Last updated: November 16, 2023
Article
Pan American Airways on the Home Front in the Pacific
Pan American Airways pioneered the transpacific air route between the US mainland and China, using US jurisdictions and territories across the Pacific as “stepping stones.” This extended the American Home Front westward, and sparked Americans’ imaginations and their excitement for the Airline.
The difference between a military installation and the home front can be blurry when civilian contractors are working for the military. In the 1930s, Pan American Airlines (Pan Am) established civilian hotels and facilities on several American Pacific jurisdictions. These served as “stepping stones” that Pan Am used to carry tourists, business people, politicians, and mail from California to China and beyond. Staff from the US and its territories lived and worked at these facilities, solidifying them as part of the World War II American home front.
After leaving the League of Nations in the 1930s, Japan increased its military expansion in the Pacific. This concerned the American government, and they wanted to counter with their own expansion. To honor their membership in the League, they did not want to appear to be using the military. The timing coincided with Pan American Airlines (Pan Am) plans to extend their routes across the Pacific Ocean. It was a perfect partnership that opened a new era in civilian transportation and communications, expanded military-ready technology across the Pacific, and ignited Americans’ imaginations. [1]
Advances in Technology Open the Pacific to American Aviation
Advances in airplane technology in the 1920s and 1930s made commercial air flight possible – for people, mail, and cargo. To protect American interests, the government gave the newly-formed Pan Am a virtual monopoly on international flights in the 1920s. They began by flying mail, reaching places much faster than was possible by ship. In the 1930s, Pan Am established a fleet of flying boats that they called Clippers. Able to land on water, these planes did not use runways and could refuel in shipping ports.[2]
With new flight technology that could handle the long Pacific distances, Pan Am consulted with the navy to establish a trans-Pacific service.[3] No aircraft at the time could travel the whole distance from California to the Philippines in one go. Instead, Pan Am set up refueling stops at Hawai'i, Midway Island, Wake Island, Guam, and then the Philippines. This required shipping supplies, buildings, gear, and staff by boat to each island before the first flight. The first load out of California was 6,000 tons. It included enough food for six months, seven smaller vessels for transferring cargo, a quarter of a million gallons of airplane fuel (packed in 55-gallon drums), two 10-ton tractors, four windmill pumps, prefabricated buildings, four diesel generators, and thousands of gallons of diesel fuel. For the staff, they packed a small lending library, playing cards, paper and writing utensils, bedding, chewing tobacco, gum, pots and pans, and kitchen sinks. Alcohol was strictly forbidden, both on the cargo ship and for workers on-island.[4]
On Wake’s Peale Island and Midway Atoll’s Sand Island, Pan Am built small towns. With the help of the US Army Corps, they blasted and dredged lagoons to make landing safe for the clippers; used tractors to level building areas; installed radio navigation systems; and built employee housing, power plants, hangars, and desalination plants (to produce fresh water). On Wake, they planted hydroponic gardens to produce food for their employees and future guests. At Midway, the Pan Am facilities were completed in only 45 days. On Guam, Pan Am made use of an abandoned US Marine Corps base at Sumay offered by the Navy, where they built the island’s first hotel. In Hawai’i and the Philippines, they leased land and facilities from active naval bases at Pearl Harbor and Manila.[5] At Pearl Harbor, Pan Am initially used the Navy facilities at Ford Island, but soon moved to their own facilities on the Pearl City peninsula.[6]
The World’s First Trans-Pacific Airmail and Passenger Flights
In November of 1935, Pan Am operated the world’s first trans-Pacific airmail flight. It was a big deal. Radio stations on four continents carried live radio broadcasts, updating millions of people to the location of the China Clipper in real time. Pan Am made the trip from Alameda, California to Manila, in the Philippines, in six days. This cut the travel time between the two cities (8,000 miles) down from over 2 weeks by fast ship.[7] With proof that the route was possible, Pan Am immediately began planning for trans-Pacific passenger service.
