152nd Depot Brigade

The 152nd Depot Brigade was a World War I unit of the United States Army, stationed at Camp Upton, New York.

Purpose

Depot Brigades (D.B.) organized for World War I included: 151st (Camp Devens); 152nd (Camp Upton); 153rd (Camp Dix); 154th (Camp Meade); 155th (Camp Lee); 156th (Camp Jackson); 157th (Camp Gordon); 158th (Camp Sherman); 159th (Camp Taylor); 160th (Camp Custer); 161st (Camp Grant); 162nd (Camp Pike); 163rd (Camp Dodge); 164th (Camp Funston); 165th (Camp Travis); 166th (Camp Lewis); and 167th (Camp McClellan).

The role of the Depot Brigades was to receive and organize recruits, provide them with uniforms, equipment and initial military training, and then send them to France to fight on the front lines. The Depot Brigades also received soldiers returning home at the end of the war and completed their out processing and discharges.[1]

Depot Brigades were organized into numbered battalions (1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion, etc.), which in turn were organized into numbered companies.[2]

History

Camp Upton was constructed as a training base for World War I. Work took place from June to September, 1917. The 152nd Depot Brigade was organized in 1917, shortly after construction of Camp Upton was completed.[3]

Commanders

George W. Read, who commanded the 152nd Depot Brigade in 1917.

Individuals known to have commanded the 152nd Depot Brigade include: Major General George Windle Read (August to December, 1917);[4] Brigadier General John E. Woodward (December 9 to 19, 1917);[5] Brigadier General George Henson Estes, Jr. (March 6 to April 10, 1918);[6] Brigadier General George Davis Moore (April 30 to May 15, 1918);[7] Brigadier General Edward Sigerfoos;[8] and Brigadier General William J. Nicholson.[9]

Association with prominent individuals

Irving Berlin wrote the musical revue Yip Yip Yaphank, including the song Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning while assigned to a unit of the 152nd Depot Brigade at Camp Upton in 1918.[10]

Deactivation

The Depot Brigades, including the 152nd, were deactivated in the Spring of 1919, after completing out processing and discharges for soldiers returning home at the end of the war.[11]

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Army Adjutant General, Training Circular No. 23, Training regulations for Depot Brigades, September 1918, Table of Contents
  2. ↑ Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co., Memorial to the Employees of the Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Co. Who Served at Home and Abroad in the Great World War, 1920, pages 42, 47. Harold A. Chalford is listed as a member of 31st Company, 8th Battalion, 152nd Depot Brigade. Ernest O. Sandstrom is named as a member of 9th Company, 3rd Battalion, 152nd Depot Brigade
  3. ↑ Roger Batchelder, Camp Upton, 1918, pages 4-7
  4. ↑ Walter Hines Page, Arthur Wilson Page, The World's Work, Biography, George W. Read, Volume XXXVI, November 1918 to April 1919, page 90
  5. ↑ C. David Gordon, Nashoba Publications Fort Devens Museum: Biographies of 74th Infantry Regiment Commanders, March 6, 2004
  6. ↑ George Washington Cullum, Edward Singleton Holden, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, Volume VI-A, 1920, pages 703-704
  7. ↑ Cullum, Holden, Biographical Register, page 564
  8. ↑ Ohio State University Alumni Association, Ohio State University Monthly, Volumes 9-10, February 1918, page 8
  9. ↑ "New Brigade Commanders". Washington Herald. Washington, DC. January 5, 1919. p. 7. (subscription required (help)).
  10. ↑ Laurence Bergreen, As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin, 1996, page 150
  11. ↑ United States Army Adjutant General, Organization Directory, 1919, page 31
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