Aroostook Historical and Art Museum

Description

Camp Houlton was established in 1944 for the internment of prisoners of war to provide laborers for local farms to harvest peas, pick potatoes and other work.

The prisoners were paid a dollar a day in scrip that they could spend at the post exchange, the base store, for toiletries, tobacco, chocolate, and even beer.

Not all POWs were allowed to work on the farms for security reasons.

Many farmers came to see the POWs who worked their fields as good laborers rather than enemy soldiers.

In this picture, the POW farm workers are posing for the picture with the farmer's wife. Pictures of POWs are unusual because photographing POWs was not allowed.

View additional information about this item on the Maine Memory Network.