37th F.A. BN. 2d Inf Div. Camp Swift Texas 18 March 1946

San Antonio: C. Ekmark, 1946. Very good plus.. Panoramic photograph, 8 x 43.5 inches. Very minor wear. A striking panoramic image capturing the 37th Field Artillery Battalion of the Second Infantry Division while training at Camp Swift, Texas in the wake of the Second World War. Five groups of soldiers are ranged across the photograph, posed amidst six large cannons, with the officers in the middle, all standing in front of three long rows of jeeps, transport trucks, and one airplane at the center. Camp Swift, located just west of Austin in Bastrop County, can be seen in the far background. "During World War II, [Camp Swift] reached a maximum strength (truncated) of 90,000 troops and included, at different times, the 95th, 97th, and 102d Infantry divisions, the 10th Mountain Division, the 116th and 120th Tank Destroyer battalions, and the 5th Headquarters, Special Troops, of the Third Army.  Swift was the largest army training and transshipment camp in Texas. It also housed 3,865 German prisoners of war. After the war much of the site was returned to former owners. The government retained 11,700 acres as a military reservation. That land housed parts of the Texas National Guard, a medium-security federal prison, and a University of Texas cancer research center" - Handbook of Texas online. The photographer, Carl John Ekmark of San Antonio was a noted and somewhat prolific chronicler of military life throughout the Lone Star State. (Inventory #: 2544)