Feb 25^th, 1942 – a day that will live in infamy… sort of… not really. 

On the morning of February 25th, 1942, this beautiful southern California coastline was the epicenter of the War in the Pacific… at least in the paranoid minds of Los Angelenos wracked with nerves over an imminent Japanese invasion. 

After Pearl Harbor on December 7^th, 1941, Americans were on high alert – vigilantly preparing to defend against a Japanese attack on the mainland.  On February 23^rd, a Japanese submarine surfaced off the coast of Santa Barbara and launched several artillery shells at an oil refinery. There was minimal damage, but naval intelligence warned SoCal to be prepared for a pending Japanese attack. Imagine driving up the coast of Malibu and scanning the ocean for approaching Japanese warships… Plenty of citizens and military personnel were doing just that in late February of 1942.

Safe to say, Los Angeleno’s didn’t get a lot of sleep on the night of February 24^th.  Just after midnight, military radar picked up enemy contacts about 120 miles west of the city. Air Raid sirens blared. The city was put into a mandatory blackout. Searchlights swept the sky for approaching enemy aircraft. LA was going to war! 

A few hours later, Santa Monica anti-aircraft batteries began firing .50 caliber guns at unidentified air contacts. Other city defenses joined the fight. Wild reports began flowing in of approaching Japanese bombers flying in formation…a Japanese fighter crashing onto the streets of Hollywood…bombs falling from the sky.  Chaos ensued. 

‘Hostilities’ lasted a little over an hour. By the time dawn finally lifted over the California coast, the U.S. military has expended over 1400 rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition. Daylight revealed that the only damage to the city was minor – a few shattered windows, some slightly damaged homes, and a dud artillery shell tearing up the Long Beach Golf Course.  

But…there were no enemy planes. No Japanese warships.  The damage was all from friendly fire. Itchy trigger fingers and nervous G.I.’s attacked a non-existent enemy.  

A resultant investigation into the actions that precipitated the Great Battle of Los Angeles revealed that the initial radar contacts were actually bugs in the brand-new radar systems. Additionally, those unidentified air contacts?  They were actually the military’s own weather balloons that were launched around midnight to report wind conditions to aid the anti-artillery. We were shooting at our own weather balloons.  It was a make believe war… only in Hollywood!  

If you’re a fanatic about this great moment in American history – you can attend the Fort Arthur Museum’s annual event commemorating ‘The Great LA Air Raid’ of 1942.