Camp Douglas: Wyoming’s World War II Prisoner of War Base Camp

Camp Douglas: Wyoming’s World War II Prisoner of War Base Camp

By Lee Ann Siebken

As prisoners of war from Italy, and later from Germany, marched off trains and into Camp Douglas, the camp population soon exceeded the population of the nearby small Wyoming town. But before long, the citizens of the town and the surrounding rural area welcomed the World War II prisoners because the battle-weary soldiers could provide the labor they needed to save the crops. Historian and author Lee Ann Siebken began researching Camp Douglas over 20 years ago by interviewing people who were present when the town hosted over 500 U.S. soldiers and 3,000 prisoners of war at a time. She searched dusty basements, read archived news papers, uncovered first-hand accounts and family photographs, and located men and women who had lived through it all. Now she has put her research together into a book that will leave you wondering why you didn’t know this before.

• • 978-1-937147-17-4 • 192 pages • paperback • $19.95 ORDER NOW

Lee Ann Siebken

Lee Ann Siebken is an avid history buff and a native of Wyoming who lives in Douglas, Wyoming, where she and her husband, Duane, raised their four children. Now retired, she operated a preschool for many years while her husband ran a small business. They promote literacy in their community and are involved in local and state historical societies, libraries, and writers’ organizations. Her writing focuses on poetry and nonfiction. Her poetry has been published in many publications and received recognition and awards. Her local histories include In Our Midst: Christ Church, Douglas, 1890-1986 and Talk of the Town: Douglas, Wyoming—A Frontier Town’s True Story. Her essay “The Storm” appears in the collection Woven on the Wind: Women Write About Friendship in the Sagebrush West (Houghton Mifflin).