Douglas World War II POW Camp

The panel dates Italy's surrender to 1944; the armistice came in September 1943. What it calls artwork is sixteen murals painted on the Officers' Club walls in 1943 and 1944 by three Italian prisoners, known now only by their signatures, who worked from well-known western illustrations by William Henry Jackson, Charles Russell and others: cowboys, wagon trains, a stockade fort, Old Faithful. The Odd Fellows bought the building in 1963 and protected the walls. It joined the National Register in 2001 and passed to Wyoming State Parks in 2012.

What the plaque says

Douglas World War II POW Camp Between 1942 and 1946 a prisoner of war camp was located at this point west of Douglas. At first nearly two thousand Italian prisoners who had been captured in North Africa were quartered here, but they were released after the surrender of Italy in 1944; then German prisoners took their place, numbering ultimately over three thousand. Over a square mile in size, the camp had barracks, service buildings, and one of the most substantial hospitals in this area of Wyoming. The prisoners were put to work in the fields of nearby farmers to solve some of the World War II labor shortage, and in the process they grew close to the families of the area. After the war, when the prisoners were returned to their homes, some continued to correspond with people they had met at this camp and community. The hospital served the local population as well, and the Army was meticulous in its requirement that the humane treatment of the Geneva Accords be followed in hopes that other nations would follow the example of the United States. In the Officers Club, some of the prisoners contributed artwork that still remains, one of the few vestiges of this important POW camp.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

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