CA: Library to house desert history ~~ Goff hosted thousands of troops training in the Mojave Desert

San Bernardino County Sun ^ | 5/30/2005 | Chuck Mueller, Staff Writer

[investigateworld]

Thanks.
That whole area was part of CAMA, that being the California Arizona Maneuver Area.
General Patton was a hard taskmaster as he know these guys would be facing a tough enemy in North Africa shortly.
God bless them all.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From the above link:

On August 8, 1940, a Presidential order withdrew from public use almost 1,000 square miles of public land in the High Desert of Southern California. The land was established as the Mojave Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Range and later named Camp Irwin in memory of Major General George Irwin, , commander of the 57th Field Artillery Brigade during World War I. During World War II, Camp Irwin was used for training and served as an internment site for prisoners of war. In 1944, the camp was closed by the War Department and remained in caretaker status until 1951.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

That whole area was part of CAMA, that being the California Arizona Maneuver Area.

Would you know the general boundaries of that area....I'll do some googling on CAMA also.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Found this:

Historic California Posts

California/Arizona Maneuver Area

(Desert Training Center)

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Historic California Posts

California/Arizona Maneuver Area

(Desert Training Center)

This was the largest Army base in the world covering some 18,000 square miles. It stretched from the outskirts of Pomona, California eastward to within 50 miles of Phoenix, Arizona, southward to the suburbs of Yuma, Arizona and northward into the southern tip of Nevada. It existed primarily to train U.S. forces in desert warfare for the North African campaign.

Native Californian Major General George Smith Patton, Jr., commander of the I Armored Corps, was responsible for selecting this site in early 1942. As a native of southern California he knew the area well from his youth and from having participated in Army maneuvers here and in the Mojave Desert in the 1930s. Patton chose the small town of Desert Center, population 19, as his headquarters. At that time the training base was called "Desert Training Center" and had not yet reached it maximum size. Six months later it was given the CAMA name, and by November 1943, it had reached its maximum size after several expansions. Patton and his advanced team designated various locations within the area where tent camps would be built to house individual units. The camps were situated so that each unit could train individually without interfering with the other. Airfields, hospitals, supply depots and sites for other support services were selected as was a corps maneuvering area. The plan was that each division and or major unit would train in its own area, and near the end of its training period would participate in a corps (two divisions or more) exercise in the corps maneuvering area at Palen Pass. Upon completion of the corps exercise, the trained units would leave CAMA, and new units would arrive to begin their training and the process repeated.

The area chosen in the Mojave Desert was ultimately 350 miles wide and 250 miles deep. On 20 June 1942 the War Department acquired the land from the Department of the Interior by Public Land Order No. 1. The area included several sections in Riverside County, ranging from Indio, California to Arizona and from Las Vegas to Yuma. On May 12, 1942, by announcement of General Orders No. 7, the Desert Training Center was named Camp Young. On January 27, 1943, by announcement of General Orders No. 8, Camp Young "proper" (3,279.89 acres) became the Headquarters of the Desert Training Center/California-Arizona Maneuver Area (DTC/CAMA). By November 1943 CAMA had enlarged and included Camp Young, Camp Coxcomb, Camp Iron Mountain, Camp Granite, Camp Essex (later renamed Camp Clipper), Camp Ibis, Camp Hyder, Camp Horn, Camp Laguna, Camp Pilot Knob, Camp Bouse and several bombing and artillery ranges.

CAMA was divided into a Communication Zone and a Combat Zone. The Communications Zone surrounds and entirely encloses the Combat Zone. Those areas within the perimeter of the Communication Zone are not really maneuver areas. Camp Young was located outside the Combat Zone, within the Communication Zone (Desert Area Recreation Survey, Geography of Desert Training Center 1943).

General Patton, who was independently wealthy, purchased some commercial radio broadcasting equipment with his own funds and set up his own radio station within CAMA. The station broadcasted music and news most of the time except when Patton wanted to address the troops. He kept a microphone at his desk and another by his bed and broke into the programming whenever it suited him.

Patton's I Armored Corps trained here from April to August 1942 and then departed to participate in the invasion of North Africa which occurred in November 1942. As Patton and his.troops moved out, the II Armored Corps, under Major General Alvan Gillem, Jr., moved in. They trained at CAMA until October and their place was taken by the IV Armored Corps. They were followed in successive order by the IX Corps, XV Corps, IV Corps and X Corps.

When the Allied victory came in North Africa, the need for desert-trained units faded and in May 1944, CAMA was closed. Most of the sites can be visited, but some are difficult to reach. In most cases the only things that remain at the camp sites are streets, sidewalks, building foundations, patterns of hand-laid rocks for various purposes and trash dumps. Monuments have been erected at some of the camp sites and there are areas within CAMA that are fenced off with danger signs warning of unexploded ordnance. The following is a list of the California elements of CAMA.

