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WW II towers

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aeronca65t

aeronca65t

Great Pumpkin
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We were in Rehoboth Beach a few weeks ago and I was just looking though my snaps.

We saw several of these WW II "lookout" towers (below) while driving down Highway 1 to Ocean City, MD.
A local history site says of this tower:

"UNITED STATES COAST GUARD TOWER #3. Erected in 1934-35 to aid the coast guard in their lifesaving services as well as a sentinel for German U-boats during WW II. It is the oldest observation tower still standing on Maryland's seashore."

There are other, similar towers along the eastern US coast.
These were part of the 1940s Homeland Defense system.
Coincidentally, so was my Aeronca. It flew coastal patrols in the Maryland area in the early '40s.
German subs were not uncommon. There is a documented case of a German officer getting off of a Nazi sub in WW II and rowing a small dingy up to Atlantic City, New Jersey. He even made his way to NY and eventually back to the sub.
Today, he would never have made it to NY.....he would have lost his shirt at the slot machines in AC. :jester:

tower.jpg


We also saw this "gate guard" while we were drivng to Ocean City MD. We have a similar, but flyable Huey at out local airport.

huey.jpg
 
I think that there was a group of Germans dropped off the NJ shore that were to sabotage some cities, but they were quickly caught and the plan failed. I think that some of them stayed in the US after WWII.
 
...and the South Jersey "Pine Barrens" had a WW II POW camp.

Many of the POWs from that camp elected to stay in the US after the war.
During the war, many of them worked in the cranberry bogs in the Pine Barrens.

There is some good info ~HERE~ about it.
 
Next time go north to Cape Henlopen. There are (depending on shifting sand) several gun mount platforms, and a tower that you could go up in. I always wanted to have one as a house. When I was a kid there was an old guy in Lewes that had a convenience store. In the window he had newspaper cuttings about sub attacks on shipping, and 1 sub sunk off of the Delaware capes. He saw the action as a kid and had some great stories. Thanks for the phots, really brings back memories for me.
 
aeronca65t,

I did some of my growing up in Neptune Beach, FL. There used to watch posts along the dunes north and south of Neptune Beach and further south as well. Not towers like yours, but covered platforms on stilts for sub watches. Blackouts along the FL coast were the order of the day. German subs sank shipping exiting the St.Johns river. People told stories of watching ships being attacked and sunk within sight of the beach. A playmates mother was instrumental in capturing a small group of Germans that came ashore in Neptune Beach. They had come to her door to ask directions. Being suspicious, she called the law and they were soon captured. In those days, everyone was watchful.

I can remember in the early '50's, after strong storms the beach would have lumps of oil, shaken from some of the sunken shipping, marking the high tide line.
 
I know it's not the greatest movie, but "1942" with Belushi and Akroyd is about this very subject.... :smile:
 
All along the coast of California, you can still find evidence of the coastal defense systems and auxiliary airfields, some of which are still in use, like the air field at Half Moon bay.

While 1942 was a great movie, here is a bit of local history and hysterics. A brave and sad time for our community.

https://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/150/
 
here in our little burg of Horseheads we have a testament to the national mobility of WWII. within walking distance of my house is the remnants of a WWII supply staging area. Commonly called "the holding point" it is a couple square miles of warehouses all connected by railroad lines. It was the place that supplies from all over the east coast came before being sent to the Navy yards in NY. Now, the tracks are mostly gone, the warehouses all still stand, having been used over the years for all kinds of things. company storehouses, discount stores, shops, there's a cement company over there now, and the natural gas drilling companies are using it to stage all thier supplies and equipment. It was also used as a detention center for POWs during the war. not very many, but there were German soldiers held there. and it was known that our town was a primary bombing target if the axis powers had ever managed to get that far.
I ought to get some pictures before it's all gone.
All facinating stuff. I love history.
 
We had a similar facility here, but for ammunition and bombs, mostly. Got the same use after the military moved out. In the '60's, couple of friends rented one of the smaller buildings, turned the office areas into apartments, and moved their hobbies into the remaining warehouse area. LBC's (AH 100, Jag 150), dirt bikes, and a home built airplane.

Those were the days, my friends....

But they did.
 
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