Horse of the Sand Pounder: East Coast, World War II

Carolina.).

Chapter 1: Historical Background

Both before U.S. entry into World War II and during the first two years of that war, the very appearance of German submarines (U-boats) off the East Coast of the United States (from Maine to Florida) as well as the flaming Allied shipwrecks (the casualties of U-boat attacks) caused concern among coast dwelling U.S. citizens. They certainly could envision an invading enemy making beach landings from these submarines. These trained infiltrators could gain entrance to seaside towns and ports. Along the Atlantic coast, numerous American ships were sunk within sight of the beach. Witnesses could see, feel and hear the explosions. Concerns of invasions and attacks were not, however, limited to the Atlantic Coast. West Coast residents also faced the possibility of enemy attacks. Anxiety was high enough that by February 1942, U.S. anti-aircraft were actually firing on American weather balloons along the California shore-line in their attempts to protect the coast. This new war, WW II, unlike WW I, seemed to be on America’s doorstep, and on America’s doorstep on both coasts. The Atlantic coast faced attacks from Germany. The Pacific coast had to deal with the Japanese.

As early as February, 1941, about 10 months before U.S. entry into WW II, the U.S. Government had begun to organize coastal waters into divisions to be defended. At this time, they were called Naval Coastal Frontiers, later the name would become Sea Frontiers. While the Navy would be charged with patrolling harbors and sea lanes and coastwise waters, the Army would be charged with defending against any invasion. It was the Coast Guard that would be charged with patrolling the beaches on both U.S. coasts. Since this story of one Coast Guard horse and his mounted Coast Guard rider takes place in North Carolina, the emphasis is on the Atlantic seaboard and potential German invaders. However, this should not be construed to mean that the plight of the West Coast is minimized. There are many stories to be told there about the fearless men, their canines and their equines during WW II.

In addition to fighting a war on the high seas, U.S. Naval resources had also been assigned to protect conveys carrying supplies and troops across the Atlantic to Europe. This left the East coast with very few battleships. This decision by the head of the Navy (send ships to protect convoys carrying supplies to Great Britain and our Allies in Europe rather than leave the available ships on the eastern seaboard) was not universally popular. It was not an easy decision. Some historians disagree with that decision which left the East Coast somewhat unprotected. Since Navy defenses on the Atlantic seaboard were stretched very thin with only a few peacetime battleships on hand, the Coast Guard took over most of the coastal patrolling.

Before U.S. entry into World War II, there was security in the form of beach patrols along the extensive coastlines both on the East and West coasts. These Beach Patrols, as they were named at the time, usually consisted of one man with a flashlight and flares. He was responsible for reporting any suspicious or strange activities along a specified American coastline. Initially, before WW II, these Beach Patrols were not taken very seriously. This would change. It was after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when Americans living on the coasts became worried. If a horrific attack happened in Hawaii, they asked, why couldn’t it happen to a port or harbor or city in North Carolina or Florida or Virginia? And they noted that there certainly had been attacks on shipping, both military and domestic, by German U-boats right off the mainland coast. There would be more.

One of the Coast Guard responses to these threats and concerns was the establishment of a Mounted Beach Patrol. In some cases, this was to replace the one/two man foot patrols. In other localities, the mounted units augmented these foot and canine patrols. The U.S. Coast Guard, men of the sea, officially saddled up! Horses became an authorized means of patrolling U.S. beaches. To many people the notion of seamen on horseback was quite odd or at least unusual! However, the work that these men and their mounts did was very important, Not only did they patrol the beaches and note any unusual occurrences but they were morale boosters for citizens so worried about events near their shore lines. The use of equines enabled the Coast Guard to patrol more beaches and at a faster rate as compared to seamen patrolling on foot. It should be noted that this was before the days of sophisticated radar and computer-driven detection devices. Human diligence and vigilance were needed to block enemy invasion or infiltration of U.S. beaches. Horses were not the only animal to assist in patrolling the beaches for enemy infiltration. Canine units were immensely popular. In fact in some areas, each horseman would have a canine companion as well.

