Prisoner-of-war camps in the United States during World War II.
In the United States, at the end of World War II, there were 175 Branch Camps serving 511 Area Camps containing over 425,000 prisoners of war (mostly German). The camps were located all over the US but were mostly in the South because of the higher expense of heating the barracks in other areas. Eventually, every state (with the exceptions of Nevada, North Dakota, and Vermont) had POW camps.
Camp | Location | ||
---|---|---|---|
Newton D Baker | Martinsburg, West Virginia | ||
Base Camp (Belle Mead) | New Jersey | ||
Fort Dix (Fort John Adams) | New Jersey | ||
Jersey City Quartermaster Supply Depot | New Jersey | ||
Boston Port of Embarkation | Boston, Massachusetts | ||
Camp Allegan | Michigan | ||
Camp Antigo | Wisconsin | ||
Bradley Field | Connecticut | ||
Camp Adair | Oregon | ||
Camp Albuquerque | New Mexico | ||
Camp Algoma | Idaho | ||
Camp Algona | Iowa | ||
Camp Aliceville | Alabama | ||
Camp Allen | Norfolk, Virginia | ||
Camp Alva | Oklahoma | ||
Camp Andrews | Boston Harbor, Massachusetts | ||
Camp Angel Island | California | ||
Camp Ashby | California | ||
Camp Ashford | West Virginia | ||
Camp Atlanta | Nebraska | ||
Camp Atterbury | Indiana | Housed 3,500 Italians and later 10,000 Germans | |
Camp AuTrain | AuTrain, Michigan | ||
Camp Barkeley | Texas | ||
Camp Barron | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Bassett | Arkansas | ||
Camp Bastrop | Texas | Kurt Richard Westphal escaped in August 1945 and was recaptured in Hamburg, Germany, in 1954. | |
Camp Bayfield | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Beale | California | ||
Camp Beaver Dam | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Billy Mitchell | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Blanding | Florida | ||
Camp Bowie | Texas | [1] | |
Camp Brady | Texas | ||
Camp Breckinridge | Kentucky | ||
Camp Briner | North Carolina | ||
Camp Bullis | San Antonio, Texas | ||
Camp Butner | North Carolina | Kurt Rossmeisl escaped on 4 August 1945 and surrendered in 1959. | |
Camp Cambria | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Campbell | Kentucky | ||
Camp Carson | Colorado | ||
Camp Chaffee | Sebastian County, Arkansas | ||
Camp Chase | Ohio | ||
Camp Chickasha | Grady County, Oklahoma | ||
Camp Chilton | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Claiborne | Louisiana | ||
Camp Clarinda | Iowa | ||
Camp Clark | Missouri | ||
Camp Clinton | Mississippi | ||
Camp Cobb | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Columbus | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Como | Mississippi | ||
Camp Concordia | Kansas | ||
Camp Cooke | California | ||
Camp Croft | South Carolina | ||
Camp Crossville | Tennessee | ||
Camp Crowder | Missouri | ||
Camp David | Maryland | ||
Camp Dawson | West Virginia | ||
Camp Deming | New Mexico | Georg Gärtner escaped on 21 September 1945, and finally surrendered in 1985. He was the last escapee, having remained at large for 40 years. | |
Camp Dermott | Arkansas | ||
Camp Douglas | Wyoming | ||
Camp Dundee | Michigan | Two escaped. Used a railroad box car. Recaptured: Roanoke, Va.[2] | |
Camp Eau Claire | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Edwards | Falmouth, Massachusetts | ||
Camp Ellis | Illinois | ||
Camp Eunice | Louisiana | ||
Camp Evelyn | Alger County, Michigan | ||
Camp Faribault | Minnesota | ||
Camp Fannin | Tyler, Texas | Located on the campus of the now University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. | |
Camp Florence | Florence, Arizona | Largest all-new prisoner of war compound ever constructed on American soil.[3] It is now used as United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). | |
Camp Fond du Lac | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Forrest | Tullahoma, Tennessee | First attempted escape by two German POWs on 5 November 1942. | |
Camp Fox Lake | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Fredonia | Little Kohler, Town of Fredonia, Wisconsin | ||
Camp Freeland | Freeland, Michigan | The current site of the TriCity Airport (MBS) | |
