HEART OF THE VALLEY
HISTORY FROM SHIRLEY CONTRERAS A SPECIAL SECTION OF THE SANTA MARIA TIMES • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2018
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE SANTA MARIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
P-38 fighters fly over the Santa Maria Valley during World War II.
When the P-38 Lightning flew above Santa Maria
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alifornia bore witness to some of the most traumatic stateside events that happened after Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec. 7, 1941. The state was racked from north to south with nearpanic conditions as tens of thousands of its citizens expected similar attacks anytime. True or not, fear took hold resulting in coastal cities being blacked out. Radio stations went SHIRLEY CONTRERAS off the air, commercial airliners were grounded and ships were ordered to stay in port. These, and many other measures, were seen to be absolutely necessary by the U.S. Army commanders because at the time of the Pearl Harbor invasion, the Army Air Force in California consisted of only 16 modern fighter planes available to defend the entire state. In December of 1941, the U.S. States found itself fighting a war on two continents. Strategic planning was not only necessary, but had to be made fast. In early 1942, the Army Corps of Engineers, which planned to open an airfield to provide training for B-25 bomber pilots, purchased 160 acres land in Santa Maria from the Toy family at $79 per acre. By the time building began, the Army had acquired about 3,600 acres, located about 4 miles southwest of the city. Because of its strategic location, the property was considered to be ideal for the training of bombardment groups prior to overseas duty. With Col. Robin A. Day in command, the Santa Maria Army Air Field was officially activated upon direct orders from Washington
Historical snapshots The editors at the Santa Maria Times have put together this special section looking at some of the Santa Maria Valley's historical highlights. We hope you enjoy this selection of columns from historian Shirley Contreras.
After bombers were determined to be too heavy for runways, the Army Airfield became the final training site for P38 Lightning fighter groups on Sept. 16, 1943. on May 2, 1942, just short of five months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was said to have been one of the largest World War II bases on the West Coast. The Santa Maria Air Field was placed under the command of the Fourth Air Force, which had been activated on December 18, 1940, as one of the four original preWorld War II numbered air forces with a mission of air defense of the southwestern U.S. and lower Midwest regions. After World War II began, its primary mission became the organization and training of combat units prior to their deployment to overseas combat air forces.
Original plans for the air base were to train B-25 bomber pilots for the war effort, but those plans were scrapped in December of 1942 when it was discovered that the runways and taxi strips were not strong enough to support the massive weight of the heavy bombers. Instead, the new air base was used for the training of service groups to support the Army Air force activities overseas with little emphasis on flying. When it became apparent that the field was being wasted as an air service command, and aircraft maintenance instruction was the only aircraft-specific program underway, the field was trans-
ferred to the Fourth Air Force in September of 1943. Thirteen enlisted men completed the military aspect of running the base, and the 45 civil service employees included five stenographers, with the remaining 40 being used for the base’s repair and maintenance needs. Along with the Fourth Air Force came the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, appropriately named by the Germans as “the forked-tailed devil,” and by the Japanese as “two planes with one pilot.” Had it not been for the arrival of the P-38 Lighting, one of the premier aircraft of World War II, the Santa Maria Air Field would prob-
ably have had a lackluster history. The P-38, a World War II-era American piston-engine fighter aircraft developed by Lockheed for the U.S. Army Air Corps, was the preferred aircraft of American’s top aces. It could do anything! Some of its uses were for interception, dive-bombing, ground attack, night fighting and evacuation missions. It had distinctive twin booms, and a central nacelle containing a cockpit and armament. The P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in large-scale production throughout American involvement in the war that began with the attack on Pearl Harbor and ended with the surrender of Japan in 1945. At the end of the war, orders for 1,887 more P-38 Lightnings were canceled. From late 1943 to Sept. 2, 1945, when World War II officially ended, 633 new P-38 pilots had graduated from training at the Santa Maria Army Air Field. Shirley Contreras lives in Orcutt and writes for the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society. She can be contacted at 623-8193 or at shirleycontreras2@yahoo.com. Her book, “The Good Years,” a selection of stories she’s written for the Santa Maria Times since 1991, is on sale at the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society, 616 S. Broadway.