The Battle of Los Angeles

Question: What is the closest an enemy vessel came to Los Angeles during WWII?

Answer: As far as we know, on February 23, 1942, a Japanese sub surfaced a few hundred yards off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA. They fired 17 shells at some fuel tanks and although the commander of the submarine reported massive destruction back to Japan, it really only caused minor damage to the pier.

According to some though, this may not have been the only attack.

In the early morning hours of February 25th 1942, three months after our entrance into WWII, The Battle of Los Angeles began.

2:00am - Radars pick up an unidentified target over the Pacific 120 miles west of Los Angeles.

2:15am - Anti-aircraft defenses are put on Green Alert (ready to fire).

2:21am - Unidentified target now only a few miles off the coast, Blackout ordered.

2:25am - Tracked object has vanished, yet information center is bombarded with reports of "enemy planes", air raid sirens sounded.

2:43am - Unknown planes reported over Long Beach.

2:50am - A coast artillery colonel reports "about 25 planes at 12,000 ft" flying over Los Angles.

3:06am - A balloon carrying a red flare is reported over Santa Monica.

3:16am - 37th Coast Artillery Brigade begins firing 12.8 lb anti-aircraft shells into sky

"I could clearly see the V formation of about 25 silvery planes overhead moving slowly across the sky towards Long Beach."

-Peter Jenkins, Los Angeles Herald Examiner

With the recent attack near Santa Barbara, fear of a West Coast invasion was prevalent across the South land. Once word spread (rather quickly) that unidentified planes were being seen in the skies, Los Angeles went into a panic.

On February 24th, 1942, the day before the events, Naval Intelligence had issued a warning that an attack could be expected within 10 hours. Radars were being closely monitored. About 5 hours after the alert had been lifted, radars began picking up the objects heading toward Los Angeles. The AAF prepared pursuit planes awaiting further orders. Los Angeles defense resources were limited and officials wanted to be sure of a threat before making any moves. Five minutes later, the threat was real enough to order a Blackout.

Men, women and children were abruptly woken up by the loud blaring of the air raid sirens. Neighbors in robes and pajamas stared up into the night. Radios alerted citizens to initiate a Blackout order. All lights were to be turned off and some lights deflected upwards to prevent whoever or whatever was up there from navigating the cityscape. Air Raid Wardens walked the streets yelling at any homes with visible light.

For almost the next hour, witnesses described what they saw as planes, balloons, blimps, lanterns or even UFOs. There was no consensus. Los Angeles, at the very least in people's minds, was under attack...

Giant Hollywood premiere-like searchlights cut through the night from all directions. Starting at 3:16am and continuing for almost an hour, approximately 1,440 shells were fired into the sky at the mystery aircraft. The shells burst into explosions in the air, caught by the searchlights causing mass hysteria. Many claimed the objects were directly hit by the fire, yet no aircraft debris was found.

"I was far enough away to see an object without being able to identify it...I would be willing to bet what shekels I have that there were a number of direct hits scored on the object."

-Reporter Bill Henry, Los Angeles Times

Some reports claimed that four enemy planes had been shot down and even that one had crashed and fallen into a busy Hollywood intersection. But by dawn, the only visible damage was from anti-aircraft shells that had fallen back & hit buildings and homes. There were a few traffic accidents as well as power outages. In the end, the "battle" claimed six lives. Three people died from the shell fire and three more died of heart attacks.

To this day there has been no conclusive explanation for the events that happened that night. The Secretary of the Navy claimed it was a "false alarm" due to anxiety and "war nerves". Why then the hour-long barrage? The Army Chief of Staff insisted there were "as many as 15 aircraft involved, some flying very slowly and others up to 200 miles per hour." Yet no aircraft debris was ever found. There was never a Congressional investigation into the matter.

There was a memo of questionable authenticity from General Marshall to President Roosevelt dated March 5, 1942 that claimed the Navy had "recovered an unidentified airplane off the coast of California with no bearing on conventional explanation" and that "This Headquarters has come to the determination that the mystery airplanes are in fact not earthly and according to secret intelligence sources they are in all probability of interplanetary origin." This same memo mentioned the discovery of an unconventional craft east of Los Angeles.

The Army maintained that there were indeed aircraft that day of unknown origin flying over Los Angeles, and they were considered enough of a threat that they were fired upon. So if there was no real threat, then why all the firing? And given all the firing, why were they unable to shoot anything down? And why had the planes, if there were any, not attacked the city with any fire power of their own?

The questions remain.

The Norconian Resort Supreme

This time I'm going to take you 50 miles east of Los Angeles to a place called Norco. Anybody familiar with this area may be surprised to know that Norco was once associated with such names as Babe Ruth, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and more.

Now these days it's not considered the most affluent of places in the I.E. and is somewhat of a last bastion for country folk who like to keep their horses in their backyards. But once upon a time...in the 1920's, it was much different.

It starts with the well-known Scripps family. One of the daughters, Grace, married a man named Rex Clark. Her father was not fond of him due to his strong conservative political beliefs & offered him no place in the newspaper business. After a failed business venture and a nervous breakdown, Grace moved them to La Jolla, CA. Rex recovered and eventually made a good amount of money buying, developing and selling property and soon bought a 15 square mile parcel of land called "Orchard Heights". Rex renamed the place Norco, as it was directly North of Corona (NorCo) and 5 years later the idea of one the most extravagant resorts of the time was born.

Within 3 years, it was complete with a golf course, an air field, a lake, a lake house, a garage, chauffeur's quarters, a gym, laundry facilities and of course a first class hotel, indoor bath complexes, ballrooms, dining rooms and lounges and the first official outdoor qualifying swimming and diving pools in Southern California. All outbuildings were designed by Stanley Wilson who also was responsible for the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA. Interiors were done by A.B. Heinsbergen who also designed the Pantages Theatre, and the architect of the hotel was Dwight Gibbs of Carthy Circle Theatre and Pasadena Playhouse fame.

It became the playground for Hollywood's elite and many films were shot there. Visitors included D.W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford (after whom the Bloody Mary was named), Will Rogers, Duke Kahanamoku (Duke's Restaurants) and more. Fox Studios even built an entire Norconian replica set in their sound stages back in Hollywood.

The Norconian shut down for 3 years for several reasons. The Great Depression, a drought in Norco, Rex & Grace divorced and Rex wasn't doing well financially. But in 1935 it was back in full swing.

In 1938 the Norconian saw huge studio parties from Disney, MGM & Fox. Disney threw theirs for the success of Snow White. It's rumored that things got pretty out of hand and the animators became a little too animated, to the point where people were said to have been fired on the spot back at the studios for speaking about it within earshot of Walt Disney himself.

But it's days were numbered due to back-taxes, debt and other issues. The once magnificent resort closed for good in 1940.

In the years that followed, it served as a hospital in WWII (where it saw further celebrity appearances, but for patient morale purposes), a secret think-tank for the Naval Weapons Assessment Center, an addiction treatment center and eventually a high-medium security prison.

At this moment, it sits there deteriorating. I recently saw video clips of the inside and it was very odd to see majestic pillars, painted ceilings, ornate chandeliers and gorgeous tile covered in the stains of time, abuse & neglect. It has been designated eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places and local groups are currently working to ensure that this forgotten piece of history isn't lost forever.