THE MESSENGER OF WORLD WAR II
I am proud to have been in the service of my country during World War II as a MESSENGER in the Civil Defense Corp. (CDC). Dad was the Warden Captain in our area of Arlington, VA. That may be why I got the job, but I like to think it was because of my bravery at night on my bike. I must admit I was armed with my big slingshot, the one that propelled large rocks, bolts, aggie size marbles, and five-eighth inch nuts, and my white pearl handled cap pistol. In 1941, I was 12 years old. I was large for my age. Under Dad there were block wardens for several blocks around. My job was to ride my bike from one to the other when needed and to take the official report to Arlington County Courthouse where the CDC office was located.
The CDC members were issued of a WW1 steel helmet painted white. It had a CDC insignia with the job description lettered under it: Captain Warden, Warden, and Messenger. We also had a white armband with the same insignia and title as the helmet. I thought that if my head got blown off, they could tell who I was by the armband. We also got a flashlight with a yellow lens only used if we encountered a car driving toward us without lights.
I remember the first trip to the courthouse as being exciting. There I was, riding down Wilson Boulevard all by myself alone in the dark in the middle of the road with that humongous and stupid steel helmet on my head going to the central command of CDC at the Courthouse to give the report. I did find the office easily and then the trip back up the middle of the road all the way I never saw another person, car or light a very eerie feeling. I was glad I was armed.
When the air raid horns went off, you were to go inside and turn off the lights if you did not have blackout curtains. If you were caught out in a car you had to pull over turn off the engine and lights and wait for the all clear. Our job was to go throughout the neighborhood during the air raid drills to see if we saw any lights. If one were found the offender was told and it was fixed. Everyone took the blackout very seriously, and the sky over the US mainland was dark. With the reduction of civilian use of electricity, more was diverted to the war industry.
We civilian Americans were on constant alert for the enemy, and there was a mandatory blackout all along the coasts both Atlantic and Pacific. All major cities throughout the nation had to turn off their lights on all stores and buildings. All streetlights had to have reflectors to keep the light down. Houses had to have shades down or curtains drawn on all windows. No outside lights could be on unless they were reflected down. Even the cars had to drive with lights off in lighted areas and never put on hi-beams. There was a good reason for the national blackout. The Germans put their subs along the coasts and with the land glowing in light any dark ships could easily be seen against the light. They sank a lot of ships before Chicago went dark. We also expected the Germans to shell the coast and there was a possibility of bombing. Germany did land spies and saboteurs by submarines along the coast in North Carolina, but local townspeople and shore patrols caught them immediately. A lone Japanese sub once did fire a few shells at California’s West Coast and, if I remember correctly, they shelled uninhabited land. This incident went unknown until years after the war had ended.
The blackouts continued till the war was ended. They changed the sending of messengers after a few kids got into accidents on the way to the Courthouse. I guess the steel helmets tipped them off their bikes, or their armbands were too tight and the blood stopped flowing and they got gangrene in their fingers and died. More likely their mothers complained and said their kid was to young too go into battle.
Air raid alerts were few after we sank most of the Krout and Jap subs and the war turned in our favor. The emergency horns used for the alerts were retired to the junk heap of history in 1994. From 1941 until 1994 those horns sounded everyday at noon.
Checkout http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=11 and notice how the news media has changed since WW2. Not reporting news saved lives.
The CDC members were issued of a WW1 steel helmet painted white. It had a CDC insignia with the job description lettered under it: Captain Warden, Warden, and Messenger. We also had a white armband with the same insignia and title as the helmet. I thought that if my head got blown off, they could tell who I was by the armband. We also got a flashlight with a yellow lens only used if we encountered a car driving toward us without lights.
I remember the first trip to the courthouse as being exciting. There I was, riding down Wilson Boulevard all by myself alone in the dark in the middle of the road with that humongous and stupid steel helmet on my head going to the central command of CDC at the Courthouse to give the report. I did find the office easily and then the trip back up the middle of the road all the way I never saw another person, car or light a very eerie feeling. I was glad I was armed.
When the air raid horns went off, you were to go inside and turn off the lights if you did not have blackout curtains. If you were caught out in a car you had to pull over turn off the engine and lights and wait for the all clear. Our job was to go throughout the neighborhood during the air raid drills to see if we saw any lights. If one were found the offender was told and it was fixed. Everyone took the blackout very seriously, and the sky over the US mainland was dark. With the reduction of civilian use of electricity, more was diverted to the war industry.
We civilian Americans were on constant alert for the enemy, and there was a mandatory blackout all along the coasts both Atlantic and Pacific. All major cities throughout the nation had to turn off their lights on all stores and buildings. All streetlights had to have reflectors to keep the light down. Houses had to have shades down or curtains drawn on all windows. No outside lights could be on unless they were reflected down. Even the cars had to drive with lights off in lighted areas and never put on hi-beams. There was a good reason for the national blackout. The Germans put their subs along the coasts and with the land glowing in light any dark ships could easily be seen against the light. They sank a lot of ships before Chicago went dark. We also expected the Germans to shell the coast and there was a possibility of bombing. Germany did land spies and saboteurs by submarines along the coast in North Carolina, but local townspeople and shore patrols caught them immediately. A lone Japanese sub once did fire a few shells at California’s West Coast and, if I remember correctly, they shelled uninhabited land. This incident went unknown until years after the war had ended.
The blackouts continued till the war was ended. They changed the sending of messengers after a few kids got into accidents on the way to the Courthouse. I guess the steel helmets tipped them off their bikes, or their armbands were too tight and the blood stopped flowing and they got gangrene in their fingers and died. More likely their mothers complained and said their kid was to young too go into battle.
Air raid alerts were few after we sank most of the Krout and Jap subs and the war turned in our favor. The emergency horns used for the alerts were retired to the junk heap of history in 1994. From 1941 until 1994 those horns sounded everyday at noon.
Checkout http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=11 and notice how the news media has changed since WW2. Not reporting news saved lives.
posted by JackSML | 10:10 PM
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