Camp Sharpe

Camp Sharpe
eponym: George H. Sharpe, who gathered American Civil War military intelligence for General George Meade[1]
Part of United States Army
Pitzer Woods, Adams County, Pennsylvania
Type training camp
Site information
Controlled by adjunct of Fort Ritchie[2]
Site history
In use 9 November 1943[3]—1 August 1944[4]
Battles/wars World War II
Garrison information
Past
commanders		 Major John T. Jarecki[3] (Hans Habe was an instructor)
Occupants "The Psycho Boys"[2] (several hundred soldiers,[5] including French linguists)[6]
Not to be confused with the 1912 Camp Sharpe of Delaware, Ohio[7]

Camp Sharpe was a World War II military installation on the Gettysburg Battlefield that trained soldiers for psychological operations (e.g., morale operations)[8] in the European Theater of Operations (see Operation Cornflakes & Frontpost newspaper). Adjacent to Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp NP-2 in McMillan Woods,[9] Camp Sharpe used camp CCC NP-1 and was located "in a muddy hollow at the bottom of a slanting road".[6] A USO facility for Camp Sharpe soldiers was at the former Hill house on Chambersburg Street in nearby Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

After Camp Sharpe closed in 1944, USO operations were moved c. January 1945 to "the recreation center for the guards" of the Gettysburg POW camp.[10] The former camp was used for migrant workers in the summer of 1945.

External images
Pitzer Woods

References

  1. ↑ Young, Jesse Bowman. The Battle of Gettysburg. Harper & Brothers Publishers. p. 400. Retrieved 2011-02-26. NOTE: General Sharpe was a Civil War deputy provost marshal and helped organize the 1888 Gettysburg reunion.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ford, Tom (12 January 2007). "Good Ol' Times: Readers Reminisce About Days Gone By". Gettysburg Times. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Says Camp is to be Closed". Gettysburg Times. 14 July 1944. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
  4. ↑ "May Keep 200 Prisoners for Winter Season". Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: Star and Sentinel. 16 September 1944. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
  5. ↑ "Here and There". Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: Star and Sentinel. 22 July 1944. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Edel, Leon. The visitable past: a wartime memoir. p. 22. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
  7. ↑ "Company E Home: Return from Strenuous Nine Days' Workout at Camp Sharpe, near Delaware." (Google news). Marysville, Ohio: Union County News. 15 August 1912. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
  8. ↑ Hutchinson, Peter. Stefan Heym: the perpetual dissident. p. 39. Retrieved 2010-01-31. (see also Stefan Heym)
  9. ↑ "Fire Company Has Trouble With Truck". 19 October 1946. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  10. ↑ "'Teen-Canteen' gets USO Room to January 1". Gettysburg Times. 13 December 1944. Retrieved 2010-02-01.