Relics of war are scattered throughout the deserts that embrace the Colorado River Valley. They are tangible links to an era when the world was being convulsed by global war, and the United States was proclaimed to be the arsenal of democracy.

In the early 1940s, the dusty expanses of western Arizona and California’s Mojave became proving grounds for soldiers, equipment, and airmen. Stitched together by rail, dusty territorial era roads, and iconic Route 66, the vast deserts were transfored into classrooms for combat in the harshest of elements.

Kingman Army Airfield

Relics of the second great war are scattered at the Kingman Airport and Industrial Park along Route 66 east of Kingman, Arizona. They stand in mute testimony to an era when in the blink of an eye a dusty frontier era ranching town was transformed into one of the nations largest centers for aviation training.

Work commenced on construction of the Kingman Army Airfield in early 1942. Crews were pulled from construction of nearby Davis Dam to complete the base in record time. While this was taking place the 1920s TAT airfield established by Charles Lindbergh served as a tempory training center. And in Kingman the Harvey House was transformed into a temporary headquraters.

Officially opened in late 1942, KIngman Army Airfield served as one of the nation’s primary flexible gunnery schools. It was here that recruits learned to master the skies with aerial combat skills. These me would be responsible for turning the B-17 into a flying fortress.

Ripples In The Pond

Supporting operations in Kingman operations were auxiliary airfields positioned like satellites around the base. One of these was established at Yucca west of Kingman along an alignment of the National Old Trails Road.

As a bit of trivia this road would become Route 66 after 1952. And shortly afterwards Ford Motor Company acquired the Yucca airfield and converted it into a test facility for new Ford cars and trucks.

Further to the west along the Colorado River, Site Six was established at a remote fishing camp with small airstrip. Built in 1943 as an emergency field, it later also served as a recreation center. Crews on leave could fish, swim, or hike giving them a much-needed reprieve from the intense schedule of training missions.

After the war the airfield was transformed into a resort of sorts. In the early 1960s, Robert McCulloch selected the site for the testing of outboard motors. That facility appeared in an episode of the popular television proram, Route 66. Much of this site is now used by Crazy Horse Campgrounds.

Patton’s Desert

While aviators learned the skills of aerial combat ground forces needed for mechanized warfare in North Africa. In spring 1942, General George S. Patton established the Desert Training Center (DTC), later designated the California-Arizona Maneuver Area (C-AMA). This sprawling military training complex that covered millions of acres of desert was the largest in the world.

Through stations near Needles, Goffs, Essex, Amboy and Ludlow, entire divisions learned to fight, maneuver, and survive in an unforgiving desert environment. At Camp Ibis, about 8 miles northeast of Needles, armored divisions such as the 4th, 9th, and 11th trained on tank maneuvers and live-fire ranges. From tracks carved into the desert floor to spent rounds and trash dumps there are tangible links to this history found throughout the Mojave Desert.

Camp Essex, Camp Clipper, and the POW Connection

West of Needles near the desert oasis of Essex, California along Route 66 are faded vestiges of another chapter in this story. Camp Essex and its companion Camp Clipper served as transitional and divisional camps. They also played a unique post-combat support role.

The 93rd Infantry Division, an all-Black unit serving during an era of segregation, trained here before deploying overseas. And then in May 1944, Italian prisoners of war (POWs) were housed at Camp Essex after the primary training mission had diminished. The POWs remained into the autumn. They provided labor to camp needs before its closure later that year.

Adjacent to the camp lay Camp Essex Army Airfield. This was a 4,000-foot north-south strip used to support operations and logistics. Although no structures remain, the contours of runways and taxiways are tangible links to its wartime purpose.

POWs and Service in the Desert

Beyond Camp Essex’s Italian POWs, the Mojave Desert region’s broader wartime footprint touched other service roles. Facilities like Needles Station Hospital built in 1942 supported local training operations with care for wounded or ill soldiers. The El Garces Hotel and Depot served as a temporary headquarters, and disembarkation point. POWs worked at both facilities. This underscores the complex interplay of wartime necessity in the desert.

Route 66: A War-Time Lifeline

Throughout the war years, U.S. Route 66 served as a crucial artery connecting military camps, airfields, and desert towns. It became a bustling corridor for moving troops, supplies, and equipment.

Towns like Kingman, Yucca, Goffs, and Needles swelled with activity as soldiers, airmen, and workers passed bolstered local economies. These communities’ identities were forever transformed. The Route 66 centennial is shining the light on this chapter in Route 66 history that is often overlooked.

Legacy in the Desert

Today, the Mojave Desert, deserts in western Arizona, and Colorado River Valley preserve physical traces of America’s wartime training. In the quiet stillness beneath desert stars, those vestiges whisper a chapter of history that stands tall next to that of America’s most famous highway. And for travelers drawn by curiosity and the love of America’s story, these places are monuments to when America was the arsenal of democracy.