outs and dim-outs. German U-boats marauding and a crime wave, and apply equal justice. W IlMINgtoN at War offshore spilled debris from sunken Allied ships Citizens became volunteer airplane spotters, Southeastern North Carolina was a mighty on favorite bathing beaches. Until 1944, the Inland Waterway boat patrollers, air raid war- contributor to the U.S. war effort in World War orld ar threat remained of German attack by sea and air. dens and auxiliary police and firemen. Women W W II II. Wilmington was called “The Defense Capital The community coped with a dire housing short- excelled in the Aircraft Warning Service, war of the State” and became the country’s unique age, and strains on schools, transportation, med- wartime boomtown. The once-quiet city, geo- bond and scrap drives, and as Red Cross nurse's ical and social services, law enforcement, food aides. All of this was undertaken into 1944 graphically isolated for decades, suddenly found supply, security and entertainment. Families erItage through continuing low-light dim-outs and beach H itself an exploding center of military life and World War II Heritage Guide Map rented rooms to soldiers and war workers, and blackouts. defense production. historic houses were cut up into apartments. Each branch of the armed forces stationed Racially segregated entertainment and social of and The population more than doubled with the life proceeded, despite rationing of gasoline, Wilmington thousands in the area ---- the Army Air Forces at influx of military personnel, war workers and uIde ap tires, sugar, coffee, and whiskey. Front Street, Southeastern North Carolina g M the airport, the Army at Camp Davis and Fort their families. Government ration allocations of beaches, and USO clubs teemed with uniforms. Produced in 2008 by the: Fisher, the Navy at Fort Caswell, the Coast scarce commodities were based, erroneously, on Prostitution flourished. Romance boomed. World War II Wilmington Home Front Heritage Coalition of Wilmington and Guard at Wrightsville Beach, the Marine Corps pre-war population. Untold numbers of tran- Everyone of an age fell in love, if only for a PO Box 425, Wilmington, NC 28402 910-793-6393 at Camp Lejeune. German prisoners of war were sients and a weekend onslaught of servicemen [email protected] held here, working in industries and on farms. moment, and multitudes of local girls became Southeastern North Carolina from nearby bases flooded downtown establish- Printing and distribution of the 2008 Edition are provided courtesy The shipyard produced 243 cargo vessels; the engaged to or married the visitors. For many ments and the beaches. Wilmingtonians had to of the City of Wilmington, which is very proud of its cultural heritage port shipped and received war materials; and teenage girls and young women, the war was the mix with and tolerate diverse newcomers who and strives to promote, preserve and protect it. defense industries produced at capacity. The area expanded their horizons, at least temporarily. most exciting time of their life. dispatched thousands of its sons and daughters to The community struggled with frequently At war’s end, the area returned, for a time, to Guided tours available: [email protected]; 910-793-6393 fight the enemy. One hundred and ninety-one changing edicts from Washington and Raleigh, its small-town seclusiveness. But wartime Donors for first and second printings in 2005 and 2006: boys from New Hanover County did not return. and pressures to serve the war effort, manage changes planted the seeds for Southeastern Doris G. Ayers; John S. Clark Co.; Cooperative Bank; The area endured constant civilian defense huge construction projects, handle civic stress North Carolina’s spectacular growth in the late Cotton Exchange; GE Energy Nuclear; Holiday Inn restrictions and air raid drills, including black- and the racial chasm, combat the black market 20th and early 21st Centuries. Sunspree Resort; ILM Wilmington International Airport; Intracoastal Realty Corp.; Landfall Park 43 Hampton Inn & Suites; Russ May, Seacoast Realty. coaSTAL REGIoN to Richlands Also: New Hanover County Hotel-Motel Assn.; North 258 17 Carolina Division of Tourism, Film and Sports 42 Jacksonville Development; Julie Rehder; RSM McGladrey, Inc.; 53 Montford Amphibious land- Point Wilmington Rotary Club; Wilmington Senior Men’s New 41 40 River Club; Wilmington Star-News; World War II Remembered ings were the Marine Main Hubert Air Gate 24 Group. Corps’ specialty. At Station Camp Lejeune, the Project Management: Tours by Degrees. Marines’ chief East Camp 172 Special Thanks: Dr. Everard Smith; Community Arts Center Accord. Verona Lejeune Coast amphibious Layout & design: X training base, infan- John Meyer, Cape trymen stormed Fear Wedding & ashore on Onslow 17 Highway 172 through Cape Fear Images, Inc. Camp Lejeune closed Beach in dress New River to non-military traffic except by permit rehearsals for the real Dixon tHe HoMe FroNt: X thing in the Pacific. 