Camp Clipper

Last updated
Camp Clipper and Camp Essex
CampClipper 1943.jpg
Camp Clipper in June 1943, 108th ECB street
Locationnear Fenner, California
Coordinates 34°46′13″N115°13′17″W / 34.77018261°N 115.22138865°W / 34.77018261; -115.22138865
Area21,537.78 acres
Built1942
ArchitectUS Army
Reference no.985.5
USA California location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Camp Clipper and Camp Essex in California
Desert Training Center 1943 Desert-training-center-1943.jpeg
Desert Training Center 1943
Camp Essex Service in 1943 Camp Essex DTV service in 1943.GIF
Camp Essex Service in 1943
Map of Desert training center with Camp Granite Desert training center - map.png
Map of Desert training center with Camp Granite
Desert Training Center map US Army 1943 US Army DesertTrainingCentermap.jpg
Desert Training Center map US Army 1943
US Army live fire exercises remains at Desert Training Center USarmylivefireexercises remains.jpg
US Army live fire exercises remains at Desert Training Center
Camp Clipper Army barracks rock boundary in 2010, Mojave Desert, California Camp Clipper barracks rock boundary.jpg
Camp Clipper Army barracks rock boundary in 2010, Mojave Desert, California

Camp Clipper and Camp Essex were subcamps of the US Army's Desert Training Center in San Bernardino County, California, located near Historic Route 66 and the Santa Fe Railway. The main headquarters for the Desert Training Center was Camp Young. This is where General George S. Patton's 3rd Armored Division was stationed. Camp Clipper was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.985.5). The site of Camp Clipper is now located near the Fenner Rest Area in Fenner, California, on Interstate 40 and Route 66, 32 miles (51 km) west of Needles in San Bernardino County, California, near the Clipper Mountains. Currently at the south end of the Mojave National Preserve. Camp Clipper was just to the east of Camp Essex. Clipper was a temporary camp for incoming and outgoing troops. Camp Essex was named after a small town near the camp, Essex. Near Camp Clipper was the 4,500 foot Camp Essex Army Airfield. [1] [2]

Contents

Built in 1942, Camp Essex and Camp Clipper were built to prepare troops to do battle in North Africa to fight the Nazis during World War II. At Camp Clipper were trained the 93rd Infantry Division. The trained troops went on to fight in the North African campaign. There was a temporary camp built for the training of the 33rd Infantry Division. When completed the camp had 36 shower buildings, an outdoor theater, 191 latrines, 149 wooden tent frames, and a 50,000-gallon water tank. Also built was a 500,000 gallon concrete reservoir and two 740-foot-deep wells. Camp had 14 training ranges. The camp was used shortly in 1944 for Italian prisoners of war. The camp closed on 16 March 1944 and is now overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. The army used live-fire exercises and warning signs are still on the site. [3] [4] [5]

Operating Camp Essex:

Operating Camp Clipper:

[6] [7]

Camp Essex Army Airfield

There was an air strip near Camp Clipper to support training activities. The runway was two 4,500 feet long runs made of steel landing mats with 6 parking pads at each end of the runway. The runway ran north-south, parallel to the old U.S. Route 66 and Camp Clipper. The runway was for the use of small planes, like the L-4 Piper Aircraft so the vast training grounds could be watched from the air. The runway was long enough for large planes to use in training exercises: Douglas C-50 cargo plane, Douglas A-20 Havoc, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Lockheed P-38 Lightning and Consolidated B-24 Liberator. In early 1950 the airfield was used as a private airfield, being not maintained it was abandoned in the late 1950s. [8]

Marker

Marker at the Eastbound Rest Stop in California reads: [9]

See also

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References