WWII era Yellow Water Naval Air Gunnery School

[RMHoward]

Timkin,
UXO= unexploded ordnance.  Lots of these signs near navy housing to the west.  I think they are trying to scare people, more than anything else.
Rick

[Timkin]

Hmmm.... I wonder how many of those exists at this Yellow Water Place?  What did you say was the toxin that would make the place so dangerous?

[RMHoward]

The ranges had millions of rounds of .50 and .30 cal lead bullets fired into the berms.  Hence, lead contamination.  Wouldnt be too worried about the non-range areas.
Rick

[Timkin]

How many berms are there? Hey if you go out to this place Id like to go with you sometime if that would be ok.  Cooler weather would be smart.. I do not hold up as well as I used to , to the heat.

A picture is worth a thousand words , but Id still love to see it before it becomes so heavily wooded you cannot  tell what it was.  For some reason, old Military stuff like this is interesting to me.  I am amazed they did not at least fill the swimming pool with dirt or something though. Id hate to fall into that mosquito breeding ground. :/

[RMHoward]

Timkin,
The very beginning of this post shows overhead views of the ranges.  Anything that looks circular, oval, triangular, figure 8, etc.  is a bermed range area.  These bermed areas had railroad track around the perimeter where target cars traveled (moving targets). The rail car would move (protected from fire behind berms) while the target flags extened above the berm to be shot at.  Although these ranges look small in the photos, they average 250 yards across them North to South.  The firing positions were another 250 yards (roughly) to the south along the east-west road.  I  would love to have someone go out there with me when cooler. Honestly, i spend more time out at Camp Blanding where there is alot more to look at.  I know a lot more about camp blanding than i do about Yellow Water gunnery school.  But then again so does everyone else.  There is alot of stuff out there about Camp Blanding, not so much about yellow water. Expect at least 5 miles of walking when we go.  Thats what my GPS says i walk (roughly) each time i go out.  PM me your phone number.  I will give you a call next time i go out.  For a good reference short film about exactly what was occuring out at Yellow Water during WWII, see the following link to a YouTube video about a very simliar Army Air Corp gunnery school in Kingman Ariz.  The exact same types of training were occuring at Yellow Water.  Most gunnery schools operated from a similar template, Army and Navy alike.  Remember, the goal of this particular school was to train only aircraft gunners how to shoot (not ground or ships gunners).  Facinating to me that all this was happening over off of Normandy BLVD. back then.  Its a short video.

YouTube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Dewp922LM

Here is a link to a PDF document detailing training of Army Air Corp gunnery school.  Again, Navy training was nearly identical to the Army's training.  The only real difference was that the Army had far more gunnery schools than the navy.  The Navy only had 3, with Yellow Water being by far the largest.

http://www.bomberlegends.com/pdf/BL_Mag_v2-2-GunneryTrain.pdf

PS, if you think you might like Yellow Water, im sure you would love Camp Blanding
Rick

[Timkin]

I know of Camp Blanding and have ridden by it many many times.  I also remember as a kid, the Lee Field Navy Base in Green Cove Springs.  I actually had been on it after it leaving ownership of the Navy (Wish that had never happened).    Theres just something about this Yellow Water Place that is intriguing..    I did see the aerials of this at the beginng of the thread but not having a Military background or ever having been on a site like this , I had no idea what I was looking at. I will definitely pm my # . Id love to see it.. I doubt I could do such a hike in this heat though.. I would have to wait for cooler weather but DO appreciate the invite .

  Also find it interesting that a Subdivision was plopped right over an adjacent former Military site.  I know it might be a long-shot , but imagine that you want to drill a well and run into UXO.  that would make for a bad day .   I also get how a cleanup of a site like this would be really Costly.. To that I say, Cement over these berms and make a giant skateboard park   just kidding.

[bobsim]

  First I would like to thank you for this fascinating thread. My girl friend and I do a lot of hiking and are always on the watch for new areas. We saw this and had to go out and experience it. We had a blast (PTP) in the woods here last weekend and found most of your posted locations. Amazing how close to the park trails some are and yet so few people know about this, in fact I would venture to say walk right by some of these locations and have no idea.

  The first butt we found was in great shape, almost overgrown and looking like a pile of junk at first glance but after seeing your pictures we got a closer look. Wow! We're in the right spot! The second butt or maybe a magazine,  was of block construction and similar size, we couldn't get inside to explore. As we made our way through the brush around the exterior we heard buzzing similar to high voltage, coming around the corner to the entrance side we saw the bees. Maybe the acoustics amplified the noise but I would guess that building is slap full of 'em. Back to the trail!

  Sunday we did the barracks (?) area, the old roads made walking easy while hunting cleared areas in the woods for exploration. Robin said "concrete!" Walking up the hill to get a better look the turquoise/green color of the pool came into view and we heard angels singing! This was what we wanted to see more than anything else here and we found it early! We had a ball exploring the rest of the complex but the pool has to get top billing.

  I will post some pictures later as I need to get to work soon, wanted to thank you for posting this thread and let you know how much fun we had here. Aside from the bees we saw scat, tracks and rooting but no critters- may have been too hot for them....

