Camp Devens: Home of New England’s Own

“Steam heat for the National Army what. I wish you could see the way these fellows are putting up for the winter.” -Letter from Sam Avery, 12/26/17

World War I

Named after Union General and Judge Charles Devens of the Civil War, Camp Devens was established in 1917 as the primary National Army cantonment (training center) for the Northeast Military Department. Built on a tract 7 miles long by 2 miles wide, Camp Devens covered 5000 acres of land along the Boston and Maine railway obtained from the contiguous communities of Ayer, Harvard, Shirley and Lancaster, Massachusetts.

Camp Devens, 1917

Construction started in early June, 1917, and was performed by a labor force of 5,000 workers which in just 10 weeks built a small city consisting of 1400 buildings, 20 miles of road, 400 miles of electric wiring and 60 miles of heating pipes in addition to water and sewer service. Due to the speed of its development, Camp Devens formally opened at the beginning of September, 1917. It was the first of 16 National Army cantonments to be completed in the country, processing and training more than 100,000 soldiers of the 76^th and 12^th Divisions from 1917-1919.

The 76^th Division consisted of troops drafted from throughout New England under the Selective Service Act of 1917. The first troops arrived by 9/5/1917, and rapidly increased to a wartime population of 40,000 men. The 76^th Division consisted of the following units along with the 151^st Depot Brigade of 13 battalions of unattached troops:

151^st Infantry Brigade

• 301^st Infantry Regiment (“Boston’s Own”)
• 301^st Machine Gun Battalion
• 302^nd Infantry Regiment
• 302^nd Machine Gun Battalion

152^nd Infantry Brigade

• 303^rd Infantry Regiment
• 303^rd Machine Gun Battalion
• 304^th Infantry Regiment

151^st Field Artillery Brigade

• 301^st Field Artillery Regiment {75mm}
• 301^st Ammunition Train
• 302^nd Field Artillery Regiment {4.7″}
• 303^rd Field Artillery Regiment {155mm}
• 301^st Trench Mortar Battery

Divisional Troops

• 301^st Engineer Regiment
• 301^st Engineers Train
• 301^st Sanitary Train {Field Hospitals #301, #302, #303, #304}
• 301^st Supply Train
• 301^st Signal Battalion
• 301^st Field Signal Battalion
• 301^st Headquarters Train and Military Police

The 76^th Division departed for France at the beginning of July in 1918, at which time Camp Devens became home to the formation of the 12^th Division which was a combined force of Regular Army and National Army troops:

23^rd Infantry Brigade

• 36^th Infantry Regiment
• 73^rd Infantry Regiment
• 35^th Machine Gun Battalion

24^th Infantry Brigade

• 42^nd Infantry Regiment
• 74^th Infantry Regiment
• 36^th Machine Gun Battalion

12^th Artillery Brigade

• 34^th Field Artillery Regiment
• 35^th Field Artillery Regiment
• 36^th Field Artillery Regiment
• 12^th Trench Mortar Battery

Divisional Troops

• 212^th Engineers
• 212^th Field Signal Battalion
• 212^th Supply Train
• 212^th Sanitary Train
• 212^th Headquarters Train
• 245^th Field Hospital
• 245^th Ambulance Company
• 246^th Field Hospital
• 246^th Ambulance Company
• 247^th Field Hospital
• 247^th Ambulance Company

The 12^th Division did not serve overseas, but did its own battle with the Spanish Flu epidemic during the Fall of 1918 and sustained heavy casualties: Approximately 14,000 men were hospitalized with influenza and pneumonia. Of these, more than 2,278 died including five nurses and two doctors.

Camp Devens, 1918

Following the Armistice in November of 1918, Camp Devens became the separation center or “demobilization camp” for more than 150,000 troops returning from France including the 26^th “Yankee” Division in April, 1919. Camp Devens was then placed on inactive status, serving as a summer training area for National Guard and Army Reserve troops over the next several years.

From Camp Devens to Fort Devens

Passage of the National Defense Act of 1920 provided funds for upgrading the facilities of Camp Devens as a permanent military installation. In 1931, Camp Devens was renamed Fort Devens. Reconstruction continued at a slow pace during the 1930’s as a project of the Works Progress Administration. Today, the Fort Devens Historic District provides a well-preserved example of U.S. Army post planning and standardized building construction between 1929 and 1940. The 103 buildings surviving from this period are currently on the National Register of Historic Districts.

World War II

In 1940 following the implementation of the first peacetime draft, Fort Devens was designated as the reception center for all New England troops. An additional building project was started which constructed more than 1200 wooden buildings and an airfield.

The 1^st, 32^nd and 45^th Infantry Divisions along with the 4^th Women’s Army Corps all trained at Fort Devens during the Second World War. Additionally, Fort Devens provided training support for nurses, chaplains, cooks and bakers. It also housed a prisoner of war camp for German and Italian prisoners from 1944-1946.

After serving once more as a demobilization center following the Second World War, Fort Devens was again placed on reserve status until the start of the Korean War. For the next forty years, Fort Devens continued to serve as the training center for many smaller units sent into action overseas during the Korean, Vietnam and First Gulf Wars.

A New Direction

After 79 years of service, Fort Devens was closed in 1996 under the National Base Realignment and Closing Act. It is now evolving into a planned residential and business community renamed Devens under the authority of MassDevelopment. Although no longer an active military installation, Devens is still home to elements of the Army Reserve Command (94^th Regional Readiness Command) and the Marine Corps Reserve (25^th Marine Regiment).

To this day, the ghostly sound of distant artillery practice can sometimes still be heard for miles under the New England sky…

301st, 302nd, 303rd Field Artillery Helmet