Memories of Ft. MacArthur’s War Years Linger

The giant guns at Ft. MacArthur, which once guarded San Pedro Harbor, were removed long ago, and the magazine that housed their ammunition has been converted into a military museum. The former bastion of defense where more than 750,000 men were trained during World War II is now the Angels Gate Cultural Center, a nonprofit organization that is licensed by the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation.

The city was given the land by the Department of the Interior in 1977. A 55-acre tract on the fort’s upper reservation has been developed for recreational use.

While the cultural center offers a variety of classes ranging from acting and dance to drawing, portrait painting and sculpture, the museum preserves the history of the fort. Donald Young, a history teacher at Hawthorne High School, is director of the military museum. He is assisted by a group of volunteers who share his interest in Ft. MacArthur’s past and the military units that were once stationed here.

Kevin Derby, 27, is typical of those who volunteer their week-ends to act as guides and relate the story of how the coastal guns were installed to defend Los Angeles from an invasion.

“We’ve acquired uniforms and accouterments that soldiers who served in the Coast Artillery wore up to the time of World War II,” he said. “We wear the same helmets issued to men who went to France in World War I, and were still in use when the Japanese overran the Philippines in 1942.”

Defending the New Harbor

Ft. MacArthur was established on Sept. 14, 1888, when President Grover Cleveland signed a law providing a defense for the new harbor at San Pedro. It was named on Jan. 10, 1914, for Gen. Arthur MacArthur, father of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. The fort is divided into two sections. A lower level was transferred by the Army to the Air Force in 1982. The upper reservation overlooking the Pacific is where the coastal defense guns were placed. The first Army unit was assigned there in 1917.

“The story of the huge 14-inch disappearing rifles is what fascinates visitors,” Young explained, leading the way down the steps of one of the deserted emplacements which once housed a huge canon.

“There were four of the big guns,” he continued. “Construction of the emplacements began in 1916, and the last gun was installed in 1923. They fired a projectile weighing 1,560 pounds. They had a range of 14 miles. At the time they were installed, they could outrange the largest battleship, but by the time of World War II, there were naval vessels that could fire from a greater range. By 1944, the guns were obsolete and cut up for scrap.”

The fort was also capable of even greater firepower with eight 12-inch mortars, two 155 mm. “Long Toms,” and a pair of six-inch steel turret guns that could fire a 105-pound shell 15 miles. The most impressive weapon assigned to the fort was a 14-inch railway gun that arrived at the lower reservation in 1926. A second followed in 1929. They could fire a 1,560-pound projectile 27 miles.

Test Firing in 1927

The first railway gun was test fired in 1927. As a succession of 20 rounds were lobbed to sea, the explosions shook San Pedro causing considerable damage to buildings in the area. The Army paid off all claims. Target practice for the 14-inch guns on the upper reservation created the same inconvenience for local residents, although there were a number who found the roar of the mighty guns reassuring as a deterrent to any adversary whose fleet would venture close to the border.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, demonstrated how air power, transported to within a striking distance of a target by a fleet of fast carriers, made batteries like those at Ft. MacArthur obsolete. First, however, the fort was to experience what more than 40 years of military planning had anticipated and readied for--the threat of an invasion, a subject that is recalled in some Military Museum displays.

During the early months of 1942 following the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Japan, there were sightings of enemy submarines off the coast. One Japanese submarine had shelled an oil field near Santa Barbara, causing only minor damage. In Honolulu, barbed wire was strung along the beaches, and servicemen on liberty in that city were ordered to carry gas masks.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 26, 1942, residents of Los Angeles were startled to hear the sound of anti-aircraft fire. As they rushed outdoors, powerful searchlights searched the sky as guns thundered from various sections of the city. A five-hour blackout had been ordered by the Army’s 4th Interceptor Command. Anti-aircraft batteries were firing on what were believed to be Japanese aircraft overhead. The Times reported that day:

“Searchlights from countless stations stabbed the sky with brilliant probing fingers while anti-aircraft batteries dotted the heavens with beautiful, if sinister, orange bursts of shrapnel. . . . No bombs were dropped and no airplanes were shot down.”

Five Deaths Reported

The deaths of five people--three in traffic accidents, two as victims of heart attacks--were directly attributed to the five-hour blackout in Los Angeles that began at 2:25 a.m. Falling shell fragments damaged a number of homes throughout the city. An unexploded shell crashed through the cement driveway of a Santa Monica home, burying itself. Another bored a good-sized divot at the Rancho golf course.

During the noisy cannonading, air raid wardens were busy trying to enforce the blackout. When the shooting began, it awakened thousands who immediately switched on their lights. In Pasadena, an air raid warden fractured his hip when he fell from a retaining wall while urging occupants of an apartment house to shut off their lights. Another warden gashed his leg kicking out the glass window of a Hollywood store, while Warden Tom Barber, 22, sprained his ankle, jumping over a Hollywood fence in an effort to reach a house which had its lights on. On a more positive note, local hospitals reported that the stork delivered 14 babies as the anti-aircraft guns roared. The new arrivals were dubbed “blackout babies.”

In the aftermath of the reported air raid, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox declared it was due largely to “jittery nerves.” There are many today who can recall that night who still believe they saw unidentified aircraft pinpointed by converging arcs of searchlights high in the sky.

“We have some pieces of shrapnel here in the museum that people kept as mementoes,” Young said. “Others have donated many artifacts to us. Recently we received a beautiful Coast Artillery flag. It is trimmed in gold. It belonged to a San Francisco unit, but I am sure they wouldn’t mind if we display it here.”

Whether the attack was false or real, it intensified defensive measures taken at the fort. Following a blueprint, Young and another volunteer began to explore a network of tunnels under the fort which were apparently dug for communication purposes.

Unsafe to Continue

“There must have been 2 1/2 miles of passageways that possibly ran down to the lower reservation,” he said. “Much of the shoring had collapsed. It was unsafe to continue our search.”

The public’s apprehension over the possibility of an invasion was eased the following June. At the battle of Midway, Japan lost four carriers, a heavy cruiser, 253 planes and 3,500 men. U.S. losses were a carrier, a destroyer, 150 aircraft and 307 men. It was the turning point of the war in the Pacific.

The harbors of Los Angeles and Long Beach soon became transformed into huge shipbuilding centers, and day and night a procession of destroyers, supply ships, tenders and small Navy craft slid down the ways. Five shipbuilding companies in the area had a combined payroll of 41,000 craftsmen.

When peace came, Ft. MacArthur became a separation center. Sgt. Howard McIntosh was the last of more than 150,000 men to receive their discharges there.

The Angels Gate Cultural Center is at 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro. The Military Museum is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. For information on classes and other activities at the center: (213) 519-1874.