[RMHoward]

Cool!!!  Glad you enjoyed it.  Glad you found the old pool.  The picture of the pool from 1943 makes it extra special to me.  If you have a GPS, i have coordinates for just about everything i have found out there.  Could save you some time.  I would be glad to give them to you for what ever you want to see.  I know where some structures are out there that i dont have coordinates for (didnt have my GPS when i found them).  I am convinced that there is a lot to be discovered out there.  Look forward to checking some stuff out there when it cools off. One of the mysteries to me, is the existence of the almost perfectly square lake just to the northwest of the admin area.  It wasnt there in the 40s, 50s, or 60s.  Wonder why it is there now?   Your a brave man going out there this time of year.  Your wife must be a real trooper.  My wife went out there once with me, that was enough for her.  Bless her heart, not into history like i am.  Didnt the horseflys eat you alive out there?  Looking forward to your Pics.
Rick

[bobsim]

  I'm back,  Yes Rick she is a trooper. She's also the common sense of the team, knowing when to come out of the woods. This time of year is tough. Deer Flies weren't too bad but the skeeters were viscous in shady spots and the area is a little ticky.

 We entered at the back of the ball fields and it was a comfortable walk to the paved roads that define the grounds on the satellite view. BTW, these roads are also part of a bike trail with the trailhead at the equestrian ctr. the trailhead looks new.

 About the lake, we parked there Sat. and it appears fairly new. We noticed a warning sign re. alligators and I got the impression it was a retention pond? We didn't check out the area above it but there seems to be some development going on.

 Here are a few pics, I don't want to clutter the thread so I'll include a link to the album where the rest are.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

  http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb63/bobdsimmons/Yellow%20Water%20Gunnery%20School/

 I'd like to take you up on your offer for coordinates. We are thinking about Camp Blanding next, will send am IM.

 Thanks again from both of us!

[RMHoward]

Wow,
From the looks of your album, you covered a lot of ground.  I see you found the electical box (with movable arm).  Also, is the picture of the bridge a vehicle bridge or railroad bridge?  There is a railroad bridge still in place out there (without tracks).   I cant tell from your picture.  Great job.  One thing i should mention about Camp Blanding, since i am retired military, i can get in there no problem.  But, unless you are a state employee, or law enforcement, or military, you might not be able to get in there.  If you can get in, start at the museum at the entrance.  Great start.  I can lead you to some good finds out  there, including the german POW camp, german pow cemetary, stockade 2 (where german aliens were held), and lots of other goodies.
Rick

PS, i think we are talking about different lakes.  I know the lake you are talking about, on the eastern end of the grounds, near the FCCJ campus.  That is a retention pond (alligator warning signs installed about a month ago).  Actually, this retention pond sits on top of the exact spot where a oval shaped range was located with imbedded metal rails for small self propelled cars.  If you look on either end of the pond, you can see the ends of the berm with metal tracks still installed to this day!!  The lake i am talking about (see google earth) is father inside the school area and is not accessible by vehicle.  You can only get to it by hiking to it.

[Timkin]

Does the Swimming Pool have a huge hole in one side of it?  It sort of looks like it.   cool pics.  I wanna go check it out

[RMHoward]

Timkin,
Yea there is a hole in it.  The hold in the pool also goes through a (pump room?) on the backside of the pool.  I speculate that because it would have been too expensive to remove the pool during the destruction of the gunnery school in the 50s, they decided to put a hole in the pool so it wouldnt hold too much water.  Easier/cheaper to remove wooden structures than concrete/block structures or foundations.  Same is true at Camp Blanding.  Almost every foundation poured out there for the approx 7000 structures constructed are still there.  Too much work/money to remove.
Rick
PS you can ge to the pool really easy.  Park at the equestrian center (by indoor pool parking lot), hike to the back of the baseball fields to a dirt road that accesses the asphault hike about a hunder yards or so, the pool will be on your right side.  You will be really close to Normany Blvd, less than 50 yards.  Less than 1/2 mile round trip.  Easy.

[Timkin]

I reviewed the set of pictures, and 2 of the structures look pretty intact.  The one that looks rectangular , sort of a 4 wall chain link fence, with a roof , what was that?  also the brick lined holes in the ground? well? or ...

Cool pictures. I realize through these that this place is beyond repair.   Too bad,, its really interesting.

[bobsim]

 Hi Timkin,

  The structure (chain link walls) has us wondering also. Inside the concrete floor looks recent, it is sloped with grates and drainage in slab as if designed to be hosed down frequently. The layout is stalls against full sides and clear in the middle as to accommodate driving in one side and out the other. Our guess is stable or motor pool. This bldg. is much newer than most others we saw. The other newer bldg is of the same design and construction as the large concrete magazines with steps and loading docks (three total.) One of the pictures shows the lettering "hazardous waste" on the front. I probably shouldn't call the bldg. newer, it maybe the same age but has been maintained and appears secure. The picture was taken through the chain link fence around it. The mention of nuclear waste storage came to mind...

  The brick lined hole (two shots of same hole) has us stumped. If you zoom in on the picture you can barely make out the rebar rungs built into it (in the sunlight.) In my younger days I would have had pictures from inside, that was a long time ago!

  Rick, we may have two different bridges. This one was at the Normandy Blvd. end of one of the roads through the pool section. There was a sign laying down that read "bridge closed to all but bicycle traffic" and there were steel poles installed to limit passage to anything wider. This one is at : N 30° 14.753'/W 081° 53.833'

  Looks like I don't qualify for the access to Camp Blanding, I will try calling and and asking permission but being an Air Force brat I know what's ahead and it's discouraging.

[Timkin]

Hmm.. interesting... I would presume anyone who would be retired military and know the site at all would either be passed on or very elderly.. But it would be cool if someone could identify some of these things... Like the " Electrical" box with the arm on it..  ?    That Bridge looks alot like a train bridge to me.  I was never Military so I could not get into Camp Blanding either, other than maybe the museum part.. But i sure remember as a kid , living in Green Cove , hearing rumbling sounds and it coming from the West.. always thought that must be some type of thing going on out there.

I see the Burms in the Aerials, but it is hard to tell where they are , if they are even identified in any of these pics.. Cool pics though... Thank you both for the photo tour.