Camp Patrick Henry - Prisoners of War

Prisoners of War

Camp Patrick Henry also served as a prisoner of war camp, housing over 5,000 German and prisoners of war between 1944 and 1945. The prisoners were assigned to alleviate the critical shortage of manpower in the area within the limits of the Geneva Convention. The first German prisoners of war to permanently assigned to the Port of Hampton Roads were members of the Afrika Korps who had been captured in the early part of 1943 in North Africa. A prisoner-of-war canteen was established within the compound where the prisoners, within existing regulations, could make limited purchases.

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