Leaving California in January of 1936 was another ship filled with Pan Am cargo headed for Midway and Wake. On board were two prefabricated 45-room luxury hotels; a locomotive and supplies for a narrow-gauge railway; tons of frozen food for the future passengers; and construction crews to build, wire, and plumb the hotels.[8] The hotels were virtually identical, with central lobbies with two wings extending outward. They had wide porches and verandahs, private guest rooms, and full dining rooms. Each guest room had a bathroom and hot water shower. Other facilities included docks, warehouses, offices, employee barracks, tennis courts, and shops.[9] Pan Am looked to Guam for employees, hiring many Chamorro men as laborers, hotel and wait staff, and drivers.
The hotel on Midway was called the PAA [Pan American Airways] Airway Inn or the Pan American Hotel at Midway. By the time it was being used by the US military in World War II, it was known as “GooneyvilleLodge” after the albatross on the island.[10] Elsewhere on Midway was a naval air station and submarine base, which were off limits to Pan Am workers and passengers.[11] On Wake, the Pan Am complex was known as PAAville or Wake Village, and was the atoll’s first permanent settlement.[12]
In October of 1936, the first Pacific passenger flight made the trip. The China Clipper was a “flying miniature hotel,” and could hold about 50 passengers. A hundred and fifty thousand people watched her leave Alameda on October 21. She arrived in Manila six days later.[13] The aircraft interior was luxurious, with a lounge, berths, and a dining room with white linens. Liveried staff served meals from the full kitchen on Pan Am-branded china. There were also crew quarters and a full kitchen.[14]
In Hawai’i, passengers stayed at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel at Waikiki Beach while clipper crew stayed at the Alexander Young Hotel in downtown Honolulu. In the Philippines, passengers stayed at the Manila Hotel.[15] At each overnight refueling stop, tourists disembarked from the clipper via a dock or powerboat. Once on land, Pan Am employees drove them to the hotels in vehicles imported for that purpose. Passengers passed the time exploring or playing games, dined from fine china and slept in their luxury rooms before departing the following morning.[16] In 1936, an October 30 dinner at Midway consisted of anchovy canapé, celery, queen olives, chicken broth, prime roast beef au jus, mashed potatoes, spinach, fruit salad, green apple pie, cream cheese, and café noir (black coffee).[17] In Guam, Manila, California, Hawai’i and other port towns and cities, Pan Am passengers mingled with other visitors and local elites.[18]
Clippermania!
Pan Am’s revolutionary trans-Pacific service ignited Americans' imaginations. In the midst of the Great Depression, the China Clipper became a symbol of a better future, wealth, and adventure. Clippermania spread throughout the country. There was a popular song and matching dance moves; clippers showed up on product labels, postage stamps, souvenirs, tie racks, playing cards, and as toys. A passenger boat in Biloxi, Mississippi launched in 1937 was named Pan American Clipper.[19] As early as 1936, authors featured clippers in books for adolescents that hinted at the building unrest in the Pacific. They also appeared in books for youth with content helping their young readers adjust to the conflict. Clippermania continued well into the War, and even after.[20]
Pan Am Opens Additional Routes to New Zealand
After the success of the US to China route, Pan Am established routes between the United States and New Zealand. The first planned route went from Hawai’i to Kingman Reef, to Pago Pago in American Samoa, and to Auckland, New Zealand. This was a dangerous route. Kingman Reef, controlled by the US Navy, was underwater at high tide. Instead of building facilities, Pan Am moored a ship that would provide lodging, food, and supplies. At Pago Pago, there was very little room in the harbor to safely land or take off.[21] In December 1937, the Samoan Clipper left Honolulu with its first cargo of mail to New Zealand, and returned shortly after New Year’s day in 1938. On January 9, Pan Am asked the crew to make another mail run to New Zealand. Between Pago Pago and Auckland, the clipper sprang an oil leak and exploded. The Samoan Clipper, her crew of 7, and her cargo were lost.[22]
