"From Foe to Friend"

“From Foe to Friend” June 5

Camden, Maine-In 1944, the U.S. Army Air Base in Houlton, Maine became the site of a Prisoner of War (POW) internment camp for German soldiers captured in North Africa and France. The POWs could not be forced to work, but could volunteer. Those who wanted to work helped the local farmers harvest peas, pick potatoes, and cut wood in the forest during winter after harvest time. The prisoners were paid a dollar a day in scrip that they could spend at their post exchange for toiletries, tobacco, chocolate, even beer. College courses were also offered to those who wished to study. Hank Lunn was 13 at the time and recollects his formative experience with the POWs in a talk, “From Foe to Friend: German Prisoners of War in Maine, A First Person Presentation,” on Tuesday, June 5, at 6:30 pm at the Camden Public Library.

Credit the Aroostook County Historical and Art Museum

“In the fall of 1945,” says Lunn, “Dad decided to request some prisoners to help with our potato harvest. Many of the people we usually hired to pick spuds were not available because of the war. One very compelling reason for asking for help was that the Germans didn’t cost the farmers anything. As a 13 year old boy, the arrival of German soldiers, who may have killed some of our neighbors, was fearsome. My young mind was not too sure it was a good idea to have the ‘enemy’ right here on our farm.”

“From Foe to Friend” will tell the personal story of what the experience was like to have German soldiers working on his family farm in Littleton, Aroostook County, Maine.