Camp Haan was a

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

training camp built in 1940, near

March Air Force Base March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), previously known as March Air Force Base (March AFB) is located in Riverside County, California between the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. It is the home to the Air Force Reserve Command's ...

Riverside County, California Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Uni ...

Camp Haan was opened in January 1941 as a training camp for Coast Artillery Antiaircraft gunners. The 8,058 acres camp was about four miles by three miles with tent housing. The camp was named after Major General William George Haan of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. By the end of 1941, the camp had a wood service building, 28 miles of streets, five chapels, and a hospital. The first troops trained were sent for the defense of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. The

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawa ...

and the Battle of Los Angeles–

Bombardment of Ellwood The Bombardment of Ellwood during World War II was a naval attack by a Japanese submarine against United States coastal targets near Santa Barbara, California. Though the damage was minimal, the event was key in triggering the West Coast inv ...

had put all of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

on high alert. The Army Service Depot was added to the camp in March 1942. The site of the former Camp Haan is next to California Interstate 215 at the Van Buren Boulevard exit.

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

performed his radio show live at the camp on April 12, 1942. The winning of the North African campaign brought a number of Italian

Prisoners of War A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, 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 priso ...

(POW) to California. A POW camp was built in September 1942. It held 1,200 Italian prisoners. The Italian Service Unit of 3rd Italian Quartermaster Service Company worked at the camp. In April 1945, German POWs arrived at the camp. A US Army correctional center was also built at the camp. As wounded arrived from the Pacific War, an 800-bed Army hospital was built at the camp. Camp Haan at its peak had 80,000 troop, POWs, inmates, and hospital personnel. At the end of the war, the camp was used for temporary housing of troop coming from

Operation Magic Carpet Operation Magic Carpet was the post- World War II operation by the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and Asian theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory s ...

. Camp Haan was closed on August 31, 1946. The land was given back to March Air Base. In 1976, part of the former camp was used for the 921 acre

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers , making it the largest cemetery managed by the National Cemetery Administratio ...

. The site now houses the Riverside National Cemetery and the General Old Golf Course near Riverside, Riverside County, California. The site of the camp is across I-215 from March Air Reserve Base. The other part of the land became part of Arnold Heights houses. Arnold Heights is named after Army General

Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold Henry Harley Arnold (June 25, 1886 – January 15, 1950) was an American general officer holding the ranks of General of the Army and later, General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps (1938–1941), ...

References

{{reflist Military in Riverside County, California Military installations in California Closed training facilities of the United States Army History of Riverside County, California United States in World War II California Historical Landmarks 1942 establishments in California

See also

References