The lost WWII camps of Perry

One of the privileges I have the honor of holding is being a member of the Perry Area Historical Society. I get to learn so many fascinating details that, otherwise, I would have never known. The internet can only teach you so much, but that “human experience” is something Google can never bring to the table. Every time I step into that museum in downtown Perry, I’m reminded of being a boy again, and my grandaddy taking me to every museum we could find. When I’m greeted by the smiling faces there I see that same familiar look that was in grandpa’s eye. Gentle yet firm, curious but cautious for the truth. Not even in the biggest libraries could you hear the stories I’ve heard. The legends of Perry and the surrounding area could never be bound to a series of books. No, they are much larger than that. Why? Because these people are the legends themselves. One such legend is a man, you may know, by the name of Bobby Tuggle.

Tuggle is a fellow Columnist for Houston Home Journal, and knows more about Perry than I ever will. Even if I spend every last second researching and learning, it wouldn’t hold a candle to his knowledge of the area, in my opinion. I had the honor to spend a day exploring some lesser known sites of Houston County with him and another friend (and columnist) you may also know, by the name of John Trussell. That day was a dream come true for a history buff boy like myself. Nonetheless, after that amazing day, I wanted to learn more. I dug into some of Bobby’s columns and I was wowed by a story he wrote in February 2012. It was called “Perry’s WWII POW Camps” and it’s today’s topic for Houston’s History Files. Yep. You heard that right, POW camps here in Perry. Let me tell you some of what he had to say.

In his column, Mr. Tuggle writes about how there were several hundred thousand German and Italian prisoners of war during WW2 scattered all over the United States. There was a camp, named Camp Wheeler, in Macon that housed thousands of them. In addition, there were different branches of camps throughout middle Georgia, and Perry’s camp was one of them. He explains that the first troops were Italian, but as the war raged on, more German troops came to Perry and the two did not mix well at all, to say the least. Because of the faults of war, the Germans blamed the Italians for some of their hardships they faced in Africa. Due to this, the Germans threatened to kill the Italians at the camp, and soon they were shipped to other camps, leaving the only Germans in Perry (I’m paraphrasing his article here, don’t let me short change it).

Bobby paints a picture of a different world during the year of 1943. He was a young boy at the time and, thanks to his dad working for the camp assigning different prisoners to different farms to work, he was able to get near it. He recalls times being so hard that even finding candy and gum was hard to come by. So, the German POWs gave him some through a fence. With all the brutality and inhumanity going on in the world at the time, it makes me proud to be an American knowing that we still had times like that. Tuggle even (semi) jokes about how the prisons may have been eating better than him and the rest of Americans at the time due to rationing across the country. It makes you have a newfound respect for the current lifestyle we have today, and for those who sacrificed their lives for us to get where we are.

In his article, he explains that the camp was located “below the old railroad depot on land that is now occupied by part of Tolleston Lumber Company.” After the war, the prisoners returned to their respective countries. He even makes claims that some of them came back to the US to visit some of the old camps. Perhaps, to even visit Perry and some of the old farms they used to work on. Oh, and if you’re wondering, according to Tuggle, they did get paid .80 per day thanks to the rules of the Geneva Convention. I want to reiterate that I left a lot of information out (I only get so many words here) but you can visit the Perry Area Historical Society to read the entire column that he wrote, along with some of his others. I, personally, want to thank him for sharing that information and for being the tough and kind man that he is. You taught this young guy a lot that day we explored together. Thank you.

Next time, on Houston’s History Files, we will explore myself and how I got into the local history. I figured it’s about time to do that and even give you some of the “out there” stories I’ve heard along the way. More importantly, my love for Houston County, its history and its future. As always, if you want to get a hold of me, you can do so by emailing me at hauntedhistory@protonmail.com. I do respond when I can! Check out my other bodies of work at haunted-history.org before it disappears. See you next time!

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