Camp Tophat Belgium 1945

[Johan Willaert]

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

[vintageproductions]

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

[Johan Willaert]

Thanks Bob!

[Johan Willaert]

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...

[Johan Willaert]

Available online at:

 

http://www.histoireetcollections.com/fr/militaria-magazine/4029-militaria-n372.html

[Johan Willaert]

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! )

 

 

[Johan Willaert]

And a Bagage Tag that was attached to the Duffelbag of a GI transferring from the Camp to the CONUS right after WW2.

[Nick W Peters]

Hello Johan

I'm curious. Does anything remain of camp Tophat today?

regards Nick

[Johan Willaert]

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

[Collector .45]

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. 

[Collector .45]

[Collector .45]

[Collector .45]

[Collector .45]

[Collector .45]

[Guest Paula Walks]

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 ?

[Johan Willaert]

Double Post

[Johan Willaert]

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.

[Johan Willaert]

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...

 

 

[Guest Elizabeth]

On 8/9/2022 at 12:07 PM, Johan Willaert said:

Hello Johan, My father was a Master Sergeant in the 19th AAA Group and was at Camp Tophat. My husband and I will be visiting Antwerp in a few weeks, either May 22 or May 23. There was a member of this forum, Cohen, who last Fall had posted that he lives in Antwerp and could meet us. I tried to get back in touch with him but have not heard back from my request. Perhaps I'm not posting my entries correctly. Any guidance would be much appreciated. I would like to see the location where Camp Tophat was, and see what is there now. 

 

On 8/9/2022 at 12:07 PM, Johan Willaert said:

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.

 

[Johan Willaert]

Hi Elisabeth,

Sorry to say the name Cohen doesn't ring a bell.

Also I haven't visited the Camp Top Hat location for quite a while.
The site has just about disappeared as there are huge construction works going on for the creation of a new tunnel under the Scheldt river and a new highway ring around the Western side of Antwerp.
A lot of the new roads will  be going right across what was once Top Hat. Works have been ongoing for a few years now.
I have no idea what is still to be seen on site and the image below shows the construction lay-out
Camp Top Hat would have been located SW of where you read SINT ANNABOS 

 

Johan

[Guest Elizabeth]

Thank you very much, @Johan Willaert! We will be in Antwerp on either the 22nd or 23rd of this month, and I will use your map to find the Tophat location! Best Regards, Elizabeth