California during World War II

California during World War II was a major contributor to the

A total of 12% of all U.S. Government war contracts were awarded to California companies. A total of 17% of the war materials were made in California.

Food production

California's mild climate made it ideal for year-round food production.^[7] With many men overseas, there was labor shortage at harvest time. The need for extra workers at harvest brought in housewives and students. Some businesses even loaned workers to help with harvest and food packing as needed. The Woman's Land Army of America was one of the organizations helping in food production. Even with the increase in food production there was mandatory food rationing. Civilians were encouraged to plant Victory gardens to help with the food shortage. The slogan "grow your own, can your own", was started at start of the war and referred to families growing and canning their own food in victory gardens. With its mild climate most victory gardens were grown almost year-round.^[8][9] Tires and gasoline were also rationed.^[10][11] Rationing of wool fabric was also required during the war. This is one of the causes of the June 1943 Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles.^[12]

Enemy aliens

• After the attack on Pearl Harbor it was feared that some Japanese Americans might be loyal to Japan. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed
  Tule Lake War Relocation Center. Even with internment, a number of American-born Japanese (or Nisei) volunteered to join the U.S. armed services. The Nisei units fought well and are highly decorated units. Nisei joined all the U.S. armed branches, most joined the U.S. Army.^[13]

• Vandenberg Air Force Base.^[18] The Stockton Ordnance Depot held 1,500 German prisoners from May 1944 till June 1946.^[19]

• On February 23, 1942, the Japanese
  Niihau Incident started the fear of the invasion of California. There was speculation that the battle group that attacked Hawaii would come to California next.^[20] There were no casualties and little damage in the attack. ^[21] News of the attack triggered an invasion scare along the West Coast of the United States.^[22][23]
• P-38 Lightning plane shot down a balloon near Santa Rosa, California. On January 10, 1945, an Army P-38 shot down a Fu-Go balloon near Alturas, California^{[24][25][26][27][28]}
• Ships off the California coast were attacked: SS Agwiworld (escaped), SS Emidio (sank), SS Samoa (escaped),^[29] SS Larry Doheny (sank), SS Dorothy Phillips (damaged), SS H.M. Storey (escaped, sank later), SS Camden (sank), SS Absaroka (damaged), SS Montebello (sank), SS Barbara Olson (escaped), SS Connecticut (damaged), SS Fort Camosun (Sank), and SS Idaho [tanker] (minor damage). In the attacks, eight seamen were killed and others injured. After the attack on Pearl Harbor the Imperial Japanese Navy sent five Submarines, I-17, I-19, I-23 I-25 and I-26, to attack ships off coastal California.^{[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]}
• artillery batteries, and aircraft.^[45][46]
• The sense of danger caused the "
  anti-aircraft
  ammunition was fired at what turned out to be a non-existent enemy. Reports of an unidentified aircraft started blackout and shooting of reported incoming aircraft. There was crazed and inaccurate reporting of the event at the time. The only damage in the city was self-inflicted from anti-aircraft fire coming down. The event exposed the defenselessness of the West Coast, as California was defended by only 16 modern warplanes at the time.
• After the war it was learned that Tokyo had planned a December 24, 1941 attack on
  U.S. Navy at San Diego Bay. The attack was called off with the subs only 20 miles off the California coast.^[47]

California was a major supplier of ammunition for the war.

The largest World War II accident in California was the Port Chicago disaster. The Liberty ship SS E. A. Bryan exploded on July 17, 1944, while being loaded with ammunition. About 4,600 tons (4,173 tonnes) of explosives had been loaded in the ship's holds at the time. The explosion killed 320 sailors and civilians and injured 390 others.^{[49] [50]}

Hollywood

Bob Hope volunteered with the United Service Organizations (USO) and entertained troops during World War II and for decades later (1941 to 1991). Hope brought many Hollywood stars with him on his USO tours.^[58]

Disney famously dedicated a large portion of their business to making propaganda films.

War Bond sales

California National Guard was mobilized and called to active duty in August 1940. The US Army recruited the first group to deploy to the war in Europe. The others troops called up were sent to the Pacific war. Between 1940 and 1941 about 12,000 California National Guard troops were called up to service in federal duty. Some troops were used for the defense of California and Hawaii. California National Guard was used for coast patrols, security guards for the Army Air Force bases, railroad bridges, rail tunnels and major dams. Major training bases are Camp Roberts and Camp San Luis Obispo.^[62]

Civil defense

Due to the attack on Pearl Harbor and on California civil defense systems were started in California.

