Glenn L. Martin Bomber Plant

The Glen L. Martin Bomber Plant (also known as Air Force Plant 1) was a facility located adjacent to Offutt Field near Omaha, and lies adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It was operational from 1942 to 1945.

Background

In 1940 as American involvement in World War II loomed, the United States Army Air Corps chose Offutt Field as the site for a new bomber plant that was to be operated by the Glenn L. Martin Company. The plant's construction included a two-mile (3.2 km) concrete runway, six large hangars, and a 1,700,000-square-foot (160,000 m2) aircraft-assembly building.

The Glenn L. Martin Company began producing bombers in January 1942, with the plant reaching full-scale production 8 June 1942. Initially producing B-26 Marauder medium bombers, 1,585 Marauders were built at the Martin-Nebraska bomber plant. The Army Air Force designated the military personnel assigned to the plant as the 83d Army Air Force Technical Training Detachment, later re-designated as Sq L, Government-Owned Assembly Plant No. 1, WD-101, Army Air Forces Material Command. President Franklin D. Roosevelt toured the plant on 26 April 1943 with Nebraska Governor Dwight Griswold and plant owner Glenn L. Martin.[1]

Production switched to B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombers in 1944, and 531 Superfortresses were produced before the end of World War II. Among these were the Enola Gay and Bockscar, the B-29's that dropped the first atomic weapons to be used in a military action (against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan). Both aircraft were built and modified at the base. Paul Tibbets personally selected the Enola Gay from the assembly line.

Production ended on 18 September 1945, when the last B-29 rolled out of the assembly building. With the manufacturing plant's closure, custody of the airfield and ground facilities were assumed by the 4131st Army Air Force Base Unit, Air Materiel Command.

Demolition

Due its proximity to the main runway at Offutt, the building is scheduled to be demolished as a safety risk.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Arsenal for Democracy: The Martin Bomber Plant". Nebraskastudies.org Retrieved 4 August 2008.
  2. ↑ Liewer, Steve (7 August 2015). "Martin Bomber Plant near Bellevue helped end World War II and now faces its own demise". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 14 January 2016.

Coordinates: 41°7′50.06″N 95°55′10.45″W / 41.1305722°N 95.9195694°W / 41.1305722; -95.9195694

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