Los angeles area air raid alert 1960s how to#

A swarm of meteorological balloons had been released that night with small lights attached to aid in tracking. Soon, the entire country heard that the reported attacks in Los Angeles were actually just a case of the jitters.ДЄ 1983 military investigation of the incident found a possible explanation.

With no reports of bomb damage and few reports of downed aircraft - none of which could be confirmed - either both sides were engaging in the least effective battle in the history of war or there were not actually any Japanese bombers. Fuzes failed to detonate some rounds in the air and they crashed back to earth where they destroyed property while luckily causing no fatalities.Д«ut the embarrassing reality started to become clear atВ headquarters. In all, 1,433 rounds would be fired by gun crews.Д¬itizens drove through the street against orders and caused three auto fatalities while two others were lost to panic-induced heart failure. For the next hour, a fierce barrage lit up the night as searchlights and shells looked for targets. Volunteer air wardens fanned across the city to enforce the blackout.ДЄt 3:06 a.m., the first gun crews spotted their targets and began firing into the sky. Army RDECOM)ДЄrmy Air Force crews rushed from their bedsВ to await launch orders and gun crews ran to their stations.

Los angeles area air raid alert 1960s how to#

вЂњThe Great Los Angeles Air RaidвЂќ was on, and the city residentsВ and their Army gun crews knew exactly how to respond.ДЄmerican anti-aircraft gun crews firing in World War II. Lookouts reported dozens of aircraft closing on the city. 25, radars picked up activity at approximately 12,000-feet. When no attack materialized, the alert was called off.Д«ut in the early hours of Feb. Then, a few hours later, blinking lights were spotted and an alert was called.

The very next night, a light was spotted over the ocean off the coast, possibly a signal flare sent up to guide Japanese planes or carriers to their target. A long-range submarine surfaced near Santa Barbara, California, and shelled an oil refinery there. 23, a city in California was attacked by the Japanese. In reality, the chances of a Japanese attack on the West Coast were low since the Navy was pulling back from far flung outposts in order to secure ground they knew they had to hold, like California, Oregon, Washington, and vital bases on Pacific islands.Д«ut LAВ was overtaken by fearВ and uncertainty in the early months of 1942. In the months after the Pearl Harbor attacks, theВ American Navy was largely in retreat across the Pacific, and the West Coast was worried that it was the next target of a Japanese attack.ДЄrmy gun crews man a Bofors anti-aircraft gun in Algeria in World War II. In February 1942, Army units defending Los Angeles launched a devastating barrage of anti-aircraft fire into the sky, sending up 1,433 rounds against targets reported across the city in the вЂњBattle of L.A.вЂќДЇortunately for the occupantsВ (but unfortunately for the egos of everyone involved), the City of Angels wasnвЂ™t under attack.