Camp Myles Standish

Camp Myles Standish was a U.S. Army camp located in Taunton, Massachusetts during World War II. It was the main staging area for the Boston Port of Embarkation, with about a million U.S. and Allied soldiers passing through the camp on their way overseas or returning for demobilization after the war. It was also a prisoner-of-war camp. Immediately after the war, it was considered as a candidate site for the United Nations Headquarters.

History

The city of Taunton was notified in June 1942 by the War Department that would be taken for use as a military staging area. The design of the layout for the camp was made by the J.F. Worcester Company. The Matthew Cummings Company of Boston received the contract to construct the buildings. The camp opened on October 8, 1942 and was named in honor of Myles Standish who was the first military commander of the Plymouth Colony region. Camp Myles Standish was the main staging area for the Boston Port of Embarkation where American soldiers as well as soldiers from Canada, Great Britain and Australia processed before moving to the European Theater of World War II, or after returning to the US for demobilization. The camp covered and could accommodate 1,298 officers and 23,100 enlisted personnel.

As such, a garrison quartermaster was set up so an entire division could be prepared for deployment within a day or arrival. This made train traffic understandably chaotic, with trains regularly coming into town from Providence, Rhode Island, Springfield, Massachusetts and Boston. The yard itself, run by the New Haven Railroad, contained about ten miles of track.

German soldiers who were captured during the war were detained at this camp. Italian soldiers were detained there as well although they were considered 'co-belligerents' because Italy had surrendered by the time the Italian soldiers arrived at Camp Myles Standish.

The camp closed in January 1946 following World War II. The site of Camp Myles Standish was briefly considered as a possible site for the United Nations.

There are several buildings that were once part of Camp Myles Standish that still remain standing as of 2009.

Redevelopment

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts took over the site from the federal government to create the Myles Standish State School for the Mentally Retarded. The patients of the institution were housed in the former hospital area for the former army camp. In 1951, Governor Paul A. Dever was instrumental in providing for over two dozen new brick buildings on the south part of the former army camp site. Following the death of former Governor Paul A. Dever, the Myles Standish State School was dedicated in memory of Paul A. Dever.
The City of Taunton acquired over of the former army camp in 1973 for the purpose of constructing a modern industrial park. The Myles Standish Industrial Park has continued to expand and has become one of the most successful industrial parks in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Units that passed through Camp Myles Standish

* 99th Infantry Division
* 106th Infantry Division
* 76th Infantry Division
* 10th Tank Battalion
* 11th Armored Division
* 172nd Infantry Brigade
* 17th Airborne Division
* 17th Field Artillery Brigade
* 20th Armored Division
* 20th Fighter Group
* 26th Infantry Division
*29th Transport Squadron
* 34th Tank Battalion
*289th Engineer Combat Battalion
* 372nd Military Police Company
* 395th Infantry Regiment
* 452d Bombardment Squadron (Medium)
*361st Fighter Squadron
* 47th Troop Carrier Squadron
*49th Troop Carrier Squadron
*501st Infantry Regiment
* 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion
* 643rd Tank Destroyer Battalion
* 669 Engineer Topographic Company
* 556th Antiaircraft Automatic Weapons Battalion (Mobile)
*218th CIC Detachment (Airborne)
* 57th Fighter Group
*5th Ranger Battalion
*68th Armor Regiment
* 70th Infantry Division
* 712th Tank Battalion
* 95th Infantry Division
* 99th Bombardment Wing
*III Corps
*30th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized) of the 30th Infantry Division
* 167th Engineer Combat Battalion
*980th Field Artillery Battalion
* 336th Engineer Combat Battalion
* 24th Armored Engineer Battalion
* 93rd Chemical Mortar Battalion
* 524th Military Police Battalion

See also

* List of military installations in Massachusetts

References

External links

Welcome back posterUSGS map of the western part of the campUSGS map of the eastern part of the camp

{{Authority control

Installations of the U.S. Army in Massachusetts
World War II prisoner of war camps in the United States
Defunct prisons in Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Taunton, Massachusetts
1942 establishments in Massachusetts
1948 disestablishments in Massachusetts