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Camp Barkeley Structures Photos Camp Barkeley Activities
11th
Armored Division
GIs that served at Camp Barkeley |
Camp Barkeley, Texas Site of main
entrance to Camp Barkeley, one of the nation's largest military camps of
World War II. At peak, 60,000 men were in training here. Named for
Private David B. Barkeley of the 89th Division, who died on a secret
scouting expedition behind German lines during the Meuse-Argonne Battle
of World War I. Among famous units trained here were the 45th and 90th
Infantry Divisions and the 11th and 12th Armored. A medical replacement
training center, the largest in the country, was also established here,
with 15 battalions. In May, 1942, the Medical Administrative Corps
Officer Candidate School was activated and graduated about 12,500
candidates. Camp Barkeley eventually grew to be a complete city unit
twice the size of Abilene of the 1940s. It had a 2,300-bed hospital, 2
cold storage plants, a bakery, 4 theaters, 2 service clubs for enlisted
men, 15 chapels, and 35 post exchange buildings. The military personnel
were housed in hutments, except for some 4,000 in barracks. Part of the
post was also a German prisoner-of-war camp. Once some of the prisoners
escaped, to the alarm of Abilene citizens, and others attempted to
tunnel under the fences. Camp Barkeley was declared surplus in 1945.
(1969)
(Left) Aerial
View of Camp Barkeley. (Right) WWII Era Greeting Post Card from
Camp Barkeley
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