Waves of Time

Ellen McCarty

On Dec. 7, 1941, while many Californians were getting ready for church,

the radio announced, “The Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor!” World War

II had come to the West, and Huntington Beach would not be left out of

the action.

On Dec. 20, the Japanese sank a U.S. tanker off the coast of Eureka,

Calif. Three days later, a second oil tanker was sunk near San Luis

Obispo. On Christmas day, a crowd of beach-goers at Redondo Beach watched

as an American bomber sank a Japanese submarine a short distance from

shore.

The Bolsa Chica Military Reservation, constructed between 1940 and 1944,

was one of 30 West Coast stations built for protection against air and

submarine attacks. The Bolsa Chica Gun Club, located on a high flat mesa

to the north of Huntington Beach, acquired two tractor-drawn guns in

February 1942.

To increase the coast’s defense, construction of huge concrete bunkers,

called Battery 128 and Battery 242, began on April 17, 1943. The bunkers

supported twin 6-inch guns, twin 16-inch guns, ammunition storage

magazines, 155-millimeter guns on circular concrete mountings and an

underground plotting survey room. The bunkers were camouflaged by a deep

blanket of dirt. A large tower, disguised as an oil rig, was built above

the underground plotting room and radar was installed.

A pamphlet titled “Know Your Air Warden” was given to local residents. It

advised them to let the warden know details concerning the number of

people in each family and where they could be reached in an emergency.

The pamphlet gave these instructions in case of an attack in bold

letters:

“KEEP CALM AND COOL, STAY HOME. PUT OUT THE LIGHTS, LIE DOWN, STAY AWAY

FROM WINDOWS, DON’T TELEPHONE.” The pamphlet also requested no running or

screaming.

The Aircraft Warning Service played an important role in the effort to

prevent an attacker from ever reaching the shore. Volunteers took an

eight-week class in identifying various aircraft. They took turns manning

24-hour lookout posts.

The community was proud of its war efforts, but there remains one point

of shame. On March 27, 1942, General DeWitt ordered all Japanese to be

removed from Orange County. The German and Italian immigrants were

allowed to stay. By the end of the week, all Japanese who had registered

at Huntington Beach were loaded onto buses and sent to the Poston

Relocation Center in Arizona under military escort. Two major fisheries

owned by Japanese residents, Asari and the Orange County Fish Hatchery,

were seized and searched. Nothing suspicious was found, but the owners

and many other Japanese lost their property and businesses during the war

as a result of the relocation program.

When the war ended, the bunkers were stripped of all equipment, plumbing,

wiring and scrap metal and left to the elements. The concrete hulks

remained for more than 40 years and symbolized the country’s efforts to

defend itself against an enemy that was defeated before it invaded

Southern California.

During the war, thousands of soldiers had seen California for the first

time. The balmy weather, beaches and mountains would draw them back to

Huntington Beach, this time to live in peace time instead of war.