- Camp Bowie
Camp Bowie is a
United States National Guard training center located nearBrownwood, Texas .History
Camp Bowie, in honor of the
Texas patriotJames Bowie , was a military training facility duringWorld War II , and was the third camp in Texas to be so named. From 1940-1946 it grew to be one of the largest training centers in Texas.In 1940, the war situation in
Europe caused theUnited States Congress to determine that it was time to strengthen the defense system. PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt was handed the power to mobilize the National Guard units. The 36th Division of the Texas National Guard unit arrived at Camp Bowie in mid-December for their year's training, but before training was finished, war had been declared.On
September 19 ,1940 , the War Department announced that a camp would be built at Brownwood. Work began at the campsite onSeptember 27 ,1940 . The Camp was the first major defense project in the state and there was no scarcity of labor when the building work began.In 1943, the first German prisoners of war arrived; many were members of
Erwin Rommel 's once proud Afrika Corps. The 2,700 men that settled in were well behaved and had become day-laborers for the farms inCentral Texas .On
August 1 ,1946 the War Department notified Texas members of Congress that the Camp had been declared "surplus". The Civilian War Assets Administration was to take charge and began the distribution of the land and buildings.Camp Bowie suffered a large grass fire in July, 2008, where several hundred acres of dry grassy areas of the facility were burned.
Camp Bowie remains an active military training station and recently completed construction of new facilities including a firing range and several ammunition storage bunkers.
External links
* [http://www.war-letters.com/0004/ Camp Bowie] ":- Written account from Joseph E Lehman between November 1943 and April 1944" See [http://www.war-letters.com/0004/0021.html 21] [http://www.war-letters.com/0004/0024.html 24] [http://www.war-letters.com/0004/0025.html 25] [http://www.war-letters.com/0004/0029.html 29] [http://www.war-letters.com/0004/0030.html 30] [http://www.war-letters.com/0004/0032.html 32] [http://www.war-letters.com/0004/0033.html 33] [http://www.war-letters.com/0004/0034.html 34]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/camp-bowie.htm Camp Bowie - Information from GlobalSecurity.org]
* [http://www.browncountyhistory.org/pow-HeinrichKrahforst.html Interview with Heinrich Krahforst, former POW at Camp Bowie from 1943–1945]
* [http://www.browncountyhistory.org/pow-camp-bowie.html Article regarding the POW camp]
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