POW Camps in America During WWII

In 1942, a quarter million German soldiers surrendered in North Africa. What was Britain supposed to do with them? Turning to their allies, authorities asked the Americans if they were able and willing to house the prisoners. Reluctant, because of concerns about Germans on US soil security and causing fear among the public, the American government initially agreed to take fifty thousand prisoners who were transported in liberty ships across the sea to New York City, Boston, and Norfolk where they were distributed to camps by train. Prisoners determined to be Nazis were separated from “regular” soldiers.

It didn’t take long for prisoner numbers to rise. First, to 60,000, then 100,000, and finally 160,000 by

September 1943. Eventually America would house more than 425,000 prisoners of war. Most of the prisoners were Germans, but there were also tens of thousands of Italians and Japanese who were held in over 700 camps.

Camps were generally located away from industrial or urban areas in states with mild climates to minimize construction and heating costs. Sites were selected near farms where POWs could be used to fill the labor void. It is thought that forty-six of the forty-eight US states had at least one POW camp.

Prisoners are always expected make escape attempts; however, fewer than 1 percent of all POWs in the US made the effort, less than the rate in the civilian prison system. Most attempts were unsuccessful. Perhaps the knowledge that the ability to make it across the Atlantic to Europe or south to Argentina, a country that had aligned itself with Germany, was slim. An incident that occurred on December 23, 1944 is somewhat amusing. Twenty-five German POWs escaped from Arizona’s Camp Papago Park by crawling through a tunnel. Their plan had been to travel by raft down a river. Unfortunately, when they arrived, they discovered a dry riverbed. They were caught in January 1945.

Prisoners were expected to go home immediately after the war; however, many continued to work through 1946 (a violation of the Geneva Convention’s requirement for “rapid repatriation”). It is uncertain how many POWs from US camps returned to reside in the US after the war.

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Spies & Sweethearts (Sisters in Service, Book 1)

She wants to do her part. He’s just trying to stay out of the stockade. Will two agents deep behind

enemy lines find capture… or love? 

1942. Emily Strealer is tired of being told what she can’t do. Wanting to prove herself to her older sisters and do her part for the war effort, the high school French teacher joins the OSS and trains to become a covert operative. And when she completes her training, she finds herself parachuting into occupied France with her instructor to send radio signals to the Resistance. 

Major Gerard Lucas has always been a rogue. Transferring to the so-called “Office of Dirty Tricks” to escape a court-martial, he poses as a husband to one of his trainees on a dangerous secret mission. But when their cover is blown after only three weeks, he has to flee with the young schoolteacher to avoid Nazi arrest. 

Running for their lives, Emily clings to her mentor’s military experience during the harrowing three-hundred-mile trek to neutral Switzerland. And while Gerard can’t bear the thought of his partner falling into German hands, their forged papers might not be enough to get them over the border.

 

 Can the fugitive pair receive God’s grace to elude the SS and discover the future He intended?

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/m0Od9l

 

Linda Shenton Matchett writes happily-ever-after historical Christian fiction about second chances and women who overcome life’s challenges to be better versions of themselves.

Whether you choose her books set in the Old West or across the globe during WWII, you will be immersed in the past through rich detail. Follow the journeys of relatable characters whose faith is sorely tested, yet in the end, emerge triumphant. Be encouraged in your own faith-walk through stories of history and hope.

Visit her at www.LindaShentonMatchett.com

Photos courtesy of US Army.