172 KeY: 50 $ 210 HA = handicapped accessible. SI dH pbuIl INg R = restroom availble (under admission conditions.) $ AnI tI-a rcraFt traININg 172 Sneads Ferry EXT = view exterior only. $ M = historical marker only. SubrN Ma I e HuNtINg Camp 11 53 Davis Resource = a facility with more information than just the site. $ F I IgHter p lot traININg St. Helena 44 45 47 39 * = indicates sites described elsewhere in the brochure. 210 to Penderlea, Burgaw and Warsaw Holly Ridge $ u So eNtertaINMeNt B If the current site name differs from the historic name, the latter is in lack 117 $ POc W aMpS 53 Riv Currie 50 parentheses. er North Topsail Beach Moore's 210 Days and hours of operation shown are subject to change. Admission Creek 408 210 National Rocky Point is free unless otherwise noted. 210 Battlefield 210 World War II Wilmington 40 Area codes are 910 unless otherwise noted. 11 Northeast 17 Home Front Heritage Coalition Cape Fear 210 Surf City prINcIpal SourceS: 133 421 River 46 Wilbur D. Jones, Jr., A Sentimental Journey: Memoirs of a Wartime er Boomtown, 2003 and The Journey Continues: The World War II Home Riv 50 ar Topsail Beach Cape F e Hampstead Front, 2005. Castle Hayne 414 87 MapS: Riegelwood Scotts Acme Outer Loop Freeway Hill John Meyer, © 2005-08, Cape Fear Images, Inc. Used by permission. Delco 133 17 Poplar Grove Intracoastal Waterway 140 117 Plantation 140 Lea Island Hutaff Island Wilmington 420 Ogden Intl. 17 Airport 117 Figure Eight Island 74 76 Navassa 132 40 Early trials of the Battleship bruNSWIcK couNtY bazooka, a shoul- 87 Leland 74 EaglesIs. Wilmington SoutHport aNd oaK ISlaNd der-mounted anti- 36 Fort Caswell, 100 Caswell Beach Rd, Caswell Beach; not accessible tank rocket launch- 76 Wrightsville Beach 17 in summer months; call 278-9501 for admission; EXT er, were conducted 132 www.fortcaswell.com/history.htm at Fort Fisher. The Parts of original brick fortification constructed between 1826 and 1836 bazooka was an 421 overlook mouth of Cape Fear River. Extensive late 19th-century concrete important weapon Monkey Masonboro Island fortifications, residences, barracks, and mess halls also remain. Fort for U.S. troops. Junction Caswell was manned in Mexican, Civil, Spanish-American and First World wars. Navy established Submarine Tracking Station and Naval Inshore 133 Patrol base in January 1942. NC Baptist Assembly owns property as a 17 religious retreat and conference center. Negro soldiers from Camp Davis take a recreation break on 37 SS John D. Gill Memorial, a stone monument, Riverfront Park. 87 the beach at Topsail Island. Segregation kept them off most pub- On March 12, 1942, the tanker John D. Gill was traveling from Texas to Brunswick lic beaches in North Carolina. Philadelphia loaded with crude oil. A German submarine torpedoed her 25 Community in 1943. The War Department bought and leased over 46,000 acres, includ- College Sunny African-American sites in this guide map are identified as miles off Cape Fear. The explosion and fire were visible along the coast. Supply Point Carolina Beach ing then-uninhabited Topsail Island, now a popular Pender County beach Military “Negro,” the term used during World War II. The Coast Guard brought some survivors and bodies of many of the dead Ocean CAPE 421 to Southport. Dosher Hospital treated burned crewmembers. Sixteen bod- resort. Negro troops occupied Camp Gibbins. *Prisoner of war camp was Terminal FEAR here. Camp Davis was a center for barrage balloon training and provided 211 RIVER Kure Beach 44 Pender County Museum, 200 W. Bridges St; Th-Sat, 1-4 pm; other ies were laid out on the waterfront and 15 were sent home for burial. One State Historic Site antiaircraft gunnery training and seacoast defense. Female WASP pilots Fort Fisher times by reservation, 259-8543 or 283-7844; HA; R; Resource. victim, a Filipino mess boy named Catalino Tingzon, could not be sent NC Aquarium towed targets over ocean. The Navy used Camp Davis briefly after the war Varnamtown home because the Japanese occupied the Philippines. He was buried in ferry as a missile research site. Some evidence of camp remains, including for- 133 Northwood Cemetery in Southport. peNderlea mer Camp Davis Restaurant. Marine Corps has incorporated a portion of 130 38 North Carolina Maritime Museum, 116 North Howe Street; 457- 38 45 Potts Memorial Presbyterian Church, NC 11. 37 0003; T-Sat: 9 am-5 pm; fee; children 15 & under free; HA; R; Resource. the Camp Davis site into nearby *Camp Lejeune. ferry Southport A memorial in Southport hon- Originally a *Camp Davis chapel; moved to Penderlea after the war. Oak 36 Fort Caswell ors merchant seamen killed when Twin to *Lake Forest Baptist Church building in Wilmington. www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/maritime/branches/southport_default.htm JacKSoNVIlle Holden Memorabilia pertaining to nautical history of Lower Cape Fear area and Beach Island Caswell oil tanker ‘John D.