Demobilization : $b our industrial and military demobilization after the armistice, 1918-1920Crowell, Benedict
History
Demobilization : $b our industrial and military demobilization after the armistice, 1918-1920
Crowell, Benedict
United States. Army. American Expeditionary Forces -- Demobilization; World War, 1914-1918 -- United States
3. THE “MILL” BARBERSHOP]
[Illustration:
_Photo by Signal Corps_
4. THROUGH “MILL” AND READY FOR HOME]
The processes at the other embarkation camps were essentially the
same. In each of the Le Mans divisional camps was installed a bathing
and delousing plant with a capacity of 1,200 men an hour. For the
sterilization of clothing in the area there were three large central
“disinfesting” plants, five smaller stationary steam sterilizers, and
more than a dozen mobile sterilizers.
The two port camps at Bordeaux were known as Camp Neuve and Camp
Genicart. After the armistice these two camps were reorganized
and enlarged. Camp Neuve became the “dirty” or entrance camp. It
accommodated 5,400 men. Camp Genicart was designated as the “clean”
or evacuation camp, and its barracks could house nearly 17,000 men.
The busiest day for Bordeaux was Sunday, May 11, 1919, when 6,399 men
passed through the “mill” and made ready to embark. St. Nazaire handled
15,306 embarkations on June 17, 1919, its record day.
Salvage was an important operation at all the embarkation points in
France. Thousands of articles of apparel discarded by the returning
troops were not so worn but that they could be made serviceable again.
The salvage plant at Le Mans could repair 1,700 pairs of shoes,
dry-clean, sterilize, and repair 4,000 pieces of clothing, wash 10,000
garments in the laundry, and disinfect 10,000 blankets every day. The
plant occupied eight buildings, and the average value of clothing
repaired monthly was over $150,000. There were salvage plants also at
Brest, St. Nazaire, and Bordeaux, the one at Brest being of great size.
The task of feeding men at the embarkation camps gave the Quartermaster
Corps one of its chief problems. Each divisional sub-depot at Le Mans
carried at all times sufficient food to supply the appetites of 25,000
men for fifteen days, and in addition the central warehouses contained
500,000 emergency rations to substitute for the garrison rations if
anything went wrong with the food supply. In December, 1918, the
subsistence services in the area had been built up to the capacity of
500,000 rations cooked and served each day.
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