A replacement depot in United States military terminology is a unit containing reserves or replacements for large front-line formations, such as field armies. As such, the term refers to formations similar to, but larger than, march battalions in other countries. The slang term "repple depple" came into common use in the US Army during World War II.[1]

These depots were used by the US Army in the Pacific, North Africa, Italy, and Europe in World War II. They were efficient at continuously keeping fighting units at high numerical strength during prolonged combat when compared to the German system, but were found to be deleterious to morale as the men assigned from these large pools often had poor esprit de corps and were unfamiliar with the names, history, and traditions of the formations to which they were subsequently assigned.[2] The handling of the replacements in a bulk, impersonal way by permanent depot staff tended to cause psychological trauma such that they were weakened by the experience.[3] The Oxford English Dictionary notes, in a citation from The New York Times Magazine, 9 December 1945, that "repple depples, in short, are dreary places."[1]

Locations

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World War I

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1st Replacement Depot, St Aignan, France: support for the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF).

World War II

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Location of replacement depots in Europe c. January 1945.[4]

List of Replacement depot in European theatre
Depot Location Purpose(s)
Training Center No. 1 Shrivenham, England Retraining of limited assignment men for new duty
2nd Replacement Depot Thaon, France US Seventh Army direct support depot
3rd Replacement Depot Verviers, Belgium US First Army direct support depot
9th Replacement Depot Fontainebleau, France Officer and officer candidate retraining center
10th Replacement Depot Lichfield, England Processing of hospital returnees
11th Replacement Depot Givet, Belgium US First Army intermediate depot
US Ninth Army intermediate depot
12th Replacement Depot Tidworth, England Theater reception depot
Enlisted retraining center
14th Replacement Depot Neufchâteau, France US Third Army intermediate depot
US Seventh Army intermediate depot
15th Replacement Depot Le Havre, France Theater reception depot
16th Replacement Depot Compiègne, France Enlisted retraining center
17th Replacement Depot Angervilliers, France US Third Army direct support depot
18th Replacement Depot Tonges, Belgium US Ninth Army direct support depot
19th Replacement Depot Étampes, France Processing of hospital returnees
51st Replacement Battalion Charleville, France US Fifteenth Army direct support depot
54th Replacement Battalion Marseilles, France Theater reception depot
6900th Provisional Depot Verviers, Belgium Field army intermediate depot
Officer and officer candidate retraining center
6960th Provisional Depot Coëtquidan, France Enlisted retraining center
List of Replacement depot in Asian theatre
Depot Location date Purpose(s) Note
Hawaii Replacement Depot Scofield Barracks November 19, 1942 ~ November 1, 1943
1st Replace Depot
4th Replacement Depot Australia
Camp Zama, Japan
November 5, 1942 ~ January 25, 1945 [5]
5th Replace Depot
6th Replace Depot New Caledonia
13rd Replace Depot Oahu
23rd Replace Depot Saipan
25th Replace Depot Scofield Barracks

After World War II

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Location of replacement depots after World War II and the Cold War.

Depot Location Formation served Note
8068th Replacement Depot Beppu, Japan
8069th Replacement Depot Pusan, South Korea [6]
8091st Replacement Depot
8609th Replacement Depot Camp Drake, Sasebo, Japan

References

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  1. ^ a b "Repple depple". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2002.
  2. ^ Karsten, Peter (2006). Encyclopedia of war and American society. Sage publications. pp. 727, 1115.
  3. ^ Merton, Robert King (1957). Social theory and social structure. Free Press. pp. 272–75.
  4. ^ Ruppenthal, Robert G. (1959). HyperWar: Logistical Support of the Armies, Vol. II: September 1944 - May 1945. Washington, DC: Department of the Army. Retrieved July 9, 2014 – via www.ibiblio.org.
  5. ^ 14th Personnel Center U.S. Army Center of Military History, November 15, 2006
  6. ^ "Retreat ceremony planned for closing of Camp Hialeah". Stars and Stripes.