3615 Oxford Street "originally a training center for the Army's Railroad Operating Battalions. But at the end of the war, it was the detention center for more than 600 German prisoners of war, mostly from Field Marshall Erwin Rommel's famed Afrika Korps." from World War II camp had impact on city by Michael Hawfield published December 15, 1990 in Cityscapes from the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper.
Camp Scott Wetlands Nature Preserve established by at least 2017.
Fort Wayne's Camp Scott Wetlands 5-22-21 May 23, 2021 Ray Steup on YouTube.
Fort Wayne City Utilities has created a wetland area on the City's southeast side to store and treat stormwater runoff. The wetlands also provides a natural habitat for song birds, water birds and other animals. Interesting Camp Scott fact: During World War II, a portion of the property that is now a wetland was home to an Army training facility and later to a prisoner of war camp. Video made on May 22, 2021 in Fort Wayne, IN with The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ2500. DCI/Cinema 4K 4096 x 2160, 24p, 100 Mbps. Cinelike Gamma D profile.
Many in Fort Wayne know that Baer Field airport began as a World War II air base. But northeast of McMillen Park, just...
Many in Fort Wayne know that Baer Field airport began as a World War II air base. But northeast of McMillen Park, just east of Wayne Trace and between the old Pennsylvania Railroad tracks on the north and Moeller Road on the south, a new stand of young woods is all that remains of an important World War II facility.
Here stood Camp Thomas A. Scott, originally a training center for the Army's Railroad Operating Battalions. But at the end of the war, it was the detention center for more than 600 German prisoners of war, mostly from Field Marshall Erwin Rommel's famed Afrika Korps.
Sign at Goeglein Catering: During World War II, Camp Scott, a training center for the United States Army's Railroad Operating Battalions, became home to nearly 600 German POW's, primarily from Roemmel's famed Afrika Korps. This POW Camp was located off of Wayne Trace by McMillen Park. Because the war creatd a shortage of man-power, POW's were used as industrial and agricultral workers in the Fort Wayne area. Some POW's worked as laborers in the Goeglein Mill. Viola Goeglein, Ray's wife, told a story that she provided a meal for the POW's that included sweet corn. As sweet corn was not familiear to the POW's, the were offended that they were being served pig fodder. Only after they saw her feeding her own children the corn did they agree to try it.
Former German POW May Come Back To Job On Indiana farm
FORT WAYNE, Ind., Nov. 13 (U.P.)—Farmer Rudolph Koeneman hopes that he soon will get his former "hired man" back. The new hand has to come from Germany.
Koeneman received a letter from Rudi Kirchberg, ex-member of the Wehrmacht, who worked for him in 1945 as a prisoner of war hired out from nearby Camp Scott.
Kirchberg, 28, wrote that "there was nothing to look forward to in Germany. Just hunger and cold." He asked to come back to work on Koeneman's farm.
Koeneman submitted an affidavit to the American consul in Berlin.
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Rudolph “Rudy” Koenemann, Birth: 5 Oct 1902, Madison Township, Allen County, Indiana, USA. Death: 4 Jan 1998 (aged 95), Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana, USA. Burial: Saint Johns Lutheran Flat Rock Cemetery, Hoagland. From his Find A Grave
FORT WAYNE Ind. (UP) — Farmer Rudolph Koeneman hopes that he soon will get his former "hired man" back The new hand has to come from Germany.
Koeneman received a letter from Rudl Kirchberg ex-member of the Wehrmacht, who worked for him in 1945 as a prisoner of war hired out from nearby Camp Scott.
Klrehberg 28 wrote that “there' was nothing to look (forward to in Germany. Just hunger and cold" He asked to come back to work on Koeneman’s farm.
Koeneman submitted an affidavit to the American consul in Berlin.
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -Farmer Rudolph Koeneman hopes that he soon will get his former "hired man" back. The new hand has to come from Germany.
Koeneman received a letter from Rudi Kirchberg, ex-member of the Wehrmacht, who worked for him in 1945 as a prisoner of war hired out from nearby Camp Scott.
Kirchberg, 28, wrote "there was nothing to look forward to in Germany. Just hunger and cold." He asked to come back to work on Koeneman's farm.
Koeneman submitted an affidavit to the American consul in Berlin.
Snapshots of soldiers taken at Camp Thomas A. Scott (in Fort Wayne) during WW II. These were taken in early 1944 and were part of a soldier’s personal photo album. [ a couple photos are dated April 21, 1944 ] In early ‘44 Camp Scott was a Railway Operating Battalion training center for the U.S. Army. Most of the photos appear to have been taken along the camp’s south perimeter road.
I have been able to identify three of these men and all three were members of Company B of the 717th Railway Operating Battalion. The 717th, the 730th, and the 750th Railway Operating Battalions were all trained on Pennsylvania Railroad lines in Fort Wayne. The last battalion of soldier-railroaders was deployed from Camp Scott in mid-1944.
On Wednesday, September 13, at 1 p.m. ET, archivist Rachael Salyer will speak about the records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General (OPMG) and enemy prisoners of war detained in the United States during World War II.
The United States established hundreds of Prisoner of War (POW) camps during World War II, which held an estimated 425,000 German, Italian, and Japanese prisoners. Salyer will discuss the records of these camps created by the OPMG. She will provide an overview of their establishment and construction, how and where to locate records related to specific camps, and provide suggestions for how to begin researching individual prisoners, as well as camp staff and assigned units.
Did you know that during WWII, more than 400,000 POWs (mostly German) were held in some 500 POW camps across the United States? American captors provided the POWs with ample food and a safe and clean environment. Prisoners worked and were compensated for their labor -- allowing them to purchase things like cigarettes, soda, and ice cream from the canteen. Following the war, the prisoners were repatriated back to their home countries. Pictured here are the barracks at one American POW camp: The Fallen Foe, America's German Prisoners of War.
Caption: Typical barracks scene in a German Prisoner of War Camp. Prisoners, when not working on post or at branch camps, were able to occupy themselves by writing, reading, painting, and carving.
