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be handled from supply depots in
England. When the soldiers were notified that they were on "Alert" status, they knew they would be shipping out within twelve hours. The soldiers removed their division sleeve patches, and their helmets were chalked with a letter and a number, indicating the proper marching order from the camp to the train and the railroad car to ride in. It was a short train ride to the New Jersey docks, and a harbor boat ferried troops to a waiting troopship. One source also advised that troops marched the four miles (6 km) from the camp to the
133:, when combined with Camp Shanks, made the area the largest staging area in the world. One of the primary functions as a staging area was to ensure each soldier and WAC left the U.S. fully equipped before crossing the Atlantic. The final field inspection at Camp Shanks identified any problems, made any necessary repairs, and replaced anything which could not be repaired. At the beginning of the war, no large depots existed in England from which soldiers could get their equipment. They carried their essentials with them in their backpacks or barracks bags.
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acknowledged major problems among some of the labor unions, primarily consisting of a gigantic kickback system. Camp Shanks officially opened
January 4, 1943, under the command of Colonel Kenna G. Eastman. The barracks in which the transient soldiers lived measured 20 feet by 100 feet and consisted of two rows of bunks and three coal-burning pot-belly stoves which provided the limited heat. Two
69:. Dubbed “Last Stop USA”, the camp housed about 50,000 troops spread over 2,040 acres (8.3 km) and was the largest World War II U.S. Army embarkation camp, processing 1.3 million service personnel. including 75% of those participating in the D-Day invasion. In 1945, Camp Shanks also housed German and Italian prisoners of war.
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During the second half of 1944, Camp Shanks was sending tens of thousands of troops overseas. Staging peaked in Oct 44, when 78,354 troops arrived while 85,805 troops departed. By the end of Nov 44, all staging areas in the U.S. stopped their final field inspections. Shortages and replacements could
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On the evening of
September 25, 1942, over 300 Orangeburg residents met at the Orangeburg School (now the city library) to learn that their homes, lots, and farms (amounting to approximately 2,040 acres (8.3 km) west of the museum) were being seized for the immediate construction of a military
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Camp Shanks also housed 1,200 Italian and 800 German prisoners of war between April 1945 and
January 1946, with the first Germans arriving in June 1945. At the close of the war, 290,000 POWs passed through Camp Shanks as they were processed for return to their native countries. The last German to
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Camp Shanks was a rush job, completed between
September 1942 and May 1943 at a cost of $ 44,391,335. Charges of corruption, petty theft, and disorderly behavior by workmen plagued the project. In June 1946, a federal grand jury cleared the military and the contractors of charges of graft, but
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camp. One hundred thirty families lost their homes. If the United States was to transport troops and equipment to Europe, it had to expand its military facilities around New York City. Colonel Drew C. Eberson, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, was the Chief Engineer during construction.
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detachments, consisting of over 400 women, were assigned to the camp, and filled positions ranging from clerk to mechanic to warehouse staff to armorer. Their freedom of movement on the installation was restricted.
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leave was on 22 July 1946, and the camp closed that month. Some of the buildings were converted to housing for veterans returning to school and the former camp was renamed Shanks
Village.
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After the war, old barracks buildings at Camp Shanks were converted into housing for veterans with families attending colleges and universities in the New York City area under the
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Camp Shanks served as a staging area for troops departing the New York Port of
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In June 1994, the Camp Shanks Museum opened near the site, at the intersection of New York State Routes
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Camp Shanks comprised one of three staging areas on the eastern seaboard. The other two,
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869:, newspaper for post-war Shanks Village, at Hudson River Valley Heritage Newspapers
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859:, bi-weekly newspaper for Camp Shanks, at Hudson River Valley Heritage Newspapers
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811:"Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment 757th Transportation Battalion"
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53:. The camp was the largest U.S. Army embarkation camp used during
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773:
United States; Army; Field
Artillery Battalion, 569th (1949).
