The Coolidge examiner., 1946-04-26
Army To Quiz
Prisoner OF War
Camp By June 30
c | a $ e d AS Surplus" On
April 80. Camp To Be
Turned Over To u. S. Dis
trict Engineers.

eiiSt engineers.
With the Prisoner of War Camp
at Florence classed as surplus to
need" by the war department on
April 80, 1t. Col. Howard G. Rion.
commanding officer at the camp
announced today that the entire
project would be completely de-
activated and turned over to the
U. S. district engineers by June 80.
All prisoners and army PERSONAL
Will have left the camp by that
time, leaving a deserted village
under control of a few civilian
guards.
However Col. Rion said, the
camp laundry which is the only
army laundry in Arizona, will be
taken over and operated by the air
forces.
At present there are 20 officers
and rs enlisted men operating the
camp with the aid of 189 civilians.
OF the latter number ITO will be
retained during the deactivization
period.
Most of the officers are ex-
pecting to be transferred to Ru-
pert, Idaho where an expanded
POW camp is being created as
other camps In the west and south
west are being abandoned. A num-
Der of the enlisted men will prob
ably go there too. it Is expected.
Civilian employees will be let out
on or before June 30.
OF the officers now at the camp.
1t. Col. Alex Stiller, of Tucson.
one OF the most decorated officers
in the camp, and who saw active
service with the late General Pat
ton in Europe has already been as
signed to duty in Dallas, Tex. He Is
scheduled to leave for Dallas on
Thursday.
The camp initiated as an off,
cial internment camp for prison.
ers of war in August, 1912, had a
peak of 10000 prisoners, reached
December 1945.
Because of its efficiency 1t was
more or less operated as a train
ing center for military men assign
ed to other prisoner of war camps.
More than 600 officers have served
at the Florence camp during its
four years of existence.
First used as a prison camp for
Italian prisoners, it switched when
Italy capitulated and 1t was made
an alderman camp. All Italian
prisoners left the camp by August
1914 when the first German pri-
soners entered. Some of the TIA
l!ans went to other camps while
some were included into labor
battalions for the army. The first
Italian prisoners arrived In Flor
ence on May 6, 1943.
Much of the property at the
camp is already being moved to
other stations. The remainder not
moved by June 80 will be declared
surplus property.
or the 1884 prisoners now held
in the sprawling camp all will be
gone within a week with the ex-
ception of approximately 800 who
will leave later.
The camp hospital. termed one OF
the best in the country by visiting
physicians, will be closed May /,
which is also the date that the
air forces will take over the camp
laundry.
During its existence, the camp
set up II sub-camps in this area,
with prisoners farmed out to pick
cotton and do other work 80 badly
needed during the peak manpower
shortage.
Among the locations of these
camps were: Casa Grande, Cortaro.
Duncan, Stafford, 11-Mile Corner.
Maricopa and Continental near the
Mexican border.
Strangely enough some OF the
prisoners are not looking forward
to repatriation. About three per
cent do not want to go home. de-
claring they like America, particu-
larly that part of America in which
they are presently located.
The others with the Fatherland
uppermost in their minds. Several
said they knew that their home
cities were badly bombed and they
didn't know what to expect when
they arrived home, but they want
ed to go anyhow.
Faced with the prospect Of re-
turning to a Germany now without
food, and under the heel of the
conquerors, these men, many OF
whom have families, are anxious
to return despite the positive hard
ship which they must meet.
Few of the officers and enlisted
men look forward with pleasure to
leaving Arizona, they said. This
| has been proven in the past by the