 

• Blythe Army Air Field
• Camp Clipper
• Camp Coxcomb
• Camp Goffs
• Camp Granite
• Camp Iron Mountain
• Camp Ibis
• Desert Center Army Air Field
• Needles Airport
• Camp Ono
• Palen Pass
• Camp Pilot Knob
• Rice Army Air Field
• Camp Rice
• Shavers Army Air Field
• Thermal Army Air Field
• Camp Young

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Wonder if Fort Irwin was even part of this huge area?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Historic California Posts:
Camp Young

*********************************************

World War II's command headquarters for General George S. Patton's huge Desert Training Center, established for the training of troops in desert warfare, was estahlished sometime in 1942. It was located not far south of Indio, Riverside County, near the present junction of U.S. 10 and State Route195, where the Cottonwood Springs Road runs up through the Joshua Tree National Monument.

 

History

 

In early March of 1942 the War Department ordered Major General George Smith Patton, Jr., U.S. Army, to locate, create, equip, and command a desert training center in California to prepare troops to fight the Nazis in North Africa. These Army ground and air forces were to become skilled in desert warfare.

The area chosen in the Mojave Desert was ultimately 350 miles wide and 250 miles deep. On 20 June 1942 the War Department acquired the land from the Department of the Interior by Public Land Order No. 1. The area included several sections in Riverside County, ranging from Indio, California to Arizona and from Las Vegas to Yuma. On May 12, 1942, by announcement of General Orders No. 7, the Desert Training Center was named Camp Young. On January 27, 1943, by announcement of General Orders No. 8, Camp Young "proper" (3,279.89 acres) became the Headquarters of the Desert Training Center/California-Arizona Maneuver Area (DTC/CAMA). By November 1943 CAMA had enlarged and included Camp Young, Camp Coxcomb, Camp Iron Mountain, Camp Granite, Camp Essex (later renamed Camp Clipper), Camp Ibis, Camp Hyder, Camp Horn, Camp Laguna, Camp Pilot Knob, Camp Bouse and several bombing and artillery ranges.

 

CAMA was divided into a Communication Zone and a Combat Zone. The Communications Zone surrounds and entirely encloses the Combat Zone. Those areas within the perimeter of the Communication Zone are not really maneuver areas. Camp Young was located outside the Combat Zone, within the Communication Zone (Desert Area Recreation Survey, Geography of Desert Training Center 1943).

 

Between 800,000 and 1,000,000 soldiers prepared for warfare at the CAMA. Camp Young was the administrative headquarters and the focal point of the maneuvers area for General Patton's 3rd Armored Division. The overwhelming focus of the training was on tank warfare. Camp Young remained the focal point for the CAMA until the closure of the center in 1944. In January 1943 per General Order No. 9, First Headquarters Special Troops was organized to supervise training and administer non-divisional units, except Field-Artillery, in the desert. Due to the large area of the CAMA, three additional Special Troops Headquarters were created to control and supervise. The 601st Engineer Camouflage Battalion was assigned to Camp Young December 1942. Also, stationed at Camp Young was the IV Corps Command Headquarters. From October 1943 to January 1944 the primary mission of the headquarters transitioned from purely training activities to almost 100% Preparation and Movement of units for Overseas Shipment (POM).

A series of 13 ranges was constructed south and west of Camp Young. The ranges were designed for small caliber arms and for mortar fire including 37mm, 75mm, and 155mm (Camp Young Range n.d.). Shavers Army Airfield (a small runway) was built east of and adjacent to Camp Young.

 

Almost all the land acquired for the California - Arizona Maneuver Area was declared surplus by the War Department on 16 March 1944. The land acquired for the Camp Young site was relinquished on 14 January 1947 to the Department of the Interior by Public Land Order No. 342. The Camp Young site consists of 3,279.89 acres.

 

Known Units at Camp Young:

 

252nd Italian Quartermaster Salvage Repair Company.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Between 800,000 and 1,000,000 soldiers prepared for warfare at the CAMA. Camp Young was the administrative headquarters and the focal point of the maneuvers area for General Patton's 3rd Armored Division. The overwhelming focus of the training was on tank warfare.

Just unreal!!!

[investigateworld]

Basically yes. But Fort Irwin was a more focused type of training as illustrated by it's initial name: Mojave Anti-aircraft Training Range. It was was called Camp Maar by the locals.

Camp Irwin (gads I knew it by that name long before Fort Irwin) and the CAMA facilities where all supported logistically (everything but bullets) by Camp Ono in San Bernardino. Following the defeat of the Axis forces in North Africa, Camp Ono housed a large contingent of Italian POWS*. They supposedly rioted when they were told they were going home, but I don't buy it. Sump'n else set them off.
*As did the ARMY base at YERMO. Old desert dude trivia LOL !

[lainie]

There ya go. On the drive out, Ft. Irwin is a sight to behold even today.

[lainie]

That is unreal. I saw a figure somewhere, also, that the largest number of troops at one time was 16,000. That's like a George Lucas movie. :-)

[GVnana]

Just unreal!!!

Indeed. Wouldn't it be incredible to see an reenactment?

[The Right Stuff]

I am a native Californian, we used to go off roading out there all the time. It is quite beautiful - just not in the summer. Thanks for the ghost town links, they will come in handy when we go out there next!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the info!

[Brad’s Gramma]

Anyone up for a field trip? This is SO NEAT!!!! Thanks for the links!