1942 Battle of Los Angeles Radio Broadcast (You Tube)

This is an invaluable historical reference, the original radio coverage of the Battle of Los Angeles. (The clip itself only displays the one image.) I've broken up the broadcast into paragraphs below. Two of them are marked with *** and they refer to the Japanese submarine attack on Santa Barbara. The paragraph after that actually goes with the ones before the other two, talking about the object over Los Angeles. (It's a tad confusing the way the report actually is written at that point about what is being referred to.)

'The news of the world, Wednesday February 25th.'

'And now for news of our own west coast, we take you to Los Angeles and the report of Byron Palmer. '

'Anti-aircraft guns went into action against unidentified aircraft in the Los Angeles area shortly after 3 A.M. Pacific war time this morning. The anti-aircraft guns began barking during a blackout, ordered by the 4th Interceptor Command at 2:25 A.M. The unidentified object, which some sources thought might be a blimp, moved slowly down the Pacific coast from Santa Monica and this appeared south of Long Beach.'

'Army officials declined to comment on the possibility that the object might have been a blimp. However, it required thirty minutes to travel some twenty-five miles, far slower than an airplane. Watchers on the rooftop of the Columbia Broadcasting building in the heart of Hollywood could plainly see the flashes of guns and searchlights sweeping the skies in a wide arc along the coastal area.'

'Concussion of the shells could be felt in downtown Los Angeles, fifteen miles away. U.S. Army planes quickly took to the dark skies but whether they contacted the object has not been announced. Army officials say they will not comment until they receive a full report of the action.'

'Although some watchers say they saw airplanes in the air, semi-officials say they were probably the U.S. Army's pursuit. Several observers say they saw one or more planes spotlighted by twenty or thirty searchlights. The object moved southward, presumably over Huntington park at the western edge of Los Angeles and on southward to about Long Beach on the coast.'

***

'The shooting brought warfare to the front door of this city of a million and a quarter population for the first time since December 7th. Already it was alert to the presence of the southern California coast of a Japanese submarine which had pumped 25 shells into an oil field north of Santa Barbara Monday evening.'

'Because of the presence of the submarine a three-hour alert was ordered at dusk last night and civilian authorities stood at their post while the Army and Navy continued their search for the submersible. The evening alert ended at 10:23 P.M., but another was sounded at 2:22 A.M. and the blackout followed within three minutes. It covered Los Angeles county from Santa Monica to Pomona. At 2:27, all southern California radio stations were ordered off the air except those in San Diego.'

***

'Approximately twenty minutes after the firing died down the ship returned and headed westward from Long Beach towards Santa Monica. The guns went into action again hurling round after round of shells at the object. The second barrage appeared to be closer to downtown Los Angeles since watchers could hear the concussion of the guns more clearly and the flash of bursting shells was brighter. Then the ship disappeared for the second time over the ocean.'

'We return you now to CBS in New York.'

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