Douglas Camp

The Douglas POW Camp near Douglas, Wyoming, housed between 2,000 and 3,000 Italian and German POWs from 1942 to the winter of 1946. Camp Douglas also housed up to 500 U.S. Army personnel for camp security and administrative duties. 

In August 1942, the first group of Italian POWs arrived at Camp Douglas. The group of 412 Italian POWs (From the Tunisia Campaign) were transported by railroad from New York City to Douglas, Wyoming. The number of Italian POWs continued to increase and numbered around 1,900 by 1943. Camp Douglas consisted of over 687 acres of land and was located one mile from the railroad in Douglas, Wyoming. The camp had over 180 barrack style buildings to house the Italian POWs, a 150 bed hospital, and additional support buildings. The prisoner area at Camp Douglas was divided into three compounds, each could hold up to 1,000 POWs at a time. All three compounds were separated by wired electrified fencing. In July 1944, Camp Douglas was closed by the U.S. Army, when Italian POWs were repatriated back to Italy after Italy’s formal surrender to the Allies. Three Italian POWs at Camp Douglas also left an artistic legacy behind. They painted western murals (see Camp Photos tab) in sixteen buildings. The artists names are V. Finotti, E. Tarquinio, and F. DeRossi. Less than a month after closing, Camp Douglas was reopened as a camp for German POWs. By October 1944, there were over 2,000 German POWs interned at Camp Douglas. Camp Douglas would eventually hold up to 5,000 German POWs from 1943 to 1946. Both the Italian and German POWs did not remain at Camp Douglas their entire time while interned.    

During WWII, German and Italian POW Camps served as an economic boom for the communities where they were located. The Italian, and later German POWs, filled a void in Wyoming’s agriculture and timber economy and industry, that was left by the men in these communities joining or being drafted into the United States Military and serving overseas. The Italian and German POWs also temporally moved to some of the smaller seventeen branch POW Camps located throughout Wyoming for work in the agriculture and timber industry. The POWs were not forced, but were paid for their work outside the POW Camps. Each POW was paid four dollars for their work.  Half of their salary was paid directly to the POW in military script that could be used to purchase items from the POW Camp Exchange (Camp Store). The other half of the money was placed into an account for each POW and given to them after their release following the ending of the war. The POWs were a valuable service to the communities they were interned in and also made friendships with local Wyoming residences that lasted many years after WWII. 

In November 1945, German POWs were repatriated following the Allied victory and the ending of WWII. On February 1, 1946, Camp Douglas was officially closed by the U.S. Army. Today, much of the former POW Camp site is located on the current Douglas Fairgrounds. The only remaining buildings from the POW Camp is the Officer’s Club, known today as the Camp Douglas Officer’s Club State Historic Site. 

Sources:  

National Archives. “Douglas Prisoner of War Camp Officer’s Club National Register of Historic Places Form.”

Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office. Wyoming Military Historic Context, 1920-1989.  Ohio: Toltest Inc, 2009.