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Primary Operations in Imperial County:
Camp Pilot Knob: Located near Felicity, CA (about 5 miles northwest of Yuma, AZ, near the current I-8), this was the main divisional camp in Imperial County. It was established in April 1943 to simulate the "unforgiving" terrain of North Africa.
Patton Valley: Located within the Imperial Sand Dunes (Algodones Dunes), this specific corridor was used by Patton to train tank crews and motorized units. He identified these dunes as the only place on Earth that could realistically simulate the "bottomless" sand of the Sahara Desert.
Maneuver Areas: Patton’s 3rd Armored Division utilized the vast open spaces between the Chocolate Mountains and the Colorado River for live-fire exercises and large-scale tactical maneuvers.
Pictured to the left are the remains of General Patton's Telegraph office just West of Ogilby Rd.
Located at 32.80798° N, 114.87147° W you can still see the stub of Pole #1. A line of poles went through Patton Valley and ran to the other side of the dunes. A few stubs remain -the rest were scavenged for firewood. Please bring your own wood and help preserve these last vestiges of history.
Credit Keith Woods for helping us locate the remains and for his historical knowledge of the area.
Pictured to the right is the last remaining fairly whole pole. Old timers remember at least 19 of them strung across the dunes.
From our friends at the American Sand Association:
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