In 1939, with more powerful clippers in production, Pan Am began working on a safer route to New Zealand. This route took the clipper from Hawai'i to Canton Island, Fiji, and Noumea, New Caledonia and on to New Zealand. In July 1940, clippers began making the journey to Auckland.[23] Pan Am passenger and mail service ran on regular routes connecting California to Hawai’i, New Zealand, the Philippines, and beyond until the US entered World War II.[24]
Pan Am Staff and Facilities Are Casualties of Japan’s Attacks in December, 1941
When Japan attacked the US in December of 1941, they hit the Pan Am facilities on Guam, Midway, and Wake Island. On Guam, the hotel, crew quarters, and fuel tanks were hit, and two employees were killed (though reports stated there were no injuries among Pan Am personnel).[25] The hotel was destroyed during the battle between the US and Japan to recapture Guam in 1944. In 1974, the only remaining evidence of the hotel was a concrete slab, remains of a porch, sloping ramps leading up to the slab, a low iron fence, and remnants of what may have been a small park.[26]
After the first attack, Pan Am employees emptied her of cargo and seats. Although overloaded, the Philippine Clipper left Wake carrying Pan Am's passengers and their white staff. In a contemporary account published in papers across the nation, a survivor claims that “Not a person was killed… among the Pan American personnel.” This excluded the 45 Chamorro Pan Am employees who were left behind, ostensibly because there was not enough room for them. Of these men, 10 died. Five died in the first attack wave; five more died when the Japanese hit the hospital and the rest of the Pan Am compound in the second wave.[29] When the Japanese took control of Wake Island, they sent most of the surviving Chamorro, US military, and military contractors to Prisoner of War camps. The 99 civilian contractors kept on the island to perform forced labor were later massacred. The US regained control of Wake Island when Japan surrendered in 1945.[30]
Military Use and Post War
This article was written by Megan E. Springate, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, for the NPS Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education. It was funded by the National Council on Public History’s cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.
[1] Pan Am also played a role in countering Germany’s reach in Latin America and the Caribbean, but these were not “home front” activities. For more information, see Brady 2012.
[2] Pan Am gave up domestic flights in order to secure exclusive rights to international routes. Bilstein 2001: 79; National Air and Space Museum n.d. See Lyons (2020) for a three-part documentary.
[3] Dodson 2018: 44; Libby 1999.
[4] Dodson 2018: 44-46.
[5] Babauta 2023; Dodson 2018: 44-45; Krupnick 2000: 517; Libby 1999; Popular Mechanics April 1935; Thompson 1986: 8-2; Votaw 1940. The US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Pearl City Peninsula has been documented by the Historic American Building Survey. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 29, 1964 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
[6] Yoklavich 2004: 4-5. At Pearl Harbor, Pan Am was able to make use of amenities that were already there. They leased a nearby home to use as a terminal building. It included waiting rooms for passengers and office space.
[7] Dodson 2018: 54; Gandt 2018b: 57, 59; Horner 2013:56; Nolte 2010; Popular Mechanics 1935: 485. You can read about this trip and read the log book online at the University of Miami Special Collections, Pan American World Airways Records.
[8] Dodson 2018: 54. A narrow-gauge railway was built on Wake to help transport cargo from the ocean-side of Wilkes Island (the only suitable mooring for cargo ships) to the lagoon side. From there, they used barges and boats to ferry materials to Peale Island, where Pan American was building their facilities (Gilbert 2012).
[9] Cunningham 1962: 32; Grossman n.d.; Trautman 2018: 125.
[10] CriticalPast n.d. Gooneyville Lodge was demolished in 1957.
[11] United States Fish & Wildlife Service 2013.
[12] Gilbert 2012b; Krupnick 2000: 29-30. The World War II and Pan Am ruins at Wake were designated a National Historic Landmark on September 16, 1985. They were also documented for the Historic American Landscapes Survey in 2011.
