Hi, I have been replying directly to comments, but I guess its time I post it! She lived in Milbury or some town in that area during WWII. From looking at Internet, the best answer so far is the Raytheor plant in Northbridge, where I think they made Radar tubes. I will post after I talk to her abt Northbridge. Northbridge must be close by as half of the HS kids from Upton went there for HS after their HS burned down in abt 1950! The other have were sent to Grafton HS where I was. Once I lock in on Raytheon, I will write them abt history. Dick in MD maworces-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: WWII Company in Worcester that made Radar parts > (CLabre1068@aol.com) > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2008 09:07:15 EDT > From: CLabre1068@aol.com > Subject: Re: [MAWORCES] WWII Company in Worcester that made Radar > parts > To: dickbolt@his.com, maworces@rootsweb.com > Message-ID: <c2c.2dec9aa7.350d2403@aol.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > Hello Dick, > Have you looked in the city street directories for your aunt? The > information on where she worked should be listed. > The Other Cheryl > > > In a message dated 3/13/2008 12:21:32 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > dickbolt@his.com writes: > > I haven't asked this in yrs, but during WWI, my aunt worked at a > factory in Worcester or Worcester area that made Radar tubes or parts. > What was that company & what were they making? She is still alive in > MA, but does not remember much about it. There were many young girls > working there during the war. Likely nothing in papers during war, but > possibly just after. > > Dick in MD > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MAWORCES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the > body of the message > > **************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL Money & > Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001) > > ------------------------------ > > To contact the MAWORCES list administrator, send an email to > MAWORCES-admin@rootsweb.com. > > To post a message to the MAWORCES mailing list, send an email to MAWORCES@rootsweb.com. > > __________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MAWORCES-request@rootsweb.com > with the word "unsubscribe" without the quotes in the subject and the body of the > email with no additional text. > > End of MAWORCES Digest, Vol 3, Issue 56 > ***************************************

Raytheon Company was most likely the place your aunt worked during World War II. She was probably on the assembly line producing Magnetron tubes. She may have worked at a Raytheon facility in the Worchester area or she may have commuted to Waltham, MA (approx. 30 miles) which was at that time the Raytheon Company headquarters and main production facility. At the beginning of the war in Europe, British scientists had developed a new high power high frequency radar tube called the Magnetron. These new tubes installed in radars on planes gave the British pilots a significant advantage in air superiority. The problem the British were facing at that time was the Magnetron could not be produced in needed quantities. They turned to the U.S. to get help from large U.S. companies like Western Electric and Bell Laboratories. Raytheon Company was not considered. Under the leadership of Laurence K. Marshall and with his confidence in employee Percy Spencer he was able to convince the U.S. government to ask the British to show the Magnetron to Raytheon for consideration as second production source. Western Electric had already opened a new facility in Chicago and was beginning to produce magnetrons. Percy Spencer a self-educated genius who had for several years been involved in the development of tubes at Raytheon took a look at the British Magnetron. The British Magnetron cavity was made by cutting away a solid piece of copper. Percy Spencer designed a new magnetron that could be mass produced by stamping the sections from sheets of copper. The sections were stacked with solder between the sections and placed in a hydrogen oven to solder the sections together forming the cavity. Spencer also made other design changes that improved the performance and the producibility of the Magnetron. The Raytheon, design which was more easily mass produced was presented to the government. The government pulled together a group of experts to review the Raytheon design. The team determined that the Raytheon Magnetron was not practicable and as a result Raytheon did not receive an order. Laurence Marshall believing in the Percy Spencer's design decided that Raytheon should produce the Magnetrons. Without government contracts it was necessary to raise finances, buy equipment and obtain a building to begin production. At the end of the war Raytheon had produced 80 percent of all the Magnetrons. The Raytheon headquarters and production facility was in Waltham in the 1940's where it occupied a building formerly used for button manufacturing. As Raytheon grew in tube, radar, communications, and missile production it expanded and took over other several vacated buildings along or near Route 128 around Boston. I worked with the Raytheon Missile Systems Division for 37 years. Projects I worked on allowed me to visit many of the Raytheon facilities in Massachusetts, the U.S. and around the world. I have not visited the Raytheon Norwich facility therefore I do not know when it was begun. It was probably making miniature tubes (started in 1939) that were used in radars and could have been involved in the production of the Magnetron tubes (started in 1940). There should be others in the Massachusetts area that will know about the Raytheon Tube Division. The Percy Spencer Power Tube Division Headquarters is in Waltham. The on-line Wikipedia encyclopedia gives a good overall history of the Raytheon Company. A detailed history of Raytheon is in the book "The Creative Ordeal - The Story of Raytheon by Otto J. Scott" published in 1974. It gives an interesting account of the personnel involved, the company and world issues during the period. Claude Nivens Raytheon Retiree -----Original Message----- From: maworces-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:maworces-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of dickbolt Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2008 8:37 AM To: maworces@rootsweb.com Subject: [MAWORCES] WWII Radar Tubes Hi, I have been replying directly to comments, but I guess its time I post it! She lived in Milbury or some town in that area during WWII. From looking at Internet, the best answer so far is the Raytheor plant in Northbridge, where I think they made Radar tubes. I will post after I talk to her abt Northbridge. Northbridge must be close by as half of the HS kids from Upton went there for HS after their HS burned down in abt 1950! The other have were sent to Grafton HS where I was. Once I lock in on Raytheon, I will write them abt history. Dick in MD maworces-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: WWII Company in Worcester that made Radar parts > (CLabre1068@aol.com) > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2008 09:07:15 EDT > From: CLabre1068@aol.com > Subject: Re: [MAWORCES] WWII Company in Worcester that made Radar > parts > To: dickbolt@his.com, maworces@rootsweb.com > Message-ID: <c2c.2dec9aa7.350d2403@aol.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > Hello Dick, > Have you looked in the city street directories for your aunt? The > information on where she worked should be listed. > The Other Cheryl > > > In a message dated 3/13/2008 12:21:32 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > dickbolt@his.com writes: > > I haven't asked this in yrs, but during WWI, my aunt worked at a > factory in Worcester or Worcester area that made Radar tubes or parts. > What was that company & what were they making? She is still alive in > MA, but does not remember much about it. There were many young girls > working there during the war. Likely nothing in papers during war, but > possibly just after. > > Dick in MD > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MAWORCES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the > body of the message > > **************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL Money & > Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001) > > ------------------------------ > > To contact the MAWORCES list administrator, send an email to > MAWORCES-admin@rootsweb.com. > > To post a message to the MAWORCES mailing list, send an email to MAWORCES@rootsweb.com. > > __________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MAWORCES-request@rootsweb.com > with the word "unsubscribe" without the quotes in the subject and the body of the > email with no additional text. > > End of MAWORCES Digest, Vol 3, Issue 56 > *************************************** ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MAWORCES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message