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Camp Pontanezen WW1 Marker

<< Back to Brest -Pontanezen

Details:

On the fence just to the left of the police station entrance. Marker


A metal plaque with a description of the WW1 American Camp located here in 1917-1919.

Camp Pontanezen was an immense American debarkation center built around six stone barracks buildings erected by Napoleon I. It was  located two miles north of Brest, which is on France's Peninsula of Finisterre. The depth and excellence of the Brest harbor caused it to be utilized far more extensively than any other French port for the arriving and departing troops of the AEF.  In all, 791,000 men landed here in 1917 and 1918. The individual most credited the success of the 1,000 acre camp was a notable Marine and twice-Medal of Honor recipient named Brigadier General Smedley Butler.

The plaque was dedicated in 2018.

Source:  Roads to the Great War Blog -The Duckboards of Camp Pontanezen



Monument Text:

The text is in French and reads:


Caserne
QUARTIER BUQUET

En 1917, Brest devient un port de débarquement international accueillant de nombreuses troupes étrangères. À partir de novembre 1917, près de 800 000 femmes et hommes débarquent au port de Brest, très majoritairement américains.

Ils sont accueillis dans plusieurs lieux de la ville et communes alentours. À cette époque, Brest comptait, du fait de la guerre, 60000 habitantes et habitants et ces arrivées massives multiplient par près de dix en quelques mois, la population.


Le camp de Pontanézen, 687 hectares en 1919, situé sur la commune de Lambézellec, principal camp de transit installé par l'Etat-Major américain, a accueilli jusqu'à 80000 personnes par jour. La caserne du quartier Buquet a été construite dans les années cinquante, sur une partie de ce camp.

Cette plaque, en ces lieux, en rappelle le souvenir.

Elle a été dévoilée le 4 juillet 2018, dans le cadre des manifestations organisées à Brest pour marquer le centenaire de la guerre 1914 - 1918.


The English translation:


In 1917, Brest became an international landing port for numerous foreign troops. Starting in November 1917, nearly 800,000 men and women disembarked at the port of Brest, the vast majority of them Americans.

They were received in several locations throughout the city and surrounding towns. At that time, Brest had a population of 60,000 due to the war, and these massive arrivals increased the population nearly tenfold in just a few months.


The Pontanézen camp, 687 hectares in 1919, located in the commune of Lambézellec, the main transit camp set up by the American General Staff, accommodated up to 80,000 people per day. The Buquet barracks were built in the 1950s on part of this camp.

This plaque, on this site, commemorates this. It was unveiled on July 4, 2018, as part of the events organized in Brest to mark the centenary of the 1914-1918 war.

Commemorates:

People:

Smedley Darlington  Butler

Units:

American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)

United States Army

United States Navy

Wars:

WWI

Other images :