Camp Galesville | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Gene Autry | Ardmore Army Air Field, Oklahoma | ||
Camp Genessee | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Germfask | Germfask, Michigan | ||
Camp Grant | Rockford, Illinois | ||
Camp Greeley | Greeley, Colorado | [4] | |
Camp Green Lake | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Gruber | near Muskogee, Oklahoma | ||
Camp Hale | Pando - Leadville, Colorado | [5] | |
Camp Gueydan | Louisiana | ||
Camp Hartford | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Hearne | Hearne, Texas | [6] | |
Camp Hereford | Deaf Smith County, Texas
| ||
Camp Hobart | Oklahoma | ||
Camp Hoffman | Maryland | Close to Fort Lincoln and held over 5,000 confederate soldiers | |
Camp Hood | Texas | ||
Camp Horseshoe Ranch | Hickory, Oklahoma | ||
Camp Hortonville | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Houlton | Maine | ||
Camp Howze | Texas | [7] | |
Camp Hulen | Palacios, Texas | ||
Camp Huntsdale | Pennsylvania | ||
Camp Huntsville | Texas | ||
Camp Indianola | Nebraska | ||
Camp Janesville | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Jefferson | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Jerome | Arkansas | ||
Camp Kaplan | Louisiana | ||
Camp Lake Keesus | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Las Cruces | Las Cruces, New Mexico | Werner Paul Lueck escaped in November 1945 and was recaptured in Mexico City in 1954. | |
Camp Lee | Virginia | ||
Camp Livingston | Louisiana | ||
Camp Lockett | California | ||
Camp Lodi | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Lordsburg | Lordsburg, New Mexico | 1942-1945: held Japanese-American internees, and then German and Italian POWs. | |
Camp Mackall | Hoffman, North Carolina | ||
Camp Markesan | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Marshfield | Wisconsin | ||
Camp McAlester | Oklahoma | ||
Camp McCain | Mississippi | ||
Camp McCoy | Wisconsin | German POWs | |
Camp McKay | Massachusetts | Constructed for prisoners, later reused for housing after the war | |
Camp McLean | Texas | ||
Camp Mackan | North Carolina | ||
Camp Maxey | Texas | [8] | |
Camp Mexia | Texas | ||
Camp Milltown | Wisconsin | ||
Fort Missoula | Missoula, Montana | 1941-1944: Italian POWs. | |
Camp Myles Standish | Taunton, Massachusetts | ||
Camp Monticello | Arkansas | ||
Camp Montgomery | Minnesota | ||
Camp Natural Bridge | West Point, New York | (German) | |
Camp New Cumberland | Pennsylvania | ||
Camp New Ulm | New Ulm, Minnesota | Fortuitously located outside a city where many locals still spoke German. The camp buildings are preserved in Flandrau State Park and are available for rent as a group center.[9] | |
Camp Oakfield | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Ogden | Utah | ||
Camp Oklahoma City | On site of Will Rogers World Airport, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | ||
Camp Ono | San Bernardino, California | (Italian) | |
Camp Opelika | Alabama | ||
Camp Owosso | Shiawassee County, Michigan | ||
Camp Owatonna | Minnesota | ||
Camp Patrick Henry | Virginia | ||
Camp Papago Park | Arizona | Germany's "Great Escape" was from a 200-foot (61 m) tunnel by 25 prisoners on 24 December 1944. | |
Camp Pauls Valley | Oklahoma | ||
Camp Peary | Virginia | ||
Camp Perry | Ohio | ||
Camp Philips | Kansas | ||
Camp Pickett | Virginia | ||
Camp Pima | Arizona | ||
Camp Pine | Green Lakes State Park, New York | ||
Camp Michaux | Cumberland County, Pennsylvania | Near Pine Grove Furnace State Park (same commander as Gettysburg Battlefield camp) | |
Camp Plymouth | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Polk | Louisiana | ||
Camp Pomona | California | ||
Camp Popolopen | New York | ||
Camp Pori | Upper Peninsula, Michigan | ||
Camp Pryor | Oklahoma | ||
Camp Raco | near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan | ||
Camp Reedsburg | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Reynolds | Pennsylvania | ||
