World War II Chronicle: February 17, 1941
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A tale of two backs
Michigan halfback Tom Harmon won the 1940 Heisman Trophy for most outstanding college football player. Runner-up was Texas A&M fullback “Jarrin’ John” Kimbrough, who is featured on today’s front page after signing a contract with the American Football League’s New York Yankees.
The Chicago Bears selected Harmon as the first pick of the 1941 NFL Draft. The second pick goes to the Chicago Cardinals (today’s Arizona Cardinals franchise), who selects Kimbrough. However, both Harmon and Kimbrough end up playing for the American Football League’s New York Americans in 1941.
Harmon enlists in the Army Air Force aviation program in November 1941 and becomes a bomber pilot. Not long after, Kimbrough also becomes an Army pilot. Harmon plays two seasons for the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams after the war and Kimbrough played three seasons with the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference (the NFL’s chief competitor). Kimbrough and Harmon were both actors and both are inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954…
The “new” bomber mentioned on the second page is in fact the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, which the British would call the Liberator B.Mk.I (bomber), the GR.Mk.I (general reconnaissance), and the C.Mk.I (cargo). The RAF found that the plane was better suited for anti-submarine patrols and transporting pilots across the Atlantic (the B-24 was the first plane which routinely crossed the ocean), but the deficiencies they found in bombing operations — a lack of self-sealing fuel tanks and insufficient defensive armament — was resolved by Consolidated for later models.
The B-24 was more versatile than Boeing’s iconic B-17 Flying Fortress and more B-24s were produced during World War II than any other bomber. In fact, it is the most-produced multi-engine airplane in history. While 12,731 B-17s were built, Consolidated teamed up with Douglas, Ford, and North American to produce well over 18,482 Liberators, and another 739 navalized PB4Y-1s were built.
U.S. Aircraft Production
| Aircraft | Number built |
|---|---|
| Consolidated B-24 Liberator | 18,482 |
| Douglas DC-3 | 16,079 |
| Republic P-47 Thunderbolt | 15,660 |
| North American P-51 Mustang | 15,586 |
| North American T-6 Texan | 15,495 |
| Waco CG-4 glider | 13,903 |
| Curtiss P-40 Warhawk | 13,738 |
| Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress | 12,731 |
| Vought F4U Corsair | 12,571 |
| Grumman F6F Hellcat | 12,275 |
| Vultee BT-13 | 11,537 |
| Lockheed P-38 Lighting | 10,037 |
| North American B-25 Mitchell | 9,984 |
| Grumman TBF Avenger | 9,836 |
| Bell P-39 Airacobra | 9,584 |
| Grumman F4F Wildcat | 7,885 |
| Douglas DB-7 / A-20 Havoc | 7,478 |
| Curtiss SB2C Helldiver | 7,140 |
| Douglass SBD Dauntless | 5,938 |
| Martin B-26 Marauder | 5,288 |
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 17 Feb. 1941. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1941-02-17/ed-1/