Using equines to aide in the patrolling of beaches throughout the U.S. coasts had begun as early as 1871. These beach patrols, however, were mainly carried out on foot with only occasional assistance from mounts and their riders. Their expressed purpose was to watch for ships in distress. At that time this program was run under the auspices of the Life Saving Service, which was a predecessor of the Coast Guard. The demands occasioned by WW II were much more intense. And, in the early spring of 1942, the United States was certainly at war. The citizens were keeping a wary eye on the fighting in Europe (the Eastern Theater) and in Asia (the Pacific Theater of War). However, the war was closer than many realized or were allowed to know. Government policy was to present a much more positive spin on the number of U-boats sunk by the Navy in proximity to the Atlantic sea coast. The actual number of American and Allied ships sunk by German subs within sight of the coast line was drastically reduced in newspaper accounts, that is, when reports were actually given. The relentless hunting of U.S. shipping by German submarines, the U-boats, was minimized. The number and capability of the U-boats off the East Coast were a series of total fabrications in the press. When the secrecy rule was relaxed in November of 1941 (before U.S. entry into WW II), the press quoted Secretary Knox as claiming that the U.S. had sunk or damaged fourteen U-boats to date in confrontations in the North Atlantic. This was a total lie. A slogan developed at Navy Headquarters and used by the New York Times created a national sensation: Sighted Sub; Sank Same. The eloquence and brevity of this slogan were equated by both press and readers with the words of Admiral Perry in the famous battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812, We have met the enemy and they are ours. The problem with the World War II slogan at the time was this: no U-boats had been actually sunk. These were, indeed, soul-stirring and patriotic words, but they were false. There was another story. This was the same story week after week. It was used to bolster American citizens’ morale and appeared in newspaper after newspaper throughout the United States: …only two medium sized Allied ships sunk in the Atlantic. In actuality, there were approximately 33 U.S. Allied ships sunk each week!

The government maintained this air of secrecy about the extent and successes of German U-boats off the East coast especially during 1942 and 1943 .Therefore, many U.S. citizens didn’t have any idea of the jeopardy that their beaches faced. People who lived near the coast or in seaports or around harbors certainly had a better idea. Wreckage sometimes washed up on the East Coast beaches off Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia, not to mention New York, New Jersey and the New England states. The West Coast Beaches also had more than their fair share of wreckage.

These Sand Pounders or Coasties, as the men who patrolled the beaches were called, went out daily and nightly to search and to scan the horizons for German subs. However, attacks by water were not the only concern. There were reports of landing parties being put ashore from these German U-boats. There were stories, though many were never confirmed, that Germans came ashore at various towns/seaports and purchased fresh vegetables and small amounts of meat. Because at numerous ports on the Atlantic Ocean there were many foreign sailors from a variety of ships, there was no questioning or concern over a stranger with an accent. Clerks were used to dealing with sailors from various countries and with different accents. Because the U-boats were not that large and could only carry limited food it is quite possible that they needed to replenish their stocks once they arrived near American shores. A gentleman who served on the American coastwise tugs and barges that carried lumber, coal and food and other valuable resources up and down the Atlantic relayed many interesting stories about life on the sea during these times. Mr. J. Don Horton indicated that there was a story going around about a German submarine that came along side of a (U.S.) barge and boarded her to take on water. When the Captain of the submarine saw the conditions on the barge he ordered his crew to gather some food and to give it to the barge crew for their use. He apologized to the Captain of the barge for taking the water and hoped the food would make up the difference. From the stories of the bargemen and the store clerks, it seems that it is not too farfetched to consider that some Germans did land on U.S. shores and had some contact with U.S. citizens, even if very briefly.

This is the story of both a young bay horse, named Flash, serving with the Mounted Coast Guard, and the people who loved and cared for him in the middle of a world war. Flash is a composite of all those wonderful horses that lived, worked and served as Coast Guard mounts along the United States shorelines in World War II! Flash’s story is based on extensive research on the Mounted Coast Guard along the Atlantic seaboard in that war and on their lives and loves. It takes place on the beaches of a little make-believe town in northern North Carolina. The town described is not much different from many of the little towns that could be found along the Outer Banks during the WW II era or for that matter in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Events, as described as happening to Flash and his Coast Guard rider in this story, were very real and did happen to the Mounted Coast Guard in towns and seaports throughout the eastern seaboard of the U.S. The story in this book should be seen as a tribute to all these riders and their equines. It attempts to honor all their stories and to especially celebrate all those horses that were part of the United States Coast Guard Mounted Patrols. Flash, the equine hero of this story should not be confused with Flash, a former West Point show jumper that was part of the Beach Patrol off the Jersey shore.

Unfortunately, unlike the Coast Guard dogs of the era who had Nora as their heroine with her story to publicize their efforts and sense of duty, the Coast Guard horses did not have one specific horse to tell their story. It should be noted that Nora, a German Shepherd, served in the U.S. Coast Guard Beach Patrol on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. When her handler fainted during a November storm on the beach, Nora, the dog he had purchased for fifty cents, rushed back to the camp to get help. Without Nora’s quick thinking, that coast guard would have frozen to death. In running for help, she saved his life and her story became very well known.

Eventually, there would be about 2,000 dogs in beach patrols throughout the nation during the war. Many were