Camp Rhinelander | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Ripon | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Jos. T. Robinson | Arkansas | ||
Camp Rockfield | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Roswell | 14 miles SE of Roswell, New Mexico | 1942-1946: German POWs. | |
Camp Rucker | Alabama | ||
Camp Rupert | Idaho | ||
Camp Ruston | Louisiana | ||
Camp Santa Fe | New Mexico | ||
Camp Thomas A. Scott | Fort Wayne, Indiana | Camp Scott held more than 600 German POWs from the Afrika Korps from late 1944 until the camp closed in November 1945.[10][11] | |
Camp Scottsbluff | Nebraska | ||
Camp Shanks | (Point of embarkation) New York | ||
camp in McMillan Woods | Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania | same commander as Camp Michaux camp | |
Camp Sheboygan | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Shelby | Mississippi | ||
Camp Sibert | Alabama | ||
Camp Sidnaw | Sidnaw, Michigan | ||
Camp Somerset | Maryland | ||
Camp Stark | New Hampshire | ||
Camp Stewart | Georgia | ||
Camp Stockton | California | ||
Fort Strong | Boston, Massachusetts | ||
Stringtown POW Camp | Atoka, Oklahoma | ||
Camp Sturgeon Bay | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Sturtevant | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Sutton | North Carolina | ||
Camp Swift | Bastrop, Texas | Camp Thomasville, Georgia. Large German pow camp 2 miles outside of Thomasville. Following WWII, the facilities were taken over by the Veterans Administration with both a hospital and large domiciliary complement. Facilities now serve as an adjunct to the state's mental health program. | |
Camp Thornton | Illinois | ||
Camp Tipton | Oklahoma | ||
Camp Tishomingo | Oklahoma | ||
Camp Tonkawa | Oklahoma | Site of murder of Johannes Kunze by five fellow German POWs, who were subsequently tried, found guilty, hanged, and buried in the Fort Leavenworth Military Prison Cemetery. | |
Camp Tooele | Utah | POW Camp, Co.1, Tooele (original postage) | |
Camp Trinidad | Colorado | A 150-foot (46 m) electrically-lighted escape tunnel was discovered by authorities. This was probably a coal mining tunnel in that Engleville was coal mining camp where this POW camp is purported to be located. Coal mining was prominent in the late 1870s to the 1950s. A few continued into the early 1970s in Las Animas county where Trinidad is located. | |
Camp Van Dorn | Mississippi | ||
Camp Wallace | Galveston County, Texas | ||
Camp Warner | Utah | ||
Camp Washington | Washington (near Peoria), Illinois | Reinhold Pabel escaped on 9 September 1945 and was recaptured in Chicago in March 1953 | |
Camp Waterloo | Michigan | ||
Camp Waterloo | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Waupun | Wisconsin | ||
Camp Waynoka | Oklahoma | ||
Camp Weeping Water | Nebraska | ||
Camp Wells | Minnesota | ||
Camp Weingarten | Between Farmington and Ste. Genevieve, Missouri | ||
Camp Wharton | Wharton, Texas | ||
Camp Wheeler | Georgia | ||
Camp White | Oregon | ||
Camp White Rock | Dallas, Texas | ||
Camp Wisconsin Rapids | Wisconsin | ||
Cushing General Hospital | Massachusetts | ||
Camp Wolters | Texas | ||
Corpus Christi Naval Air Station | Corpus Christi, Texas | ||
Drew Field | Florida | Now Tampa International Airport and Drew Park | |
Edgewood Arsenal | Maryland | ||
Eglin Army Air Field | Florida | ||
Fort Benjamin Harrison | Indiana | ||
Fort Benning | Georgia | ||
Fort Bliss | Texas | ||
Fort Bragg | North Carolina | ||
Fort Campbell | Kentucky | ||
Fort Crockett | Galveston, Texas | ||
Fort Curtis | Virginia | ||
Fort Custer | Michigan | ||
Fort Devens | Devens, Massachusetts | ||
Fort Dix | New Jersey | Harry Girth escaped in June 1946 and surrendered to authorities in New York City in 1953. | |
Fort Drum | New York | ||
Fort DuPont | Delaware | ||
Fort Eustis | Virginia | ||
Fort Gordon | Georgia | ||
Fort Jackson | South Carolina | ||
Fort Kearny | Rhode Island | ||
Fort Knox | Kentucky | ||
Fort Lawton | Washington | A riot by Negro soldiers took place over preferential treatment given to Italian and German POWs. One Italian POW was lynched, and Leon Jaworski was the military prosecutor.
