Texas National Guard engineers clear the way 130617-Z-ZB630-391

Camp Bowie is a

Texas Military Department The Texas Military Department (TMD) is an Government of Texas#State agencies, executive branch agency of the Government of Texas, Texas government. Along with the Texas Department of Public Safety, it is charged with providing the security of Tex ...

training center located in west-central

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

on the southern outskirts of Brownwood.

History

Camp Bowie, named in honor of the

patriot

James Bowie James Bowie ( ) (April 10, 1796 – March 6, 1836) was an American military officer, landowner and slave trader who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of him ...

, was a military training facility during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and was the third camp in Texas to be so named. From 1940 to 1946, it grew to be one of the largest training centers in Texas. In 1940, the war situation in Europe caused the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

to determine that the time had arrived to strengthen the defense system. President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

was handed the power to mobilize the National Guard units. The 36th Division of the Texas National Guard unit arrived at Camp Bowie, located then in Fort Worth, 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, Texas. Work began at the campsite on September 27, 1940. The camp was the first major defense project in the state, with no scarcity of labor when the building work began. In 1943, the first German

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

arrived; many were members of

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (; 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as The Desert Fox (, ), was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal) during World War II. He served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of ...

's Afrika Corps. The 2,700 men worked as day laborers for the farms in central 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 A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, sports venue, venue, or playing field, field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice, or shooting sport, competitions. ...

and several ammunition storage bunkers.

References

External links

* *
Camp Bowie
:- Written account from Joseph E Lehman between November 1943 and April 1944" See

* ttp://www.browncountyhistory.org/pow-camp-bowie.html Article regarding the POW camp {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Brown County, Texas Bowie Installations of the United States Army National Guard Military facilities in Texas 1940 establishments in Texas Texas Military Department Texas Military Forces Execution sites in the United States

History

See also

References

External links