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- California and
the Second World War
- Los Angeles Metropolitan
Area during World War II
During World War II Los
Angeles was the boom town of boom towns. The Los Angeles metropolitan
area grew faster than any other major metropolitan area in the
U.S. and experienced more of the traumas of war while doing so.
By 1943 the population of metropolitan L.A. was larger than 37
states, and was home to one in every 40 U.S. citizens. By the
end of the war, the L.A. area had produced 17% of all of America's
war production.
Of the 120,000 ethnic Japanese
eventually evacuated to the relocation camps, 80,000 came from
the L.A. area.
The
evacuation of the ethnic Japanese was just getting under way when,
on Feb. 23, 1942 a Japanese submarine shelled an oil facility
near Santa Barbara, just 80 miles up the coast form Los Angeles.
Many saw this as a prelude of to a greater attack and tensions
rose rapidly in L.A. Rumors started and spread. The next night,
around midnight, a false report was sent out to anti-aircraft
gunners on the heights over looking L.A. that enemy planes had
been spot ted over Los Angeles. That was the spark that ignited
"The Battle of Los Angeles". The gun ners in one section
of town opened fire on the unseen airplanes and their search lights
scanned the sky. The frenzy spread and other gunners opened up.
Some civilians rushed for shelter, while others rushed outside
to see what was happening. Some thought they saw the planes, while
others thought they saw para chutes and bombs falling. Spent anti-aircraft
shells rained down on roof tops and cars. Santa Monica and Long
Beach were hardest hit. Air raid wardens dashed about ordering
people to extinguish lights and take cover. Rumors spread that
section of the city were on fire and that a plane had crashed
at 185th and Vermont Ave. There was a rash of auto accidents as
driv ers tried to maneuver in darkened streets with their headlight
off, and several people had heart attacks.
The "battle" went
on for over two hours before the guns fell silent. The next morning
headlines of the Los Angeles Times screamed "L.A. AREA RAIDED".
It was not true, but the newspaper editors had succumbed to the
rumors as had most other people.
The truth eventually became
known that the city had not been bombed and life went on at its
hectic pace for better or for worse. Experiencing an "air
raid" was beneficial, in a way, for the people of Los Angeles
because they gained experience in case the real thing ever came.
And, the Japanese had plans to provide the real thing by bombing
the city with giant seaplanes if and when conditions were favorable.
Those raids never came about, but the Japanese had the planes
and wherewithal to accomplish such a raid throughout the war.
The growth of L.A. didn't
stop with the war. It went on at a healthy pace in the postwar
years and lasted for decades.
Contibutions
to the War Effort by Other Communities in the Los Angeles Area
Burbank: Located north of Los Angeles in
the San Fernando Valley, was home to the Lockheed Aircraft Company, one of the primary aircraft builders
of the war. Vega Aircraft Company was also in Burbank.
Chino: Location of Cal Aero Academy, a private flying academy contracted to provide
pilots for the Army Air Forces.
Costa Mesa: Located 13 miles southeast of Long
Beach, Costa Mesa didn't exist during World War II. The city incorporated
in 1953 and in 1955 annexed the former Santa Ana Army Air Base, which now comprises a major part
of the town.
Downey: Located 7 miles southeast of Los
Angeles, Downey had a large Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft plant
at Vultee Airport 1.5 miles southeast of downtown. Consolidated-Vultee
built primary trainer aircraft. Vultee Airport no longer exists.
El Segundo: Located five miles south of Los
Angeles on the coast, El Segundo had a large North American Aviation
plant that built P-51 fighters, A-36 bombers and B-25 Bombers.
There was also a Douglas Aircraft plant in El Segundo that made
air frames and SBD-5 dive bombers for the Navy.
Fontana: Located west of and adjancent to
San Bernadino, it was the site of the Kaiser Steel Co., financed
and built by the wartime government agency known as the Defense
Plant Corporation (DPC). It was run by Henry Kaiser and his industrial
empire and sold most of its steel to the west coast shipbuilders.
The building of steel plants west of the Mississippi had long
been a pet project of President Roosevelt who wanted the American
steel industry to diversify across the country. Roosevelt took
advantage of the war to see that two new plants were built in
the west, this one and another in Provo, Utah.
Glendale: Location of the Grand Central Air Terminal where pilots were trained and a
squadron of P-38s were stationed.
Hawthorne:
Located five miles south of Los Angeles, Hawthorne was the home
of the Northrop Aircraft Co, a large manufacturing complex at
Northrop Field, which was originally the company's airfield. The
plant built B-17 bombers. Also at the airport was a company school
contracted to the Army Air Forces' Western Technical Training
Command. The airport later be came Hawthorne Municipal Airport.
Huntington Beach:
This coastal community located seven miles southeast of Long Beach
had many active oil wells close to the shore. At the corner of
Bolsa Chica and Warner Avenues is the remains of a gigantic concrete
pad which was one of the coastal defenses
for the Los Angeles area. The beach area was heavily patrolled
by Coast Guardsmen on horses
Inglewood:
Located south of, and adjacent to Los Angeles, Inglewood had a
large North American Aviation plant that made air frames.
