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My father Frank Rotell worked in the
commissary at the
camp during the war.
When the camp closed
in 1946,
the dormitories for
civilian family
workers across the
road from the camp
became Reynolds
Village and my
father operated a
grocery store there.
My mother,
Elvira, was Secretary for
Reynolds Village. We left in 1948 and moved
back to Sharon as things
pretty much closed down
then. |
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I
have vivid memories
of the POWs working
in the village,
collecting garbage
etc. |
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I also remember 1st
grade in a one room school
house in Transfer (Ms
Mortimer was the teacher I
believe), then 2nd grade at
St. Michaels and then 3rd
grade at Transfer. I believe
the school house is still
there. I had two older
brothers Tony and Don and a
sister Angela. |
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- John Rotell |
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Me and my twin brother & mom went to the
camp to see dad, it was on his birthday
I think I was 5 or 7 at the time. |
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- Son |
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A couple months ago we had some
discussions. On the Mahoning Division,
the Erie had on-line the Keystone
Arsenal [connect at Stony Point],
Ravenna Arsenal [Freedom, OH], The
Ravenna Arsenal was active at ever
decreasing activity until the end of the
Cold War. The Erie did serve the
Shenango Personnel Replacement Depot
[Camp Reynolds] via a connector at
Pymatuning [Transfer] to the parallel
PRR E&P branch. This facility was used
for the build-up for the Normandy
invasion then after beginning of 1944
was used as a German POW camp. |
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- Paul Stumpff: Geneva, Ohio [formerly
Greenville, PA & Niles, Ohio] |
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My mother used to work as switchboard
operator at the Camp. |
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- Paul |
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My friend's
brother-in-law says when he was 10 years
old he remembers seeing prisoners of war
walking down the Mercer-Greenville road
picking up trash. They lived in the
Fredonia area at the time. I've been
told that the Rhodes Busing Company that
was in our area (New Castle) would
come to the camp and take the soldiers
to Conneaut Lake. |
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- Nancy |
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I Volunteered at the camp with sisters
and parents. We lived in Sharon and had
soldiers in for dinner. |
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- Heidi Moyer CA |
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My dad (Papa) often talks about Camp
Reynolds at Transfer, PA. During
World War II, the Army came into the
area and forced people from their
homes and farms in order to
establish a camp used for preparing
troops to ship out overseas. Many of
the neighbors had to sell out and
move to other areas. Papa's family
moved to the area called Delaware
Grove, where they bought a farm
which his parents owned until the
mid-1970s. (The house on this farm
was very old and was reportedly used
by the Underground Railroad to hide
slaves many years before.) |
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On Route 18 in Transfer, Papa's
family, his Grandfather Love and
Uncle Paul Love all had houses side
by side. After the Army came in and
forced them out, they moved
Grandfather Love's house across the
road and put the main gate to the
camp in its place. Papa's house was
taken by the Commander of the base
as his residence. It was a very nice
house - Papa's father was a good
carpenter and had built it well. |
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Camp Reynolds was built in 1942 and
closed in 1945. Papa thinks that it
covered about 1,000 acres. Over one
million men passed through its gates
during that time. The soldiers were
trained there and sent to the
"European Theater of Operations" to
fight in the war. |
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While the camp was under
construction, Papa, who was 15 years
old, worked at a sandwich shop about
a half mile from his house towards
Greenville. The "sandwich shop" was
on a neighbor's front porch. The
construction workers came there to
buy sandwiches, drinks, etc. for
their lunches. The neighbor also had
one gas pump, so folks could buy gas
there, too. |
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On one trip back to this area after
his family had moved, Papa and his
friends took a road that goes
through a covered bridge. They came
to the bridge as American soldiers
were marching down the road. The
troops parted and Papa drove right
down the middle between two rows of
soldiers! |
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The most interesting part of Papa's
Camp Reynolds story is when he tells
of one visit he and his buddies made
to the base in his 1936 Ford
convertible. They entered through a
back gate - no one tried to stop
them, although he doesn't think that
they were supposed to be there. They
came around a corner and stopped.
