War Zone: World War II Off the North Carolina Coast

by Kevin P. Duffus

War Zone is a history of the time the enemy entered America’s front door unhindered, when the United States suffered but overcame the German U-boat menace. For seven months, black smoke and orange flames from torpedoed vessels filled the ocean skies from New England to New Orleans. Explosions rattled window panes and the nerves of coastal residents. Beaches were awash with wreckage, oil, empty lifeboats, and bodies. The majority of these attacks occurred off the North Carolina coast.

A gripping panorama, War Zone tells the story of the shameful betrayal of merchant sailors, of young Coast Guard recruits watching helplessly as sailors plunged into pools of burning oil, and of the baby born in a lifeboat. Learn about the intrepid men and women who defended America in little boats and in small planes; the truth behind the famous phrase “Sighted sub, sank same;” and the children who spied on German spies. Discover the real story behind the legends of secret agents, midget-submarine landings, a busload of naked Nazi U-boat POWs at New Bern, and the shelling of a chemical plant on Kure Beach. Follow the accounts of three climactic engagements between U.S. forces and German U-boats off the North Carolina coast with the Battle of the Atlantic hanging in the balance; and the time a tearful son from England visited his father’s grave on Ocracoke Island for the first time in 62 years.

This is the classic American story told from the perspective of everyday people who daily faced daunting challenges with perseverance, patriotism, and uncommon valor. Shocking, emotionally stirring, humorous, and ironic, War Zone preserves these memories of the greatest generation of Americans living on the coast of North Carolina in 1942.

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a good read, so informative and well-written. When I was done, I was almost lost without it because I just wanted it to keep going. I wanted to know more and more. The author managed to be funny where he could, surprising for a subject like this, but I appreciated his humor and irony when talking about the spies.


The greatest concentration of U-boat attacks occurred off NC’s Outer Banks, on the approaches to Diamond Shoals. The attacks revived the faltering salvage industry.

Island children would sail small skiffs in the sound, ride ponies on the beach, or explore the remains of shipwrecks for lost treasure. Lighthouse keeper’s children have raced each other down the stairs by sliding on the handrails.

Route 101 was called so because they had a 100 and 1 different ways to travel on the sand. The previous tracks in the sand would send the tires all over, would end up going into the tracks without wanting to.

It’s so tragic how all the lights on shore were illuminating the merchant ships and causing them to be lit up for the U-boats to easily see. And the U.S. Navy blamed the merchants, that their own lights were causing it—when they’d gotten no guidance from the Navy.

It was so funny how Duffus added up each clue of the Ocracoke counterfeit Nazi spy case, like the fact that they just showed up one day as spy clue #1!

It was so funny how he wrote all the spy propaganda and the far-fetched stories, picking them apart in a really funny way. Like saying naturally, sarcastically, in places where it was such a jump and wild leap to assume someone was a Nazi spy or that some outlandish story could actually be true, like the Austrian woman who came for the artist camp. “And naturally, as a result of her accent, her conspicuous dress, and her inquisitiveness, the 60-year-old Austrian woman was assumed by the Ocracokers to be the ringleader of the Nazi spy ring.” It was all so funny!

A schoolteacher and writer wrote a children’s book called Taffy of Torpedo Junction, but she made a lot up and changed the facts and timeline of history.

The Wahab Vilage Hotel and Theatre was renamed Blackbeard’s Lodge and still has the 1944 Navy winch that the Navy sailors wrapped around the hotel to keep it together after the hurricane, in the attic.

Historian David Stick’s father first envisioned the formation of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in 1933.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fairly quick read yet it digs into the people involved in the relatively short period of time where German submarines operated unopposed in the waters off of the east coast of the US, particularly in the waters around North Carolina. You get to understand the impact on the people and the way of life on the Outer Banks. You meet people whose name still rings on the Outer Banks today - the Midgette's and their interesting bus service. You get a feel for the lonely outpost that the islands were for the Coasties and how the constant loss of persons and materiel just off shore had a personal impact on the inhabitants of these barrier islands.

[Jabberwock · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fascinating perspective on how the war touched the outer banks communities and merchant sailors well before most of the nation! Even for readers without the context of Ocracoke and knowing these islands the author did a terrific job of conveying the humanity of sailors and civilians in a time of terrific strife.

[Artie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea for this book is better than its execution. It would benefit from better editing and more focus on the subject instead of tangents. I was also a bit disappointed that some things weren't even mentioned, like the fact that Duck was used as a target range for the navy.

[Neil Nurisso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on the war off our coast