2015 April
The U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum Newsletter
April 2015
The Museum is open Wednesday - Saturday 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
To set up a tour call the Museum at 256-883-3737 during Museum hours.
Museum News
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Buy a General Admission ticket to the U.S. Veterans
Memorial Museum for a friend. Tickets may be obtained
at the Museum office or Library office.
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The Museum’s “new” WWII ¾ ton Dodge WC-56 command car arrived this month to
begin a light restoration at the shop of USVMM team member John Omenski before
going on display. As he has so many times before, John is volunteering his time and
talent for this project but materials will come out of the museum’s budget.
The Museum library recently cataloged in a nine-volume set entitled Trial of Major War
Criminals before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg. The set was published in
1947 at Nuremberg. Germany. Volume one is the official document. The remaining
volumes are the proceedings of the trials. The Huntsville Public Library donated the set.
March 17, the Museum was pleased to support JROTC Day activities along with Team
Redstone at Redstone Arsenal. The Museum's M-151 jeep and UH-1 "Huey" Helicopter,
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maintained by the North Alabama Chapter Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, were
on the scene.
March 18, the Museum was pleased to host 65 fifth graders and 21 adults on a field trip
from Randolph School.
March 19-20, the Museum was pleased to host a session of the Command and General
Staff College. It's always a pleasure to have this outstanding group join us.
March 28, the Museum was pleased to host Cub Scout Pack 228.
March 31, the Museum hosted the Madison County Military Heritage Commission
meeting
The City of Huntsville has vacated the Health Clinic, located on the west side of the
Museum. We are in the process of cleaning and painting the new addition. The south side
will be Randy’s office and a conference room. The Museum Library has being moving
from the southeast corner of the Museum to the northwest side of the building. Books
about events before World War II will be located in the Pre WW2 room. Books about
events after World War II will be located in the Post WW2 room. We will have a room for
World War II books, Tanks & Vehicles, Biography and Unit History. If the public wants to
do research, they can use the reference table located in the unit room. The library and
archive staff will work out of the library office.
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Upcoming Events
The following are some events scheduled at the Museum:
 Host Command and General Staff College classes at the Museum.
 April 23, the "Little" Civil War Roundtable discussion group will meet at the Veterans’
Museum for a special presentation on the sinking of the Sultana in the Mississippi River
hosted by Larry Bayer. It was the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history, with a loss of
some 1,800 lives, mostly released Union prisoners returning home after the Civil War.
Museum Artifact
by Ray Bushnell
40MM Bofors Anti-Aircraft gun
The 40MM Bofors Anti-Aircraft gun saw
service in the U. S. Army, U. S. Navy, and
the U. S. Air Force. This weapon has been
use during World War II, the Korean War,
the Vietnam conflict, and the conflicts in the
Middle East. The piece has been used by a
number of other nations during these
conflicts and by both sides in the conflict.
The military nomenclature for this weapon is 40MM
Automatic Gun M1.
The example of this weapon that is currently in the
process of restoration is one of six that the museum
acquired about four years ago. It is also the oldest of
the six with a1942 manufacture date. This weapon
that is being restored is the least damaged of the six
with repairs that can be accomplished in a “field”
environment. We have been able to obtain a digital
copy of the technical manual for this gun so we have
an information source for assembly and disassembly
instructions, and parts. This manual was obtained from
the Historic Naval Ships Association. Hardware such as screws, bolts, nuts, etc. are still
available commercially, but parts unique to the piece have to be salvaged from other weapons.
One interesting aspect of this entity is that the parts are manufactured of brass or steel. The
original plan had been to have the gun ready for this year’s Veterans Day Parade, but some
unexpected problems have slowed work. We are now looking to have it ready for next year’s
parade.
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Historical facts
by Ray Bushnell
40MM Bofors Anti-Aircraft gun
The 40MM Bofors was designed in the 1930s by AB Bofors
of Sweden, a company that has been involved in the
producing of iron, steel, and weapons for 300+ years. As
with any weapons systems, the Bofors went through a
number of developments until it reached the configuration
that we see today. The first towable carriage was developed
in 1935, prior to that most of these were ship mounted or on
fixed emplacements. There are two types of carriages for
this piece, an American pattern carriage and a British pattern
carriage. The one we are restoring is the American pattern
carriage. There are examples of the British pattern carriage
on display at CFB Bordon in Canada and the Imperial War
Museum in London.
