Induction and Training
After receiving his draft notice, Raoul reported to Fort Devens for induction into the U.S. Army.
induction consisted of passing physicals, taking intelligence and proficiency
exams, getting you uniforms issued to the men. after processing the Army the
came basic training which lasted about 8 weeks. Uncle Raoul remained at Fort
Devens until he finished his basic training. Fort Devens has a unique history.
It was created by the demands of World War I, and had been a part of the New England scene for 79 years. Named in honor of Brevet Major General Charles Devens, a Massachusetts son who served in the Union Army during the Civil War, then later served as Attorney General during the Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes. Originally Fort Devens was a temporary cantonment area known as Camp Devens, the post came into existence on September 5, 1917. Two divisions were activated and trained at Camp Devens (the 76th and the 12th) between August, 1917 and November, 1918. Following the end of World War I, the camp was designated a demobilization center. Camp Devens processed more than 100,000 selectees into the Army, and as a demobilization center, processed more than 150,000 men out of the Army. On September 1, 1921, Camp Devens was declared excess to the U.S. Army’s needs and was put on caretaker status. From 1922, through the summer of 1931, Camp Devens was utilized as a summer training camp for New England-based National Guard troops, Reserve Units, ROTC cadets and Citizens’ Military Training Camp (CMTC) candidates. In the summer of 1928, construction of the first two permanent buildings got underway, one a regimental barracks and one a battalion barracks.
In September, 1931, the 13th Infantry Regiment was garrisoned at Camp Devens along with three companies of the 1st Tank Regiment. The following month the camp was declared a permanent installation, and in 1932, it was formally dedicated as Fort Devens. At that time, the three tank companies were inactivated and immediately reactivated as the 3rd Battalion, 66th Infantry (Light Tanks). A limited building program continued at Fort Devens, along with a post beautification program throughout the 1930s, with much of the funds coming from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
Following the outbreak of World War II in Europe, plans were formulated to increase the U.S. Army. In 1940, the first peace-time draft in the United States was instituted, and Fort Devens was designated a reception center for all New England men destined to serve for one year as "draftee."
A massive building program was instituted at the post in 1940. More than 1,200 wooden buildings, including two new 1,200-bed hospitals, were constructed at a cost of $25 million. In 1941, the Fort Devens airfield (Moore Army Airfield) was built at a cost of more than $680,000. The Whittemore Service Command Base Shop was constructed in 1941-1942 and when it reached its peak load of repairing all damaged U.S. powered vehicles in the First Service Command area, it was known as the largest repair facility in the world.
Three divisions trained at Fort Devens during World War II. The 1st, 32nd and the 45th, along with the Fourth Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) Training Center opened on post in April, 1943. Three months later, the WAAC became the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). In February 1944, a Prisoner of War Camp for 5,000 German and Italian soldiers opened at Fort Devens. It remained in operation until May 1946. In addition to training combat soldiers in World War II, Fort Devens was the home of the Chaplain School, the Cook and Baker School and a basic training center for Army nurses.
Following the end of World War II, Fort Devens once again was designated as a demobilization
center. On June 30, 1946, Fort Devens, for the second time in its history, was again put on caretaker status. On September 1, 1946, the post was utilized as an extension of the University of Massachusetts so veterans could continue their education. After his induction Raoul was sent to the U.S. Army's Transportation Corps. He was
assigned to the 716th Railway Battalion and sent to Camp Bullis in Texas.
Military Railway Service
Camp Bullis, Texas
Raoul arrive at Camp Bullis in late January 1944. He joined the men of the 716th already in training. Camp Bullis was established in 1917 to train troops in preparation for the growing threat of war in Europe. It was named for Brig. Gen. John Lapham Bullis, who as a lieutenant led the Seminole-Negro scouts during the Indian Wars. During World War I Camp Bullis provided maneuver areas and small arms and rifle ranges for troops from Fort Sam Houston. No units were stationed at the camp. During the 1920s and 1930s Camp Bullis provided facilities for training the Civilian Military Training Corps, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Reserve Officer Training Corps, and the Officer Reserve Corps. From January 1942 through November 1943 the Second, Ninety-fifth, and Eighty-eighth Infantry divisions used Camp Bullis. Smaller units continued to use the camp until 1944. In 1944 the Transportation Corps began to use the camp. 716th Railway Operating Battalion began it's training program. After the war 500,000 soldiers were processed out through the separation centers at Fort Sam Houston and Camp Bullis.CAMP CUSHING
CAMP SHANKS and the USAT EXCELSIOR
Uncle Raoul and the rest of the 716th left Camp Cushing by train on August 2, 1944 and arrived at Camp Shanks in New Jersey. There the unit boarded the USAT Excelsior, an army transport for deployment to England. The Excelsior was a C3 type freighter built in 1942 by the Bethlehem Steel Company. She was 492 ft long, 69.5 feet wide, with a 28.5 foot draft, 7,800 gross tons. A total of 465 of these types of freighters were built between 1940 and 1947. Most were equipped with a turbine developing 8,500 hp and could do 16.5 knots. Uncle Raoul and the 716th left the U.S. on August 11, 1944 headed for England and the European Theatre of Operations. The trip over was uneventful and the ship soon arrived on August 22, 1944 in Gourock, Scotland. All remained aboard until the next day, when the 716th unloaded from the Excelsior. Then the men loaded into railway passenger cars and proceeded to their next destination.
England and crossing the channel
The old timers and the young kids from all over the States arrived in Lehigh England at 0645 on August 24, 1944. The men detrained and loaded into trucks for an hour's ride to the bivouac area at Southampton. The 716th then marched to the docks where they loaded onto a British "Pig" Boat, the Cheshire. A non-eloquent term the GI's called the Brit's ships. The Cheshire would go on to further distinction as one of two ships in the convoy carrying the 66th division across the English Channel in December 1944. She would be spared , but the other ship the S.S. Leopoldville, would not be so lucky. The next day the Cheshire pulled out of Southampton with the 716th tucked safely aboard. The trip was boring and the men passed the time crossing the channel with the usual flair of crap games, and sight-seeing on the main deck. They listened to the radio, and the American and British reports of the liberation Of Paris. Ah! Paris, soon the men thought they would be there along with all the Mademoiselles and cognac! They were soon to find out otherwise.