March 5, 1941, on the day I was born, the world was at war. The attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7 was a short three months earlier. I, of course, remember nothing about the war. However, as I researched this blog, I found out many interesting historical facts and events that took place in the early years of my life.
The picture here was taken in July, 1941. It’s my favorite picture of my brothers and I. Harlan, 7, is on the left, and Ted, 9, is holding me. I was four months old. Notice the sailor-type shirt Harlan is wearing, as well as his short pants. They still dressed small boys in short pants in 1941. It’s one of the few pictures where Harlan is smiling in spite of the fact that he isn’t looking at the camera. He rarely did in early photos of him. I like to think, however, that he was more interested in me than in the camera. We called my big brother, Teddy, then, as he was a Junior and it was easier to identify him that way. True to form, my mother probably took this picture as it is located beside the famous “electric meter” on the house at Mcloud Street.
What was happening in the world on March 5, 1941? A look at the New York Times for that day reveals some interesting facts that don’t bode well for America and her allies. It was a case of who we wanted to believe I think. It seems that our enemies lied a lot. It’s a shame we didn’t see them as threats sooner.
A case in point is the story of five of Hitler’s emissaries going to Turkey to pressure them into ending the war with Italy. They asked Turkey to aid Italy and Greece to make peace. (I apologize for the spelling of these foreign names. The newspaper I read was blurred in places.) A message from the Reichsfuahrer said the Nazis “wanted to look after Turkey’s 'interest and well-being.’”
Well we know how well that went don’t we. Please see the separate blog on Hitler’s Directive on March 5, 1941. It won’t look like someone wanting to make peace to you. It sure didn’t to me.
Meanwhile, Winston Churchill was in conference with Japanese ambassador, Mamoru Shigenmitaru, who said “Japan does not threaten Britain’s interests in the Far East and does not want the Europe war spread there.” Well Churchill took that statement with a grain of salt and it’s well he did. Another liar--on the Japanese side.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but not really very helpful. America was still naïve. We had never had a foreign war on our own soil. The possible imminence of such a thing happening was very real to us after December 7 in Pearl Harbor.
In that same newspaper we see that Germany continues to march into Bulgaria. The Nazis also attacked Cardiff by air in Great Britain and in return the R.A.F. bombed Cologne, including German bases.
On the homefront, a story in that New York Times relates the story of several clergymen who opposed the Lend-Lease Bill. This bill was enacted on March 11, 1941. The bill allowed America to provide the Allied nations with war material while the U.S. was still officially a neutral country. The clergymen opposed it, calling the proposed bill “a piece of machinery of Fascist character which is novel in the history of our nation.” So it seems some of us didn’t even trust our own government at that time.
I also came across a small story on an inside page about several scientists, some from Harvard, who were traveling to Great Britain to collect information on new weapons being developed by Britain. Does that sound like we are a neutral country to you and was this information ever used to develop the A-bomb, which finally ended the war? We’ll probably never know the answer to that question.
Believe it or not, amongst all this news of wars and useless conferences, there appears a quarter page ad for Silver Fox coats at a store on Fifth Avenue. They did have to sell their papers after all.
So what did all this mean to those of us who lived on the East Coast, closest to Europe and especially to Germany and their U-Boats? I reread some of Paul Merriam’s chapter on the “First Years” of the war in Home Front on Penobscot Bay, Rockland During the War Years, 1940-1945. (See the blog on the review of that book.)
Here’s some of what that chapter had to say.
We had men from Rockland in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. We were all concerned for their safety. After December 7, we intensified patrols of our coastline, especially off Snow’s Shipyard in the South End, Snow’s was very involved in government contracts during the war.
Citizens were also urged to become involved in Civil Defense efforts. Fishermen were asked to be on the lookout for strange craft when they were out on the water. Several trawlers belonging to O’Hara’s were confiscated by the government and outfitted as coastal patrol boats.
We began to see restrictions in our daily lives during the early years of the war. The first one was tires. Others soon followed, including restrictions on long-distance phone calls, to keep the lines free for government use.
Women went to work to fill in for the men who were overseas. This was the very beginning of the use of women in the workforce. Women proved time and again that they could do most any job as well as a man.
My mother didn’t work outside the home at that time. My father worked at Bath Iron Works working on our ships that had to be readied for use in the war.
On March 5, 1942, rules and regulations were imposed on blackouts at night time. We coastal people were always on alert for the dreaded U-Boats. Some believe they actually snuck close to our harbors.
In July of 1941 when this picture was taken, the war seems far away doesn’t it. I feel safe sitting in my brother’s arms and all is right with the world as far as I know. I’ve learned a lot in my 70 years since then. Hopefully, some day the U.S. and the world won’t have any more reasons to go to war.
Thanks for listening.
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