Replacement depot

Last updated

A replacement depot in United States military terminology is a unit containing reserves or replacements for large front-line formations, such as field armies. As such, the term refers to formations similar to, but larger than, march battalions in other countries. The slang term "repple depple" came into common use in the US Army during World War II. [1]

Contents

These depots were used by the US Army in the Pacific, North Africa, Italy, and Europe in World War II. They were efficient at continuously keeping fighting units at high numerical strength during prolonged combat when compared to the German system, but were found to be deleterious to morale as the men assigned from these large pools often had poor esprit de corps and were unfamiliar with the names, history, and traditions of the formations to which they were subsequently assigned. [2] The handling of the replacements in a bulk, impersonal way by permanent depot staff tended to cause psychological trauma such that they were weakened by the experience. [3] The Oxford English Dictionary notes, in a citation from The New York Times Magazine , 9 December 1945, that "repple depples, in short, are dreary places." [1]

Locations

World War I

1st Replacement Depot, St Aignan, France: support for the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF).

World War II

Location of replacement depots in Europe c. January 1945. [4]

List of Replacement depot in European theatre
DepotLocationPurpose(s)
Training Center No. 1 Shrivenham, England Retraining of limited assignment men for new duty
2nd Replacement Depot Thaon, France US Seventh Army direct support depot
3rd Replacement Depot Verviers, Belgium US First Army direct support depot
9th Replacement Depot Fontainebleau, France Officer and officer candidate retraining center
10th Replacement Depot Lichfield, England Processing of hospital returnees
11th Replacement Depot Givet, Belgium US First Army intermediate depot
US Ninth Army intermediate depot
12th Replacement Depot Tidworth, England Theater reception depot
Enlisted retraining center
14th Replacement Depot Neufchâteau, France US Third Army intermediate depot
US Seventh Army intermediate depot
15th Replacement Depot Le Havre, France Theater reception depot
16th Replacement Depot Compiègne, France Enlisted retraining center
17th Replacement Depot Angervilliers, France US Third Army direct support depot
18th Replacement Depot Tonges, Belgium US Ninth Army direct support depot
19th Replacement Depot Étampes, France Processing of hospital returnees
51st Replacement Battalion Charleville, France US Fifteenth Army direct support depot
54th Replacement Battalion Marseilles, France Theater reception depot
6900th Provisional Depot Verviers, Belgium Field army intermediate depot
Officer and officer candidate retraining center
6960th Provisional Depot Coëtquidan, France Enlisted retraining center
List of Replacement depot in Asian theatre
DepotLocationdatePurpose(s)Note
Hawaii Replacement Depot Scofield Barracks November 19, 1942 ~ November 1, 1943
1st Replace Depot
4th Replacement DepotAustralia
Camp Zama, Japan
November 5, 1942 ~ January 25, 1945 [5]
5th Replace Depot
6th Replace Depot New Caledonia
13rd Replace Depot Oahu
23rd Replace Depot Saipan
25th Replace Depot Scofield Barracks

After World War II

Location of replacement depots after World War II and the Cold War.

DepotLocationFormation servedNote
8068th Replacement Depot Beppu, Japan
8069th Replacement Depot Pusan, South Korea [6]
8091st Replacement Depot
8609th Replacement Depot Camp Drake, Sasebo, Japan

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commando</span> Soldier or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force; commando unit

A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines.

Corps is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies greatly, but two to five divisions and anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 are the numbers stated by the US Department of Defense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Expeditionary Forces</span> U.S. Army formation on the Western Front of World War I

The American Expeditionary Forces was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front during World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of then-Major General John J. Pershing. It fought alongside French Army, British Army, Canadian Army, British Indian Army, New Zealand Army and Australian Army units against the Imperial German Army. A small number of A. E. F. troops also fought alongside Italian Army units in 1918 against the Austro-Hungarian Army. The A. E. F. helped the French Army on the Western Front during the Aisne Offensive in the summer of 1918, and fought its major actions in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in the latter part of 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">13th Airborne Division (United States)</span> US military unit

The 13th Airborne Division was an airborne forces formation of division-size of the United States Army that was active during World War II. The division was commanded for most of its existence by Major General Elbridge G. Chapman. It was officially activated in the United States in August 1943 at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, remaining active until February 1946, however it never saw combat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German Army</span> Land warfare branch of Germanys military since 1955

The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr together with the Marine and the Luftwaffe. As of January 2022, the German Army had a strength of 62,766 soldiers.

