The 10th Replacement Depot was called the 10th Repl Dep by the outfit that ran
it. Repl. Dep was the abbreviation and that is how it was pronounced, R E P L D
E P. I didn't know this for quite a while until it was explained to me. It
dawned on me like the song "Mairzy Doats." These were places you stayed between
recuperations areas until the time you went back into combat with an outfit.
The 10th Repl Dep had two units in the same replacement depot. One was called
"Feegy Farm", the other "Tent City". I don't think the first one is the correct
spelling but the pronunciation can't be missed. Feegy Farm was the good place to
go and Tent City was the bad. I went to Tent City.
When we arrived, we were greeted, not very warmly, but greeted. We were shown our
sleeping quarters, issued our gear, given the location of the mess hall, parade
grounds, movie theaters, etc.
Sleeping quarters were four-man tents salvaged from various artillery outfits.
The floors were rough, imported concrete slabs scrounged up from somewhere, and
the beds were rough wood, crisscrossed with bailing straps. We were issued five
throw rugs made by The American Carpet Company. I remember that distinctly. These
would serve as blankets and/or mattresses, no pillow. The tents were pockmarked
with shrapnel holes and there was no heat in the tents. Even in May, English
weather was rainy and unpredictable.
The temperature changes presented some problems. You didn't know whether to put
two of the carpets under you and three on top, or three carpets under you and two
on top. The mess gear was used and dented but did not leak. This would have
caused a cleanup problem, and the people in charge didn't want that. You were not
allowed to crowd around the movie theaters right before they opened, the
procedure explained to us by one of our replacement officers. He warned us not to
form in groups of more than five, otherwise it would be considered conspiracy.
Not funny, but true. Another one of the rules of the hierarchy - when you went
to chow, two soldiers with rifles held at Port Arms, were standing at the
entrance by the double doors, and if you weren't finished eating in 15 minutes,
they politely but firmly ushered you out.
Anyone coming late off a pass or any other infraction of the rules, no matter how
slight, was paraded back and forth on the parade grounds. Lots of parades ensued.
This humiliation was probably carried out to make an impression on the "inmates".
It was purported that one man was actually shot for going AWOL. I don't know if
this is true or not, although I wouldn't have bet against it, after seeing all I
had witnessed.
I was there on VE Day and I thought it strange that they celebrated with
fireworks. It would seem to me that there was enough fireworks while the war was
going on. I would have thought it would have made more sense to celebrate it with
silence. The colonel who ran Tent City and the rest of his outfit wore American
uniforms and none spoke German.
If this was their way of keeping replacements in line and not deserting, the
colonel sure didn't have much imagination. I remember seeing in a 1946 or 1947
newspaper that he was court martialled and given 20 years. I am not aware if he
ever served his sentence.
Art Pranger
(3/29/98)
