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DENISON DAM   Co. 3836 Civilian Corps German Prisoners-of-War assist in building the dam. Being
constructed during World War II, German POWs were involved in the
construction of the dam and were the first POWs to be used in a labor
camp. This group of prisoners were part of Rommel's Africa Korps;
they were housed in camps at Tishomingo and Powell, Oklahoma.
Later the POWs housed at Tishomingo were moved to a camp at the
spillway of the dam. According to the Geneva Convention, the POWs
could be used clearing trees, and other light construction. Their
work on the Denison Dam included lining the drain ditches around the
dam site with mortared stones and construction a bathroom facility
at the dam site. Source : US Army Corp of Engineers, Tulsa District; "History of Lake Texoma"; viewed May 25, 2015 Twenty-one German Prisoners of War died during the construction of the dam. They helped clear 7,000 acres for the lake Source : Impact : A Look at the Historic Impact of Lake Texoma's Flooding, Jocelyn Lockwood, KTEN News, viewed May 25, 2015 The Whitewright Sun Thursday, June 24, 1943 pg.2 GERMAN PRISONERS ARE EFFICIENT AS WOODSMEN IN DENISON AREA by Robert E. Hicks Madill, Okla. - German prisoners of war under the jurisdiction of the Madill Provisional Internment Camp are now back of the axes instead of the Axis. Several hundred of them, brawny and bronzed, are engaged in clearing thousands of acres of bottom lands which soon are to be inundated when water is backed up in the Red and Washita Rivers by Denison Dam. The prisoners are quartered in two sub-camps near the area to which they are assigned. One of these camps is near Tishomingo and the other is near Powell. Armed with cross-cut saws, double-bit axes, brush hooks, wedges and sledge hammers, the prisoners travel from camp to work areas in trucks. In the woods they are divided into crews in charge of a German noncommissioned officer and assigned to certain sectors. Around the entire work area members of the Military Police Escort Guard Company form a ring. Although on higher ground and at some distance from the prisoners, the guards are so deployed that they can see each other at all times, and survey the space between them. The guards are armed with rifles. Army officers in charge of the prisoners say they are good workers, and fell as many trees as comparable crews of American laborers. They swing their axes with much gusto, but in their hearts they are said to feel that the cutting and burning of so much timber is wasteful. To Germans, a tree is food and clothing, as well as fuel and shelter. Over there it is a criminal offense to chop down a tree without government permit, and when one is cut, every sprig of it is saved and utilized in some manner. Despite this natural aversion to the work assigned them, they apparently feel a normal satisfaction in doing their job well. After a giant of the forest crashes to the ground, they laugh and talk, drink ice water and smoke a cigaret [sic] before they tackle another. As for cigarets [sic], the prisoners show a decided preference for the popular American brands, which is understandable. German cigarets [sic], which they receive in packages from home through the International Red Cross, are made largely of tree bark flavored with small quantities of Turkish tobacco. They taste a little better than the corn silks and tissue paper of our adolescence. But not much. The American officer in charge of the work area we visited was Lt. Joe Moses, a retired member of the New York City police department and a fingerprint expert of international repute. War Department permit under which we were admitted to the prisoner of war camps did not permit interviews with the internees, but through Look we learned that they didn't like the idea of having their pictures made for a newspaper. Their knowledge of newspapers being confined to the controlled press of Germany, the felt the pictures, in some way, would be used as propaganda against their fatherland. As McAllister aimed his camera at a group of the Nazis, one of them warned the others to turn their backs to him. That saved us the embarrassment of asking them to do exactly that, as War Department regulations do not permit the publication of any pictures revealing recognizable features of the prisoners. The prisoners work eight hours a day, five days a week, their time being calculated from the time they leave the stockade until they return. It was 4:10 when the quitting whistle blew and the prisoners started coming out of the woods towards the trucks. They made first for the barrels of ice water on the edge of the clearing where the trucks were parked. Lt. Moses explained why the lids on the barrels were fastened with padlocks. "Before we got the padlocks," he said, "the first ones to the barrels would reach inside with their dirty hands and grab a chunk of ice, spoiling it for the rest of the fellows." After refreshing themselves at the water barrels, the prisoners lined up three deep beneath the trucks and waited, first for the stragglers to come out of the woods, and then to be counted by the guards. When the last man had been accounted for, a signal was given and they scrambled into the trucks. Back at camp, the prisoners line up outside their stockade and each man is "frisked" by the guards to make certain that no wire cutters or concealed weapons are brought in. Officers say the prisoners are respectful to the guards. They are thoroughly familiar with their rights and privileges under the Geneva Convention. Whatever complaints the men may have are registered with their own company and stockade leaders. At regular intervals, Lt. Col. H.E. Fischer, commanding officer of the Madill camp, meets with leaders for a discussion of these matters. So far, Col. Fischer said all points have been settled amicably.  Waterways Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |