Camp Myles Standish was a

U.S. 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, cl ...

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

located in

Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Bristol County. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was the main staging area for the

Boston Port of Embarkation The Boston Port of Embarkation (BPOE) was a United States Army command responsible for the movement of troops and supplies from the United States to overseas commands. In World War I it was a sub-port of the New York Port of Embarkation. During ...

, with about a million U.S. and Allied soldiers passing through the camp on their way overseas or returning for demobilization after the war. It was also a

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

. Immediately after the war, it was considered as a candidate site for the

United Nations Headquarters The United Nations is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, and the complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1951. It is in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neig ...

History

The city of

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

was notified in June 1942 by the War Department that would be taken for use as a military staging area. The design of the layout for the camp was made by the J.F. Worcester Company. The Matthew Cummings Company of Boston received the contract to construct the buildings. The camp opened on October 8, 1942 and was named in honor of

Myles Standish Myles Standish (c. 1584 – October 3, 1656) was an English military officer and colonizer. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States by the Pilgrims. Standish accompanied the Pilgrims on ...

who was the first military commander of the

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the British America, first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the pa ...

region. Camp Myles Standish was the main staging area for the

where American soldiers as well as soldiers from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

processed before moving to the

European Theater of World War II The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

, or after returning to the US for demobilization. The camp covered and could accommodate 1,298 officers and 23,100 enlisted personnel. As such, a garrison quartermaster was set up so an entire division could be prepared for deployment within a day or arrival. This made train traffic understandably chaotic, with trains regularly coming into town from

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The yard itself, run by the

New Haven Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

, contained about ten miles of track. German soldiers who were captured during the war were detained at this camp. Italian soldiers were detained there as well although they were considered 'co-belligerents' because

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

had surrendered by the time the Italian soldiers arrived at Camp Myles Standish. The camp closed in January 1946 following World War II. The site of Camp Myles Standish was briefly considered as a possible site for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. There are several buildings that were once part of Camp Myles Standish that still remain standing as of 2009.

Redevelopment

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts took over the site from the federal government to create the Myles Standish State School for the Mentally Retarded. The patients of the institution were housed in the former hospital area for the former army camp. In 1951, Governor

Paul A. Dever Paul Andrew Dever (January 15, 1903April 11, 1958) was an American Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts. He served as the 58th Governor of Massachusetts and was its youngest-ever Attorney General. Among his notable accomplishments ...

was instrumental in providing for over two dozen new brick buildings on the south part of the former army camp site. Following the death of former Governor

, the Myles Standish State School was dedicated in memory of Paul A. Dever. The City of Taunton acquired over of the former army camp in 1973 for the purpose of constructing a modern industrial park. The Myles Standish Industrial Park has continued to expand and has become one of the most successful industrial parks in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Units that passed through Camp Myles Standish

99th Infantry Division The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. The "Checkerboard" or "Battle Babies" division landed at the French port of Le Havre and proceeded northeast to Belgium. During the heavy fighting in the Battle of the ...

* 106th Infantry Division * 76th Infantry Division * 10th Tank Battalion * 11th Armored Division * 172nd Infantry Brigade * 17th Airborne Division * 17th Field Artillery Brigade * 20th Armored Division * 20th Fighter Group * 26th Infantry Division * 29th Transport Squadron * 34th Tank Battalion * 289th Engineer Combat Battalion * 372nd Military Police Company * 395th Infantry Regiment * 452d Bombardment Squadron (Medium) * 361st Fighter Squadron *

47th Troop Carrier Squadron 47th may refer to: Chicago Transit Authority stations * 47th station (CTA Green Line) 47th is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's "L" system, located in the Grand Boulevard community area of Chicago, Illinois and serving the Green ...

* 49th Troop Carrier Squadron * 501st Infantry Regiment * 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion *

643rd Tank Destroyer Battalion The 643rd Tank Destroyer Battalion was a tank destroyer battalion of the United States Army active during the Second World War. The battalion was activated at Camp Blanding on 15 December 1941, in line with the reorganisation of the anti-tank f ...

* 669 Engineer Topographic Company * 556th Antiaircraft Automatic Weapons Battalion (Mobile) * 218th CIC Detachment (Airborne) * 57th Fighter Group *

5th Ranger Battalion The 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion was a United States Army Rangers, Ranger battalion activated during World War II on 1 September 1943 at Camp Forrest, Tennessee. By this time, while in maneuvers on the United States, they were commanded by th ...

68th Armor Regiment The 68th Armor Regiment is an armored regiment of the United States Army. It was first activated in 1933 in the Regular Army as the 68th Infantry Regiment (Light Tanks). Lineage The regiment was originally constituted on 9 July 1918 in the Reg ...

* 70th Infantry Division *

712th Tank Battalion 71 may refer to: * 71 (number) * one of the years 71 BC, AD 71, 1971, 2071 * 71'' (film), 2014 British film set in Belfast in 1971 * '' 71: Into the Fire'', 2010 South Korean film See also * List of highways numbered A ''list'' is any set of i ...

* 95th Infantry Division *

99th Bombardment Wing The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. The "Checkerboard" or "Battle Babies" division landed at the French port of Le Havre and proceeded northeast to Belgium. During the heavy fighting in the Battle of the ...

III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to: France * 3rd Army Corps (France) * III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of th ...

* 30th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized) of the 30th Infantry Division * 167th Engineer Combat Battalion * 980th Field Artillery Battalion * 336th Engineer Combat Battalion * 24th Armored Engineer Battalion * 93rd Chemical Mortar Battalion * 524th Military Police Battalion

References

External links

Welcome back posterUSGS map of the western part of the campUSGS map of the eastern part of the camp
{{Authority control Installations of the U.S. Army in Massachusetts World War II prisoner of war camps in the United States Defunct prisons in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Taunton, Massachusetts 1942 establishments in Massachusetts 1948 disestablishments in Massachusetts