A march battalion is a military unit comprising replacement and support personnel, usually for a regiment or brigade-sized formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">76th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The 76th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, which was formed in November 1941 and served during the Second World War. It was created when the Norfolk County Division, initially raised in 1940 to defend the Norfolk coast from a potential German invasion, was redesignated. The division maintained the defensive duties that had been assigned to it, prior to it being renamed, until late 1942 when it became a training formation. It was then responsible for providing final tactical and field training to soldiers who had already passed their initial training. After five additional weeks of training, the soldiers were posted to fighting formations overseas. The formation was used as a source of reinforcements for the 21st Army Group, that was fighting in the Normandy campaign. After all available British troops had left the United Kingdom for France, the division was disbanded in September 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">80th Infantry (Reserve) Division (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The 80th Infantry (Reserve) Division was an infantry division of the British Army formed at the beginning of 1943, during the Second World War. For the twenty months that the division existed, it was a training formation. It was made responsible for providing final tactical and field training to soldiers who had already passed their initial training. After five additional weeks of training, the soldiers would be posted to fighting formations overseas. Notably, the division was used as a source of reinforcements for the 21st Army Group, which was fighting in Normandy. After all available troops left the United Kingdom for France, the division was disbanded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base</span> Former German Air Force military airfield in Bavaria, Germany

Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base is a former German Air Force airfield near the town of Fürstenfeldbruck in Bavaria, near Munich, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military organization</span> Structuring of armed forces of a state

Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation's armed forces, though not considered military. Armed forces that are not a part of military or paramilitary organizations, such as insurgent forces, often mimic military organizations, or use these structures, while formal military organization tends to use hierarchical forms.

<i>Feldgendarmerie</i> German military police

The Feldgendarmerie were a type of military police units of the armies of the Kingdom of Saxony, the German Empire and Nazi Germany until the conclusion of World War II in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">313th Military Intelligence Battalion (United States)</span> Military unit

The 313th Military Intelligence Battalion was an active duty Airborne Military Intelligence Battalion of the United States Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German Army (1935–1945)</span> 1935–1945 land warfare branch of the German military

The German Army was the land forces component of the Wehrmacht, the regular Armed Forces of Nazi Germany, from 1935 until it effectively ceased to exist in 1945 and then was formally dissolved in August 1946. During World War II, a total of about 13.6 million soldiers served in the German Army. Army personnel were made up of volunteers and conscripts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imperial German Army</span> 1871–1919 land warfare branch of the German military

The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army, was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Prussia, and was dissolved in 1919, after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I (1914–1918). In the Federal Republic of Germany, the term Deutsches Heer identifies the German Army, the land component of the Bundeswehr.

The history of the United States Army began in 1775, as part of the United States Armed Forces. The Army's main responsibility has been in fighting land battles and military occupation. The Corps of Engineers also has a major role in controlling rivers inside the United States. The Continental Army was founded in response to a need for professional soldiers in the American Revolutionary War to fight the invading British Army. Until the 1940s, the Army was relatively small in peacetime. In 1947, the Air Force became completely independent of the Army Air Forces. The Army was under the control of the War Department until 1947, and since then the Defense Department. The U.S. Army fought the Indian Wars of the 1790s, the War of 1812 (1812–15), Mexican–American War (1846-1848), American Civil War (1861–65), American Indian Wars, Spanish–American War (1898), World War I (1917–18), World War II (1941–45), Korean War (1950–53) and Vietnam War (1965–71). Following the Cold War's end in 1991, Army has focused primarily on Western Asia, and also took part in the 1991 Gulf War and war in Iraq, and the war in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Army Air Forces</span> Aerial warfare branch of the United States Army from 1941 to 1947

The United States Army Air Forces was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and de facto aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II (1941–1947). It was created on 20 June 1941 as successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps and is the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force, today one of the six armed forces of the United States. The AAF was a component of the United States Army, which on 2 March 1942 was divided functionally by executive order into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the United States Army Services of Supply, and the Army Air Forces. Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sierra Army Depot</span> Airport in Sierra Army Depot, California

Sierra Army Depot (SIAD) is a United States Army post and military equipment storage facility located near the unincorporated community of Herlong, California. It was built in 1942 as one of several ammunition storage facilities located far enough inland to be safe from Japanese attack, yet close enough to western military posts and ports to facilitate shipment of supplies. The site also met the requirement that the depot be in a dry and isolated area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greensboro Training Center</span>

The Greensboro Training Center is a closed United States Army Air Forces installation. It was last assigned to the United States Army Personnel Distribution Command. It was closed on 15 December 1946.

References

  1. 1 2 "Repple depple". Oxford English Dictionary . Oxford University Press. 2002.
  2. Karsten, Peter (2006). Encyclopedia of war and American society. Sage publications. pp. 727, 1115.
  3. Merton, Robert King (1957). Social theory and social structure. Free Press. pp. 272–75.
  4. Ruppenthal, Robert G. (1959). HyperWar: Logistical Support of the Armies, Vol. II: September 1944 - May 1945. Washington, DC: Department of the Army. Retrieved July 9, 2014 via www.ibiblio.org.
  5. 14th Personnel Center U.S. Army Center of Military History, November 15, 2006
  6. "Retreat ceremony planned for closing of Camp Hialeah". Stars and Stripes.