The Santa Anita Ordnance Training Center also called Camp Santa Anita was a training center built for

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 ...

. Santa Anita Ordnance Training Center Rifle Range was built is what is now the foothills of the

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains () are a mountain range located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert ...

in the

Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the United States Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County in Southern California. The ANF manages a majority of the San Gabri ...

, just north of East Pasadena, California and

Sierra Madre, California Sierra Madre (Spanish language, Spanish for "mother range") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, with a population of 11,268 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. The city is in the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley below the southern ...

. The 1029 acres camp, opened on November 30, 1942, was used for rifle and pistol training. Also at the range was small anti-aircraft range and an infiltration course, a type of obstacle course. The range closed in 1944 and the land lease ended in 1950. Most of troops trained at the range were based at the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps's Santa Anita Ordnance Training Center at the

Santa Anita Racetrack Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of t ...

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

. Before used as a training center the Santa Anita Racetrack was used for the Santa Anita assembly center a temporary internment camp for Japanese Americans from March 27 to October 27 of 1942. Camp Santa Anita was also used to hold German

prisoner 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 ...

, held at the camp was several thousand 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 Korps troops captured during the

North African campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

. The Center had some

Italian Service Units The Italian Service Units or ISUs were military units composed of Italian prisoners of war (POWs) that served with the Allies during World War II against Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan from May 1944 to October 1945. The armed forces of the ...

working at the depot.Facebook, Camp Santa Anita
/ref>

References

External links

* {{Japanese American internment camps, state=expanded Installations of the United States Army in California 1942 establishments in California 1940s in California Formerly Used Defense Sites in California United States in World War II Military installations established in 1942

See also

References

External links