Lincoln County Guerrillas

This photograph was taken by an Oregon Journal photographer in April 1942. It shows Company A of the Lincoln County Guerrillas standing in formation on the beach at Oceanlake (present-day Lincoln City).

After the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, many Oregonians worried that the Japanese might follow-up with an invasion of the Pacific Coast. Inspired by guerrilla fighters in Europe, Oregonians organized numerous paramilitary groups to protect their communities against this threat. The first guerrilla unit was organized in Florence, where 200 armed men gathered to patrol the beach and organize a blackout after they heard of the attack on Pearl Harbor. This group, which became known as the Siuslaw Rifles, soon grew to 500 strong. “These volunteers,” historian G. Thomas Edwards writes, “like others in coastal communities, understood that their prime responsibility was to resist a Japanese landing until regulars arrived from the interior.”

The men of Lincoln County began organizing guerrilla units in March 1942. In North Lincoln County sixty-five men organized Company A, Lincoln County Guerrillas, and elected as their leader Nelscott resident Stuart D. Campbell. Edwards writes that Campbell, a veteran of World War I, “had a powerful voice, a military bearing, and an enthusiasm for his role as military leader.”

Company A soon grew to over 100 members. Non-citizens were excluded, but minors were allowed to serve if they had the consent of their parents. Members took an oath promising to “keep my eyes and ears open to observe and defeat the efforts of all forms of subversive activity,” and pledging to make “the supreme sacrifice in case of need.” A local woman composed their official song, the chorus of which went:

The farmer, the barber, the dentist, the clerk,
The sawyer, the lawyer, the man of any work,
We have made this common boast,
“We’ll protect this Western Coast,”
We’re Company A of Lincoln County Guerrillas.

On April 5, 1942, the Oregon Journal published a photo spread of Company A. “Any attempted invasion of the Oregon coast between Waldport and the Clatsop county line,” the accompanying article read, “is apt to meet determined resistance from the state’s growing force of guerrillas.” The following month the Lincoln County Guerrillas were absorbed by the Oregon State Guard, a civil defense organization created to fill in for the Oregon National Guard, which was serving on active duty.

Further Reading:
Edwards, G. Thomas. “The Oregon Coast and Three of Its Guerrilla Organizations, 1942,” in The Pacific Northwest in World War II, edited by Carlos Schwantes. Manhattan, Kan., 1986.

Written by Cain Allen, Oregon Historical Society, 2006.