The U. S. Navy accepted the gun for use in 1940 and was placed on ships in single, twin, or quad
mounts. The Navy modified the guns to use a water cooled barrel for some installations. The U.
S. Army used the Bofors primarily on a ground mount as a medium range AA gun although there
are instances where they were used for fire support in ground actions. During World War II there
were attempts to mount the Bofors on the half-track type vehicle, but weight and stability
problems were not resolved and the projects were canceled. But during the Korean War a
number of M-15A1 half-tracks were modified at depots in Japan to carry a single 40MM Bofors.
This was done by removing the 37MM anti-aircraft gun system. Apparently the fire power value
of the 40MM was needed and there was more 40MM ammunition available then 37MM
ammunition. These 40MM gun half-tracks were
designated M-34, but were classed as a ‘Limited
Standard’ item. As the half-track had problems
mounting the Bofors late in World War II the Army
began to develop a fully tracked vehicle based on
an existing tank chassis. This resulted in the M-19
anti-aircraft vehicle based on the M-24 light tank
chassis. The Bofors were on a twin mount in an
open top, fully traversable turret. These vehicles
would not see action in World War II, but would be
used in Korea. While there is no definite
documentation regarding this, the inspiration
MM-42A1 Duster on display at the Museum
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for the M-19 may have come from the fact that late in World War II the Germans mounted
anti-aircraft weapons on the Mark IV tank chassis. The final configurations for the Bofors was on
a tracked vehicle known as the M-42 ‘Duster’ which was armament: with 40mm Dual Automatic
Gun “M2A1 Bofors.” The gun turret could rotate 360° and elevate to 85° when deployed against
aircraft. However, it was its ability to depress the guns as low as -5° that made it invaluable in
close jungle warfare. A ‘Cold War’ vehicle, the basic chassis was the M-41 ‘Walker Bulldog”.
The M-42 would be used in Vietnam for convoy protection and base defense, and remain in
service with the Army National Guard until the late 1980s. The Air Force would mount the
Bofors, one or two, depending in the configuration, in the AC-130 Gunships. The gun casing
was mounted inside the aircraft with the barrel projecting outside. As with the other weapons on
the gunships, they were installed such that the pilot flew a left banking turn for target
engagement. In case of two Bofors in the aircraft each weapon had its’ own mount.
There is one interesting vehicle on which the Bofors was mounted. During the course of the war
in Indochina, the French mounted the Bofors on the LVT-4 amphibious vehicle using it in the role
of fire support. These were used during operations in the Mekong Delta and Red River Delta
areas along with the M-29 Weasel variants.
Our Volunteers
Ray Bushnell
Ray Bushnell has been a volunteer at the museum for
about 5 years. He does mechanical work, some parts
procurement, parts inventory, and plastic model building.
He is both a retired military and federal civil service.
While in the military he was on active duty, a traditional
National Guard person, i.e. one weekend a month, two
week annual training, and Accepted Federal Civil
Service technician. He was in both the U. S. Army and
the U. S. Air Force and speaks both languages quite well. His first conflict was Vietnam and also
was in Operation Iraq Freedom. He uses a large portion of the skill and knowledge gained in the
military in his work at the museum. He is the Civil Air Patrol and the Huntsville Chapter of the
International Plastic Modelers Society/US. Ray has also been a Civil War re-enactor,
artilleryman in a Civil War artillery unit.
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General Information
The U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum located in Huntsville Alabama is a 501c3 not-for-profit
organization. There are more than 30 historical military vehicles from World War I to the present
as well as artifacts and other memorabilia dating back to the Revolutionary War. Displays
include a "Merci" 40 et 8 boxcar from World War I, a Cobra attack helicopter, a collection of
jeeps, Sherman tanks and Stuarts, a half-track and flags, maps, uniforms and other artifacts
from every U.S. conflict. The Museum is located just west of Memorial Pkwy in John Hunt Park at
2060A Airport Road, Huntsville, Al 35801. The U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum is dedicated to
promoting the accomplishments of American military men and women.
The Museum's web page is www.memorialmuseum.org.
The Museum email of is [email protected].
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