To all the folks who, like me, are in the U.S., I don’t know about you but my neighborhood got pretty boisterous last night. It seemed like everybody in this part of town was out in the streets shooting off mortars and cannons for several hours — and from what I see on the local news, it wasn’t only in my neighborhood. I’m lucky that the booming of fireworks doesn’t set off any particular anxiety in me; but one or two nearby explosions definitely made me jump! I finally put earplugs in my ears and brought the noise level of sporadic bangs down to a few dull thuds.

Strangely enought, it started me thinking about the London Blitz in 1940, when people spent so many nights in Underground stations trying to get some sleep while firebombs rained down on their city. Of course, compared to the Blitz a few illegal fireworks isn’t much — and the L.A. air raid didn’t really amount to much either, but I just couldn’t resist having a look at this episode of California’s Gold that originally aired on May 1, 2004. If you’ve never heard of this wartime event, don’t feel too bad. Huell tries to get to the bottom of exactly what happened that night, but even the folks who witnessed it aren’t entirely sure!

Huell visits the Fort MacArthur Museum in San Pedro to relive the Great Los Angeles Air Raid of February 1942.

(Click on the linked image below to see the video.)