
Naval Air Station Jacksonville - Jacksonville, FL
Posted by:
lazyCachers
N 30° 13.560 W 081° 42.003
17R E 432634 N 3344035
Naval Air Station Jacksonville is located on US17/Roosevelt Boulevard just north of I-295 in Jacksonville, Florida.
Waymark Code: WM48Q8
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 07/22/2008
Views: 54
An excerpt from the book Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, 1940-2000: An Illustrated History By Ronald M. Williamson reads as follows:
"On Saturday, June 4, 1945, 500 German Prisoners of War (POW) arrived at NAS Jacksonville. They were quartered in a fenced-off, well guarded compound in an area occupied by the Recruit Training Center. The prisoners were transferred from the POW Camp at Aliceville, ALabama, and actual control of them was given to Captain George W. Gresham of Camp Blanding. Most of the prisoners had been captured in the previous two years and all were enlisted personnel. Building 411, which served for many years as headquarters for Readiness Command Region 8, was used as the mess hall for the prisoners of war. The new reserve center building at Birmingham and U.S. 17 is now located there. The POWs were housed in Buildings 463, 465, 466, and 467. By October 9, there were 1,645 POWs in the station compound, even though the capacity was listed as 1,000. Camp Blanding was originally designed as the only site in Florida to receive POWs but as 1945 started and the Camp Blanding received more POWs than it could hold, branch camps were established and NAS Jacksonville became the main extension camp to Camp Blanding."
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