A small community in Richmond County gave its name to a material that helped win World War II.
Many in Richmond County are familiar with Camp Mackall and its complement of military personnel. Each year residents are reminded of the camp’s presence during the annual Robin Sage war games.
Those who have watched HBO’s TV adaptation of Stephen Ambrose’s “Band of Brothers” might recall that the titular group spent some time training at the Richmond County camp. In fact, one heavily followed member, 1st Lt. Carwood Lipton, settled in Southern Pines. Lipton was portrayed by Donnie Wahlberg in the show.
But you may be less familiar with the humble mat that bears the name of the small community of Marston.
Necessity is the mother of invention, as the old saying goes. An air war without airfields provided the necessity, and the invention was tested in Marston, several miles north of Rockingham and just south of Hoffman.
The problem was that American forces needed to land heavy aircraft on the grassy fields of Europe. The required runways that are ubiquitous in post-war times were nowhere to be found. The U.S. Army Air Corps needed an easy way to make fields amiable to its landing gear.
The solution, create easy-to-install metal strips that resemble the vinyl plank flooring known so well by modern home dwellers.
“Pierced Steel Planking,” as the material was originally called, was produced by the Carnegie Steel Company to solve that problem.
According to “The U.S. Army GHQ Maneuvers of 1941,” published in 1991, the mats were used in every theater of the war. Surely the shifting sands of the Pacific islands provided additional demand.
The first test of this pierced steel planking took place in Marston in November of 1941. Again, according to “The U.S. Army GHQ Maneuvers of 1941,” the 21st Engineer Regiment built a 3,000-foot runway on unimproved Marston ground. In all, the project took 11 days and required 18 train cars full of planks; a task likely aided by the local train industry. For its contribution to the war effort, that Marston ground was honored at every American makeshift airfield during the rest of the war.
Each mat weighs 66.2 pounds, is 15 inches wide by 10 feet long, and has 87 holes. The holes are roughly the size of a Coke can, a bit larger than your average luxury vinyl plank.
If you look around, you may find some Marston mat today.
The Praesidus watch company advertises a reproduction of the famous A-11 wristwatch with a Marston Mat face. The A-11 was issued to American troops and is often called the watch that won the war. According to the company’s website, the Marston mat used in the manufacturing was found at Utah Beach by a local mayor and his family. Utah Beach was the code name for one of the landing zones in France on D-Day.
Another more recent and more visible application of the venerable mat is at Walt Disney’s Hollywood Studio theme park. On one of the park’s newest rides, Rise of the Resistance, Marston mats are used as part of the flooring — adding some hometown flair for any Marstonites who find their way onto the ride.
