Camp Evans Shops

The Shops of

Camp Evans

Evans area shops...
This photo is representative of the activities at Camp Evans when the Signal Corps used the old Marconi Station site as a communications research facility from 1941 - 1998.... Technicians taking ideas, building prototypes, testing, improving and retesting so they would not fail in battle. If they failed American and allied forces were left without communications, without the protection of radar or without the protection of IFF.   Fates of Nations depended on the United States military electronics staying ahead of all potential enemies.
    These rooms may look like simple shops, in reality they are an intellectual battlefield. The mission was to stay ahead of any electronic countermeasures the axis could develop in WWII and the communists during the cold war. A battle of wits and electronic cunning was fought between the officiers and engineers of Camp Evans and the Axis radar engineers for radar supremacy.
     Radar has been called the invention which saved democracy. The Allies use of radar has been credited as a ‘major reason of Victory’ in WWII and the foundation of the modern electronics industry.   Camp Evans, a sub-post of Fort Monmouth, was the Signal Corps Radar Laboratory during WWII and beyond. Camp Evans played a fundamental roll in the "story of victory in a laboratory race against the enemy".    Camp Evans not only developed advanced electronic in house it also contracted, funded and coordinated radar research by the famous laboratories at Bell Labs, Harvard, and MIT.
     Devices designed, developed, tested, prefected and documented in these shops and laboratories shown here contributed to the victory in WWII, helped in Korea, Viet Nam, helped to win the cold war and Desert Storm.
     Many Signal Corps veterans of Camp Evans have been recognized by Britain for defending that nation and American forces station there from Nazi terror weapons and by France for the roll radar played in the liberation of France.
    The photos below show the fabrication shops, sample electronics shops and sample test equipment.

Thanks to Mr. Harold Fulton for saving many of these photos.

A PT boat model in front of the old Marconi Hotel. At the time of this WWII photo the building served as the Signal Corps radar laboratory administration building (building 9001). This photo saved by Mr. Harold Fulton. Click on image for larger view.

Fabrication of Prototypes:
The Camp Evans shops could make anything the Signal Corps needed. There was a foundry, a wood shop, metal shops, vacuum tube shops, electric shops, an electro-plating shop and other shops. Given they were fabricating devices to give the U.S. Armed Forces the most advanced electronic systems secrecy and self-sufficiency was key. They even created the manuals with the help of technical writers, artists, and photo studio.

The former gym of The Kings College became the electro-plating shop (building 9007). It served this function until the 1980s when it was realized the solutions used over the years had contaminated the grounds under the building. It was demolished in 1998. This photo saved by Mr. Harold Fulton. Click on image for larger view.

The machine shop in 'H-building' 9011 section B. This may be a WWII view. The room looks very similiar today, except all the machinery has been removed. This photo taken from the section C entrance, looking east. The windows are on the south elevation of the building. This photo saved by Mr. Harold Fulton. Click on image for larger view.

The machine shop in 'H-building' 9011 section B. This may be a WWII view. The room looks very similiar today, except all the machinery has been removed. This photo taken from the section C entrance, looking east. The windows are on the north elevation of the building. This photo saved by Mr. Harold Fulton. Click on image for larger view.

The machine shop in 'H-building' 9011 section B. This is a WWII view. The room looks very similiar today, except all the machinery has been removed. This photo taken from the north east corner of the shop near the section A entrance, looking west. The cage in the rear is the metal stock storage. This photo saved by Mr. Harold Fulton. Click on image for larger view.

"The Machine Shop at Evans Signal Laboratory. It is the largest and most completely equipped machine shop at the Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories. (from the 1946 collection)." Note the woman working in the metal shop. This photo taken from the section C entrance, looking east. The windows are on the south elevation of the building. This photo is from the National Archives - click on image for a larger view.

"The Carpenter Shop at Evans Signal Laboratory. (from 1946 collection)." Note the wood frame for a radar dish under construction. This is 9011 secton C. The photographers is facing west toward section D. This photo is from the National Archives - click on image for a larger view.

The wood shop in 'H-building' 9011 section C. This maybe a WWII view. The room looks very similiar today, except all the machinery has been removed. This photo taken from the north west corner of the shop near the section D entrance, looking east. The windows and overhead door are on the south elevation of the building. This photo saved by Mr. Harold Fulton. Click on image for larger view.

The wood shop in 'H-building' 9011 section C. This cabinet maybe for painting of parts. This photo saved by Mr. Harold Fulton. Click on image for larger view.

"Aluminum casting - Foundry, Evans Signal Laboratory". This photo is inside one of the DDUs - Dymaxion Deployment Units. Possibly this DDU was replaced by a larger metal building - 9097. This photo is from the National Archives - click on image for a larger view.

Electric, Electronics and Vacuum Tube Shops
The heart of WWII electronic systems was the vacuum tube. Camp Evans had the finest and best equipped vacuum tube fabrication shops in the Signal Corps. They would test commercially available items and work with the manufactures to modify the production components for military usage. Iff there was nothing available from industry for a specific purpose they would develop the prototype. Once the prototype passed all tests the drafting shops would create production drawings for industry to produce the items in quantity.

A technician produces a vacuum tube at the Evans Signal Laboratory. 1946-1948. This photo is from the National Archives - click on image for a larger view.

The Transformer and Coil Winding Department in the Electric Shop, at the Evans Signal Laboratory. (from 1946 collection). This photo is from the National Archives - click on image for a larger view.

"An engineer uses low pressure measuring instruments to determine performance of high altitude pressure devices in the Flight Similtude Laboratory. Evans Signal Laboratory. 1946-1948." This photo is from the National Archives - click on image for a larger view.

"An engineer operates a receiving tube static characteristics test set (lab. model) used aas test equipment in the Thermionics Branch, Evans Signal Laboratory. 1946-1948." This photo is from the National Archives - click on image for a larger view.

Component Testing and System Testing.
The Signal Corps had to make sure its equipment would function in all conditions, desert heat, artic cold, or pacific island humidity. The equipment had to work after being shiped by plane, or truck, parachutte, or landing craft.

"Life Testing radar sets at the Evans Signal Laboratory. 1946-1948." Making sure systems function in long term usage. In battle the enemy does not allow you time to repair your equipment. This is the open area east of the 'H-building' 9036/9037. The building in the rear left is the former electric shop 9034. The chimney is its nearby boiler building. This photo is from the National Archives - click on image for a larger view.

"An engineer tests cold temperature of radiosonde meters, part of radiosonde AN/AMT-3 in Temperature Standards Laboratory, Evans Signal Laboratory." This photo is from the National Archives - click on image for a larger view.

"Technicians testing calibration chamber for humidity elements at the Evans Signal Laboratory. 1946-1948." Note woman at work. This photo is from the National Archives - click on image for a larger view.

Documentation
Military equipment required good documentation. As the goal was to keep the information secret, the manuals were written on-site.

Photography studio for manuals. This photo is from the National Archives - click on image for a larger view.

Break Time.

Horse-shoes outside the wood shop, south of 'H-building' 9011 section C. Behind the men, on the left is the Guard Headquarters - 9029, the boiler house - 9030, and on the right the Camp Evans firehouse - 9031. Note the SCR-271 in the distance behind 9029. This must be a WWII photo. This photo saved by Mr. Harold Fulton. Click on image for larger view.

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