Prisoner of War Camp Chapel

Prisoners from the camp left their mark on a church as well as their own chapel. Enlisted Italians were hired out to local farms at ten cents an hour, while officers stayed in their compounds; seven officers and two enlisted men painted murals, made wood carvings and installed stained glass at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Umbarger, and parishioners fed them well. The officers' compound was then under a retaliatory starvation order, from April through December 1945, and the Italians smuggled the surplus back. The last 3,999 prisoners boarded trains for Italy in January 1946.

What the plaque says

Prisoner of War Camp Chapel (3.5 mi. S) A prisoner of war camp, used primarily for Italian soldiers, was in operation near this site during World War II. Known as the Hereford Military Reservation and Reception Center, it was first used in 1943 for prisoners captured in an invasion of North Africa. Many of the approximately 7000 Italian soldiers imprisoned here became friends with local residents and with American troops. Since the war, some have returned for visits and others have settled in the region. The camp chapel, constructed by the prisoners, is the only building remaining at the site. (1982)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Deaf Smith County Historical Museum — 2.0 mi
  Hereford's county museum in an early Catholic school: the Windmill City's pioneers, a half-dugout and caboose outside, and work by the Italian prisoners held south of town in the war.
• Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge — 20 mi
  A 1938 Depression-era lake on Tierra Blanca Creek that has gone dry, now 7,664 acres of shortgrass, cottonwood canyon and a prairie dog town on the High Plains south of Umbarger.

More markers nearby

• Town Without a Toothache — 1.6 mi
• Pioneer Windmill — 1.9 mi
• Deaf Smith County — 2.0 mi
• Two-Wheel Fire Hose Reel — 2.0 mi