Right in front of them was a large
group of German POWs being marched
to the mess hall! They just sat
there in the car and watched the
enemy soldiers pass by. |
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- Granddaughter
-
Papa Tales - Stories from the life
of my Grandfather.
CLICK HERE to Visit
Blog |
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POWs were marched up the
hill (Kidd's Mills
Rd/Industrial Park Rd) for
exercise by the MPs and they would stop
at Hill Top Orchard for a
break for water and a few
apples. |
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- Suellyn Wright
Novak (Parents
owned Hill Top Orchard) |
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My brother James, age 17,
from Grove City PA worked
for HR Paving Company which
was paving roads at Camp
Reynolds. When he turned 18
a buddy talked him into
enlisting. He did his basics
in Indiana. He then was sent
to Camp Reynolds. because he
could speak some German he
was made an MP to work with
the POWS. One of his jobs
was to take 2 or 3 POWs to
Leavenworth Kansas. He was
later transferred to
Leavenworth. While there he
married a farm girl and
stayed out there after the
war. He remembers that
several POWs married farm
girls after the war. |
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-
Bill West |
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I went to elementary school
grades 1-3 and part of 4th
in the Transfer Fire Hall
(behind the old Transfer
High School). I remembered
we wrapped our books up with
our name on them and they
were at the new lementary
school in Transfer when we
arrived. I was at the new
school for grades 5 & 6th. |
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When I was in
7th grade, around 1954, I had class in
two
dormitories that was were
used by the Camp. The former
dormitories was used for the
camp's civilian workers and
after the camp's closing the
dorms were used as housing
for returning war veterans.
The two dorms were
setup for 7th and 8th grade.
I remember broken
glass down the hall from
my room. The music teacher was Mrs. Baldridge. |
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After 7th grade we went to
Hickory, then Farrell and to
Reynolds High School in
1963. |
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- Pat Miller |
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I lived in the Reynolds
Village dormitories until
1953 when they started to
tear down the dormitories. |
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- Local
Resident |
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As a young boy I saw the troop trains
from the camp heading to
embarkation points going through Sharon,
PA
from Ellsworth St. My older
brother worked at the
camp as a carpenter when
the camp was being built.
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My wife's dad's brother, Babe Wasley
from Sharpsville, PA played
in the Benny Jones Orchestra
which played at the camp. |
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- Toni (Wasley) & John Ryan
- Sharpsville, PA |
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Local couple donated a
player piano to one of the
camp's day rooms. |
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- Daughter of Couple |
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I worked as a Dental
Assistant, my sister Shirley
worked in the
Quartermasters Office and
Mary Lou my Aunt worked in a
Grocery Store. |
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- Vivian Gill |
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I remember delivering
Pittsburgh Gazette papers on
24th & 25th Streets at the
camp as a young boy. |
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- Paul Marina |
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My mother Mary worked at the
camp making boots when she
was 38 years old. |
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- Jerry Slovinsky |
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When I was a real young girl
I remember a couple of
soldiers being in a bad
motorcycle accident by the
Clark bridge. One guy flew
up into a tree and then fell
out. |
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- Former Clark, PA Resident |
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I knew a guy who bought
the camp Post Office and
built a hunting camp with
the lumber. |
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- Local Resident |
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I was from Jamestown, PA and
worked ta the camp.worked at
the camp he was from
Jamestown PA. I remember
seeing the troops and the
POWs playing softball by the
Covered Bridge. |
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- Eugene Carr |
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In 1942 I worked at the camp
while it was being built. I lied about
my
age to get hired, I was 13
at the time. I worked in the hospital
area and saw patients. I
also worked there when they
were tearing down the camp. |
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While the camp was in
operation my parents rented
a room to a serviceman's
wife and I had to sleep in
my brothers, Nick and Cam's
Barber Shop across the
street which was closed
because they were in the
Army. |
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- John Cianci - Local
Greenville Resident |
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