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Camp Ellis
Brian Parks On September 17, 1942, life in part of central Illinois was about to change. What was once endless cornfields and farm land was about to become a busy military city. It was built in the area of Table Grove, Illinois, and occupied 17,750 acres. Farmers were given just thirty days to vacate their farms, taking with them whatever they could haul away in that short period of time. Sealed bids were taken on crops left in the field, and it was the farmers' responsibility to harvest them before the huge construction machines moved in. The area was to become the largest army camp under construction. It took only six months to construct this military city although bad weather and wartime material shortages hampered their efforts. Upon completing construction the Army had erected thousands of buildings. On April 15, 1943, the gates opened to Camp Ellis, named in honor of Sergeant Michael B. Ellis whose heroics during World War I ranked him as a hero. The facility was originally designated as the Camp Ellis Interment Camp, but on August 31, 1943, its name was changed to the Camp Ellis, Illinois, Prisoner of War Camp. During the time Camp Ellis operated, 125,000 men were trained, and nearly 5,000 POWs were housed. The POWs were mostly German soldiers and Austrians forced into the German army. Conditions at the camp had to be in strict accord with the provisions of the Geneva Convention. They had to provide the prisoners with both physical and mental activities to keep them busy and healthy. The POWs received an allowance of ten cents per day and they got eighty cents a day whenever they were assigned Class 2 labor (all labor other than maintenance earned no pay). The prisoners cut brush, worked in the fields, laid brick, dug ditches, and maintained the railroad tracks. On May 3, 1944, the first "side camp" was put into operation. "Side camps" existed outside the camp area in nearby communities. There prisoners labored in lumber yards, clothing warehouses, and other buildings in the warehouse area, loading and unloading and repairing clothing and shoes. Some worked in the Post Engineer Motor Pool repairing automobile engines and machinery. They were only allowed to work a maximum of twelve hours, including travel time to and from work six days a week. POWs were given the same rations as the American soldiers but they were not allowed to receive ice cream, pop, or candy. Movies were even shown to the POWs who paid for admission. Only four POWs died at the camp. All deaths were from natural causes. Washington authorities stated that this was one of the best POW camps in the country. At a recent dedication of a historical marker, on August 28, 1994, one of the guest speakers, Kurt Pechman appeared. He had been captured in Italy by the British and eventually sent to Camp Ellis. It was interesting to note that Pechman weighed only 128 pounds when he arrived in the U.S., and two years later he weighed 185 pounds. After the war Pechman brought his family to America to live and is a successful businessman in Madison, Wisconsin.
By December 1944 Camp Ellis's short life span was near an end. Some 456 units of 58 different types ranging from entire regiments to small units like engineer mobile searchlight groups of five men were shipped out. The camp was later declared army surplus and was used for several years by the Illinois National Guard. That, too, ended in 1949 and the government began selling the land back to the farmers. Gene and Carolyn Rector live in the only original home still standing on Camp Ellis ground. Their home served as the commanding general's headquarters. Rector farms nearly 500 acres of Camp Ellis ground, some of which is located next to what was the main entrance into the camp.—[From Marjorie Rich Bordner, Camp Ellis, Illinois; Charles 0. Parkinson, Camp Ellis; Delbert Roberts, Camp Ellis.]
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