Camp Barkeley
Caps, Taylor County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(February 15, 1941 - March 21, 1945) Site of main entrance to Camp Barkeley, one of the nation's largest military camps of World War II. At peak, 60,000 men were in training here. Named for Private David B. Barkeley of the 89th Division, who died on a secret scouting expedition behind German lines during the Meuse-Argonne Battle of World War I. Among famous units trained here were the 45th and 90th Infantry Divisions and the 11th and 12th Armored. A medical replacement training center, the largest in the country, was also established here, with 15 battalions. In May, 1942, the Medical Administrative Corps Officer Candidate School was activated and graduated about 12,500 candidates. Camp Barkeley eventually grew to be a complete city unit twice the size of Abilene of the 1940s. It had a 2,300-bed hospital, 2 cold storage plants, a bakery, 4 theaters, 2 service clubs for enlisted men, 15 chapels, and 35 post exchange buildings. The military personnel were housed in hutments, except for some 4,000 in barracks. Part of the post was also a German prisoner-of-war camp. Once some of the prisoners escaped, to the alarm of Abilene citizens, and others attempted to tunnel under the fences. Camp Barkeley was declared surplus in 1945. (1969)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
From 1941 to 1945, Camp Barkeley was one of the nation's largest World War II training posts, holding up to 60,000 men at its peak — a military city twice the size of 1940s Abilene. It trained famous infantry and armored divisions, hosted the country's largest medical replacement center and an officer candidate school, and even held German prisoners of war, some of whom escaped or tried to tunnel out. It was named for Private David B. Barkeley, killed on a scouting mission in the Meuse-Argonne offensive of World War I.
Why it matters
Barkeley shows how the Second World War transformed rural American landscapes almost overnight into vast training cities that shaped a generation of soldiers.
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Related people
- · David B. Barkeley
Related events
- · World War II
- · Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
12th Armored Division at Camp Barkeley
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Established in 1940, Camp Barkeley grew into one of the nation's largest World War II training bases, at its peak housing more than twice the population of nearby Abilene. The 12th Armored Division arrived in November 1943, drilling day and night with tanks, armored infantry, and field artillery until it qualified for combat and shipped to Europe in September 1944. Nicknamed the 'Hellcats' and dubbed the 'Mystery Division' in General Patton's drive to the Rhine, the division earned more than 800 battle decorations before the camp was deactivated in 1945.
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The 45th Infantry Division — the 'Thunderbirds,' drawn from National Guard units in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma — was among the first divisions called into federal service in 1940 and relocated to Camp Barkeley near Abilene in early 1941. Finding the camp little more than a tent city on undrained prairie, the soldiers nicknamed it 'Camp Smokey Okie' and trained hard before shipping out through North Africa to Europe. Across 511 days of combat in Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany they earned eight Medals of Honor and helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp in April 1945; the division was recalled for the Korean War, where it suffered further heavy losses.
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