Photos, videos and docs of Don Barrett (aka DBs travels), with the keywords: "WWII"

Felicity CA Camp Pilot Know (# 0605b)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 02 May 2019 07:56:11 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

This is a reposting of a picture initially posted in 2017. The reposting is because I recently discovered that the outlines of Camp Pilot Knob, a WWII training base, were clearly visible on the Google Satellite view. Near this picture are three pictures taken from the Google Satellite view of the camp, details of the view are with those pictures. Here, some background on Camp Pilot Knob:

Per the inscription on the marker: “Camp Pilot Knob was a unit of the Desert Training Center, established by General George S. Patton Jr., to prepare American troops for battle during World War II. It was the largest military training ground ever to exist. At the peak of activity here at Pilot Knob, June - December, 1943, the 85th Infantry Division, and the 36th and 44th Reconnaissance Squadrons of the 11th (Mechanized) Cavalry trained for roles in the liberation of Europe, 1944-45.” (source Hmark link).

Per the Desert Training Center link, the camp was constructed between January and April of 1943 and was in use only until June of 1944. The only structures on the site were latrines and showers, and pyramidal wood frame tents. The entire camp was 4000 acres with about 700 acres being living area (see later picture) and the remainder was combat training area. The Corp of Engineer link has a map indicating the layout of the camp.

The camp was in an area that was later named Felicity, CA; it is five miles northwest of Yuma, AZ.

Sources:
Hmark: www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=50590
Desert Training Center: deserttrainingcenter.com/CampPilotKnob.html
Corp of Engineers: www.militarymuseum.org/cppilotknob.html

Felicity CA Camp Pilot Knob division headquarters (satellite 0)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 02 May 2019 07:56:07 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

North of the marker shown in the nearby picture (# 605b), what was the site of the division headquarters, per the Corp of Engineers map. Surprisingly, I could find no photos indicating what the structures in the headquarters area looked like.

One of the most impressive facts of these photos is how long the outlines of a very temporary camp remain evident in the desert. Seventy-five (75) years after the closure of a camp that had no permanent structures, the outlines of the camp remain clearly visible from the air.

Felicity CA Camp Pilot Knob overview (satellite D)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 02 May 2019 07:56:04 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

An overview of the entire living area of Camp Pilot Knob. While not as distinct as I would like, it’s clearly evident that the living area extended across much of the 2.2 mile stretch running from the railroad tracks on the right side of the picture to crossroad on the left side of the picture.

Note two things about the geography: 1) this is rotated 90 degrees (north is on the left side of the picture) so as to see the entire living area of the former camp, and 2) the railroad tracks on the right side predate the camp and there was probably a platform for troop trains alongside the tracks.

Exploring the area on a satellite image is fascinating. If for some reason the link to the map doesn’t work, here are the coordinates: 32°46'7" N, 114°45'12" W (32.768611, -114.753333).

Felicity CA Camp Pilot Knob detail (satellite D)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 02 May 2019 07:56:00 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

To give some sense of scale, a closeup of a remaining visible section of the camp near a contemporary home. Given that the ‘accommodations’ were wood frame tents, and given that in basic training during the war each tent would have house multiple men, it’s likely that there were 400-600 trainees in tents in the spaces north of what is now a contemporary house and out building.

The only pictures that I could find of life at Camp Pilot Knob were what appears to be personal pictures taken by a soldier (link below). If you go a couple of pictures either side of the soldier depicted in the linked photo, you can get at least a little sense of what training in the desert was like during WWII.

Camp photos: www.337thinfantry.net/DelmarDeSmidtPhotos/arocamppilotknob.html

Felicity CA WWII training (# 0604)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 06:56:02 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Plaque, placed by E Campus Vitus, describing Camp Pilot Knob.

Felicity CA WWII training (# 0605)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 06:55:54 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

In Felicity, with Center of The World in the background, a plaque acknowledging the site of the largest WWII military training ground ever to exist, Camp Pilot Knob. See adjacent picture.

Berlin Topography of Terror (#0014)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 06:33:42 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Grounds of the Topography of Terror, with the tower at Potsdam Platz in the distance.

Berlin Topography of Terror (#0013)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 06:33:37 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Grounds of the Topography of Terror.

Berlin Topography of Terror (#0009)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 06:33:31 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Grounds of the Topography of Terror.

Berlin Topography of Terror (#0006)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 06:33:24 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Basement walls of the building that was initially (in 1936) the location of the organization for concentration camps and later for the Gestapo. Prisoners were kept, and tortured, in the basement.

Berlin other 0091-2

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 07:28:30 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Renezvous (the couple), or more accurately, Nazi-era Flak towers built in the early years of WWII. See: www.flickr.com/photos/donbrr/19661289621

Berlin Schönholzer Soviet memorial (#0424)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 08:27:36 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

A sign outside the memorial with photos of the construction of the cemetery -- and a very American sticker.

Berlin Schönholzer Soviet memorial (#0420)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 08:27:28 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Surrounding the base of the obelisk, the graves of officers, here a lieutenant.

Berlin Schönholzer Soviet memorial (#0416)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 08:27:22 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

The obelisk, with the 'hall of honor' at the base. Buried beneath the 'hall of honor' are two Soviet colonels.

Berlin Schönholzer Soviet memorial (#0415)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 08:27:16 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Mother Russia, mourning her lost son. I didn't find a translation of the inscription and some of the letters are not visible, though roughly combining translations of the Russian and German results in something like this: The blood and death of Soviet heroes; the sorrows of mothers, widows, and orphans; for lasting peace between peoples.

Berlin Schönholzer Soviet memorial (#0413)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 08:27:08 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

a single rose..

Berlin Schönholzer Soviet memorial (#0411)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 08:26:59 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Berlin Schönholzer Soviet memorial (#0407)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 08:26:52 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Along the outside perimeter are these markers, each inscribed the names, rank, and birth dates of soldiers that could be identified.

Berlin Schönholzer Soviet memorial (#0404)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 08:26:47 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

The main grounds. Of the roughly 13,200 soldiers (including 120 women) buried here, less than a quarter of those were identifiable.

Berlin Schönholzer Soviet memorial (#0403)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 08:17:47 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

ENTBLÖSST DAS HAUPT
HIER SIND SOWJETISCHE SOLDATEN
HELDEN
DES GROSSEN VATERLANDISCHEN KRIEGES
1941-1945
ZUE EWIGEN RUHE GEBETTTET
SIE GABEN IHR LEBEN FUR EURE ZUKUNFT

Per the Wikipedia page, this translates to: "Uncover your head! Here are Soviet soldiers, heroes from the great war 1941-1945, laid to eternal rest." This translation drops out the ‘fatherland’ (VATERLANDISCHEN). Also in the Wikipedia page, the last line is missing which translates to: "They gave their lives for your future"