Stewartstown World War II Prisoner of War Camp

Stewartstown World War II Prisoner of War Camp. . , In the summer of 1944 the Stewartstown Fairgrounds was converted to a prisoner-of-war camp for German soldiers captured during World War II. There were 16 prisoner-of-war camps in Pennsylvania during the war. The Stewartstown POW Camp was Branch Camp #3 of the Indiantown Gap Base Camp in Lebanon County. The Stewartstown Camp was operated seasonally, with prisoners sent to the camp to provide workers to local businesses facing labor shortages during the war., The Stewartstown POW Camp was activated on June 15, 1944 and ceased functioning on November 1, 1945. During that time, German soldiers, some as young as 17 years old, lived in the camp under the guard of U.S. Army Military Police. The prison averaged 231 prisoners and 14 guards according to the U.S. government records. Approximately 2,000 prisoners lived in the camp over the two years that it operated., The Stewartstown Fairgrounds was transformed into a POW camp with four guard towers, a wire fence, and tents for the prisoners, guards, enlisted men, and officers. The prisoners lived within the fenced area and were transported into Stewartstown and nearby communities to work in the fields, orchards, and canneries.