[13] Grossman n.d.; Hobson n.d.; Krupnick 2000: 41, 70; Swopes 2020; Time Magazine 1941. Pan Am would later connect Manila to Macau, Singapore, Hong Kong and other places via connecting flights. You can read the logbook of Richard F. Bradley, who flew on Pan Am’s first trans-pacific passenger flight via the Smithsonian’s website.
[14] Krupnick 2000: 645, 649; National Air and Space Museum c. 2015b.
[15] Krupnick 2000: 191; Yoklavich 2004: 5. The Alexander Young Hotel opened in 1903, one of the first hotels in downtown Honolulu. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 5, 1980 and withdrawn on October 14, 2009 after being demolished in 1981. The first China Clipper flights to Manila docked in Manila Harbor, right in front of the Manila Hotel. However, the harbor saw too much wave action for safe anchorage, and Pan Am’s base was quickly switched to a site across the bay at Cavite (Krupnick 2000: 191).
[16] Thompson 1986: 8-2. Pan Am appears to have imported the same “woody” vehicles for each of their locations in the Pacific (Krupnick 2000: 193). Visitors at Wake, Midway, and Guam had the option of having hotel staff send their “island discoveries” home via Pan Am’s clipper mail service. Discoveries included shells, glass fish net floats, pieces of coral, and souvenirs (Krupnick 2000: 85).
[17] Pan American Airways 1936.
[18] Clement 2023; Viernes 2008: 23. The Pan Am Hotel at the Naval Station in Guam was listed on the Guam National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1974. It has not been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
[19] Gandt 2018b: 64-65; Krupnick 2000: 643, 649, 668-670, 680-685; Nolte 2010; Daily Herald 1937; Weirather 1990: 28, 36, 41-42. Drawing from many of the same sources, these all contained similar themes and vignettes: “Children always met ‘coffee colored’ Chamorros and their water buffalos in the Philippines. Island peoples were grateful for the American influence…. Either an American sewing machine in their thatched hut was their pride and joy, or they preferred American sports such as baseball over their native cockfighting. At Wake, visitors must find Japanese fishing floats and shells. At Midway they will laugh at the Gooney Birds. At Hawaii they will surf. And everyone will learn about crossing the International Date Line” (Weirather 1990: 36).
[20] Krupnick 2000: 658-662; Weirather 1990: 28, 30, 37.
[21] When at Pago Pago in American Samoa, the crew stayed at the Sadie Thompson Inn (Krupnick 2000: 250). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 2, 2003.
[22] Aviation Safety Network 2023; Pan Am Historical Foundation n.d. e.
[23] Libby 1999; Pan Am Historical Foundation n.d. a, n.d. b, n.d. c. Pan Am made agreements with the British regarding Canton Island and Fiji, as well as with the French regarding New Caledonia that transport companies from either country could use their facilities for any future airline connecting Australia and New Zealand to Canada. The facilities on Canton were established in partnership with the US Navy. They included buildings for personnel and offices, radio facilities with direction finding capabilities, staffing, and supplies. Clearing the lagoon of coral took over a year.
[24] Dodson 2018: 45, 51, 54-55; National Air and Space Museum ca. 2015a; Thompson 1986: 8-2.
[25] Clement 2023; Kansas City Star 1941.
[26] United States Department of the Navy 1983.
[27] Thompson 1986: 8-3. While the World War II Military Facilities at Midway have been designated a National Historic Landmark, Pan Am resources were not included.
[28] Associated Press 1941a, 1941b, 1941c, 1942; Ventura County Star-Free Press 1941; Wilhelm 1942. A piece of the damaged fuselage of the Philippine Clipper survives (Krupnick 2000: 439).
[29] Aguon n.d.; Associated Press 1942; Cunningham 1962: 52-53, 60-61; Gandt 2018a: 113-114; Gilbert 2012a: 204, 2014. Over 100 US military and civilian military contractors were also killed in the attacks. Two Chamorro who tried to stow away on the evacuation flight of the Philippine Clipper were kicked off, and had to stay on Wake (Gilbert 2014).
