World War II Prisoner of War Camp, Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania

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The World War II Prisoner of War camp on the Gettysburg Battlefield operated from June 29, 1945,[1]: d  through April 1946[2] at the former site of the McMillan Woods CCC camp.[3]

The camp consolidated prisoners of war from the Gettysburg Armory on Seminary Ridge (100 POWs on September 16, 1944) and those from the 400 ft × 600 ft (120 m × 180 m) stockade on the Emmitsburg Road (350 prisoners)[4] at the former World War I Camp Colt site. On January 22, 1945, the U.S. Employment Service began using Gettysburg POWs for pulpwood cutting,[5] and in June the camp opened with 500 German POWs[1]: d  (932 by July),[6] POW employment ended February 23, 1946; and by April 13, 1946, only guards remained at the POW Camp[6] (guards had numbered as high as 50.)[2] The last commander was Captain James W Copley,[5] and before the camp was opened, Captain Lawrence Thomas had been the commander of both Gettysburg facilities and the Camp Michaux interrogation facility near Pine Grove Furnace State Park.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Gettysburg Times Archives". Gettysburg Times. Times and News Publishing Company. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
    c. "Tells How War Prisoners Are Treated Here" (Google News Archive--transcript available at GDG.). July 14, 1944. Retrieved 2011-06-18. The Prisoners Are Not Hard to Handle {{cite news}}: External link in |format= (help) (commandant Capt Laurence Thomas, Third Service Command)
    d. "Out of the Past: 50 Years Ago" (Google News Archive). June 29, 1995. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
  2. ^ a b Atkins, Elizabeth (2008). …Cultural Views of German Prisoners of War and Their Captors … Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (PDF) (MA in History thesis). Bowling Green State University. pp. 12, 27. Retrieved 2010-01-31. NOTE:: Atkins specifically identifies the POW camp was at former CCC camp "NP-2", but repeatedly uses the inaccurate name "Camp Sharpe" which had been at the former CCC camp NP-1 in Pitzer Woods.[1]
  3. ^ "Fire Company Has Trouble With Truck" (Google News Archive). The Star and Sentinel. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. October 19, 1946. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  4. ^ "May Keep 200 Prisoners for Winter Season" (Google News Archive). The Star and Sentinel. September 16, 1944. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
  5. ^ a b "Staying at some camps wasn't fun and games" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Times: Good Ol' Days. January 12, 2007. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
  6. ^ a b "Says PW Labor here Big Help in Processing Food for War" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Times. February 23, 1946. Retrieved 2011-01-21.



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