Prison Camp a Big Asset for Algona
November 10, 1945
Des Moines Register

Some $4000 a Month is Spent Here for Food Alone 

            Prisoner of War Camp, Algona.  Nov. 10 (Special)—Kossuth residents know of the German Prisoner of war camp, located northwest of Algona on Highway 18, and many of them have visited the camp at one time or another.

            But few know what the operation of such a camp in the community means.  It is a big time business center in Algona’s suburbs.

            The camp has a complete sewage disposal system large enough to handle and needs of a city of 5,000.

            The station hospital has a central heating unit modern in every respect.

            Water, lights, and telephone service are received from the city of Algona.

            So much for the physical aspects of the 220 acre camp.

 Over-All Payroll $334,000.

             Would it interest (you) to know that since the opening of the camp and through September of this year, a period of 21 months, combines payrolls for officers and enlisted personnel serving at the base camp alone, totaled $334,842?

            Of that total, an estimated $120,000 has been spent in the city of Algona for rent, food and utilities by army families living in the Kossuth seat of government.

            The amount that soldiers and officers living on the post, and those living in town, have spent for recreation and entertainment would be impossible to estimate.

 Food $4000 Monthly.

             Did you know that the subsistence portion of the camp, buying for mess halls, averages $4,000 a month for expenditures in Algona alone?

            (Did you know)  That 61 civilians are employed on the post, most of them for Algona and surrounding Kossuth communities?

            (Did you know)  That German prisoners of war stationed at the base camp, through American officers have made expenditures in Algona amounting to $7,500 from their own funds? (One such result of that purchasing will be unveiled to the public at the forthcoming Christmas Season.)

            (Did you know)  That during the period from June 1944 through September 1945, the base camp sold prisoner of war labor to contractors and individuals out of the base camp and 34 branch camps totaling two and one-third million dollars?

           Labor Sales $206,000

             (Did you know)  That in the Algona trade territory the amount was $206,687, from which a net earning of $151,620 was realized and turned over to the Treasurer of the United States?

            (Did you know)  That upon the shoulders of the officers, enlisted men, and civilian employees rests the responsibility for the safety and welfare of nearly 400 American military personnel and more than 4,000 German prisoners of war protected by the provisions of the Geneva convention, to which the United States government has strictly adhered?

Prisoner Well Fed.

             (Did you know)  That German prisoners of war receive enough calories a day not only to keep them in good health, but permitting them to perform satisfactorily manual labor when there was a shortage of free American labor in this area?

            (Did you know)  That the post operates a modern motion picture theater, where the latest films from Hollywood are shown at special army prices?

            (Did you know)  That the post operates its own bakery, furnishing bread, rolls, etc., to American and German personnel?

            (Did you know)  That the quartermaster section operates a store which would cover nearly one side of an Algona business block, and which, if doing business in dollars and cents, would represent a yearly turnover any merchant in Algona would be happy to achieve?

 Community in Itself.

             (Did you know)  That the post has its own Pose Exchange, an army operated store, which sells products to American camp personnel?  And that the Germans operate their own canteens at which they can purchase items which are not scarce on the American market?

            (Did you know)  That the Algona Prisoner of War camp is in itself a community the size of Algona?

            ‘All in all,’ said Lt. Colonel A. T. Lobdell, commanding officer, ‘the running of a prisoner of war camp is big time business and requires cooperation from all parties.  And it is a pleasure to report that the Algona community, including businessmen and farmers, has fully cooperated with the base camp personnel.