Fort Devens
Fort Devens

Author: William J. Craig

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9780738535128

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The geographical location of Fort Devens has a military history that dates back to the 1600s, when the area was first garrisoned by British troops. In 1915, the region was again chosen for a cantonment, one of only sixteen in the country. In order to build the camp, the War Department assembled the largest labor force in history. New buildings sprang up at the rate of about ten per day and supported more than one hundred thousand troops that were processed at Camp Devens, as it was originally named, during World War I. Fort Devens is the first book to trace the military activity in this area. Throughout the twentieth century, troops were trained and deployed from Fort Devens for every major conflict the United States was involved in. During World War II, Fort Devens inducted more than six hundred thousand men into the army from the New England area. The list of individuals who have served here included Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, and Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Even NASA can trace its birth to Fort Devens by way of Dr. Robert Goddard's liquid-fueled rocket experiments.

Fort Devens, from Boys to Men
Fort Devens, from Boys to Men

Author: Andrew Tabak

Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub

Published: 2012-08-01

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 9781479216291

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This is a story of the World War I and World War II mobilization barracks built by the Quartermaster Corps staff, contractors, union laborers, and professional advisors who, when everything hit the fan, did the impossible. Camp Devens was carved from stands of scrub pines in central Massachusetts in 1917 as one of 16 National Army Cantonments that were needed to mobilize an army for World War I . This is the story of how a downsized, antiquated army rushed to provide housing for an army that was on requisition, to fight battles that had already been scheduled. In 90 days, a military city was planned, built, and occupied. And then as one war passed, troops went home, budgets were cut again, and the camp was all but forgotten...until the next war. In 1940, the place, now called Fort Devens, was again needed to mobilize an army that was already requisitioned. The barracks, and other buildings, from the 1917 horse drawn army had burned, or rotted, or been torn down. New facilities for a new motorized army were needed. Again, in only about 90 days a new military city was built on the same footprint as the old city. The 1940 construction was a little more durable and better cared for. The last of the World War II barracks at Fort Devens would stand until 2006.