German POWs in America Part II

by Alexander F. Barnes & Grayson Van Beuren

A Camp Pickett inspection report from 1945 pointed out the clothing worn by the POWs was “improperly and poorly marked” and that “[some] clothing bore no evidence of ever having been marked.” Harold Walsh’s photos support this finding, as few POWs are shown wearing properly marked clothing. Courtesy Harold Walsh family

It is estimated that by the spring of 1945 there were almost 400,000 POWs at some 500 locations in the United States and Hawaiian Islands. These included German, Italian, and a very few Japanese prisoners. In Virginia, almost all of the POWs were German. In time, the number of sites with POW compounds grew from the two original designated military camps, Fort Lee and Camp Pickett, to 27 sites scattered throughout the state. The largest population of POWs was at Pickett with 2,436; followed by Camp Patrick Henry with 1,558; Fort Eustis with 1,734; Camp Peary with 1,439; and the Army Service Forces (ASF) Depot with 1,299.

Proof that soldiers are pretty much the same the world round. Here, former members of the Afrika Korps — some of the most highly regarded and elite troops in the German Army — cannot pass up the opportunity to put “bunny ears” or “devil’s horns” behind the heads of the soldiers in front of them. Courtesy Harold Walsh family

Harold L. Walsh, a former U.S. Navy sailor and expert engine mechanic, poses in front of a truck in the Camp Pickett motor pool. Walsh was in charge of a group of German POWs held at the U.S. Army camp near Blackstone, Va. Courtesy Harold Walsh family

As Command Historian and State Historic Collection Coordinator for the Virginia National Guard (VANG), the co-author’s main interest is primarily the prison sites at Pickett and the ASF Depot. The reason for this interest is simple: Camp Pickett is now the VANG’s Maneuver Training Center and our VANG Joint Force Headquarters is built on the former site of the ASF Depot. In the autumn of 2022, the VANG Historical Foundation received a donation of dug POW artifacts from the site of the ASF prison camp. Subsequent discussions about these items led to a co-worker mentioning that her father, Harold L. Walsh, had been one of the guards at the Camp Pickett prison site. She also said that she had photos of her father and of the prisoners she would be happy to share with us.

Not German POWs, but American soldiers training at Camp Pickett about the same time the German POWs began to arrive. Note that the U.S. soldiers were not much better dressed than the POWs and the tarpaper-walled barracks seen behind the formation were standard in the early days of the camp. Courtesy VANG Historical Foundation

A unique souvenir: the pre-capture portrait of a German Afrika Korps soldier given to Harold Walsh by one of his assigned POWs. On the reverse side the former Luftwaffe POW wrote in English “In memory of your P.W.” and included his home address in Germany for Walsh to write or visit. The ribbon on his coat is the German War Merit Cross 2nd Class for meritorious achievement and his hat is a Heer (Army) M40. Many Luftwaffe soldiers serving in Africa wore the M40 caps as a Luftwaffe version was not yet available. Courtesy Harold Walsh family

A small grouping of dug POW artifacts. The Iron Cross was found at the site of a forestry and agricultural POW camp in Roanoke, Va., while the mix of army and navy buttons and the German dog tag come from the ASF Depot POW camp site. Courtesy VANG Historical Foundation

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Alexander F. Barnes is a former Marine and retired Army Warrant Officer. He currently serves as the Virginia National Guard Command Historian. Grayson Van Beuren is an historian and museum professional. He currently occupies the position of Collection Coordinator and Curator of the Virginia National Guard State Historical Collection.

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German POWs WWII

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German POWs in America Part II

Remembering a captive workforce of WWII

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