Irvine:
This planned community 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles that
didn't exist during the war. When the town came into being after
the war it became the post town for El Toro Marine Corps Air Station
that had been built in the area during World War II.
Lomita:
This small community just west of Long Beach was the home of Lomita Field. This was a small air field
one mile west of Lomita that was used as a sub base to Long
Beach Army Air Field. It was operated by the Air Transport
Command. After the war the air field blossomed into a first class
airport called Torrence Municipal Airport.
Long Beach and San Pedro: This is the Los Angeles Harbor area and was the
center of military activity in the area. All along the coast there
were various naval facilities, shipbuilding and repair facilities,
docks, wharves, Coast Guard facilities, supply depots and, in
places, working oil fields. Many people believed that if the Japanese
ever bombed or attacked the west coast this would be a primary
target area.
Ontario:
Just east of Pomona, Ontario was the home of Ontario
Army Air Field, 1.5 miles east of downtown, It was used by
the 4th Air Force as a training field for fighter pilots. In the
postwar years the airport became Ontario International Airport
Pasadena:
Located five miles northeast of Los Angeles, is the home of the
famous Rose Bowl which was used in early 1942 as a temporary assembly
point for the ethnic Japanese before they were moved on to the
regular assembly centers and then on to the relocation camps.
For a time, some 500 people were housed here. Pasadena also had
a large military hospital during the war, McCormack General Hospital.
Pomona:
This was the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds on the north edge
of Pomona. It processed ethnic Japanese from May 7 to August 24,
1942. During that time its population reached a maximum of 5,434.
Nearly everyone processed here was sent to Heart Mountain, Wyoming.
On September 4, 1942 the center was turned over to the Army's
Ordnance Motor Transport Agency and became known as the Pomona
Ordnance Depot. The depot stocked a wide variety of ordnance
materials and for much of the war serviced the California/ Arizona
Maneuver Area (CAMA) (Desert Training Center), just east of Pomona.
The depot had a prisoner of war camp holding about 1,150 POWs
who worked at the depot
Riverside:
Located five miles south of San Bernardino, Riverside was the
home of two major Army installations, March
Field and Camp Haan.
San Bernardino: Located
50 miles east of Los Angeles. During the war the city had two
defense plants, the Morrow Aircraft Corp. which built training
aircraft and the Western Stove Co. which made incendiary bombs.
The Army's Mira Loma Quartermaster Depot was also in San Bernardino
as well as San Bernardino Army Air Field.
Santa Monica: Located
directly west of Los Angeles, was the home of one of the world's
leading aircraft manufacturers, the Douglas Aircraft Company.
Southgate:
Located five miles southeast of Los Angeles, it was the location
of a General Motors plant that built M-5 Light Tanks at the rate
of 500 per month.
Terminal Island:
This strategically located island in Los Angeles Harbor was one
of the few places in the continental U.S. were martial law was
declared during World War II. It was declared in December 8,1941,
the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor because U.S. military
authorities thought they had a very explosive situation on their
hands. The island was shared by a major U.S. Naval base, major
oil installations and a sizeable community of ethnic Japanese
fishermen. It was believed that the potential for sabotage by
the ethnic Japanese was so great that the military had to intervene.
Under martial law the activities of the ethnic Japanese were closely
watched and their persons, homes and boats were liable to search
at any time. No concrete evidence was ever obtained that the Japanese
residents of Terminal Island were disloyal but, still, their presence
was intolerable to the U.S. military. On February 1, 1942, government
authorities conducted a surprise raid on the island and rounded
up all ethnic Japanese males. They were taken into custody and
shipped off to the enemy alien internment camp at Ft. Lincoln,
Nebraska because the relocation camps, planned for the ethnic
Japanese, were not yet ready.When the relocation camps were completed
the women and children were evacuated from Terminal Island and
sent to relocation camps and their menfolk soon followed. Following
the removal of the ethnic Japanese, two cannery buildings previously
used by the ethnic Japanese were taken over and used by the Navy.
Tustin:
Just east of Santa Ana, Tustin was the home of Naval
Air Station, Santa Ana
Van Nuys:
Located in the San Fernando Valley, this section of Los Angeles
was home to Birmingham General
Hospital and Van Nuys Army Air
Field
Topics
- The
Impact of the Second World War on Los Angeles
- The Battle
of Los Angeles
- Birmingham
General Hospital
- Camp Haan
- Camp
Ross
- Chino Airport
- Clover Field
- Fort MacArthur
- Grand
Central Air Terminal
- Harbor Defenses
of Los Angeles
- Los Angeles
Municipal Airport (Mines Field)
- Lockheed
Air Terminal
- Lomita Flight
Strip
- Long Beach
Army Air Field
- March Field
- Marine Corps
Air Station, El Toro
- McCormack General Hospital
- Naval Air Station, Terminal Island
- Naval Station,
Long Beach
- Naval Air Station,
Los Alamitos
- Naval Air
Station, Santa Ana
- Ontario
Army Air Field
- Pomona
Ordnance Depot
- San Bernadino
Army Air Field
- Santa Ana
Army Air Base
- Van Nuys
Army Air Field
Source: World War II Sites in
the United States: A Tour Guide and Directory by Richard E. Osbourne
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- Updated 20 January 2019