The development of new systems was a key to winning the war. World War 2 brought about many new technologies. Some California colleges and universities joined in the

• Los Alamos National Laboratory – Top secret Manhattan Project
• California Institute of Technology – aeronautical – wind tunnels – rocketry
• University of California, Berkeley – Manhattan Project
• Stanford University – radar microwave research
• University of California-San Diego – Frequency modulation Sonar to track multiple targets with a single ping and large Sonar crystals.^[71]
• University of California, Riverside – V-12 Navy College
• University of California, Los Angeles – V-12 Navy College – Scuba diving
• Occidental College – V-12 Navy College
• Early Penicillin experiments were done at the Kaiser Richmond Shipyards.^[72]
• Skunk Works – Planes and jets
• oscillators for proximity fuze and microwave Signal generator used in radar and counter-radar measures.^[73]
• Hedy Lamarr Hollywood actor with George Antheil invented Frequency-hopping spread spectrum for the Navy.^[74]

Veterans

After the war

California became a major builder of ships for the war. Under the

Aircraft manufacturers

Built in California during World War 2 were:

Vehicles manufacturers

During World War II all California civilian automobile manufacturing ended.^[121]

• Stuart M-5 and M5A1 light tanks at 500 per month.^{[122][123][124][125]}
• General Motors Oakland Assembly built Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines and munitions.
• armored personnel carriers, armored cars and other military vehicles. Ford's Long Beach plant was leased to the Air Force and used as an Air Base.^[126]
• Willys-Overland Maywood, California plant was used by Lockheed to build subassemblies for Lockheed Hudson.^[127]
• PV-2 Harpoon cabins.^[128][129]
• Studebaker Pacific Corporation of Los Angeles built engines for the B-17s and PV-2 Harpoons being built in Burbank.^[130]
• Menasco Motors Company in Burbank, built aircraft landing gear for North American, Lockheed, Republic, General Dynamics, and other aircraft manufacturers. Menasco continued this work after the war.^[131]
• Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Los Angeles built 1,550 turrets used on M5 tanks. Firestone also built 3,100 M5 tank tracks.^[132]

Engine Manufacturers

Joshua Hendy Iron Works was the biggest supplier of reciprocating engines for Liberty ships in the country. It was also the only manufacturer of large steam turbine propulsion systems on the West Coast.

• Marine triple expansion reciprocating
  • Joshua Hendy Iron Works in Sunnyvale
• Marine diesel
  • Enterprise Engine and Foundry Co. in San Francisco
  • Atlas-Imperial in Oakland
• Marine steam turbines
  • Joshua Hendy in Sunnyvale

Military installations

Like other states in the

The largest

• Camp Essex
• Camp Coxcomb
• Camp Granite^[137]
• Camp Ibis
• Camp Iron Mountain
• Camp Pilot Knob
• Camp Young
  – Desert Training Center Headquarters

California Army Depots

• Camp Freda Quartermaster Depot
• Camp Desert Center
• Camp Goffs – Depot and Infantry training.
• Pomona Ordnance Depot

California Army Airfields

• Major airfields
  • Blythe Army Air Base
  • Desert Center Army Airfield
  • Thermal Army Airfield
  • Rice Army Airfield
  • Shavers Summit Army Airfield (now Chiriaco Summit Airport)
• Minor airfields
  • Camp Coxcomb Army Field
    (abandoned)
  • Camp Essex Army Field
    (abandoned)
  • Camp Goffs Army Field
    (abandoned)
  • Camp Ibis Army Field
    (abandoned)
  • Camp Iron Mountain Army Field

Desert Training Center California Hospitals

• Banning, CA
  )
• Camp Freda Hospital
• Camp Desert Center Hospital
• Camp Goffs Hospital
• Torney General Hospital
• Needles Station Hospital
• Cherry Valley Hospital

US Army Bases

For World War 2 existing California Army bases were enlarged and many new bases were built. Bases were used for induction, training, deployment, supply depots, hospitals and housing of POWs.