[30] Gilbert 2013; Hubbs 2001; Pan Am Historical Foundation n.d.d. A total of 433 US military were captured and incarcerated, along with 1,104 civilians and civilian military contractors. Of these, 20 military and 180 civilians died in captivity. Remains of the Wake 98 were reinterred together at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (also known as Punchbowl Cemetery) in Honolulu, Hawai’I (the 99th person, who carved the memorial to the 98 in the coral, was caught and beheaded by the Japanese). The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 11, 1976.
[31] Evening Sun 1941; Kansas City Star 1941. Pan Am’s Hongkong Clipper was destroyed by the Japanese attack in Kowloon, across the Pearl River from Hong Kong. There were no injuries (Evening Sun 1941).
[32] Gopal 2013.
[33] CriticalPast n.d.; van der Linden 2020.
Aguon, Tina D. (n.d.) “WWII: 45 Chamorus Caught in Wake Invasion.” Guampedia.
Associated Press (1942) “All Civilians Escaped First Jap Attack on Wake, Refugee Says.” Evening Star (Washington, DC), January 14, 1942, p.4.
--- (1941a) “Attack on Wake is Described.” Montana Standard (Butte, Montana), December 11, 1941, p. 6.
--- (1941b) “Clipper Captain, Back in States, Describes Japanese Attack On Pacific Isles.” San Angelo Standard-Times (San Angelo, Texas), December 11, 1941, p.1.
--- (1941c) “Pilot Tells How Clipper Escaped Jap Bombing That Wrecked Wake.” Philadelphia Enquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), December 11, 1941, p. 3.
Aviation Safety Network (2023) “Database Entry: Tuesday 11 January 1938 : Sikorsky S-42B : Pan American Airways (Pan Am) : NC16737.” Aviation Safety Network.
Babauta, Leo (2023) “Sumai.” Guampedia, March 20, 2023.
Bilstein, Roger E. (2001) Flight in America: From the Wrights to the Astronauts, third edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Brady, Matthew F. (2012) “War Plan Juan: The Strategy of Juan Trippe and Pan Am in Latin America and Africa Before and During World War II.” Thesis, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.
Clement, Michael R., Jr. (2023) “First Pan American Flights.” Guampedia, January 7, 2023.
CriticalPast (n.d.) “Gooney Birds Sitting and Dancing Outside the Gooneyville Lodge in Midway Atoll in Pacific Ocean, 1945.” Critical Past.
Cunningham, W. Scott (1962) Wake Island Command. Popular Library, New York.
Daily Herald (1937) “Gala Opening Of The 1937 Summer Season.” Daily Herald (Biloxi, Mississippi), May 29, 1937, p. 12.
Dodson, Jamie (2018) “Paving the Way: The Voyages of the SS North Haven.” In Teresa Webber and Jamie Dodson (eds.) Hunting the Wind: Pan American World Airways’ Epic Flying Boat Era, 1929-1946, pp. 42-55. Schiffer, Atglen, PA
Evening Sun (1941) “Pan American Airways Shifts To War Role.” Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), December 15, 1941, p. 27.
Gandt, Robert (2018a) “Pan Am at War.” In Teresa Webber and Jamie Dodson (eds.) Hunting the Wind: Pan American World Airways’ Epic Flying Boat Era, 1929-1946, pp. 110-116. Schiffer, Atglen, PA.
--- (2018b) “The Debut of the China Clipper.” In Teresa Webber and Jamie Dodson (eds.) Hunting the Wind: Pan American World Airways’ Epic Flying Boat Era, 1929-1946, pp. 56-65. Schiffer, Atglen, PA.
Gilbert, Bonnie (2014) “Guamanians on Wake.” Bonnie Gilbert, February 2014.
