Creative Relief Efforts in World War II

 “Bundles for Britain” and the clever and organized World War II fundraising effort by music students at Benton High School, who ran a Christmas carol singalong with a bundle of warm clothing for Brits during Christmas 1941 as the price of admission, was featured in a recent column. Creativity was the name of the game in many wartime fundraising and relief efforts, and there’s more to highlight. Musicians played their part. So did pet lovers, or even the military, using exhibitions of Wartime “trophy” exhibits.

“Barkers for Britain” used the popularity of Falla, President Roosevelt’s Scottish terrier, to raise money for the Bundles for Britain program to help the Brits make it through an exceptionally cold and under-supplied winter. Dog owners sent in 50 cents and got a Fala-approved tag for their dog’s collar. Not to be outdone by the dogs, my personal favorite, “Kittens for Britain” with spokes cat General Gray, pet of the Director of the United States Office of War Information, Elmer Davis, inspired the same effort. Cat owners could send in their 50 cents and get a bell tag for their pets’ collars.

A yellow Persian cat, Bouncey, from Cheneyville, La. was appointed an honorary recruiter in Central Louisiana for the Kittens for Britain club after “writing” a letter that appeared in The Bunkie Record on December 12, 1941, saying that she was tired of just being beautiful and wanted a purpose in life. The “Secretary” of Kittens for Britain, Scoopy, responded in the paper with both congratulations and admonishment: “I am so glad that you have decided not to be just a beautiful, bored darling any longer but instead to join our organization and purr with a purpose. I have always heard that blondes are go-getters, so get busy right now and round up some more members.”

Also, to raise awareness of and money for Bundles for Britian, a captured Nazi Messerschmitt 109 fighter plane traveled by truck and trailers to be on display at the Louisiana State Fairgrounds. Upon arrival, seven Noncommissioned technical staff officers from Barksdale Airfield assembled it under the supervision of an engineer lieutenant. It had a prominent spot in a tent on the main street of the fair, diagonally opposite from the grandstand. As announced in the Shreveport Journal that day, already by noon of its arrival on Monday, October 20, 1941, an estimated 850 children had paid to go through the tent to see the plane.

In 1943, when the US itself was at war, Bundles for Britain spun off Bundles for Blue Jackets to aid sailors on both American and British war ships. The U.S. also had its own fundraising with war bond sales. Like the Nazi fighter plane, a captured “war trophy” was used to lure visitors and donors. The March 1st 1943, Shreveport Journal wrote that war bond sales were promoted with a display of a captured Japanese submarine at downtown Shreveport’s courthouse.

Visitors in long queues waited on both sides of Texas Street to view the submarine if they bought one dollar worth of stamps. They could look through portholes “cut by the Navy and covered with plexiglass,” and see, “A Japanese officer in full regalia set at his post in control of two torpedoes.” The exhibit scared children and adults alike, since the wax figures looked so lifelike. Fear is clearly intended; the models had features as stereotyped as war propaganda posters, which distorted and dehumanized the enemy. One of the wax figures was a “crew man with buck teeth and sinister smirk (who) sat aft where the demolition charge was stored.” Adding to the stimulating atmosphere, over a loudspeaker the suicide mission of the sub and its officers was explained to visitors. This particular sub was grounded, sighted by the coastal patrol and brought ashore by the US Navy with assistance of the Army , and the officer was later captured on Oahu Island. Local high school bands also played all day during the exhibition, and the Barksdale band was scheduled to play in the evening.

If you like learning about World War II, don’t forget to attend World War Tuesdays on the second Tuesday of the month from 10:30 – noon at the History Center. Next month’s meeting is on January 9th. The History Center is located at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• Fala (FDR’s popular Scottish terrier) Photographing the Photographers at the White House, Washington, DC, April 7, 1942.  Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Photographs, , U.S. National Archives
• Fala’s Barkers for Britain tag, U.S. National Archives
• State Fair advertisement in The Crowley Post-Signal, Crowley, Louisiana · Wednesday, October 22, 1941

Article by: Pam Carlisle

Operation Skywatch

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Army Air Forces organized the Ground Observer Corps (GOC), a civil defense program to protect the U.S. territory against air attacks. There were dangerous unavoidable limitations in the radar system during that time as it was largely ineffective for the area below 5,000 feet, known as the “dangerous mile.” During the Second World War, the GOC filter centers and observation posts were only in northern and coastal states.

Volunteer observers received intensive training on identifying enemy planes and properly reporting their observations to their assigned filter center, where plotters would mark the aircraft on a filter board – a large-scale map of the area. Overlooking the filter boards were tellers with direct communication with an Air Force Ground Control Interceptor base to report the observation. If an unauthorized aircraft was spotted, the Ground Control Interceptor base would put pursuit planes into the air to meet any enemy attacks.

The GOC was dissolved at the end of WWII but was reorganized during the Cold War in early 1950, about six months after the Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear bomb in 1949. First, they revived old GOC filter centers and observation posts in the northern and coastal sta
tes. By 1952, the GOC response was so strong that Operation Skywatch was initiated to integrate the program into the Air Defense system 24 hours a day.

