Kansas

Discussion in 'WWII Today' started by JJWilson, Jun 6, 2018.

  1. JJWilson

    JJWilson Well-Known Member

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    Hello everyone, I'm a little late with my WW2 effects today, speaking of Today's, I hope to expand everyone's knowledge on the oft overlooked state of Kansas. I lived right next door to Kansas for 6 years of my childhood in Monument Colorado, only about 3 hours away from the Colorado-Kansas border. I've only ever been to Kansas twice, once out in the Western Part of the state to buy a German Shepherd puppy, and the second time was a visit to Wichita's annual 4th of July Parade in 2007, which is actually a pretty big ordeal over there. What ever stereotypes you have of the state being nothing but plains of Grass and farmland, you're pretty much spot on. Anywho, I hope you all enjoy, and leave a comment if you're from the great sunflower state!!

    Kansas Pre-WW2
    Kansas has always been a bit of a unique state, the state had a rather violent upbringing in the1850's because of the debate as to whether Kansas should've been a Slave or Free state, in 1861 it was decided Kansas should be a Free state, not long afterwards the Civil War began, and Kansas fell out of the limelight. From then on, there wasn't much Kansas had to offer that was new or unique to the Union. Kansas is a very flat, and very soil rich state, making it prime for farming, and so agriculture was the dominant economic force, and just about everyone in Kansas during the 19th and early 20th centuries either owned a farm, or worked on one. The main exports Kansas produced, was wheat, corn, and cotton. After the Civil War, Kansas for a short time made up for the lost Cotton and wheat production of the South, and was in many ways the breadbasket of the south immediately following the war. In 1989, Natural gas was discovered in pretty sizable quantities in both Kansas and Oklahoma. The industry would grow significantly in the years leading up to WW1, and peaked during the war sending millions of barrels of Natural Gas across the U.S and Europe. While initially boasting a pretty stable economy in the 1910's and 20's, everything would come crashing down in 1929. When economic conditions across the country went south, Kansas was ill prepared. The state had only began to industrialize a little before, and during WW1, with only a few factories in the capitol Topeka, and the state's biggest city Wichita. The Natural Gas industry tanked (pun intended), and the agricultural sector was given all of the pressure. Initially, Kansas wasn't doing terribly economically, but when a man-made ecological disaster came about, Kansas was brought to it's knees. In 1935, after years of over grazing and over plowing the soil rich Kansas plains, the Dust Bowl began. Almost all of Western Kansas was deemed useless land, and the dust storms and clouds caused health problems to livestock and people alike. Kansas's economy collapsed when the Agricultural division couldn't rebound. From 1935 to 1938, the Dust bowl raged on, and Thousands lost their jobs, homes. and farms as a result, it was true devastation. In the 3 year period that the Dust Bowl ravaged Kansas, 90,000 people got out of Dodge (I had too!), and left. So Kansas went from 1.9 million citizens, to 1.8 in only a few years. However, before things went terribly for Kansas in the 30's, a relatively new technological advancement would reverse Kansas fortunes in the 40's....

    Kansas WW2
    With the advent of War on the horizon, Kansas like all of the other states at the time, prepared for war. That preparation included building new factories and upgrading old ones in the Industrial areas of Kansas such as Wichita, Topeka, Kansas City, Overland City, and Olathe. Military facilities and government buildings were built across the state, and as a result, some parts of Kansas were given paved roads for the first time (That doesn't sound like a big deal now, but it was then). Before WW2 began, Kansas was home to 3 Army Air Fields due to the state;s generally good weather, and lack of Mountainous terrain. It was aviation, an ever changing industry that would become the center of Kansas during WW2. Even before WW2, Kansas was home to Beech aircraft corporation, which was founded in 1927, Kansas also housed Boeing and Cessna plants. When war finally broke out, Kansas would be a leading state in aircraft production, and also trained thousands of airmen. While starting the war with 3 Army Airfields, that number would grow to 13 by the end of the war with the seemingly never ending amounts of open land. One of these airfields trained both B-26 Marauder squadrons, and WASP pilots. Kansas, particularly the Boeing plant, was given a special project in 1941, from President Roosevelt himself, to produce 250 B-29 heavy bombers. The project would later be named the "Battle of Kansas" because of the difficult and long process it took to make B-29's combat ready. The project obviously was a difficult one, and it took a year for there to be a flying prototype, and another year to have a true blue B-29 flown. There were a plethora of problems with the B-29,"One major challenge was pulling all of the Wright R-3350-23 Duplex-Cyclone radial engines out of already completed B-29s and modifying them to R-3350-23A "war engine" standard. This entailed disassembling and rebuilding the engines with added baffles to accelerate the airflow over the cylinders, new exhaust valves with improved metallurgy, new rocker arms (drilled with small holes, to allow better oil flow, rather than solid) and modified nose casings and engine sumps, again to improve oil flow. In sub-zero temperatures the work was arduous, especially when it came to struggling with stiff and brittle fuel and oil lines and hard-to-reach clamps, bolts and screws. Other necessary modifications, apart from those already described, were replacing the rudders with strengthened units, all main landing gear tires were replaced and the main gear leg structures reinforced. APQ-13 radar sets had to be fitted. Finally, long range fuel tanks were installed in the bomb bays." (Wikipedia Battle of Kansas). B-29 crews were trained exclusively in Kansas, and 3 of the 13 airfields were allocated specifically for B-29 training. Kansas would go on to produce 34,500 aircraft during the war, this included B-29's, B-17's, B-24's, P-51's, A-26's, and PT-17 Stearman's. 200,000 of the states men and women joined the armed forces during the war, of whom 4,526 lost their lives in the line of duty.

    Kansas Post-WW2
    After WW2, Kansas went back to it's roots in farming, and Natural Gas, but the Aviation and Factory industries had a lasting impact on Kansas. Even to this day, the 3 of the top 10 employers in Kansas are Aviation related, 2 are Natural Gas related, and another is Industrially related. The addition of these economic bolsters brought people to Kansas, and the population has steadily risen to almost 3 million people. Kansas is still predominantly controlled by the Agricultural sector, which is responsible for about 60% of the state's GDP. Fun fact I just wanted to add, Kansas was the first state in the U.S to approve of prohibition in 1881, and it wasn't repealed from the state constitution until 1948!!

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    Dust Storm in Ulysses Kansas in 1936
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    Fox Watson theater in downtown Topeka 1940
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    Wichita in 1942
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    A woman rail yard worker cleaning a Locomotive in the Overland Park Rail yards in 1945
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    The reveal of the B-29 in Wichita, 1943
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    B-17 Assembly line in Topeka
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    B-29's on the assembly line in the Boeing plant in Wichita, 1944
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    WASP Pilots and USAAF B-26 Pilot in Dodge AFB 1944......is it just me or does it look like the women are very happy to talk to that guy :D
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    I've always loved this painting.....Courtesy Terry James terryjamesart.com
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    Topeka Capitol building today
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    Wichita today
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    Beautiful sunset in Eastern Kansas
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    This is actually the same highway we were on when going to get that German Shepherd puppy, that patch of trees is the only patch of trees for another 10 miles....
     
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2018
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