WWII US Army Base ID Card Fort Wayne Service Mens Club Rita Staszak SMC Minute

WWII US Army BaseID Card Fort Wayne Service Mens Club Rita Staszak SMC Minute. Interesting ID Card for a young lady working on base pre 1944, the story of the base is quite interesting as it was flooded with German POWS. Taken from the web below. Seven railroad operating battalions were trained in Fort Wayne between 1942 and 1944. So good was their training here that one of these, the 730th R. Open houses were given in Fort Wayne when new battalions arrived for training. The city also enthusiastically supported the Fort Wayne Service Men's Club on Washington Boulevard.

With its canteen, library, music room, billiards room and dance floor, the club was a home away from home for hundreds of servicemen. By September, ominous machine-gun towers and barbed-wire fencing appeared along Moeller Road and Wayne Trace. Soon after, more than 600 prisoners arrived to live in the camp's frame and tar paper houses. Prisoners of war had been housed in the county for some time, having been transported from the large camp in Defiance, Ohio.

But this was the first time prisoners were actually billeted in Fort Wayne. There seems to have been no connection between the arrival of the German prisoners of war and Fort Wayne's proud German heritage. There simply was a manpower shortage in the Allen County area, in both industry and agriculture, as well as an overcrowding of prisoners in the older camps.

A Nice Candidate for any Collection, Library, or Display. Recent Estate Collection Acquisition & Presented as Acquired, Rare Early War Production. Check back often - we search estates and sources across the world to bring a fine selection of militaria. Please review all photos for details regarding the condition of the item listed - further condition information will be included in the listing as is relevant, if you need additional photographs or have questions regarding the condition please do not hesitate to ask. I describe all items to the best of my ability - please do not hesitate to ask any and all questions prior to the close of the listing. Mistakes very rarely occur - however if one does please rest assured that it will be corrected.