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THE CIGARETTE CAMPS

A number of temporary U.S. Army camps were situated near the French ports of Marseilles and Le Havre. The camps, built of Quonset huts and tents, were located in what the Army designated as the "Red Horse" staging area and were named after popular cigarette brands, including Camps Lucky Strike, Old Gold, and Pall Mall. There were also "city camps" named after U.S. cities - Camp Atlanta, Camp Baltimore, Camp New York, and Camp Pittsburgh, among others.

The Cigarette camps varied widely in size, from around 2,000 in capacity to nearly 60,000, the largest being Camps Philip Morris, Old Gold, and Lucky Strike.

Although originally set up as collection points for troops heading into battle; by war's end both Cigarette and City camps' roles had shifted from gateways to combat to staging points for repatriation of GI's to the States, processing liberated American POWs, and temporarily confining German POWs.

The photos below were taken at Camp Lucky strike but probably resemble sights at all the camps.

Gateway to America - God's Country
including mileage to key U.S. destinations


HQ Camp Philip Morris
a less than ostentatious Quonset hut served the purpose of managing the camp facilities and functions


Le Havre, France
a company walkway in Philip Morris' tent city.  Thousand of G.I.'s were temporarily encamped here awaiting transportation to their homes

Shipment Schedule
an often checked bulletin board showed Unit, Name of Ship and Tentative Boarding Time.  Some nine ships are listed at this moment

Maritime Victory
a brand new ship launched only days after V-E Day and delivered to the Army in June 1945.was but one of many troop transports plying Atlantic waters

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