St. Maixent Replacement Barracks
| Air Service Replacement Concentration Barracks | |
|---|---|
| Part of American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) | |
| Located near: St. Maixent, France | |
Plan of Air Service Replacement Concentration Barracks (click for high resolution)
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 Air Service Replacement Concentration Barracks, St. Maixent
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| Coordinates | 46°24′52″N 000°12′38″W / 46.41444°N 0.21056°W |
| Type | Replacement Complex |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |
 Air Service, United States Army
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| Condition | Urban area of Saint-Maixent-l'École |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1917 |
| In use | 1917-1919 |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
The Air Service Replacement Concentration Barracks is a former military facility in the vicinity of Saint-Maixent-l'École, Poitou-Charentes, France. It was used by the Air Service, United States Army as the Air Service Replacement Concentration Barracks during World War I. From the facility, Air Service personnel were sent into combat on the Western Front.
After the initial elements of the Air Service began deploying to France in 1917, arrangements were made with the French Government for where large numbers of airmen, at the time undergoing training in the United States, France or England would be received in France and be organized for service.
In December 1917, the French Government suggested Saint-Maixent-l'École in the Poitou-Charentes region. A survey was made of the facilities and arrangements were finalized for Air Service Barracks #3, Base Section #2, which was later changed to the St. Maixent Replacement Barracks.
When France was invaded in 1914, the French Army quartered a regiment of the 114th Infantry at Denfert Barracks and partially Canclaux Barracks in St. Maixent; the latter being a former Benedictine Monastery occupied by the French Army since the French Revolution in the late 18th Century. Another building, named the Presbytere Barracks had been used for the previous ten years on a part-time basis for casual quartering and detachments passing though St. Maixent. A new group of buildings, Coiffee Barracks (Site "A") 46°24′52″N 000°12′38″W / 46.41444°N 0.21056°W was under construction and completed in 1916. The Americans were the first to occupy them. These, along with the Presbytere Barracks (Site "B") 46°24′47″N 000°12′13″W / 46.41306°N 0.20361°W and Canclaux (Site "C") 46°24′38″N 000°12′13″W / 46.41056°N 0.20361°W were accepted for use by the Air Service.
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