--- (2013) “The Wake 98.” Bonnie Gilbert, February 2013.
--- (2012a) Building for War: The Epic Saga of the Civilian Contractors and Marines of Wake Island in World War II. Casemate, Havertown, PA.
--- (2012b) “Pan American.” Bonnie Gilbert, December 2012.
Gopal, Lou (2013) “The PanAm Clipper Arrives in Manila.” Manila Nostalgia, October 16, 2013.
Grossman, Dan (n.d.) “Pan Am Across the Pacific.” Pan Am Clipper Flying Boats.
Hobson, Eric H. (n.d.) “Pan American Airway’s Aviation Mission to China: Part 4.” Pan Am Historical Foundation.
Horner, Dave (2013) The Earhart Enigma: Retracing Amelia’s Last Flight. Pelican Publishing Company, Gretna.
Hubbs, Mark E. (2001) “Massacre on Wake Island.” Naval History Magazine 15(1).
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Lyons, Stephen (dir.) (2020) Across the Pacific: The Incredible Story of Pan American Airways (documentary), Moreno/Lyons Productions in association with The Pan Am Historical Foundation.
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--- (ca. 2015b) “Pan Am Clippers: What Was I It Like to Fly?” Hawai’i by Air, National Air and Space Museum.
--- (n.d.) “Pan American Airways & International Commercial Aviation.” National Air and Space Museum.
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--- (n.d. b) “Back to Auckland!” Pan Am Historical Foundation.
--- (n.d. c) “Canton Island: Pan Am’s Critical Stop-Over in the Pacific.” Pan Am Historical Foundation.
--- (n.d. d) “Chronicling Wake Island – A Brief History.” Pan Am Historical Foundation.
--- (n.d. e) “Pioneers: Kingman Reef.” Pan Am Historical Foundation.
Popular Mechanics (1935) "Trans-Pacific Airlines to Touch at Islands." Popular Mechanics. 63(4): 485.
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--- (1984) “National Historic Landmark Nomination: Wake Island.” National Park Service, May 13, 1984.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The American Home Front Before World War II
3. The American Home Front and the Buildup to World War II
3B The Selective Service Act and the Arsenal of Democracy
4. The American Home Front During World War II
4A A Date That Will Live in Infamy
4A(i) Maria Ylagan Orosa
4C Incarceration and Martial Law
4D Rationing, Recycling, and Victory Gardens
4D(i) Restrictions and Rationing on the World War II Home Front
4D(ii) Food Rationing on the World War II Home Front
4D(ii)(a) Nutrition on the Home Front in World War II
4D(ii)(b) Coffee Rationing on the World War II Home Front
4D(ii)(c) Meat Rationing on the World War II Home Front
4D(ii)(d) Sugar: The First and Last Food Rationed on the World War II Home Front
4D(iii) Rationing of Non-Food Items on the World War II Home Front
4D(iv) Home Front Illicit Trade and Black Markets in World War II
4D(v) Material Drives on the World War II Home Front
4D(v)(a) Uncle Sam Needs to Borrow Your… Dog?
4D(vi) Victory Gardens on the World War II Home Front
4D(vi)(a) Canning and Food Preservation on the World War II Home Front
4E The Economy
4E(i) Currency on the World War II Home Front
4E(ii) The Servel Company in World War II & the History of Refrigeration
5. The American Home Front After World War II
5A The End of the War and Its Legacies
5A(i) Post World War II Food
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Home Front Buildup to World War IIPlan for the Worst, Hope for the Best
Americans knew of the growing conflict during the 1930s. While trying to stay out of it, the government was also quietly preparing for war.
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The Home Front During World War IIVictory Gardens
Having to feed an expanded military and a hungry population, the US government encouraged Victory Gardens in communities and backyards.
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The Home Front During World War IIFood Rationing
The military's need for food and packaging, limited shipments from overseas, and agricultural laborers going to war meant food was rationed.
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