Fort Fisher During World War II

by John Moseley, Interpreter III, Fort Fisher State Historic Site

After the last Federal troops left in 1868, Fort Fisher was left alone to the ocean and the elements. Veterans of the Civil War traveled to the great sand fortification to wander and reminisce about days gone by. By the late 1920s, the United Daughters of the Confederacy planned on building a monument to the defenders of the fort dedicated at Battle Acre in 1932. After long decades of silence and erosion by the Atlantic, Fort Fisher, the scene of two attacks during the Civil War, was slowly washing away.
During the unstable times from 1939 to 1941, national defense would take precedence over historic preservation and Fort Fisher would be no exception. From 1941 to its closing in 1944, the old Confederate fort at the tip of Federal Point became home to thousands of soldiers training for war. Fort Fisher’s wartime experience would change the historic property for- ever and the men would carry memories of their training throughout the war and their lives.
New installations in Southeastern North Carolina were the Army’s Camp Da- vis and the Marine Corps’ Camp Lejeune. Camp Davis was to be the home of the three segments of Coast Artillery Antiaircraft training - Barrage Balloons, Searchlights, and Artillery plus the Antiaircraft Officer’s Candidate School (OCS) and Antiaircraft Artillery Board. To ensure proper and fast training, five firing points were set up with the primary range at Fort Fisher. In addition, because of the distance from Camp Davis, Fort Fisher would have to be a self- contained post. Construction started slowly.
Specifications for the base called for 48 frame buildings, 316 tent frames, mess halls, showers and latrines, warehouses, guardhouse, photo lab, infirmary, radio and meteorological stations, a recreation hall, outdoor theater, a post exchange, and an administration building. The firing installations were erect- ed along the beach, between the highway and the Atlantic Ocean — not unlike Fisher's Oceanside batteries during the Civil War. In September 1941, General George C. Marshall visited Fort Fisher to inspect the progress of the camp.
Unfortunately, during construction of the firing point, a great deal of damage was done to the roads around Carolina Beach. According to the December 15, 1941 High Point Enterprise, moving the heavy guns “between Camp Davis and Fort Fisher” caused considerable damage to the local roads. Regardless, training at Fort Fisher commenced in October 1941.
After the last Federal troops left in 1868, Fort Fisher was left alone to the ocean and the elements. Veterans of the Civil War traveled to the great sand fortification to wander and reminisce about days gone by. By the late 1920s, the United Daughters of the Confederacy planned on building a monument to the defenders of the fort dedicated at Battle Acre in 1932. After long decades of silence and erosion by the Atlantic, Fort Fisher, the scene of two attacks during the Civil War, was slowly washing away.
During the unstable times from 1939 to 1941, national defense would take precedence over historic preservation and Fort Fisher would be no exception. From 1941 to its closing in 1944, the old Confederate fort at the tip of Federal Point became home to thousands of soldiers training for war. Fort Fisher’s wartime experience would change the historic property for- ever and the men would carry memories of their training throughout the war and their lives.
New installations in Southeastern North Carolina were the Army’s Camp Da- vis and the Marine Corps’ Camp Lejeune. Camp Davis was to be the home of the three segments of Coast Artillery Antiaircraft training - Barrage Balloons, Searchlights, and Artillery plus the Antiaircraft Officer’s Candidate School (OCS) and Antiaircraft Artillery Board. To ensure proper and fast training, five firing points were set up with the primary range at Fort Fisher. In addition, because of the distance from Camp Davis, Fort Fisher would have to be a self- contained post. Construction started slowly.
Specifications for the base called for 48 frame buildings, 316 tent frames, mess halls, showers and latrines, warehouses, guardhouse, photo lab, infirmary, radio and meteorological stations, a recreation hall, outdoor theater, a post exchange, and an administration building. The firing installations were erect- ed along the beach, between the highway and the Atlantic Ocean — not unlike Fisher's Oceanside batteries during the Civil War. In September 1941, General George C. Marshall visited Fort Fisher to inspect the progress of the camp.
Unfortunately, during construction of the firing point, a great deal of damage was done to the roads around Carolina Beach. According to the December 15, 1941 High Point Enterprise, moving the heavy guns “between Camp Davis and Fort Fisher” caused considerable damage to the local roads. Regardless, training at Fort Fisher commenced in October 1941.
A unique Army program helped the men train for their combat duty. The Army was desperate for trained pi- lots since men were being shipped overseas. The Army turned to the WASP – the Women’s Airforce Ser- vice Pilots. Of the roughly 25,000 women who applied to join the WASP only 1,830 were accepted and of those, only 1,074 of them passed the training.
They were required to complete the same primary, basic, and advanced training courses as male Army Air Corps pilots. The WASP are credited with flying sixty million miles of operational flights from aircraft factories to ports of embarkation and military training bases. In these roles, they flew almost every type of aircraft flown by the USAAF during World War II.
The WASP arrived at Camp Davis on July 24, 1943 as members of the 3rd and 14th Tow Target Squadrons. It was their first assignment beyond ferrying duty. On August 1 the WASP were put to work piloting A-24 Banshees and A-25 Shrikes, and took on the duty of towing targets for Camp Davis' antiaircraft artillery training.
These aircraft flew thousands of miles each week — both day and night — in missions along the coast. Planes towing target sleeves on long cables roared back and forth above the beaches of Fort Fisher and Camp Davis' other firing ranges. Their job was dangerous and they understood that fact as they continued towing targets for live anti- aircraft artillery practice and simulated strafing missions. Two WASP, Mable Rawlinson and Betty Wood, lost their lives doing their duty helping the soldiers acquire the skills needed to achieve victory in the War.
Between 1941 and 1944, Fort Fisher trained about 43 AA Battalions for service in the European and Pacific Theaters of Operation. Unfortunately, by the time the range closed in late1944, Fort Fisher had been changed forever. By early 1945, the firing point was officially closed and some of the buildings were scrapped or sold as surplus. Battery Buchanan, the massive four-gun bastion below Fort Fisher and had commanded New Inlet during the Civil War, was permanently damaged as a result of military construction. Ammunition bunkers were dug along the highway north of Buchanan. But the crowning addition to these improvements was the construction of a large airstrip at Fort Fisher — an endeavor that destroyed a sizable portion of the once-formidable "land front" of the 80-year-old bastion.