The S. Morgan Smith Company, in York, Pennsylvania, was a prime contractor for manufacturing hydraulic-pneumatic catapults for launching Navy planes from the decks of aircraft carriers during World War 2. The catapult model, they produced, was capable of reliably launching 9,500-pound airplanes in 73-feet to a speed of 61 knots. Praise for manufacturing the catapult very much dominated the presentation of the Army-Navy “E” Award this company received on August 19, 1944.
Rick van Vliet shared a 1946 letter his father received from Frank Zercher, the father of Sgt. Robert W. Zercher of York, PA; a downed American WWII airman who was aided by the Dutch Resistance. Rick’s father, Willem F. van Vliet, was a member of the Dutch Resistance, which aided downed Allied airmen by keeping them out of harms way in Holland; not easy, as Dutch civilians were being subjected to the terror of forced labor by the German military.
The E2 Taylor Cub Airplane originally owned by G. G. Naugle was restored and exhibited in the Virginia Aviation Museum at the Richmond International Airport. During the 1930s, this is the airplane that many in York County received their first airplane ride experience, as part of a Stony Brook service station promotion.
Naugle’s Service Station in Stony Brook had perhaps the widest range of services and the most unique promotional giveaway of any garage on the Lincoln Highway.
York Corporation employee Robert W. Zercher became a Ball Turret Gunner during WWII in which a downed B-17 bomber led to his tragic murder by the Nazi SS.
Thirty-nine Civil War Veterans were Kiwanis Banquet guests in the York Motor Clubhouse at 2025 East Market Street during 1922. Mahlon Haines was the guest speaker, as he was running for a seat in Congress. Mahlon is in the extreme lower left, within the close-up portion of the group photo.
York County service stations featured giveaways ranging from airplane rides to lunar landers. These promotional gifts were a means to entice customer loyalty for particular gasoline brands or stations. G. G. Naugle’s service station operated during the 1930s; along the Lincoln Highway in Stony Brook, Springettsbury Township, York County, PA.
Fayfield was developed in Springettsbury Township on the site of the first commercial airport in York County. In 1930 the York Airport was located along Haines Road, where scheduled passenger service provided flights to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia or New York. The first York Airport operated from 1930 to 1937 on turf
The 1942 “York Plan” movie had a local star in York Safe and Lock’s machinist Jesse Breighner, who appeared in about 20 scenes. After which Jesse enlisted; becoming a decorated navigator-bombardier in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. This post also looks at the repository of that “York Plan” film.
Wilbur Suiter has connections with both the pictured WWI aircraft hanging in the Smithsonian and York County History Center’s giant A-Frame Compressor. In 1933, a flying field in Hawaii was named Suiter Field, in his honor; for heroism during World War I. First Lieutenant Wilbur C. Suiter is one of