California State Military
DepartmentCalifornia State Military
DepartmentPrisoner of War Camp located at the Boswell
Ranch near Corcoran in Kings County. Activated on 1 December 1944
and inactivated 5 October 1945. Reported as a branch camp of the
Lamont Prisoner of War Camp. Some records indicate that this was
also a branch camp of the Camp Cooke Prisoner of War Camp. Report
on POW, Office of The Provost Marshal General, 1 November 1945.
Records indicate that the camp held 499 German Prisoners of War
who were used for agricultural labor.
Source: Army Center of
Military History
One was established on the J.G. Boswell Ranch in the El Rico district of Kings County on December 1, 1944. Four hundred German prisoners were established in a tent encampment. Most of the men worked picking cotton on the Ralph Gilkey and J.G Boswell Ranches. In April 1945, the prisoners and staff were relocated to a new camp on the Los Posos Ranch, also a J.G. Boswell interest, one and one-half miles west of Corcoran. The new camp was officially activated on May 1st, and occupied facilities formerly used by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The buildings were remodeled, and guard towers and security fences were constructed. The stockade was 400' x 700' feet in area and was designed to house 500 men. The Boswell camp was officially deactivated on October 5, 1945 and the POWs and staff were relocated to army facilities at Fort Ord and Stockton.
Source Sacramento District, US Army Corps of Engineers
Posted 20 December 2008
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