On March 28, 1917, the Territory of Hawaiʻi gave the US Government 31.6-acres of land located where Nānāikapono Elementary School is presently located. They named it ‘Camp Andrews.’
Prior to construction of Camp Andrews, the property was used for agriculture. Constructed prior to 1942, it was used as a rest and recreation (R&R) area for military personnel, both prior to and during World War II.
Nānākuli beach (Kalanianaʻole Park) was just across the road. “(T)he village just back of the camp, and the stores close by always welcomed us; by being next to the main road we could watch the preparations for offensives in the making; and on that main road we could watch tomorrow’s heroes of war being taught to do their stuff on the beaches and in the jungle.”
“The quiet seclusion of four of us to a hut was a welcome change from the crowded barracks. And what we couldn’t talk the camp out of we built ourselves. The swabs who lived in the camp after we left were fortunate because of our stay at Camp Andrews.” (76th Naval Construction Battalion)
Sailors were often given a couple weeks of leave to stay on shore, swim, watch movies and hang out at the beach. The accommodations were very rustic tents with cots. (Cultural Surveys)
“While it is far out at sea, (ship’s) officers arrange liberty port parties for all men who want them and within a few minutes after the ship docks, the sailors are whisked off to one of the several camps or centers. Some officers even fly in ahead of time to line up recreation for the men.” (Cmdr. Hickey; The Morning Herald from Uniontown, Pennsylvania, May 18, 1945)
“Dividing popularity honors for the longer-trip spots are Camp Andrews and Nimitz beach each drawing 2,000-men daily. Camp Andrews, with neat little cabins for overnight, guests, boasts one of the best beaches on Oʻahu.” (The Morning Herald from Uniontown, Pennsylvania, May 18, 1945)
“As they prepared to head for Camp Andrews for a few days of rest and relaxation, each packed a bathing suit, a towel, and maybe a toothbrush and some underwear. At the camp they wouldn’t need much.”
“The boys who wanted to go to Camp Andrews left the ship in large groups, each group spending four or five stress-free days in a place where reveille and general quarters did not exist. When one group returned, another departed.” (Ramsey)
“It’s 23 miles from noisy Pearl Harbor and is reached by a tiny cross-island train. The official camp uniform is swimming trunks.” (The Morning Herald from Uniontown, Pennsylvania, May 18, 1945)
“The train arrived at the station – an open wooden structure with a bench – in the town of Nānākuli. A few native residents waited to board as the sailors grabbed their ditty bags and jumped off both sides of the open cars. The town was very small, just a collection of a few houses, a grocery store, and a service station.”
“The boys walked into the forest of palms that surrounded Camp Andrews. They were assigned tents where they would spend the next few days. Off came the uniforms, on went the swimming trunks – tight form-fitting short trunks that would be the only thing most of them would wear for the duration of their stay at the camp.”
“The tents were semi-permanent, secured on wooden platforms about a foot and a half off the sand. The sides were rolled up or down; most of the boys kept them up because they needed the breeze. Mosquito netting attached to poles could be lowered to surround them while they slept.”
“They could each three meals a day if they wanted, but even that was optional. Food was standard Navy fare, with lots of pineapple desserts.”
“The camp had a mess hall and an area where the sailors could purchase candy and chewing gum and other things they might like to have. Each day they were given the standard two cans of hot beer each.” (Ramsey)
“Life at the camp was very relaxed. We slept, ate, played games and drank beer. The uniform for the ride out and back was ‘whites,’ but at the camp it was dungarees or Navy issued bathing trunks.”
“Diary entry: September 19, 1943 – Left the ship with several hundred other men to spend three days at Camp Andrews. We took motor launches across the harbor to an Oʻahu Railway station to catch the narrow gauge train. The little train was a steam engine pulling five or six open coaches.”
“We wound around the northwestern end of Oʻahu to a small town, Nānākuli, We were off loaded and hiked ¼-mile to the camp. At the camp we were assigned four men tents with Army cots and mosquito nets. We were told we didn’t have to do anything except keep the tents clean.”
“Life at camp was very relaxed. We slept, ate, played games and drank beer. There was no reveille on your three days there or bed check. We slept in tents. All we had to do was cross the road and we were on our own little beach.”
“After three days of swimming on the beautiful beach with black sand and hiking up into the hills and eating as much as we wanted, we departed Camp Andrews and took out little train back to Pearl Harbor.”
“It was a sad occasion when we had to go back to the Ship because we knew that we would soon be going back into the combat zone.” (Charles Paty, Radioman 2/c) (Lots of information and images come from Battleship North Carolina.)
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