| From the Guidebook: |
Camp Ibis was established
at this site in the Spring of 1942-one of eleven such
camps built in the California-Arizona Desert to harden
and train United States Troops for service on the battlefields
of World War II. The 440th AAA AW Battalion was activated
per General Order No. 1 at Camp Haan, CA on July 1, 1942.
It trained at Camp M.A.A.R. (Irwin), Camps Young, Iron
Mountain, Ibis, and then Camps Pickett, VA and Steward,
GA. The battalion shipped out to England in December 1943
and landed in Normandy on D-3. The unit earned 5 Battle
Stars and 2 Foreign Awards while serving with the 1st,
3rd, 7th, and 9th U.S. Armies, the 1st French Army and
the 2nd British Army, 7 different corps and 5 different
divisions. The 440th AAA AW BN was deactivated in December
1944.
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