prisoner of war camp

[BuffaloBob]

There was a small POW camp in Paducah, Ky during WW 2. They were used to help build the floodwall.

Ever do any detecting there?

 

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[mrjosh]

I haven't located where exactly the camp was located yet. A lot of local maps from then were destroyed by a fire in the late 60s. I havent tried the floodwall. Parts of it are grown up, every so often murder victims are dumped near sections of it.

 

[kenley]

A little late, but YES, there were POW camps all over the US. In my home town we had German POW's. They built much of the recreation facilities in town and some of the civic buildings. The main building burned in the 60's. I have hunted all over the area and found nothing. My high school buddy found a pit full of German helmets after a big flood, but now 60 yrs later he isn't sure where it was. This is central Oklahoma.

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

as a child i used to sneak into a POW camp in scottsdale arizona...every night after school a few of us would go over to papago buttes and sneak under the wire...towers, barracks, mess hall, supply and administration buildings were all intact.
sadly, the camp was bulldozed in the late 1960's.

 

[whitt459]

there was a pow camp at center tx.,the high school west of town is where it was at. the grounds and buildings were used for fair grounds and baseball field from late 40s to 1980s. also east of shelbyville tx. at a place called ragtown, the fenced compound and buildings were still there in the 50s,dont know when they were torn down but remember it still there about 1953. whitt459

 

[LadyDigger]

POW camp here in VB too......the building that was once used as a TB Hospital (Tidewater Memorial Hospital, 1937 - as written on the cornerstone), became the Hdqtrs of the POW Camp. That building still stands and now houses Willis Wayside Furniture. All the land that once housed the POW Camp is now fill with homes and townhomes. There were a couple of "barracks" that were converted into homes that still stand, I believe only 2 remain, but don't quote me on that one.

The VB Central Library also sits on this former camp as well as Loehman's Shopping Plaza. I have somewhere in my genealogy collection....an article that was printed years ago in our local paper the area of this former POW Camp...as I go through my paperwork and get it all better organized...I hope I still have it!!!!

Hubby and I tried to detect this small area left before they built a new building on the land to no avail. The employees, however, told us about seeing "nurses" and even a "military man" walking up and down the staircase and of strange things that happen within the building.....stories I LOVE to hear! LOL

Someone once told me there was a POW Camp in the Pungo area of VB...not sure...never investigated...and still lots of farm land out that way too!

IMG 0161a.....that is behind Willis Wayside and from what the employees told us.... that is where the kitchen and such was at.

Look at all those trees removed....there goes, most likely, lots of history .... now lost to a new building on that site!

 

[LadyDigger]

I worked in CA with a gentleman who was Japanese. His Parents were kept in a San Francisco internment camp. His mom died in the camp because she was refused medical help while having a baby. He did have photos of the camp somehow. The tents were fairly full of holes and if you have ever been to San Francisco you would know how cold it can get. These folks owned a farm and were Americans. They lost all of their possesions while kept at the camp and had to rebuild all of their dreams. I can't remember if the family received some compensation, but I am sure he wish he had more time with his mom.

My Mom told me about this...that during WWII, all Japanese in the states were put in camps. They had some kind of documentary on not to long ago about one in California. She said that there was such a hatred for anyone that even resembled Japanese. Even though my Mom grew up in New York City...I don't know if anything like this happened there, she just told me that they were put in camps. My Mom was about 9/10 years old when this happened. I don't ever recall reading or being told of this when I was in school either And yes, it did not matter if they were American or not....they were put in camps.

 

[GrayCloud]

Was it wrong,,,Yes.

Did it save many of them from death,,,,,Yes.

 

[east tx digger]

In Tyler , Tx. was the largest p.o.w. camp west of the mississippi during the CIVIL WAR. Camp Ford Confederate camp. Held several thousand men, it belongs to smith county, and eventually covered 11 acres. Part of the camp is on private land. There is a lot of info on the web. HH

 

[Gary in Pennsylvania]

POW Camp at Tobyhanna Army Depot, north east Pennsylvania:
http://www.tobyhanna.army.mil/about/tobyhanna/history.html

Finally, at the end of the war, a POW camp was constructed to house German enlisted personnel. The camp opened in early 1945, and the maximum number of prisoners confined at Tobyhanna approached 300. These prisoners harvested ice from area ponds, and worked on regional farms in the summer and fall of 1945. The prison compound was located in the general area of the present-day commissary. A report of October 1945 showed that 56 prisoners were assigned to farm work, 41 in logging operations, and 10 in ice storage. Others worked on post in glider storage operations. While imprisoned here, the Germans could take advantage of courses in English, Russian and French. In November 1945, all off-post work was ended and the prisoners were sent back to Germany before the onset of winter. The World War II headquarters was a large two-story building, located near the current depot entrance on route 423.

