POW Camp in Miami

[Zamorra]

Good morning,

 

Very recent somebody pointed out to me that there used to be a WWII POW camp in Miami. I did some research but was not able to find anymore than that it was close to the current Dadeland mall. This location is long gone and big building are covering any evidence of it. Does anybody on this forum ever heard of it and has some additional info?

 

Thanks in advanced.

 

Ed

[siege1863]

I have a listing for one POW camp in Miami--Miami (Bell Haven). Opened 5/23/45 and closed 3/15/46. Capacity was 475 men. Type of work shown as "military."

[Zamorra]

Hi Siege1863,

 

I was not aware of that one. Based on the address it is definitely not the same. The camp in Kendall was around SW 88th street.

 

Ed

[siege1863]

i did not realize Kendall was a suburb of Miami. There is a listing for this camp as well. Opened 7/1/44 and closed 4/7/46. Capacity of 275. Type of work was also "military."

[Zamorra]

Interesting. Can I ask you were you found this information? Also if am looking for images of this camp if they exists at all...

 

Regards,

 

Ed

[siege1863]

The source is a brief history of the POW program in the Fourth Service Command. Came from the Military Police Museum archives when they were located at Fort McClellan, Alabama. It includes no illustrations.

[Zamorra]

I found the following link http://www.lib.usf.edu/aeon/eads/index.html?eadrequest=true&ead_id=U29-00156-k08 and already contacted the librarian to get access to this information.

[vietvet7071]

Hi:

There are several references to the Miami/Bell Haven POW Camp in "Hitler's Soldiers in the Sunshine State" by Robert D. Billinger, Jr.,

published by University Press of Florida in 2000, www.upf.com. I got my copy from Amazon for about $20. I think it is a pretty good reference book. Briefly, it states the camp was part of the Bell Haven Trailer Park at 79th St. & 32nd Ave. in northwest Miami.

Hope this helps.

Ed

[Zamorra]

Hi Ed,

 

I have that book as well and I agree it has a lot of useful information. I was able to get a copy of a report written by Capt Kunzig who visited the POW camp in Kendall. According that description it was definitely not Bell Haven Camp. He also mentioned that it was several miles from Tropical Park which is in that area.

 

Thanks,

 

Ed

[willysmb44]

The FL state archives in Tallahassee has a lot of stuff on the POW camps, might be worth your while to contact them.

There were a lot of small POW enclosures all over FL. I played pre-little-league baseball on a field in Tallahassee that had been a POW enclosure during the war. When I was a kid in the late 70s, I was told the outer fence up against the trees was an original part of it.

[Zamorra]

Thanks for this reference I will definitely reach out to them. So far I know there is nothing left of the camp in Kendall other than memories and some old newspaper articles.

[Ronnie]

Siege can you tell me when Camp Como opened and closed. It was located in Panola County, Mississippi.

Thanks.

Ronnie

[siege1863]

Ronnie---

 

The dates I have for Camp Como are:

 

Opened--6/3/43

Closed--11/17/46

 

There is something odd about the closing date. It is far beyond the date when almost all POWs in the country had been repatriated. I do not believe the year could by 1945. Most of the camps in Mississippi were still up and running to the end of that year and for the first two or three months of 1946. Being a base camp, it would be among the last to close.

[siege1863]

Ronnie---

 

The closing date for Como does not appear to be correct. I found notices in the newspapers selling 325 acres as surplus property. One notice was dated late March 1946. Confusing, however, is an ad for the sale of the post chapel in April 1947.