Ww2 Pow Camp Find

[Mongo]

There’s an old ww2 POW camp in the town I live in in Oklahoma. German prisoners were housed here on what is now the county fairgrounds. I’ve been going over this place for about three months now, found quite a few 1941-45 wheaties and an American coat button with the eagle. I found this last week and just got it cleaned up enough to see it. Can anyone tell me more about these things? Thanks for any information!

[JCR]

Very interesting finds.  The Great Seal of the United States button was used on Officer’s uniforms. Is the German item an oval button?

There was a similar POW camp one County to my East. My Dad remembered as a child seeing German POWs passing thru here on the passenger train.

[Gold Seeker]

The first photo is a WW2 German/Nazi Wound Badge, it's the equivalent of the USA Purple Heart.

https://www.militarytrader.com/militaria-collectibles/german-wound-badges

https://www.icollector.com/BLACK-NAZI-WOUND-BADGE-HELMET-SWASTIKA-CROSSED-SWORDS_i11346704

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30078864

[Mongo]

Ye it is oval and quite heavy for its size. There is a place on the back that looks like it might have been a pin or post but it’s gone. There are two crossed swords behind the helmet in the background

[Mongo]

Gold Seeker, you did it. The WW2 edition seems to be the one. Thanks guys! I’ll be sure to update on any new finds

[Valens Legacy]

Nice finds and that had to be some hard work to get them.

Good luck on your next hunt.

[Mongo]

Thanks!

[CPT_GhostLight]

Awesome finds, Mongo!

The Nazi wound badge would be a very rare find at a POW camp site because it had a large pin on the back. Most of the prisoners' medals and badges were confiscated so they couldn't use them as weapons. Many of them were hidden by the prisoners and later traded to guards for things like cigarettes and food. 

[Mongo]

That’s very interesting, I hadn’t heard that before. I didn’t think they would have allowed them to be kept but not for safety reasons. It makes me wonder if they tried to destroy them or saved the ones confiscated to return to the prisoners when they were shipped home. I found this fairly close to the vfw hall which served as the camp headquarters. Makes me wonder how it got there

[CPT_GhostLight]

On 7/3/2023 at 10:19 PM, Mongo said:

That’s very interesting, I hadn’t heard that before. I didn’t think they would have allowed them to be kept but not for safety reasons. It makes me wonder if they tried to destroy them or saved the ones confiscated to return to the prisoners when they were shipped home. I found this fairly close to the vfw hall which served as the camp headquarters. Makes me wonder how it got there

My father-in-Law was a guard at a POW camp in France and he had a lot of stories about his time there. Most of the time medals, badges, and insignia were collected and traded by US soldiers as momentos. Anything metal on a prisoner was considered a potential weapon and was removed. He said they didn't keep track of the removed items so the US  and French soldiers would take anything interesting. None of that was returned as far as he knew. He also said they never had any problems from the prisoners at his POW camp, they were a defeated army and all just wanted to go home.