John H. Dudley

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John H. Dudley
Army Commendation Medal (2)
  • Philippine Liberation Medal
    • (Philippines)

    John Henderson Dudley (25 September 1907 – 2 October 1994) was a

    Southwest Pacific Area during World War II
    .

    Early life and career

    John Henderson (Jack) Dudley was born in

    second lieutenant in the United States Cavalry.[2]

    Dudley's first assignment was with the

    12th Cavalry Regiment.[5]

    On 14 August 1936, Dudley transferred to the

    captain on 12 June 1940.[5]

    World War II

    Construction in the United States

    Dudley was the Area Engineer for the Hornell, New York, from 3 July 1940 to 1 April 1941. He was then the executive officer of the Binghamton, New York, Engineer District, until 1 February 1942, and the Syracuse, New York, Area Engineer from 4 January 1942 to 3 August 1942. In this last assignment he was also, from 1 February to 25 October 1942, executive officer of the Syracuse District. He was promoted to major in the Army of the United States on 21 March 1942.[7] At this time, the Syracuse District, which was commanded by Colonel James C. Marshall, was responsible for a $250 million civil and military construction program.[8]

    Marshall was given a new assignment in June 1942 as district engineer of the

    nuclear weapons.[9] Dudley was transferred to the Manhattan District on 25 October 1942, and promoted to lieutenant colonel on 5 November.[7] He was given a special assignment: to find a remote location for the Manhattan Project's Project Y in the vicinity of Albuquerque, New Mexico.[10] In October 1942, he surveyed the area, and he recommended a site near Jemez Springs, New Mexico.[11]

    Dudley toured the site with

    Leslie R. Groves, Edwin McMillan and others on 16 November. Oppenheimer feared that the high cliffs surrounding the site would make his people feel claustrophobic, while the engineers were worried about the possibility of flooding. The party then moved on to the vicinity of the Los Alamos Ranch School.[12][13] Dudley and Groves were concerned about the poor access road, and whether the water supply would be adequate, but otherwise felt that the site was ideal.[14] Originally intended to accommodate 265 people, it would grow into the town of Los Alamos, New Mexico.[10] After the war, Dudley and his wife Lillian discovered that they had both worked on the Manhattan Project, but had not informed each other due to the project's strict security.[1]

    Southwest Pacific Area

    On 11 May 1943, Dudley left the Manhattan District and went to

    Washington state, where he assumed command of the 931st Engineer Aviation Regiment on 10 June 1943. He was promoted to colonel on 3 January 1944.[7] The 931st Engineer Aviation Regiment departed the San Francisco Port of Embarkation on 29 January 1944, and arrived at Finschhafen in New Guinea on 27 February.[15] The 931st Engineer Aviation Regiment's first assignment was the design and construction of Mokerang Airfield in the Admiralty Islands. The work involved clearing a 1,100-acre (450 ha) plantation with 18,000 coconut trees.[16]

    Dudley acted as the base engineer at Finschhafen from 6 May to 3 July 1944, then resumed command of the 931st Engineer Aviation Regiment at

    Sentani and Hollandia Airfields. The 931st Engineer Aviation Regiment participated in the Battle of Morotai, where Dudley commanded several engineer aviation battalions and No. 61 Wing RAAF.[16] In addition to airfields, he was also called on to construct roads, bridges, hospitals, staging camps, port facilities and headquarters installations.[17] The 931st Engineer Aviation Regiment became the 931st Engineer Combat Group (Aviation) on 24 November 1944. It moved to Leyte in December, and then Luzon in January.[7] For his services, Dudley was awarded the Legion of Merit.[18]

    Post-war

    After the war ended, Dudley was the Base Engineer in

    Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1950 and 1951, and then returned to Washington, D.C., as the chief of the Planning Branch of the Army Research and Development Division. He was chief engineer of VII Corps in Germany from 1954 to 1956, and was promoted to brigadier general in 1955. He commanded the 18th Engineer Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, from 1956 to 1958. His final assignment was as Assistant Commandant of the Engineer School at Fort Belvoir. He retired in 1960 after thirty years of service, with an oak leaf cluster to his Legion of Merit.[1][19]

    Dudley joined the faculty of California State University in Long Beach, California, where he founded the Soil Mechanics Laboratory.[1] The College of Engineering library there is now named the John H. Dudley Memorial Library in his honor. He retired from California State University in 1970.[20] His wife Lillian died of cancer in 1977. Dudley was a long-time close friend of Lieutenant General James B. Lampert, a fellow graduate of West Point since the two had attended MIT together. Lampert died from cancer in 1978, and Dudley and Lampert's widow Margery (Gerri) married in 1980.[1] Dudley contributed an opening chapter entitled "Ranch School to Secret City" to the 1980 book Reminiscences of Los Alamos 1943–1945.[10]

    Dudley died in Fairfax, Virginia, on 2 October 1994, and was buried in the West Point Cemetery beside his first wife.[1][21]

    Notes

    1. ^ a b c d e f g Epley 1997, p. 157.
    2. ^ a b c Cullum 1930, p. 2199.
    3. ^ "All-Time Letterwinners" (PDF). 2020 Army West Point Football Media Guide. Army Black Knights. p. 130. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
    4. ^ The Howitzer. West Point, New York: United States Military Academy. 1930. p. 114. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
    5. ^ a b c d Cullum 1940, p. 837.
    6. ^ Dudley, John H. (1939). An experimental investigation of the upper and lower critical velocities for open channels (Thesis). Department of Civil Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
    7. ^ a b c d e f Cullum 1950, p. 635.
    8. ^ Fine & Remington 1972, p. 651.
    9. ^ Fine & Remington 1972, p. 654.
    10. ^ a b c Dudley 1980, pp. 2–6.
    11. ^ Jones 1985, pp. 83–84.
    12. ^ Fine & Remington 1972, pp. 664–665.
    13. ^ "Edwin McMillan's Lecture". Manhattan Project Voices. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
    14. ^ Groves 1962, pp. 66–67.
    15. ^ Stanton 1984, p. 559.
    16. ^ a b Dudley & Staggs 1945, pp. 385−389.
    17. ^ Pearson 2005, pp. 82−84.
    18. ^ "John Dudley - Recipient". Military Times. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
    19. ^ Cullum 1960, p. 361.
    20. ^ "Dudley Library". California State University, Long Beach. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
    21. ^ "Dudley, Lillian". Army Cemeteries Explorer. U.S. Army. Retrieved 25 August 2022.

    References

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