World War II and the Delaware Coast by Michael Morgan

Author:Michael Morgan [Morgan, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, Pictorial, United States, World War II, State & Local, Middle Atlantic (DC; DE; MD; NJ; NY; PA)
ISBN: 9781625857118
Google: 1D98DAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2016-08-01T03:01:31+00:00

Chapter 4

THEY ALSO SERVE

NUMBER PLEASE—ARMY FLASH

The tent with its high, peaked roof was an odd addition to the landscape of Eugene Howard’s farm near Midway. The tent stood on a low rise, two hundred yards from Howard’s house, and next to it a woman could be seen gazing intently at the sky. In October 1941, two months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the tent on Eugene Howard’s farm and the women who staffed it were an integral part of America’s air defense system.

During World War I, not only did German submarines strike terror in the hearts of seafarers everywhere, but also German blimps and fixed-wing aircraft had peppered London with bombs. In the days before radar and a national traffic control system, the only way to spot the approach of an enemy warplane was to keep a careful watch on the sky. To enable their planes to get into the sky to meet an approaching intruder, the English developed an early warning system of volunteer sky watchers. By 1940, World War II had begun in Europe, and it seemed likely that the conflict would spread to America. In an effort to be prepared for a possible war, the United States adopted the British early warning system and established the Aircraft Warning Service (AWS).

In addition to the observation post at Midway, other posts were manned by Rehoboth Beach residents at the farmhouse of Mrs. Harley Steele near Hollyville and at the Harmon School on Millsboro Road. The posts were staffed by volunteers who phoned sightings to a filter center run by the US Army Air Force and staffed by both military and civilian volunteer workers. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, however, could not have been prevented by the AWS. The naval base in Hawaii depended on a rudimentary radar system to warn of approaching aircraft, but it failed to alert the authorities in time. Even if the AWS had been on duty, as the Delaware Coast News noted, “the observers will keep a watch from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except Sunday.” The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor early on a Sunday morning.

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