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

For the 1943-4 World War II Gettysburg Battlefield training camp at the former Pitzer Woods CCC camp (Camp Renaissance), see Camp Sharpe.

The World War II Prisoner of War camp on the Gettysburg Battlefield was established on a former military engagement site of the American Civil War in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in the United States.

This prison camp, which was created to house four hundred and fifty POWs who had previously been incarcerated at the Gettysburg Armory on Seminary Ridge and a stockade that was located on the Emmitsburg Road, operated from June 29, 1945,[1]: d  through April 1946[2] at the former site of the McMillan Woods CCC camp.[3]

History

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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

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  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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