The Italian and one German POW who committed suicide rather than be repatriated are buried just outside the post cemetery boundaries. | |
Fort Leavenworth | Kansas | ||
Fort Leonard Wood | Missouri | ||
Fort Lewis | Between Olympia and Tacoma, Washington | ||
Fort McClellan | Alabama | ||
Fort Meade | Maryland | Fort Meade housed about 4,000 German and Italian POWs during World War II.
Thirty-three German POWs and two Italian POWs are now buried in the post cemetery. The most famous of those buried on the installation is German submariner Werner Henke, who was shot while trying to escape from a secret interrogation center at Fort Hunt, Virginia. The captain is the sole German Navy officer buried among enlisted German Army soldiers. | |
Fort Niagara | New York | ||
Fort Oglethorpe | Georgia | ||
Fort Omaha | Omaha, Nebraska | ||
Fort Ord | California | A 120-foot (37 m) nearly-completed escape tunnel was discovered by authorities.[12] | |
Fort Patrick Henry | Virginia | ||
Fort Reno | Oklahoma | ||
Fort Riley | Kansas | ||
Fort Robinson | Nebraska | ||
Fort Rucker | Alabama | ||
Fort D.A. Russell | Texas | ||
Fort Sam Houston | Texas | ||
Fort Sheridan | Illinois | ||
Fort Sill | Lawton, Oklahoma | ||
Fort Sumner | New Mexico | ||
Fort F.E. Warren | Wyoming | ||
Glennan General Hospital | Oklahoma
Grider Field, Pine Bluff Arkansas |
||
Halloran General Hospital | New York | ||
Hammond Northshore Regional Airport | Louisiana | ||
Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation | Virginia | ||
Indiantown Gap Military Reservation | Pennsylvania | ||
Holabird Signal Depot | Maryland | ||
Lovell General Hospital | Massachusetts | ||
McCloskey General Hospital | Texas | ||
Memphis General Depot | Tennessee | ||
Naval Air Station Whiting Field | Milton, Florida | ||
New Orleans Port of Embarkation | Louisiana | ||
Olmstead Field | Pennsylvania | ||
Patterson Field | Ohio | ||
Port Johnson[13] | New Jersey | ||
Pine Bluff Arsenal | Arkansas | ||
Richmond ASF Depot | Virginia | ||
Tobyhanna Military Reservation | Pennsylvania | ||
Valley Forge | Pennsylvania | Valley Forge General Hospital, later the Golf Course area | |
Waltham Memorial Hospital | Waltham, Massachusetts | ||
Westover Field | Massachusetts | ||
Windfall Indiana World War II POW Camp | Indiana | ||
Camp Haan | California | ||
Camp Tyson POW Camp | Paris, Tennessee | ||
Rose Hill | Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Colorado |
References[]
- ↑ "News from the Bowie Camp 1943" Written account from Joseph Lehman to friend Margie Krumpleman
- ↑ [1] Father's memories of POWs spur teacher's research of central Michigan camps
- ↑ Jack Hamann, "On American Soil: Camp Florence, Arizona"
- ↑ [2][broken citation]
- ↑ Camp Hale Prisoners of War
- ↑ [3]
- ↑ Camp Howze 1944 1945 " from a long term resident at the camp written to his girlfriend"
- ↑ "August 1943 description of the Camp Maxey" Letters from Camp Maxey
- ↑ Buck, Anita Albrecht (1998). Behind Barbed Wire: German Prisoners of War in Minnesota During World War II. St. Cloud, Minn.: North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.. ISBN 0-87839-113-4.
- ↑ "World War II Camp Had Impact on CIty" by Michael Hawfield, The News-Sentinel 15 December 1990
- ↑ Camp Thomas A. Scott - Fort Wayne, Indiana - WWII Prisoner of War Camps on Waymarking.com
- ↑ [4]
- ↑ http://www.colorantshistory.org/ItalianPOWCamp.html
External links[]
- A nearly complete list of all camps
- Camp Rucker (Fort Rucker), Alabama
- The German POW camps of Michigan during WWII
The original article can be found at List of World War II prisoner-of-war camps in the United States and the edit history here.