667:
Maurice D. Hinchey Hudson River Valley
National Heritage Area
915:
Installations of the United States Army in New York (state)
697:"Last Stop, U.S.A.: A Salute to WWII at Camp Shanks Museum"
305:
481st Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Automatic Weapons) Battalion
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passes through some of the land that was once Camp Shanks.
703:. Nanuet, NY: Citizen Publishing Corporation of Rockland
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World War II prisoner-of-war camps in the United States
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749:"77th Station Hospital / 231st Station Hospital"
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920:Military and war museums in New York (state)
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838:Gottlock, Wesley, and Barbara H. Gottlock.
795:: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
610:Brown, Jessica Wambach (October 23, 2020).
297:294th Field Artillery Observation Battalion
45:, it was situated near the juncture of the
775:569th Field Artillery Battalion, 1944-1945
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16:WWII U.S. Army camp in Rockland County, NY
930:World War II museums in the United States
562:6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
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301:341st Engineer General Service Regiment
294:275th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
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842:. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2009.
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23:Camp Shanks Memorial in Orangeburg, NY
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925:Museums in Rockland County, New York
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226:56th Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade
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276:108th Antiaircraft Artillery Group
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663:"Camp Shanks World War II Museum"
211:32d Signal Construction Battalion
154:Units passing through Camp Shanks
612:"Camp Shanks: Last Stop, U.S.A."
583:Levine, David (September 2010).
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41:area. Named after Major General
840:Lost Towns of the Hudson Valley
617:. Arlington, VA: HistoryNet LLC
319:773rd Field Artillery Battalion
313:569th Field Artillery Battalion
291:258th Engineer Combat Battalion
288:248th Signal Operations Company
281:208th Engineer Combat Battalion
221:50th Armored Infantry Battalion
141:where they boarded troopships.
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695:King, Sean (August 13, 2021).
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338:35th Engineer Combat Battalion
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585:"Remembering Camp Shanks"
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404:442d Bombardment Squadron
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539:IX Tactical Air Command
529:390th Bombardment Group
509:490th Bombardment Group
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494:448th Bombardment Group
489:446th Bombardment Group
484:445th Bombardment Group
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474:379th Bombardment Group
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589:Hudson Valley Magazine
524:97th Bombardment Group
514:53d Troop Carrier Wing
499:452d Bombardment Group
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424:511th Fighter Squadron
419:509th Fighter Squadron
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389:315th Fighter Squadron
384:314th Fighter Squadron
374:371st Fighter Squadron
327:4031 Quartermaster TRK
285:231st Station Hospital
261:103d Infantry Division
256:94th Infantry Division
251:61st Surgical Hospital
246:83rd Infantry Division
241:75th Infantry Division
236:65th Infantry Division
231:63rd Infantry Division
216:48th Infantry Regiment
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891:41.03611°N 73.95833°W
701:Rockland County Times
552:USCGC Eagle (WIX-327)
429:523d Fighter Squadron
369:99th Fighter Squadron
364:60th Fighter Squadron
359:59th Fighter Squadron
354:58th Fighter Squadron
349:14th Fighter Squadron
206:16th Armored Division
196:12th Armored Division
191:10th Armored Division
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722:Bennett, Donald Sr.
637:"Camp Shanks Museum"
534:42d Bombardment Wing
379:301st Signal Company
181:6th Armored Division
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171:2d Infantry Division
145:Prisoner of war camp
39:Orangetown, New York
37:installation in the
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865:The Shanks Villager
469:367th Fighter Group
464:357th Fighter Group
459:324th Fighter Group
271:106th Cavalry Group
817:. February 9, 2007
641:Town of Orangetown
591:. Poughkeepsie, NY
454:48th Fighter Group
449:36th Fighter Group
439:27th Fighter Group
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728:Don Bennett's War
519:71st Fighter Wing
444:33d Fighter Group
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127:Camp Kilmer
28:Camp Shanks
909:Categories
882:73°57′30″W
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707:March 24,
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123:Brooklyn
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61:History
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669:. 2024
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546:Other
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779:OCLC
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