William Signius Knudsen (born Signius Wilhelm Poul Knudsen; March 25, 1879 – April 27, 1948) was a Danish-born American

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, Maintenance, repairing, and Custom car, modification of motor ve ...

executive and an American

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His experience and success as a key senior manager in the operations sides of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

and then

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

led the

Franklin Roosevelt administration For the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the United States presidential administration from 1933 to 1945, see: * Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1941), first and second terms * Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1941–1945), thi ...

to commission him directly as a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

to help lead the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

' war

materiel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commerce, commercial supply chain management, supply chain context. Military In a military context, ...

production efforts for World War II. Knudsen became the only civilian in U.S. history to join the Army at such a high initial rank, and under his direction, American industry dramatically increased its military production, including growing aircraft production from fewer than 3,000 planes in 1939 to over 300,000 by war's end.

Background

Knudsen was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

customs officer A customs officer is a law enforcement official who enforces customs laws. Canada Canadian customs officers are members of the Canada Border Services Agency. It was created in 2003 and preceded by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (1999-20 ...

Knud Peter Knudsen (1837–1908) and his second wife Augusta Pouline Regine Zøllner (1853–1934). He grew up in his childhood home on Voldmestergade 26 in the neighborhood with five siblings and six half-siblings. He attended Øster Farimagsgade School and through his half-brother, the teenaged Knudsen got an apprenticeship at a bicycle shop, where he reportedly assembled the first

tandem bicycle A tandem bicycle or twin is a bicycle (occasionally a tricycle) designed to be ridden by more than one person. The term tandem refers to the seating arrangement (fore to aft, not side by side), not the number of riders. Patents related to ...

in Denmark. Knudsen immigrated to the

and arrived in New York in February 1900. While employed for a

Harlem River The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York City, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the United States mainland. The northern stretch, also called the Spuyten Duyvi ...

shipyard, the foreman wrote down his name as "William S. Knudsen", or "Bill" for short, as the foreman "couldn't be bothered writing down all those initials".

Career

Knudsen was working for the John R. Keim Company of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, a bicycle and

auto parts This is a list of auto parts, which are manufactured components of automobiles. This list reflects both fossil-fueled cars (using internal combustion engines) and electric vehicles; the list is not exhaustive. Many of these parts are also used o ...

maker, when the

bought it in 1911 for its steel-stamping experience and tooling. Knudsen worked for Ford from 1911 to 1921, a decade that saw the formative development of the modern

assembly line An assembly line, often called ''progressive assembly'', is a manufacturing process where the unfinished product moves in a direct line from workstation to workstation, with parts added in sequence until the final product is completed. By mechan ...

and true

mass production Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines ...

. Working first for the

and later for

from 1921, Knudsen became an expert on mass production and a skilled manager. At Ford, Knudsen served as production manager of the Highland Park Plant in Michigan. Knudsen was president of the

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

Division of

from 1924. to 1937 and was president of General Motors from 1937 to 1940. Under his leadership at Chevrolet, the division generated the greatest revenue of any GM division.

World War II service

In 1940, US President

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

, at the recommendation of

Bernard Baruch Bernard Mannes Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman. After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in W ...

, asked Knudsen to come to Washington to help with war production. Knudsen was appointed as Chairman of the

Office of Production Management The Office of Production Management was a United States government agency that existed from January 1941 and was led by the Danish William S. Knudsen, William Knudsen. The agency was established to centralize direction of the federal procurement p ...

and member of the National Defense Advisory Commission for which he received a salary of $1 per year. In January 1942, Knudsen received a commission as a

in the U.S. Army, the only civilian ever to join the army at such a high initial rank,. and appointed as Director of Production, Office of the Under Secretary of War. In that capacity, he worked as a consultant and a troubleshooter for the War Department. In both positions, Knudsen used his extensive experience in manufacturing and industry respect to facilitate the largest production job in history. In response to the demand for war

, production of machine tools tripled. The total aircraft produced for the U.S. military in 1939 was fewer than 3,000 planes. By the end of the war, America produced over 300,000 planes of which the

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Bo ...

benefited greatly from Knudsen's direction. Production of both cargo and Navy ships also increased astronomically. Knudsen's influence not only smoothed government procurement procedures but also led companies that had never produced military hardware to enter the market. America outproduced its enemies. As Knudsen said, "We won because we smothered the enemy in an avalanche of production, the like of which he had never seen, nor dreamed possible." He was appointed Director of the

Air Technical Service Command An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

when it was founded in July 1944 at Patterson Field, Ohio. He served in the Army until his resignation on June 1, 1945.

Personal life

On November 1, 1911, Knudsen married Clara Elisabeth Euler in Buffalo. They had three daughters, Clara, Martha, and Elna, and one son, Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen, who also became a prominent automobile industry executive. Knudsen was featured on the cover of ''Time'' magazine's October 7, 1940 issue. He was a member of Epiphany Lutheran Church (

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

) in Detroit and contributed greatly to the synod's projects around the Detroit area, including buildings for Epiphany Lutheran Church, Outer Drive Faith Lutheran Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Institute for the Deaf.

Honors and awards

Knudsen was awarded the Vermilye Medal by the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and a center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and wikt:statesman, statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin ...

in 1941. He was also appointed a Knight of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

by the Kingdom of Denmark in 1930 and was promoted Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1946. Knudsen was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1968. His daughter started a scholarship in the name of her parents.3. The William S. Knudsen and Clara Elisabeth Knudsen Rebild Fund
/ref> Knudsen was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1944 and again in 1945 for his service in the US Army during World War II. He also received the

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had per ...

and

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal was a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. Histo ...

for his wartime service.

Dates of rank

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knudsen, William S. 1879 births 1948 deaths Businesspeople from Copenhagen Businesspeople from Detroit Military personnel from Detroit American businesspeople People in the automobile industry Ford executives General Motors executives United States Army generals United States Army generals of World War II Danish emigrants to the United States Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)