OF THE OFFICERS CLUB: “IT WAS A NICE PLACE FOR FAMILIES AND KIDS.”
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hen George Diehl accepted a temporary position at the Tooele Army Depot in November 1942, he had no idea he would spend the next 33 years of his life there before retiring in 1975. Born in Morrison, Ill., where he attended public schools, Diehl accepted a temporary assignment at Savanna Army Depot located in Savanna, Ill., just days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. About a year later, he accepted a transfer, not to exceed six months, to a new depot under construction in Utah. He was assigned to the handling of munitions. Diehl remembers that when he first moved to Tooele, he obtained room and board with a local couple for the first few months, then moved into Depot housing for bachelors. Because he was involved “24/7” with Depot work, his social life at that time was very limited. But on Saturday nights, he sometimes went bowling or drove to the Handy Corner in Grantsville, a coffee shop where a dance band played every Saturday night. The Depot Officers Club got started at that time and it provided social life for the military and their families. Depot employees also had access to local movie theaters, city and canyon parks and an indoor swimming pool. Diehl noted that while many social activities were centered around the Mormon Church, which was the predominant religious organization in the area, other recreation activities were also available. He also observed that a great cultural and religious division occurred between residents of Newtown, a section in eastern Tooele built for smelter employee families, and residents of Tooele Proper prior to World War II (but lessened somewhat during the war), because many Newtown residents, who were pre-dominantly Catholic (and some non-denominational residents) worked at the local smelter, while many residents living in Tooele Proper were LDS. This cultural and religious division was also evidenced somewhat in politics, Diehl said, “Tooele Proper so outnumbered the people in Newtown that it didn’t become a political issue, it became more of a social and church divisive issue. I’m told that it was quite evident in schools—that Newtown residents were more or less ostracized unto themselves.” But Diehl said a change in school administration, and the new principal of schools, Sterling Harris, recognized the need to bridge that gap and inroads were made to minimize differences and to bring both elements of the community together.
—Edited from an audio interview by Benjamin Kiser on Feb. 8, 2017 in Murray, Utah. Available at tooeledepothistory.omeka.net
THE WWII YEARS: ESTABLISHING THE MISSION Shortly after the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the U.S. Army was determined to expand facilities of Utah’s Ogden Arsenal, but because it was hemmed in on all sides, the Army began looking feverishly for an alternative location. In January 1942, a rumor began circulating that one of the nation’s largest ammunition depots would be built in the isolated desert west of Salt Lake City. The rumor turned out to be true. A delegation from the War Department in Washington D.C., and the local District Engineer Office made an initial survey of roughly 25,000 uninhabited acres near the town of Tooele which was mostly sagebrush. Within a few weeks, the U.S. government purchased 24,961 acres of land west of Tooele at a cost of $94,221 to use for an ordnance storage and supply depot to support the war effort. A $26.7 million construction contract shared by four private contractors was awarded and construction began. In the winter of 1942, Tooele Ordnance Depot (TOD) received its first mission. On Dec. 8, the Depot began storage operations for vehicles, small arms, and fire control equipment prior to shipment to combat units. Additional mission assignments followed rapidly, including overhaul and modification of tanks, tracked vehicles and various armaments. The Tooele site was chosen for several reasons: the inland location was defendable from attack by sea or air; the sandy loam soil upon which it was built geologically allowed the soil to absorb shocks, a good feature to have in case of accidental detonations or bombing; the dry climate lessened the danger of rust and corrosion to stored ammunition, artillery and vehicles; and finally, the site was uninhabited and without any existing structures, formerly being used for sheep grazing. Dust storms became so prevalent during construction that operations had to be shut down. The problem of shifting sands and blowing dust was not solved until later that year when Utah State University personnel planted drought resistant grasses to prevent erosion. Despite these problems and shortages of manpower and materials, the contract was completed by January 1943. Between 1942 and 1943, construction at the Depot established three areas: ammunition storage area, the maintenance and storage area, and the administrative area.
(LEFT) George Diehl worked 33 years as the civilian executive assistant to the military commander, 1942-75. (RIGHT) 2017. Diehl with his son looks through historical display at the 75th Anniversary, 2017. tead photos
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va l o r : a s a l u t e t o u ta h ’ s v e t e r a n s a n d m i l i ta r y
Located on the western portion of the site, the ammunition storage area covered eight square miles and had more than 800 “igloos built for high explosives”—archtype concrete, earth-covered, storage magazines, each with a capacity to store 500,000 pounds of ammunition ranging february
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