A look back at historic Preparedness Parade
By Guest
WWII veterans George McPhail, John Jennison, and Edwin Hammond in last year's Memorial Day parade (Mary Ellen Cahill photo)
Submitted by Stephen Hagan
It often seems to the general public that the main function of local historical societies is to be a trusted repository or museum of information, records, documents, artifacts, and objects that must be preserved for posterity, both specific and general, dating back to the founding of the town or area from the 17th to the early 20th century.
Sometimes it is important to let the public know that the history of their area did not stop around 1910, and that there is also much of interest and importance available concerning more recent times. After all, if some event took place or a person from Canton made a noteworthy achievement just last year, that is still part of the history of Canton.
As a tribute to our recent past and in honor of Veterans Day, the following article will look back on a history-making event that took place in Canton during the lifetime of many of us. You will see mentioned below the names of many people you will well remember, and thankfully a few of those participants are still with us. It is a tribute to the many citizens of Canton who would be included in what Tom Brokaw has referred to as the “greatest generation.”
The time was the end of the summer of 1942, a time of great trial and discouragement for our nation, which was in its eighth month of World War II. It was a time of blackouts and air raid drills, and of all men between 44 and 65 being asked to register at the Town Hall so that a labor pool could be established. This was in addition to the Selective Service Draft Registration of all men ages 18 to 44, which had been ongoing since September 1940.
The battle for Guadalcanal in the Pacific — which had begun with the U.S. landing in August and would not end until the following January — was raging, and Nazi U-boats were wreaking havoc on coastal shipping all along the east coast from Florida to Maine, including in Buzzards Bay, Nantucket Sound, and off Cape Cod and Cape Ann. It was at this time that Canton received news of its first military casualty: Lt. Andrew Wood, 24, of Indian Lane, a graduate of the Canton High School class of 1936.
At this crucial time the various units of the Air Raid Precaution Service of Canton, later known as Civil Defense, decided to have a “Red Letter” celebration for the town to boost morale on Labor Day, September 7, 1942. The highlights of the day were a bombing of a small wood-frame house with incendiary bombs dropped from planes (the location of this house seems to be lost to history) with the Canton Fire Department standing by; a demonstration at Messinger Street Playground of the horse-mounted defense units; a huge “Preparedness Parade” from the corner of Washington and Neponset streets, along Washington to Sherman Street and then up “B” Street (today Cotter Street) to the almost finished playing field of the high school. This was before Memorial Field was so named, and even before it was known as the “new playground.” The field was completed later that year by the WPA and was the last WPA project in the eastern United States. All of the WPA workers had gone off to fight in the war!
The biggest attraction of the day was the “Preparedness Parade,” which turned out to be the largest parade that has ever been held in Canton! The parade was filmed by all the newsreel companies, including Paramount News, and was seen in movie theaters throughout the country and in U.S. military camps around the world — from Hawaii and Alaska to England, South and Central America and the Caribbean. There were no women armed services just then, but right around that time the United States realized what a contribution that women could make, and there was a big push to establish organizations such as the WACs (Army), WAVES (NAVY), and the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve.
It turned out that not only was this Canton’s largest parade; it was the very first civil defense celebration ever held in the country. Prime entertainment along the parade route for the selling of war bonds were the popular WBZ entertainers “Hum & Strum,” and the entire event was announced on radio by Jack Stanley, a well-known news analyst from radio station WNAC. The radio playback had real sound effects from recordings in London made during the Blitz.
Click here for a complete listing of the persons involved in this momentous event. They are mostly people we have known from the past, and their dedicated work for such a worthy cause should not be forgotten.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=17375
Posted by Guest
on Nov 15 2012. Filed under Canton History, Features.
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