38 Photos Of The American Workers That Helped The Allies Win Wwii

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1 of 39Female worker in a bullet production assembly line. Location unspecified. 1942.Bettmann/Getty Images 2 of 39Women workers assemble lines of transparent noses for deadly A-20 attack bombers. location unspecified. 1942.Library of Congress 3 of 39A worker places a metal bar into a large electric phosphate smelting furnace used to make elemental phosphorus in a TVA chemical plant in the vicinity of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 4 of 39A woman operates a hand drill while working on a Vengeance dive bomber at a factory in Vultee-Nashville, Tennessee. 1943.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 5 of 39Riveting team works on the cockpit shell of a B-25 bomber at the plant of North American Aviation in Inglewood, California. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 6 of 39Secretaries, housewives, waitresses, and all sorts of other women from all over central Florida learn welding at a Daytona Beach branch of the Volusia County vocational school. 1941.The U.S. National Archives 7 of 39"Big Pete" Ramagos, rigger at work on Douglas Dam in Tennessee. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 8 of 39Women work alongside men in this Midwest aluminum factory now converted to production of war materials. These young workers are assembling 37mm armor-piercing bullets. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 9 of 39A woman works in the control surface department assembling a section of the leading edge for the horizontal stabilizer of a plane. Inglewood, California. 1942. Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 10 of 39Male and female workers put together machine gun parts on assembly lines. Location unspecified. 1942.Hulton Archive/Getty Images 11 of 39Welders make boilers for a U.S. Navy ship at a Combustion Engineering Co. factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 12 of 39A woman works on a Liberator Bomber at Consolidated Aircraft Corp. in Fort Worth, Texas. 1942.Howard R. Hollem/Library of Congress 13 of 39A member of a construction crew builds a new 33,000-volt electric power line into Fort Knox, Kentucky. Thousands of soldiers are in training there, and the new line from a hydroelectric plant at Louisville is needed to supplement the existing power supply. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 14 of 39Inspectors at the Long Beach, California, plant of Douglas Aircraft Company make a careful check of center wings for C-47 transport planes. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 15 of 39Airplane factory in Stratford, Connecticut that produced more than 6,000 Corsair fighter planes with fold-up wings for use onboard aircraft carriers. 1943.Bettmann/Getty Images 16 of 39Brand new assembly line at Detroit Tank Arsenal operated by Chrysler that turns out 28-ton tanks by mass-production methods. 1942. Gordon Coster/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images 17 of 39The B-25 final assembly line at North American Aviation’s Inglewood, California plant. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 18 of 39Riveter at work at the Douglas Aircraft Corporation plant in Long Beach, California. 1942. Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 19 of 39Three women war workers of Marineship Corp. Location unspecified. 1942.The U.S. National Archives/Flickr 20 of 39Three “chippers” working at a shipyard. Location unspecified. 1942.The U.S. National Archives/Flickr 21 of 39A young worker builds railways at the 40th Street machine shops in Chicago, Illinois. 1942. Jack Delano/Library of Congress 22 of 39Workers construct a building on the site of a new steel mill that will soon turn out steel for the war needs in Geneva, Utah. 1942.Andreas Feininger/Library of Congress 23 of 39Worker service one of the floodlights that turn night into day at the big construction operations for a new steel plant that will make important additions to the vast amount of steel needed for the war effort. Location unspecified. 1942.Andreas Feininger/Library of Congress 24 of 39Operators cut and drill parachute packs at a Pioneer Parchute Company factory in Manchester, Connecticut. 1942. William M. Rittase/Library of Congress 25 of 39Workers mount a motor on a Fairfax B-25 bomber at a North American Aviation, Inc., plant in Inglewood, California. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 26 of 39An inspector confers with a worker as she makes a careful check of center wings for C-47 transport planes at Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 27 of 39A Boeing-Wichita B-29 assembly line. Location unspecified. 1942.United States Army Air Forces/Wikimedia Commons 28 of 39B-24 Liberators under construction at Ford’s Willow Run manufacturing complex in Michigan. Date unspecified.U.S. Army Signal Corps/Wikimedia Commons 29 of 39Workers assemble B-25 bombers at a North American Aviation factory in Kansas City, Kansas. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 30 of 39Part of the vast machine shop at a Navy yard, where machine tools that took months to build are now stepping out with production parts and materials needed for Navy expansion. Location unspecified. 1941.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 31 of 39Female workers install fixtures and assemblies to a tail fuselage section of a B-17 bomber at the Douglas Aircraft Company plant in Long Beach, California. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 32 of 39Workers put the nose section of a transport plane in place in the fuselage mating fixture at the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation plant in Fort Worth, Texas. 1942.Howard R. Hollem/Library of Congress 33 of 39Male and female workers tighten rivets together. Location unspecified. 1943.The U.S. National Archives/Flickr 34 of 39An ex-housewife, aged 24, files small parts to make M5 and M7 guns for the U.S. Army. She is working at the Vilter Manufacturing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her husband and brother are in the armed service. 1943.Howard R. Hollem/Library of Congress 35 of 39Five women work with the Baltimore & Ohio railroad as trackwomen. They helped maintain and inspect railroad tracks during the war. 1943.The U.S. National Archives/Flickr 36 of 39Workers Martha Bryant and Eulalie Hampden operate a bolt cutting machine. 1943.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress 37 of 39A woman war worker inspects 1,000-pound bomb casings at the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. factory in Omaha, Nebraska. 1944.MPI/Getty Images 38 of 39A riveter at work for the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in Burbank, California. 1944.The U.S. National Archives/Flickr 39 of 39Like this gallery?Share it:

