Literature Review
Currently, the only scholarship on the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (Anti-Aircraft) is the National Guard yearbooks, unit records, and a linear history book of what the 203rd CAB (AA) has been involved with since 1876. The 203rd CAB (AA)’s history has not had a deeper interpretation, other than a list of activities, those who served, and where they served and at what time periods. This project will provide a deeper interpretation of the 203rd CAB (AA) during World War II utilizing National Guard yearbooks, unit records, Center of Military History, newspaper articles, radio press-release, oral histories, and artifacts from those who served. However, some secondary resources have been utilized to fill in the gaps in the story.
The National Guard’s perspective of the story on the 203rd CAB (AA) can be found in the book History and Lineage of the 203rd Engineer Battalion by Rowland C. Diggs, Sr.[1] which gives the background story of the unit. The works that are important to fill in the gaps surrounding the emergence of the National Guard after the American civil war are: Citizens and Soldiers: The Dilemmas of Military Service by Eliot A. Cohen,[2] The National Guard and Reserve: A Reference Handbook by Michael D. Doubler,[3] and Demystifying the Citizen Soldier by Raphael S. Cohen.[4] Each of the three works aforementioned is key to the story because they show how the National Guard formed, and how the National Guard progressed and reorganized throughout history. Robert Sligh explains how the National Guard became a part of the United States Army during World War II in The National Guard and National Defense: The Mobilization of the Guard in World War II.[5] The amendment, An Act to Amend the National Defense Act of June 3, 1916,[6] on the Library of Congress website explains how the President had the power to mobilize the National Guard during World War II. The National Defense Act of 1916 and the connection to the National Guard can be found in For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012 by Allan R. Millett, Peter Maslowski, and William B. Feis,[7] William Donnelly’s “The Root Reforms and the National Guard,”[8] and Glenn Williams’ “National Defense Act 1916”[9] where the Acts are explained and how the National Guard mobilization happened in order to boost the numbers of the Army. The aforementioned works are important to understanding how the 203rd CAB (AA) was federalized by President Roosevelt for duty during World War II. The only work to specifically mention the 203rd CAB (AA) is the Diggs book.
The following works explain the importance of the Louisiana Maneuvers, however, they do not mention the 203rd CAB (AA) specifically. In the article “George C. Marshall and the 1940 Louisiana Maneuvers,” Mary Kathryn Barbier explains the importance of the Louisiana Maneuvers strategy for military preparedness.[10] In the article “The Louisiana Maneuvers: Practice for War,” G. Patrick Murray explains how many troops trained and the importance of using the Louisiana Maneuvers.[11]
The 203rd CAB (AA) traveled to Santa Monica, California to protect the Douglas Aircraft plant. The Diggs book mentions the account from the 203rd CAB (AA) perspective on time and events that took place during the raid on Los Angeles.[12] The other work on the air raid of Los Angeles is an article by Donald Young: “Phantom Japanese Raid on Los Angeles During World War.”[13] The Young article describes the chain of events that led to the air raid, and how the chain of events unfolded. The 203rd CAB (AA) is briefly identified as the group that caused the confusion in Los Angeles.
After the battle of Los Angeles, the 203rd CAB (AA) went to Alaska. Aleutian Islands, a United States Army history by George MacGarrigle explains the importance of the island chain to the United States Pacific strategy.[14] Stetson Conn’s Guarding the United States and Its Outposts, describes the actions the War Department took in order to defend the coasts of the United States.[15] The Aleutians Campaign, June1942-August1943,[16] provided information regarding American forces retaking the Japanese occupied islands. Brian Garfield’s Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians, describes the war in that part of the Pacific and describes the activities of the men stationed in the Aleutians. The 203rd CAB (AA) from Southwest Missouri is mentioned in the book.[17]
In conclusion, there is not a lot of literature dedicated to the 203rd CAB (AA). The goal of the project is to highlight the service of the 203rd CAB (AA) during World War II. Due to the lack of literature on the 203rd CAB (AA) the researcher relied mainly on primary sources to tell the story. The secondary sources were used to fill in the gaps surrounding the development and organization of the 203rd CAB (AA) throughout their history.
[1] Diggs [2] Eliot A. Cohen, 1985. Citizens and Soldiers: The Dilemmas of Military Service. Ithaca: Cornell University Press: 27-28 [3] Michael D. Doubler, The National Guard and Reserve: A Reference Handbook, Westport, Conn.: Praeger Security International, 2008: 1-2. [4] Raphael S. Cohen, Demystifying the Citizen Soldier. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2015. [5] Robert Bruce Sligh. The National Guard and National Defense: The Mobilization of the Guard in World War II. New York: Praeger, 1992. [6] An Act to amend the National Defense Act of June 3, 1916, as amended., Library of Congress, An Act to amend the National Defense Act of June 3, 1916, as amended, Chapter 87, Pages 153-162. (1934). https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/73rd-congress/session-1/c73s1ch87.pdf [7] Allan R. Millett, Peter Maslowski, and William B. Feis. For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012. New York, NY: Free Press, 2012: 355-363 [8] William Donnelly. “The Root Reforms and the National Guard.” The Root Reforms and the National Guard. U.S. Army Center of Military History, May 3, 2001. https://history.army.mil/documents/1901/Root-NG.htm. [9] Glenn Williams. “National Defense Act 1916.” National Defense Act 1916 | Center of Military History. U.S. Army Center of Military History, May 2016. https://history.army.mil/news/2016/160500a_natDefAct1916.html. [10] Mary Kathryn Barbier. “George C. Marshall and the 1940 Louisiana Maneuvers.” Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Autumn, 2003): 389-410 [11] G. Patrick Murray. "The Louisiana Maneuvers: Practice for War." Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Spring, 1972): 117-138 [12] Diggs [13] Donald Young, and HistoryNet Staff. “Phantom Japanese Raid on Los Angeles During World War.” HistoryNet. HistoryNet, August 5, 2016. https://www.historynet.com/phantom-japanese-raid-on-los-angeles-during-world-war-ii.htm. Originally published in the 2003 issue of World War II. [14] George L. MacGarrigle. Aleutian Islands. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1992: 6-11 [15] Stetson Conn. Guarding the United States and Its Outposts. Washington: Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. of the Army, 1964. U.S. Army Center of Military History. https://history.army.mil/html/books/004/4-2/CMH_Pub_4-2.pdf. [16] The Aleutians Campaign, June 1942-August 1943. Washington: Naval Historical Center, Dept. of the Navy, 1993. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading- room/title-list-alphabetically/a/the-aleutians-campaign.html. [17] Brian Garfield. Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2010: 676-677
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