SPYING AND SECURITY THE OFFICE OF CIVILIAN DEFENSE The U S Office of Civilian Defense OCD was set up in May 1941 The committee set up air-raid precautions such as blackouts in fact only a handful of bombs ever fell on U S soil they were dropped by a Japanese seaplane in rural Oregon in 1942 The OCD ran the Civil Defense Corps which trained about 10 million volunteers in firefighting first aid and other duties Volunteer pilots of the Civil Air Patrol made look-out flights on the coasts 66 National Security During wartime life on the home front was shaped by the need to preserve national security from civil defense measures to the censorship of correspondence National security was a broad term On the one hand it included what is called civil defense a term that describes all nonmilitary actions taken during wartime to protect civilians and property from the effects of enemy action such as for example air raid precautions see page 16 On the other hand national security was a broader term that referred to anything that helped maintain the well-being of the nation from keeping an eye on foreign citizens to ensuring that the media did not report any information that might be useful to the enemy The president’s wife Eleanor Roosevelt who helped establish the U S Office of Civilian Defense and acted as its chairwoman argued that national defense depended on better housing better day-by-day medical care better education better nutrition for every age ELEANOR ROOSEVELT In February 1942 the First Lady resigned from the Office of Civilian Defense Although she believed the OCD was essential she thought her involvement subjected it to political attacks by enemies of her husband the president OCD chairwoman Eleanor Roosevelt Y encouraged community programs in order to help maintain public health and social welfare
NATIONAL SECURITY spot at sight chart no 1 enemy uniforms german parachutist german soldier This poster was intended to help British civilians identify the enemy in the event of a German invasion 7
SPYING AND SECURITY Civilian Life Ordinary people found their lives dominated by concerns related to national security Most countries made citizens register and carry identity cards at all times to make it easier to detect enemy This is the people’s war It is our war We are the fighters MRS MINIVER FILM 1942 8 agents Propaganda was everywhere There was an emphasis on good health and good nutrition the more sickness there was at home the more medicines doctors and nurses would have to be diverted from looking after front-line fighting forces The American Office of Civilian Defense recruited female volunteers to provide day-care services so that women could go out to work There were frequent blackouts and curfews which meant that people could not go outside their homes at night unless they were on official duty Even in the United States blackouts were applied on the east and Gulf coasts It was feared that lights on shore would illuminate coastal shipping and make it an easier target for U-boats lurking just out to sea Enemy Aliens All sides viewed enemy civilians aliens with suspicion These were non-combatants mainly women and children from enemy nations who happened to be in a country when hostilities began or who were captured during an advance The rapid Japanese advance through East Asia in December 1941 for example left around 12,500 Allied civilians as prisoners mostly in China and Hong Kong They were herded into internment camps where they were often subjected to harsh discipline overcrowded conditions and poor This American poster stresses the need for citizens to have their fingerprints taken for purposes of identification The war saw unprecedented levels of government monitoring of the population on all sides
NATIONAL SECURITY supplies of food In the United States meanwhile a concern for security after the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 created an atmosphere of suspicion about Japanese Americans Japanese had lived on the West Coast since about 1885 and there was a long tradition of white Americans distrusting the Japanese Japanese Americans About 110,000 Japanese Americans lived on the West Coast It was feared that they might pass secrets on to the Japanese forces or help an enemy invasion through sabotage In February 1942 President Franklin D Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 which ordered that all Japanese Americans should be removed This OCD poster calls for volunteers to help with a decontamination program run to improve public health by preventing sickness 9 ZOOT SUIT RIOTS Racial tension spilled over in Los Angeles in June 1943 Local Mexican youths had adopted a fashion for zoot suits with a long jacket and very baggy trousers When it was reported that the zoot suiters had beaten up servicemen white sailors from a nearby naval base rioted They beat up anyone wearing zoot suits and stripped off their clothes It took the police a few days to bring the situation under control Holding clubs sailors and other Y servicemen look for Mexican youths in Los Angeles in June 1943