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38 Rousing Photos Of The American Workers That Helped The Allies Win World War II View Gallery

The story of the United States’ involvement in World War II is well known to even those with only a passing knowledge of history. In schools across America, kids learn much about their country’s great wartime victories overseas at places like Iwo Jima and Normandy.

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1 of 39Female worker in a bullet production assembly line. Location unspecified. 1942.Bettmann/Getty Images

2 of 39Women workers assemble lines of transparent noses for deadly A-20 attack bombers. location unspecified. 1942.Library of Congress

3 of 39A worker places a metal bar into a large electric phosphate smelting furnace used to make elemental phosphorus in a TVA chemical plant in the vicinity of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

4 of 39A woman operates a hand drill while working on a Vengeance dive bomber at a factory in Vultee-Nashville, Tennessee. 1943.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

5 of 39Riveting team works on the cockpit shell of a B-25 bomber at the plant of North American Aviation in Inglewood, California. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

6 of 39Secretaries, housewives, waitresses, and all sorts of other women from all over central Florida learn welding at a Daytona Beach branch of the Volusia County vocational school. 1941.The U.S. National Archives

7 of 39"Big Pete" Ramagos, rigger at work on Douglas Dam in Tennessee. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

8 of 39Women work alongside men in this Midwest aluminum factory now converted to production of war materials. These young workers are assembling 37mm armor-piercing bullets. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

9 of 39A woman works in the control surface department assembling a section of the leading edge for the horizontal stabilizer of a plane. Inglewood, California. 1942. Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

10 of 39Male and female workers put together machine gun parts on assembly lines. Location unspecified. 1942.Hulton Archive/Getty Images

11 of 39Welders make boilers for a U.S. Navy ship at a Combustion Engineering Co. factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

12 of 39A woman works on a Liberator Bomber at Consolidated Aircraft Corp. in Fort Worth, Texas. 1942.Howard R. Hollem/Library of Congress

13 of 39A member of a construction crew builds a new 33,000-volt electric power line into Fort Knox, Kentucky. Thousands of soldiers are in training there, and the new line from a hydroelectric plant at Louisville is needed to supplement the existing power supply. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

14 of 39Inspectors at the Long Beach, California, plant of Douglas Aircraft Company make a careful check of center wings for C-47 transport planes. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

15 of 39Airplane factory in Stratford, Connecticut that produced more than 6,000 Corsair fighter planes with fold-up wings for use onboard aircraft carriers. 1943.Bettmann/Getty Images

16 of 39Brand new assembly line at Detroit Tank Arsenal operated by Chrysler that turns out 28-ton tanks by mass-production methods. 1942. Gordon Coster/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

17 of 39The B-25 final assembly line at North American Aviation’s Inglewood, California plant. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

18 of 39Riveter at work at the Douglas Aircraft Corporation plant in Long Beach, California. 1942. Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

19 of 39Three women war workers of Marineship Corp. Location unspecified. 1942.The U.S. National Archives/Flickr

20 of 39Three “chippers” working at a shipyard. Location unspecified. 1942.The U.S. National Archives/Flickr

21 of 39A young worker builds railways at the 40th Street machine shops in Chicago, Illinois. 1942. Jack Delano/Library of Congress

22 of 39Workers construct a building on the site of a new steel mill that will soon turn out steel for the war needs in Geneva, Utah. 1942.Andreas Feininger/Library of Congress

