1942 — June 5, Munitions Explosion, Elwood Ordnance Plant, Joliet, IL –48-52

48-52 Blanchard estimated range.*

–57 Traverse City Record-Eagle, MI. “Injured in Blast.” 6-30-1942, p. 14. (Not used.)
–54 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 284.
–54 NFPA. “The Deadliest U.S. Fires and Explosions.” Fire Journal, May/June 1988, p. 50.
–52 Warnick, Ron. “Memorial commemorates ordnance disaster.” Route 66 News, 6-20-2007.
–51 National Fire Protection Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).
–49 Moran. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, 1992.
–48 Charleston Gazette, WV. “Elwood Blast Toll is 48.” 6-11-1942, p. 7.
–48 Chicago Tribune. “Not Forgotten. In the Midst of World War II…Explosion…” 6-25-1998.
–48 Chicago Tribune/Kristina Marlow. “Still Ringing in Their Ears. 10 Years Later…” 8-3-1994.
–48 Daily Journal, IL. “Missing bronze statue discovered in Braceville corncrib.” 7-30-2008.
–48 Lafferty. “‘Homefront heroes’ remembered on 75th anniversary of arsenal explosion.” 6-5-2017.
–48 Ziemba. “Monument salutes victims of ’42 arsenal explosion. Chicago Tribune, 6-7-2001.
–33 Edwardsville Intelligencer, IL. “Plant Blast Toll.” 6-9-1942, p. 2.

*While it appears to us that the death toll, from the frequently cited memorial, was 48, we do not want to be dismissive of Warnick (noting 52 deaths) or the 2003 NFPA document, noting 51.

Narrative Information

Chicago Tribune 1998: “On June 5, 1942, an explosion rocked the old Joliet Army Ammunition Plant and was so powerful windows were rattled as far away as Indiana and the North Shore…. With the four-day Battle of Midway Island raging in the Pacific and the tide of World War II about to turn, a report that 48 workers were killed at the then-Elwood Ordnance Plant was yet another piece of bad news….

“Pending additional fundraising this summer, a $30,000 monument commemorating the 48 workers, as well as the thousands of munitions workers who toiled at the arsenal over parts of four decades, is expected to be dedicated at the landmark work site next year….

“The blast, which occurred in a building where anti-tank mine fuses were being assembled, also injured 46 workers, and 16 of the dead were declared missing by the War Department….

“So powerful was the 2:45 a.m. explosion that it rattled houses and was heard and felt nearly 100 miles away, according to a June 6, 1942 Tribune account….

“The shipping building destroyed in the blast was part of a series known as Group II, on the east side of the massive complex. Building 10, as it was called, was where “anti-tank mine fuses were being assembled into shipping boxes and loaded into cars for transfer to storage,” according to one War Department account…. The Army was not sure what caused it….” (Chicago Tribune (William Presecky). “Not Forgotten. In the Midst of World War II, An Ammunition Plant Explosion in Joliet Killed 48 People and Rattled Buildings for Miles.” 6-25-1998.)

Daily Journal, 2008: “A stolen 5-foot-tall bronze statue honoring 48 victims of the 1944 explosion at the Elwood Ordnance Plant has been found stashed in a corncrib south of Braceville, about 15 miles from its original home next to the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery at Elwood. The $30,000, 400-pound statue of an ordnance plant worker carrying a lunch pail was stolen in July 2005, cut from its base along Hoff Road, the entrance to the national cemetery….The base bears the names of 48 workers who died at the former Joliet arsenal when the explosion ripped through the Elwood Ordnance Plant at 2:42 a.m. June 5, 1942. The blast rattled windows in downtown Kankakee and was felt as far as 100 miles from Elwood, according to newspaper accounts of the day.” (Daily Journal, IL (Robert Themer). “Missing bronze statue discovered in Braceville corncrib.” 7-30-2008.)

Moran: “An explosion involving a building and 3 railcars of anti-tank mines with an explosives weight of 62,600 pounds of TNT, killed 49 and injured 67 on 5 June 1942. In terms of lives lost this was the most deadly explosion at the ammunition plants during World War II. Only 4 more were killed at the Elwood site during the rest of the World War II, despite the millions of tons of ammunition loaded there.” (Moran, Edward P. Jr. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, Aug 1992, p. 5.)

