Prisoners of War at Camp Bowie

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker at Camp Bowie tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, Brown County might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think about the Second World War, but Camp Bowie, right there in Brownwood, held a story that most folks driving past never even suspected. Several thousand German prisoners of war called that place home, at least for a while.

The first arrivals came in 1943, and a good many of them had served under General Rommel's division in North Africa. These weren't just any soldiers. They'd fought in the desert and ended up in the Texas heat, which, depending on who you ask, might be a fair trade or might be worse.

The U.S. Army had a particular way of running things at Camp Bowie, and it wasn't exactly what you'd picture if your only reference is the movies. Mornings, the prisoners could take classes.

English, forestry, metal work, radio, bookkeeping, law. Evenings, they listened to lectures and music. And here's where the story takes a turn you might not see coming.

They worked. On a farm, outside the compound. Out in the open air of Brown County, working alongside local farmers.

And something happened out there in those fields that no military order could have predicted. Connections formed. Real ones.

Because after the war was over, after everything, some of those men stayed in contact with the local farmers they'd worked beside. Some of them even came back to visit. The U.S. government closed Camp Bowie in 1945.

But it wasn't until June of 1946 that all the German prisoners were finally returned home. Think on that for a second. The war was done.

The camp was closed. And still, men waited. That gap between 1945 and June 1946 is a quiet kind of detail, easy to skip over, but it's the kind of detail that carries the full weight of what war does to a life.

And somewhere out there in Brown County, a few old farmers probably remembered those mornings in the field for the rest of their days.

What the marker says

During World War II, Camp Bowie housed several thousand German prisoners of war. The first arrivals, many of whom were troops from General Rommel's division in North Africa, came in 1943. The U.S. Army allowed the prisoners to write and receive letters and to take classes in the morning, including English, forestry, metal work, radio, bookkeeping and law. They listened to lectures and music at night. The prisoners also worked on a farm outside the compound, and many remained in contact with local farmers after the war, some even later returning to visit. The U.S. government closed Camp Bowie in 1945, but it was not until June 1946 that all German prisoners were returned home. (2006)