Johan Willaert Posted September 27, 2015 Share #26 Posted September 27, 2015 Steve- Here is the patch for the camp tophat.JPG For an upcoming article I am looking for a clear high-res picture or scan of the Top Hat patch... All credits will be given of course. Thanks Johan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintageproductions Posted September 29, 2015 Share #27 Posted September 29, 2015 Johan-I am sorry I completely forgot to get to you who bought the patch. Tomorrow when I get to the shop I will forward you his info. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted September 29, 2015 Share #28 Posted September 29, 2015 Thanks Bob! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted August 26, 2016 Share #29 Posted August 26, 2016 All the above info and items, the patch and much more are now featured in an article I wrote for the French Militaria Magazine... Available online at: http://www.histoireetcollections.com/fr/militaria-magazine/4029-militaria-n372.html Preview of the first two pages of the 7 page article... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted September 1, 2016 Share #30 Posted September 1, 2016 Available online at: http://www.histoireetcollections.com/fr/militaria-magazine/4029-militaria-n372.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted November 13, 2017 Share #31 Posted November 13, 2017 Since I wrote the article, I have managed to acquire some more Top Hat items... An example of the rather rare patch worn by both civilian and Military personnel of the Camp... (Got this from a fellow board member; THANKS! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted November 13, 2017 Share #32 Posted November 13, 2017 And a Bagage Tag that was attached to the Duffelbag of a GI transferring from the Camp to the CONUS right after WW2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick W Peters Posted July 22, 2018 Share #33 Posted July 22, 2018 Hello Johan I'm curious. Does anything remain of camp Tophat today? regards Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted July 30, 2018 Share #34 Posted July 30, 2018 Hello Johan I'm curious. Does anything remain of camp Tophat today? regards Nick The left bank of the river remained fairly intact, although densely wooded until recently. The general layout of the camp could still be traced in the Woods and there was a club/meeting building called Top Hat. The Camp's main road still exists as parts of the road layout in the area and has been upgraded on several occasions Seems that all has been sold, probably to be developed into housing or industry... Sad, but I guess that's the way it goes... Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collector .45 Posted January 2, 2022 Share #35 Posted January 2, 2022 I wanted to revive this old topic today as I have come across a few cool old photos of Camp Tophat in an engineer officers photo album. I don't unfortunately have any dates as to when specifically these were taken but I do know that this particular officer was overseas from November 1944 to January 1946. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collector .45 Posted January 2, 2022 Share #36 Posted January 2, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collector .45 Posted January 2, 2022 Share #37 Posted January 2, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collector .45 Posted January 2, 2022 Share #38 Posted January 2, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collector .45 Posted January 2, 2022 Share #39 Posted January 2, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collector .45 Posted January 2, 2022 Share #40 Posted January 2, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula Walks Posted August 8, 2022 Share #41 Posted August 8, 2022 Hello, I would love to know the exact date when they started building the camp. Also it started with tents but than there was a cinema and so much more. Does someone know when it was fully finished ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted August 9, 2022 Share #42 Posted August 9, 2022 Double Post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted August 9, 2022 Share #43 Posted August 9, 2022 22 hours ago, Paula Walks said: Hello, I would love to know the exact date when they started building the camp. Also it started with tents but than there was a cinema and so much more. Does someone know when it was fully finished ? From my research: In June 1945, the 19th AAA Group, commanded by Colonel AC Spalding and composed of the 556th and 559th AAA Battalions, was sent to Belgium to organize a staging area in close proximity to Antwerp's world-class harbor facilities. Before construction of the camp could begin, the entire area had to be cleared of nearly 7000 German mines. The 358th Engineer General Service Regiment designed the camp layout and construction by the 1147th Engineer Combat Group began on June 1st, 1945 by installing 13Km of pipes for water supply and sewage. By August 1945 240 huts had been built, all equipped with water and electricity. Eventually Top Hat would become a pretty luxurious place and a virtual city of 2500 20-man tents and 500 buildings. There were five movie theaters, two Open Air Theaters with 7500 and 1000 places, a bakery, a library, washing parlor, shoe polish stands, a gift PX, Officers’ and Enlisted Men’s clubs, an ice-cream bar and even a 20-seat barber shop where the haircuts were free! There were chapels for three religions: catholic, protestant and Jewish. The camp was divided into 26 blocks, was 2Km long and 1Km wide, and had a capacity of 16.500 men. Thousands of donuts and 3000 liters of coffee were being sold every day…! On 1st April 1946, the following order was received: “Camp Top Hat, located at Antwerp, Belgium, is discontinued as a Staging Area Camp, on or about 2nd April 1946”. The US government paid the city of Antwerp 100.000 Belgian Francs as compensation for use of the site and to refurbish it after the war. By May 1946 the entire camp had disappeared nearly as fast as it had been installed one year earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted March 22, 2023 Share #44 Posted March 22, 2023 On 8/9/2022 at 7:07 PM, Johan Willaert said: The 358th Engineer General Service Regiment designed the camp layout and construction by the 1147th Engineer Combat Group began on June 1st, 1945 by installing 13Km of pipes for water supply and sewage. Of course all this had to go somewhere.... Just added this photo showing the Camp's 'Honey Wagon' based on an Army GMC CCKW truck... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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