Warnick: “The Pontiac (Ill.) Daily Leader reports that a statue was dedicated earlier this month commemorating the 52 people who died in an explosion in 1942 at an ordnance plant just off Route 66 in Elwood.

The statue, of a man in work clothes, wearing a hard hat and carrying a lunchbox, is next to the entrance to Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, in Elwood, about 50 miles south of Chicago, on land that was once part of what was also referred to as the Joliet Arsenal…

The early morning blast shattered windows miles away. The cause of the explosion remains unknown.

Developed to make ammunition for World War II, the arsenal was once the largest producer of TNT in the world. Route 66 and a railroad allowed for shipping the ammunition. The land it occupied is now a tall-grass prairie and the national cemetery….

The building that exploded was on a shell loading line where “the shells are packed for shipment to the fighting forces,” a newspaper account explained.

One man, who was working in a building a quarter mile away, was quoted as saying that there were two blasts. “Each knocked him down and knocked him unconscious,” the story noted. The second explosion ‘was so deafening, you couldn’t grasp the magnitude of it’.”

(Warnick, Ron. “Memorial commemorates ordnance disaster.” Route 66 News, 6-20-2007.)

Contemporary Newspapers:

June 9: “Elwood, Ill., June 9 — The number of identified dead, killed in an explosion at the Elwood ordnance plant last Friday, rose to 33 with last Friday rose to 33 today with the recovery of the body of Leo Legner of Joliet. Five bodies, still unidentified, were at Joliet mortuary. Fifteen others were listed as still missing.” (Edwardsville Intelligencer, IL. “Plant Blast Toll.” 6-9-1942, p. 2.)

June 10: “Elwood, Ill., June 10. – (INS) — The explosion last Friday at the Elwood ordnance works killed 48 workers, army authorities at the plant announced tonight. Thirty-four of the bodies have been recovered and identified. The other 14 missing have been given up for dead.” (Charleston Gazette, WV. “Elwood Blast Toll is 48.” 6-11-1942, p. 7.)

Sources

Charleston Gazette, WV. “Elwood Blast Toll is 48.” 6-11-1942, p. 7. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=40391054&sterm

Chicago Tribune (William Presecky). “Not Forgotten. In the Midst of World War II, An Ammunition Plant Explosion in Joliet Killed 48 People and Rattled Buildings for Miles.” 6-25-1998. Accessed 4-19-2013 at: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1998-06-25/news/9806250189_1_plant-explosion-wilmington-historical-society-munitions

Chicago Tribune (Kristina Marlow). “Still Ringing in Their Ears. 10 Years Later, Survivors and Witnesses Recall Fatal Refinery Blast in Romeoville.” 8-3-1994. Accessed 2-13-2017 at: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-08-03/news/9408030340_1_refinery-explosion-mushroom-cloud-fire

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Daily Journal, IL (Robert Themer). “Missing bronze statue discovered in Braceville corncrib.” 7-30-2008. Accessed 4-19-2013: http://daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=424856&query=police

Edwardsville Intelligencer, IL. “Plant Blast Toll.” 6-9-1942, p. 2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=1662939&sterm=elwood+ordnance

Lafferty, Susan Demar. “‘Homefront heroes’ remembered on 75th anniversary of arsenal explosion.” Chicago Tribune, Daily Southtown, 6-5-2017. Accessed 5-16-2020 at: https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/ct-sta-arsenal-memorial-st-0605-20170603-story.html

Moran, Edward P. Jr. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, Aug 1992. Accessed 4-19-2013: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA507027

National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet of 10+ Fatality Fires, as of 3-15-2013. Email attachment to Wayne Blanchard.

National Fire Protection Association. “The Deadliest U.S. Fires and Explosions.” Fire Journal, May/June 1988, pp. 48-54.

Traverse City Record-Eagle, MI. “Injured in Blast.” 6-30-1942, p. 14. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=65078099&sterm=elwood

Warnick, Ron. “Memorial commemorates ordnance disaster.” Route 66 News, 6-20-2007. Accessed 4-19-2013: http://route66news.com/2007/06/20/memorial-commemorates-ordnance-disaster/

Ziemba. “Monument salutes victims of ’42 arsenal explosion. Chicago Tribune, 6-7-2001. Accessed 5-16-2020 at: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-06-07-0106070366-story.html