23 of 39Worker service one of the floodlights that turn night into day at the big construction operations for a new steel plant that will make important additions to the vast amount of steel needed for the war effort. Location unspecified. 1942.Andreas Feininger/Library of Congress

24 of 39Operators cut and drill parachute packs at a Pioneer Parchute Company factory in Manchester, Connecticut. 1942. William M. Rittase/Library of Congress

25 of 39Workers mount a motor on a Fairfax B-25 bomber at a North American Aviation, Inc., plant in Inglewood, California. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

26 of 39An inspector confers with a worker as she makes a careful check of center wings for C-47 transport planes at Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

27 of 39A Boeing-Wichita B-29 assembly line. Location unspecified. 1942.United States Army Air Forces/Wikimedia Commons

28 of 39B-24 Liberators under construction at Ford’s Willow Run manufacturing complex in Michigan. Date unspecified.U.S. Army Signal Corps/Wikimedia Commons

29 of 39Workers assemble B-25 bombers at a North American Aviation factory in Kansas City, Kansas. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

30 of 39Part of the vast machine shop at a Navy yard, where machine tools that took months to build are now stepping out with production parts and materials needed for Navy expansion. Location unspecified. 1941.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

31 of 39Female workers install fixtures and assemblies to a tail fuselage section of a B-17 bomber at the Douglas Aircraft Company plant in Long Beach, California. 1942.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

32 of 39Workers put the nose section of a transport plane in place in the fuselage mating fixture at the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation plant in Fort Worth, Texas. 1942.Howard R. Hollem/Library of Congress

33 of 39Male and female workers tighten rivets together. Location unspecified. 1943.The U.S. National Archives/Flickr

34 of 39An ex-housewife, aged 24, files small parts to make M5 and M7 guns for the U.S. Army. She is working at the Vilter Manufacturing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her husband and brother are in the armed service. 1943.Howard R. Hollem/Library of Congress

35 of 39Five women work with the Baltimore & Ohio railroad as trackwomen. They helped maintain and inspect railroad tracks during the war. 1943.The U.S. National Archives/Flickr

36 of 39Workers Martha Bryant and Eulalie Hampden operate a bolt cutting machine. 1943.Alfred T. Palmer/Library of Congress

37 of 39A woman war worker inspects 1,000-pound bomb casings at the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. factory in Omaha, Nebraska. 1944.MPI/Getty Images

38 of 39A riveter at work for the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in Burbank, California. 1944.The U.S. National Archives/Flickr

39 of 39Like this gallery?Share it:

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38 Rousing Photos Of The American Workers That Helped The Allies Win World War II View Gallery

38 Rousing Photos Of The American Workers That Helped The Allies Win World War II

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What we know less about are the people behind the scenes, those back on the home front who ensured that the U.S. Army was the best equipped to win the war. By arming and supplying the troops, as well as maintaining and building bases for them to train at, these home front laborers helped ensure U.S. victory over the Axis as much as the soldiers on the front lines.

In fact, these laborers had been hard at work before the U.S. military even joined the war following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Throughout the years prior, American laborers had been producing weapons and vehicles on a mass scale for the Allies.

Via the Lend-Lease Act, starting in early 1941, the United States provided the Allied nations of the United Kingdom, Free France, China, the Soviet Union, and others with food, oil, weapons, planes, and tanks in exchange for leases on land in their nations on which the United States could build army bases.

Then, after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. ramped up production even more in order to provide for its own military. This massive effort required vast numbers of workers, including many women who stepped in due to the fact that so many American men had entered military service. In fact, realizing that they often required workers more than soldiers, the government transferred many drafted men from the Armed Forces into the Enlisted Reserve Corps where they would work to help the war effort on the home front.

Because of the efforts of these women and men, the U.S. was able to not only win the war but also build the strongest, most industrialized military in the world. And on the home front, war production efforts helped the U.S. climb its way out of the Great Depression. In fact, by the end of the war, the U.S. was the most prosperous nation on the planet.

Furthermore, following their increased involvement in the labor force during the war, American women used this opportunity to join the workforce permanently, giving them a wider degree of autonomy and self-sufficiency than they had previously had.

For these reasons and others, America’s wartime production program allowed the country to become the superpower that it is today. The images above show how the enormous task of wartime production that was completed on the home front, and how it changed the U.S., and the world, forever.

Next, see the true-life history of Rosie the Riveter with this photographic look at the factory women who helped the U.S. win World War II. Then, view some of the most heartbreaking images that document the massive internment of Japanese-Americans at Manzanar Relocation Center during World War II.