Roswell Prisoner of War Camp

The camp's best-known trace is in town, not here. In 1943 a fifty-man work detail of Afrika Korps prisoners, lining the Spring River in Roswell with stone for flood control, set an Iron Cross into the riprap, and residents who noticed poured concrete over it. Erosion uncovered the cross again in the 1980s, opinion had shifted, and it went on the National Register; a section of the Berlin Wall now stands nearby. Some of the men came back: Hans Rudolph Poethig, held at Orchard Park, later settled in Roswell.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Roswell Prisoner of War Camp Camp Roswell was one of the first and largest base camps built in the U.S. and was located on Orchard Park Road. The camp operated from August 1942 to February 1946 and interned 4,816 German POWs at its peak. Camp construction was similar to Army training centers with the addition of watchtowers and fences. Most POWs performed agricultural labor, particularly during cotton season. Associated smaller side camps were located in Fort Sumner, Artesia, and Dexter. See other side Official Scenic Historic Marker Continued During World War II, 155 prisoner of war (POW) base camps and 511 branch camps were constructed in 46 states. By 1945, over 425,000 German, Italian, and Japanese POWs were held in the U.S., including more than 371,000 Germans. POWs worked in farms, mills, canneries, public works projects, and other low-risk jobs that alleviated labor shortages during the war. New Mexico's larger camps were located in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Lordsburg, Roswell, and Santa Fe.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bottomless Lakes State Park — 8.8 mi
  Nine sinkhole lakes under red bluffs east of Roswell, named by vaqueros whose ropes never touched bottom, and set aside in 1933 as New Mexico's first state park.
• International UFO Museum and Research Center — 10 mi
  A 1930s movie theater on Roswell's Main Street turned into a museum by two men who had been part of the 1947 story, one of them the officer who announced the flying disc.

More markers nearby

• Walker Air Force Base — 6.0 mi
• Roswell — 7.6 mi
• Roswell — 9.8 mi
• Roswell Pioneer Plaza — 11 mi