uly first nineteen hundred forty two, General Orders Number one, Paragraph one; The 440th Separate Coast Artillery Battalion, (Automatic Weapons) (Mobile) is activated at 12:01 AM, July 1, 1942, in compliance with General Orders No. 25, Headquarters Antiaircraft Command, Richmond, Virginia, dated June 13, 1942. That was all there was to it but yet it destined to be different. Even way back then the 440th stood out from the crowd, as though it knew it was destined to become a rough and tough fighting outfit. Yes that is all it took to bring us together and carry us through this 2nd World War, just a sheet of paper with some typing and a signature on it.
Our birthplace was Camp Haan in California where the sun beat down day in and day out with unceasing, brilliance and intensity of heat. Not all of us can remember Haan for now we have many new faces in the Battalion. But those who do can hark back to some of the things we did there. At first all we did was get organized, with men coming from everywhere and at about seven different times, it was really a job. But everyone cooperated and the job was successfully completed.
The training period of the outfit was indeed something to marvel at for we spent more time learning how to do this and that than any other outfit in the history of anti-aircraft. Judging from the record we have made for ourselves though, we learned well. Many of us thought that we would train all through the war instead of getting in the thick of it.
Our first actual firing of our guns was in September of nineteen forty-two when we went to Camp MAAR for more than a month. While we were there we had both preliminary and record firing and incidentally, made a good showing. Finally the target practice was finished and we headed back toward camp HAAN via Las Vegas, Needles. Quartsite, and Blythe covering a total of more than seven hundred miles.