Sign
- Object Name:
- Sign
- Object ID:
- 2022.001.01
- Place of Origin:
- New Hampshire
- Date:
- 1942-1945
- Description:
- Sign, aircraft observation station, World War II. Black painted letters on white (now tan) painted pine board: "OBSERVATION POST / NO. 20-B". Beveled edges. Ink inscription on reverse: "Whitcomb Farm / designated / Observation Post No. 20B / Civil Defense Aircraft Watch / World War II". Two screw eyes on top edge.
- Material:
- Wood
Pine - Dimensions:
- H-4 W-19.5 D-0.8 inches
- Provenance:
- This sign was created to mark a United States aircraft observation station on the Whitcomb Farm, Swift River, NH, during World War II. It was part of a network of civilian airplane spotters established by the United States government whose duty it was to thwart any Axis sneak attack such as had happened at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. From lonely observation posts throughout the coastal defense areas, the Army Air Forces Ground Observer Corps (Office of Civil Defense), numbering about 1,500,000 volunteers, maintained a continuous watch on the skies over America to see that no hostile planes approached unnoticed. This volunteer air defense system was set up by the Fighter Command with the assistance of the American Legion, the OCD, and other agencies, and established a new pattern of scouting which lasted until radar was developed.
- Credit Line:
- New Hampshire Historical Society Purchase, Katharine Prentis Murphy Fund
- Subjects:
- Civil defense, World War II
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