Air bases and airfield

Existing United States Army Air Corps air bases were enlarged to house and train the many new crews needed. Almost all civilian airports and airstrips were converted to Army Air training centers. Almost all civilian air flights were cancelled. Many new airstrips and landing pads were built for pilot landing and take-off training. Air bases had housing and meals for the troops. Some airstrips and landing pads had no support buildings, as they were used only for landing and take-off training. United States Army Air Corps World War II bases, airstrips and landing pads in California:^[142][143]

US Naval Bases

US Marine Corps

Camp Pendleton became the main training grounds for training Marines including

• Camp Pendleton
  San Diego
• Marine Corps Air Station Miramar San Diego
• Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow Barstow, Yermo Quartermaster Sub-Depot
• Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego San Diego
• Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton
• El Toro Marine Corps Air Station
• Tustin Marine Corps Air Station
• Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara
• Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range
• Camp Elliott
• Camp Matthews
• Gillespie Field
• Camp Las Pulgas Bivouac Area
• Camp Ensign
• Ensign Ranch Airfield
• Camp Dunlap

US Coast Guard

In times of war, like during World War II, the United States Coast Guard operated as a branch of the Department of the Navy. In California the Coast Guard operated out of the 12th Naval District. Coast Guard's World War 2 Navy support included use of Coast Guard cutters, patrol boats, bases, stations and lighthouses. Patrols and search and rescue missions being the main task.^{[151][152][153]}

United States Coast Guard World War II bases in California:

• Coast Guard Island Alameda
• Coast Guard Air Station San Diego
• Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco
• Coast Guard Station Golden Gate
• Hamilton Cove Seaplane Base

United States Merchant Marine

The United States Merchant Marine operated merchant ships out of California US Navy and private ports to supply goods needed around the world. Most merchant ships operated with civilian merchants and US Navy armed guards to man the deck guns under the Merchant Marine Act of 1936. Merchant Marine operated many different types of ships, the most numerous type was the Liberty ships and Victory ships. Merchant Marine training was conducted by the Coast Guard.^{[154][155][156][157]} The Maritime Service established several Merchant Marine training centers in California for World War 2:

• Port Hueneme, California (1941–1942)
• Avalon, California (1942–1945)
• Government Island, California
  (1938–1943) (officers training also)

Gallery

• 
  Norman Rockwell's Let's Give Him Enough and On Time
• 
  USS Wadleigh at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 10 April 1945.
• 
  Lockheed Hudson in flight in 1941
• 
  Pomona assembly center

  , temporary Detention Camp for Japanese Americans
• 
  Santa Anita assembly center

  1942 with Military police, temporary detention Camp for Japanese Americans
• 
  Victory cargo ships are lined up at California Shipbuilding Corporation in Los Angeles, California.
• 
  Eastine Cowner, a former waitress, at work on the Liberty ship SS George Washington Carver at the Kaiser shipyards, Richmond, California, in 1943.
• 
  Women at work on bomber, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, California in October 1942
• 
  P-38 Lightning assembly line at the Lockheed plant, Burbank, California

  .
• 
  B-25 Mitchell bomber production line at the North American Aviation

  plant, Inglewood, California, October 1942.
• 
  US Ration Book No. 3 circa 1943, front
• 
  "How to Shop With Ration Book Two", 1943 poster
• 
  Battle of Los Angeles, Photos from Los Angeles Times, 26 February 1942
• 
  American WWII-era poster promoting Victory gardens
• 
  Army testing a California Ford GP (jeep) in 1941.
• 
  George Schreiber poster for the Third War Loan Drive (September 9 – October 1, 1943)
• 
  US Crop Corp poster
• 
  US Crop Corp poster
• 
  US Army Hospital Train in 1944
• 
  Hanging an engine on a

  BT-13 Valiant trainer at the Vultee aircraft plant, Downey, California
• 
  What Can I Do? The Citizen's Handbook for War, U.S. Office of Civilian Defense 1942
• 
  Florene Watson shown preparing a

  P-51D-5NA for a ferry flight from a factory at Inglewood, California
• 
  US Army Hospital Car in 1944

See also

• American Theater (1939–1945)
• Arizona during World War II
• Desert Training Center
• Military history of the United States during World War II
• New Mexico during World War II
• United States home front during World War II
• Arnold Scheme

References