Prisoners of War
The Camp Crier - Friday, June 25, 1943

Reporter Writes of 'Happy' Italian War Prisoners Here,
Press Reveals PW Daily Life,
Post Internment Camp to House 3,000 Prisoners
By Boyd Gill, Franklin Evening Star.

A few hours after Washington announced that 36,688 enemy prisoners of war are now being held in this country, newspapermen and photographers were invited to Atterbury for a tour of the internment camp.

Built to accommodate 3,000 war prisoners, the internment camp is situated in the west section of the military reservation, well apart from the cantonment in which American soldiers live and train.

Lt. Col. John L. Gammell, commander of the internment camp and the 1537th Service Unit which serves as the escort guard, said there are no commissioned officers among the prisoners here.

The camp is organized as a regiment of three battalions of five companies. Each battalion is composed of one escort guard company and four PW (Prisoner of War) companies. The escort guard company, of course, is an American Army unit. The PW companies are made up of the prisoners themselves.

HAVE "OWN LEADERS

The PW's have one regimental leader, three battalion leaders and twelve company leaders. The leaders are the intermediaries between the army and the prisoners. Leaders are appointed by the camp commander, according to relative rank. All leaders are non-commissioned officers, and are know as sergent maggiore, sergents, corporale maggiore and corporale.

On arrival at Camp Atterbury, all sick and wounded are rushed to the Post Hospital. All the other prisoners or war are marched to the internment camp, where they are searched, examined physically, given a shower bath, fed a good meal and then allowed to rest. The next day they are processed. Each individual is interviewed relative to his name, age, date of capture, grade in the army, civilian occupation, name and address of nearest relative, army occupation and serial number. He is then issued individual equipment and assigned to a company for work duty,

Before the newsmen were admitted to the internment camp, Col. Welton M. Modisette, Atterbury Post Commander emphasized the fact that prisoners of war here are treated not as criminal prisoners, but just as thought they were captured American soldiers.

HOPE FOR RETURN TREATMENT

They are subject to the same requirements relative to custom and courtesies as the soldiers of the United States Army, and to the same disciplinary action when necessary. "They are in a position that a lot of our soldiers might be." said Col. Modisette. "We hope that by adhering to the Geneva rules we can expect in return for our soldiers held prisoners by enemy nations to be treated likewise."

Immediately after a prisoner of war arrives in camp, he is given a basic course, which for the most part includes courtesies and English. This course includes training in recognizing the National Anthem, "T the Colors", bugle calls, and insignia of rank; understanding and executing commands. Most of the commands are simple ones, such as "halt," "attention," "at ease," "forward march," etc., but one command the prisoners are taught is "same thing". This command is used when it is desired that a prisoner obey a verbal order, which the person issuing cannot express in the language of the prisoner, but can illustrate by his own actions.

Prisoners of war receive the same ratios as are issued to the soldiers of the United States Army with the exception that, due to their own personal desires, extra flour is issued in lieu of a portion of the meat. The Italians are strong on starchy foods, such as spaghetti and bread. They don't care much for vegetables and will get along fine without much meat.

PW WELFARE

Two canteens are operated for the benefit of the prisoners. The purchases for the canteen and expenditure of profits are determined by a canteen council composed of the canteen officer - an American - the three battalion commanders - Americans - and the camp and three battalion leaders - PWs. The clerks in the canteens are prisoners. All profits made in the canteens are used for the welfare of the prisoners. Each prisoner, whether or not he works, is granted an allowance of ten cents per day, starting at the time of his capture. Prisoners who are detailed on labor not for the personal benefit of the PW's are paid eighty cents a day in addition to their monthly allowance of $3.

But neither the allowance nor the pay for labor is transacted in actual cash. The prisoners are paid in coupons, redeemable only at the PW canteens. They receive coupons once a month, but not for the full amount due them. They may receive one-half their monthly pay, but not more than $10, plus the $3 monthly allowance. A possible maximum total of $13 is available in coupons for them to spend during a month. The remainder of their pay is put in trust with the government until they are repatriated as required by the Geneva convention.

Hewitt's Numismatic Information Series
" Prisoner of War Monies and Medals"
by Arlie R. Slabaugh, published by Hewitt Bros. 1965

Prisoner of War money used in the United States during World War II generally resembles a theatre ticket in appearance, and were usually issued in booklet form.  Most contain serial numbers, often with different series letters.

Atterbury, Indiana - Internment Camp (without name).  Undated.  Blue printing: 1cent, blue; 5 cents, yellow.  Black printing: 10 cents, orange.  Both Germans and Italians at this camp.  1560th S. C. U. (without name).  Undated.  Red printing. 1 cent, yellow; 5 cents, gray-blue; 10 cents, white.

Although the large variety of issues is reminiscent of many German POW issues during World War I, these U. S. POW scrip were not issued for collectors.  It was useless to write POW camps in 1945 after the war was over (and when many issues were still in use) in an effort to purchase specimens.  The comparatively small number of them available in America today came from U. S. soldiers who served at a POW camp and happened to save some as souvenirs.  But since they did not look much like "money", not many were saved.

LIFE INCLUDES PLAY

PW's are required to work when so detailed. They are now working on projects on the Atterbury reservation and also on nearby local farms. The working day is limited to a maximum of ten hours, including travel time to and from work. The number of working days is limited to six days a week.

Work on civilian projects is limited to agricultural pursuits, and only when all other sources of labor are exhausted. The farmer who applies for and received prisoners of war to help him on the farm makes a contract with the government and pays the government directly.

Life is not all work and no play for the prisoners. A large recreation field provides facilities for three soccer fields, six volley bal courts, one boxing ring, three boccie fields, and a gymnasium area in which are erected horizontal bars, parallel bars and other equipment. Boccie is one of the Italians' favorite games. It is a cross between bowling and pitching pennies to a line. A cue ball is placed on the ground and the players roll other balls to see who can come closest to the cue ball.

Plans are being made to organize a 100-piece band, providing instruments cane be solicited for such a project. A glee club is now being formed among the prisoners, most of whom are good singers. There is a PW club in each battalion, equipped with furniture which has been donated.

HUMAN INTEREST" NOTES

The "human interest" angles of the internment camp for Italian prisoners of war at Camp Atterbury are many and varied.

The Italian prisoners prefer fruits and flour dishes to meats and vegetables.

At a conference between the leaders and the camp commander, the prisoners' only complaint was that the guards should not carry arms.

Lawn mowers were a novelty to the prisoners. They actually expressed a personal desire to be employed on lawn mowing work.

The prisoners were fond of singing and often sing while marching to and from work. Strange to relate, one of their favorite marching songs is "Beer Barrel Polka," sung in Italian.

The prisoners are talented in artistic work, such as sculpturing and masonry. Many of them have undertaken projects of this type on the reservation around their quarters. Several prisoners, for example, are fashioning an American flag with a 15-foot banner in small pieces of stone on the side of a little hill in the internment camp area.

INDIA" PERPLEXES ITALIANS

On their arrival at Atterbury, many of the prisoners could not understand how they got to India. They believed that Indiana was a part of India. Some expressed wonder at how New York City could have been rebuilt so quickly. They had the impression that New York had been destroyed by bombs. When asked what they desired to be put in stock in their canteens, they were unanimous in requesting suspenders, hair oil, hair tonic, facial creams and hand lotions.

The prisoners have one characteristic common to the American soldier. They all expressed a desire to have juke boxes placed in their canteens and radios and victrolas in their club rooms.