The Air Force warned that Russia might launch an attack via the Gulf of Mexico and called the south “the soft underbelly of the United States.” Plans to expand Operation Skywatch to all 48 states began, and by the fall of 1954, plans to open GOC filter centers in New Orleans and Shreveport was underway. The Air Defense Command leased the building at 531 East Kings Highway to house the Shreveport Air Filter Center. The center’s open house and dedication took place on Dec. 7, 1955, the same day that Mayor Gardner, Shreveport, and Mayor Burgess E. McCranie, Bossier City, proclaimed as Ground Observer Corps day.

The Shreveport Filter Center was considered the second largest of the 73 filter centers throughout the United States. It maintained an area of responsibility of 160,000 square miles in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. There were 585 observation posts with approximately 7,000 civilian volunteers that reported to the Shreveport Filter Center. During its operation, the Shreveport Filter Center was highly praised and ranked as one of the most efficient in the Air Defense Command.

Volunteer opportunities were open to anyone sixteen or older, though historical records reveal that children as young as seven participated. Approximately 75 percent of the volunteers in the GOC were housewives. Many Bossier Parish residents in each community volunteered. In Benton, Mrs. Ford E. Stinson served as post supervisor, Mrs. D.E. Cummings was the chief observer, and Mrs. A.N. Knotts assisted in recruiting volunteers. Mrs. Vara Farrington was the chief observer for the Carterville area. In Plain Dealing, Leon Sanders was the post supervisor assisted by Mrs. Aus Barr and Mrs. Ardis Manry.

At the end of 1958, the announcement came that the Ground Observer Corps would disband on Jan. 31, 1959. Col. John T. Fitzwater, commander of the 33rd Air Division, told GOC members at a local awards banquet, “Deactivation of the Ground Observer Corps is not the end, but marks the beginning of a new national defense network. With emphasis on speed, machines can now process data faster and more efficiently that [sic] it can be done manually.”

The GOC disbanded because of a new network of air defense radar stations known as the Distant Early Warning Line or Dew line controlled by the new Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) computer system. The new radar system could detect an enemy air strike force before it ever reached the nation’s continental limits. Every volunteer who earned their GOC wings was presented with a wallet ID card and a certificate from the USAF recognizing them as an honorary life member of the Air Defense Team for voluntary and faithful service in the Ground Observer Corps.

Certificate issued to Mrs. Alford Farrington.
Bossier Parish Library Collection: 2019.021.026

By: Amy Robertson

The Community Canning House: A Relief Enterprise

The history of preserving food through canning dates back to the French Revolution in the late 18th century. The armies suffered from limited food availability, limiting military campaigns to the summer and autumn months. In 1795, the need for a steady supply of quality food for the French army and navy led the French government to offer a reward of 12,000 francs to anyone who could develop a reliable method of food preservation.

Nicholas Appert, a Frenchman from Champagne's region who worked as a chef for French nobility, set his sights on the prize. He committed himself to study food preservation, and his experimentations led to the successful preservation of food in hermetically sealed containers sterilized by heat. His experiments began with "champagne bottles, sealed airtight with an oddly effective mixture of cheese and lime."

He then progressed to wide-necked glass containers that he had made especially for food preservation. "In 1803 his preserved foods (which came to include vegetables, fruit, meat, dairy and fish) were sent out for sea trials with the French navy." By 1809, Appert was declared the official winner; the French government gave him the award but stipulated that he publish his method. His book, The Art of Preserving, for Several Years, all Animal and Vegetable Substances, was published the following year.

That same year the use of tin for canning was introduced by an English businessman, Peter Durand, who patented the use of tin-coated iron cans instead of bottles. Another fifty-years passed before Louis Pasteur was able to explain why Appert's method was effective. That the heat killed microorganisms in the food, and the sealing kept other microorganisms from getting in. The idea to can sodas didn't happen until 1940, which is interesting considering the first soda machine was patented in 1819.

The availability of canned food has played a critical role in man's survival during non-harvest seasons, times of war, and economic recessions. During the great depression of the early 1930s, canning houses sprang up in communities across Bossier Parish, providing residents with access to canning equipment for home-growers to preserve their backyard harvest. During the Second World War, food rationing revived community canneries as people grew victory gardens to meet their nutritional needs.

Lettie VanLandingham performing one of her
many canning demonstration in Bossier Parish
Gay England Collection: 2013.041.038

Community canning houses were both educational as well as a relief enterprise. Home Demonstration Agents, like Lettie VanLandingham, spent countless hours giving canning demonstrations throughout Bossier Parish. Under her supervision, some 23 canning centers were built and operated throughout the parish as the Bossier Parish Demonstration Agent from 1929-1960.

Many of the canning houses were located within the agricultural department of schools or in a canning house built on school grounds. This allowed girls in 4-H to learn the art of canning. These 4-H'ers formed canning clubs and helped address food shortages in the community.

Canning prevents food waste, saves money, is earth-friendly, and provides healthful nutrition. In 1987, the Canned Food Information Council designated February as National Canned Food Month to break down misconceptions that canned food is less nutritious than fresh food.

By: Amy Robertson