Honolulu Advertiser, May 23, 1941. The paper published the map prepared by the U.S. Army that outlined evacuation areas in the event of an air raid on Oahu. The black areas define where critical workers were and shelters would be provided for them as they likely could not leave. Gray areas outline those where “old people, children and many women would have to be removed.”
The map above, from May 1941, helps illustrate that Hawaii was not oblivious to the possibility of war in the Pacific. More than a year and a half before the military began the infrastructure plans for Oahu in the event of not just an attack, but the idea that Hawaii would become the hub for military activity when the U.S. eventually engaged in war in the Pacific.
The US Army strategists participated in the development of Hawaii’s sugar plantation rail system as well as the system at the port. They planned that in the event of an emergency, the hundreds of miles of rail could be appropriated to support mobilization. This photograph shows the Hawaii Army garrison reviewing a new locomotive on a new sugar plantation spur in 1939.
The people and Territorial Government of Hawaii saw the signs of war as well. On May 23, 1940, the government ordered a territory-wide blackout practice. That same month, the Red Cross began teaching first aid classes and made plans for the Women’s Motor Corps (ambulance drivers). In February, the Sugar Plantation Association drew up a specific list of crops to grow in case the shipping lanes were blockaded.
In 1941, planning by the Major Disaster Council developed contingencies for the safe evacuation of patients from hospitals vulnerable to attack to selected schools and had trained and equipped more than 4,600 first aid unit volunteers to staff those facilities. Here high school students are being trained for that task.
The American Red Cross Motor Corps women volunteers were trained in auto mechanics, first aid including the emergency delivery of babies, driving in black-out conditions, and during a gas attack. The Motor Corps was one of the first volunteer organizations of the Red Cross, established in May 1940.
In April 1941, General Short urged the community to prepare for the possibility of an invasion by producing and storing food. In May 1941, there was a second territory-wide blackout practice. In June 1941, the first donation was collected at Hawaii Blood-Plasma Bank. In June 1941, General Short announced plans for an underground warehouse able to store 15,000 tons of food to feed Oahu residents for 3 months. (At Pearl Harbor, there were cold storage plants storing thousands of pounds of perishable food.)
In December 1940, Dr. Eric Fennel presented his final report at the Public Health Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, “on the need for a blood-plasma bank to recognize the wider exposure of civilians to trauma in war time.” The recommendation was approved. In June of 1941, the first blood donation was collected.
By 1940 food supply was a concern due to the increase in defense workers and military personnel. In July 1940, the Mayor appointed a committee to analyze food requirements. They concluded that Oahu produced only 15% of its food needs and had stores only a 45-day supply of imported food. The government encouraged families to grow vegetables, chickens, and rabbits to independently sustain themselves.
Another system of civilian transportation to the smaller cantonments was by bus. These workers are boarding at the end of their shift.
In April 1941, General Short urged the community to prepare for the possibility of an invasion by producing and storing food, organizing an emergency corps of doctors and nurses, establishing a police auxiliary, drawing up a plan of evacuation of women and children from areas of possible bombardment and the constructing of bomb shelters. Here is a demonstration of building a bomb shelter in a backyard.
In July 1941, the government distributed pamphlets informing residents about sabotage; air, sea, and surface attacks; and enemy landings. In July 1941, The Hawaii Sugar Plantation Associations organized a police force made up of employees trained to work under the Honolulu Police Department. In August 1941, six mobile radar stations arrived in Hawaii. In September 1941, Admiral Kimmel addressed the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce that they must “face the realities” of the possibility of war.
In October 1941, the Honolulu Rapid Transit Company extended its lines to Pearl Harbor, and all National Guard units were called to active duty. That same month, the Navy filed suit to condemn 117 acres in Pearl City to enlarge the Pearl Harbor Naval Station. In November 1941, the streets in Honolulu were all designated one-way to make emergency traffic run smoother.
The night before the attack, Christmas lights were ablaze on King Street ready for holiday shoppers. The Chamber of Commerce expected a boom holiday season with thousands of war workers and tens of thousands of military living in Hawaii. The signs were clear, between June 1940 and June 1941, the retail trade was up $31 million. The next time Christmas lights were allowed was in 1945.
So, on December 7, 1941, when Web Ebley screeched over the radio, “This is the Real McCoy!” Hawaii residents may have been shocked by the air attack, but they had been preparing for a sea attack for two years.
Also, please check out my wife Dorothea N Buckingham’s Substack. I guarantee you will learn many interesting facts and be regaled with stories of some of the characters who lived here in Hawaii before and during the War. Dee is an accomplished author, librarian and historian.