-

 

[BuffaloBob]

More than 43 German Submariners POW camps in Colorado. I found one that hasn't been searched. Waiting for better weather.

Documentation is scarce because, during WW2 visitors were not allowed especially the press. And no photos allowed. Secret stuff.

In Colorado they were used for agriculture, planting, harvesting etc on farms and ranches where the men were in the military. They were paid in US funds and the work was voluntary. After the war the law required all German POW's to be returned to their homeland. The only exceptions were escapees. Some did marry local women.

The camp I am looking at had seperate staff housing from the enlisted men. Don't know if I'll find anything but it's fun to think about.

 

[BigJohn75]

I work on what used to be an Army Depot in Kentucky. There were German POWs housed on that base during WWII. The property is now owned by the State and most of the buildings remain intact, including some of the art work left on the walls by the prisoners. The railroad system was used more extensively in those days to transport equipment and personel, and the POWs were moved around in this manner. It was much more efficient and moving them often was used as a diversion to prevent the possiblity of escape, new environments and areas as to not give them time to learn their surroundings. Most of the time they had no idea where they were located and would not know where to go if they did escape. And of course, the entire base is off limits to MD'ing.

 

[BuffaloBob]

I work on what used to be an Army Depot in Kentucky. There were German POWs housed on that base during WWII. The property is now owned by the State and most of the buildings remain intact, including some of the art work left on the walls by the prisoners. The railroad system was used more extensively in those days to transport equipment and personel, and the POWs were moved around in this manner. It was much more efficient and moving them often was used as a diversion to prevent the possiblity of escape, new environments and areas as to not give them time to learn their surroundings. Most of the time they had no idea where they were located and would not know where to go if they did escape. And of course, the entire base is off limits to MD'ing.

Artwork on the walls. Very nice! No walls at this site just old timbers and hardware. There were one or two escapes but as I understand it, they married women on a farm they worked at. Suppose the whole family was involved but I don't know. This are of North Central colorado close to the Wyoming border was very remote. Remote extremely bad winters and more than fifty miles hiking through the mountains to any other community. Everyone was deported in 1945 to Germany. But a few did return to marry and live in Colorado. Big chenge for submariners!

Funny thing about our gov't. They think everything belongs to them, or "should" belong to them. Most civil war relics in museums were uncovered by guys like us. And we write the books about them. Then they try to confiscate them because they are national treasures. What a bunch of Bozos. (My State and Town included).

Keep a low profile and take care of your own interests. If they don't know about it, it never happenned. IMHO
BB

 

[ottor]

how about the camps that housed the people who lived here when the wars broke out as there was thousands of Asian and german's who was detasined in camps here in the US even tho they was citizens the govt held them in camps because they was afraid of them being symphatetic to the enemy. many lost thier jobs homes and even families. it is a sad time in our history but those camps would be woth detecting even for the historical finds that might be there .

I live in idaho, not far from the "Hunt" relocation camp that held thousands of japanese during the war - Minidoka, Idaho.. I'll look into the possibility of hunting that area .. I have a map of where the buildings sat before being demolished/moved years ago.. Some of the rock formations still stand. Idaho's full of volcanic rock - cheap building materials..

r

 

[Alaina_in_MSDelta]

Here in Mississippi, a lot of the towns had POW camps that housed captured soldiers. The house that I grew up in, actually sits on the site of one of the camps. It's now a neighborhood, but the concrete from the guards shack is still in the corner of the yard. Guess it was too much work to move !! Area has never been MDed.

 

[dale68]

German pows were used in many places in the us during ww2 because of a shortage of men. They were mostly used on farms to plant, and harvest. In the 1960s I was stationed in germany & met a german who claimed he was captured and worked in Kentucky on a farm during the war. At night he was housed at a camp . Unfortunately I didnt ask where in KY (i didn't get a md till many years later).

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

A good friend, who grew up in Hahira Ga, said there was a POW camp right next door to their farm.
I also found this article from my hometown. While I knew we had Air Force and Marines bases, and even missile silos, in my home town, I never gave it much thought, that we too, housed German POW's.


Vintage Albany: Turner Field WWII POW Camp

 

[darkcloud]

POW Camp 202 in Greeley, Colorado History