Camp Perry - Port Clinton, OH
N 41° 32.521 W 083° 01.186
17T E 331529 N 4600898
Camp Perry on the shores of Lake Erie in Ohio interred German and Italian POWs during World War II.
Waymark Code: WM15M9H
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 01/20/2022
Views: 4
Camp Perry, named after War of 1812 naval hero Oliver Hazard Perry, opened in 1909. During World War I, the base was used for marksmanship training. It wasn't until World War II that it started being used to detain Axis POWs. From the Ohio Historical Marker:
A baggage station was built in 1907 to service the several daily trains. Participants and spectators of the National Rifle matches traveled by rail to Camp Perry. Later, the railroad was important when Camp Perry served as an Army induction center during WWII. One thousand soldiers were processed every three days until the prisoner of war camp was established in 1943. Trains brought Italian and German POWs to Camp Perry from ports in New York.
"During World War II, it was converted to a reception center for new recruits as well as a POW camp for German and Italian prisoners. According to information from Camp Perry, the POW camp was established on Sept. 30, 1943 and eventually housed about 4,500 prisoners.
Many of those prisoners worked on local farms, filling spots left by American men fighting in the war. According to information provided by the Ottawa County Museum, the prisoners worked throughout the county, including on peach farms in Danbury and Catawba, and at one point, German prisoners dug trenches for water and sewer lines at Lakeside. Catawba resident and local historian Don Rhodes said authorities handpicked prisoners for the work who were “deemed relatively safe and needed minimal control.” -
WWII German, Italian POWs had it good at Camp Perry