Johnny Bullard

With the death of President George H.W. Bush this week, my thoughts turned to that “Greatest Generation.” The President was one of the nation’s youngest aviators during the Second World War.

Again, I am going to turn to some history about Hamilton County and share with you some information I garnered from “Those Were the Days,” a personal narrative history done by the late Mr. John C. “Buddy” Camp, and the late Mrs. Virginia Johnson Daniel, both were born in 1915, and their book is a treasure.

Robert B Billinger, Jr., wrote a book entitled “Hitler’s Soldiers in the Sunshine State,”

“The last of the branch POW camps in Florida opened in the spring of 1944 at White Springs, Florida. It was one of twenty-six (26) POW camps in the Florida. The German POWS housed in White Springs were shipped from Fort McClellan, Alabama. A company of two hundred and fifty (250) German POWS arrived at Camp Blanding, on April 18, 1944, and immediately were shipped to White Springs.

“Like most other branch camps the workers furnished labor in the piney woods. They were employed exclusively in the cutting and loading of pulpwood and in the repairing of firebreaks for R.W. Hillcoat, a New Orleans Timber Company.

“The German POW Branch at White Springs was a tent camp providing temporary housing for the POWs. According to research done on these branch camps there were usually one large tent for kitchen and mess hall, smaller tents housed two latrines, a shower house, an infirmary, a canteen, and barracks.

“Wooden guard towers rose above the fence at intervals at each corner.

“By the end of 1946 all prisoners of war housed in Florida had been shipped back to their respective countries.”

The late Mr. John C. Camp stated in his personal narrative “I don’t know why White Springs was selected as the site for the German Prisoner of War Camp, but I suspect since electricity was not common in rural area, they needed to be adjacent to water and power. Since my father had enough land inside the White Springs city limits, the War Department rented land from my father and erected a temporary camp on part of my grandfather’s farm near the city limits of White Springs.

“The government had a certain amount they were allowed to pay land owners for rent, so my father never did get rich from these fees. By the time the war ended the temporary prisoner of war camp had been abandoned and the buildings and fence were left intact.”

The Prisoner of War Camp was located where the old VFW Building, Post 150, was located for many years. Tracy and Woody Woodard own part of the property on which the POW Camp was situated.

One story related to the Prisoner of War Camp in White Springs is one regarding the late Mr. Ray Morgan, who was a guard at the German Prisoner of War Camp.

During that time, Mr. Morgan developed an association that became a friendship with one of the German Prisoners named Karl Planko. During the years, after Karl’s release from the prisoner of war Camp the two corresponded and even after Karl’s death, his wife continued writing to the late Aunt Nancy Morgan.

Morris Williams, a valued and longtime friend, Lake City, renowned and revered Columbia County educator, author, and historian, taught in Germany in a Department of Defense School. While he was there, he visited with Mr. and Mrs. Karl Planko who regaled him with stories about White Springs and the late Mr. Ray Morgan.

One other story, Mildred Morgan Miller, stated that one of the men who was a prisoner of war asked Mr. Ray if Mrs. Nancy might have some material and thread. She supplied an old flour sack and some thread and a needle, and he embroidered a heart for her with the words “Sunshine in Your Heart” in German.

Very little remains of this temporary POW camp in White Springs to document this time in history — only a few concrete racks which once held tanks of water and gasoline.

During this time of year when we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, we do recall a time in our history when peace seemed very elusive to many; whether you were a German Prisoner of War in White Springs, Florida, or an American prisoner of war, such as the late Clyde Hillhouse in a Japanese Prisoner of War Camp in the Philippine Islands.

An interesting account of a time when many people were longing for peace, as we still long for it today. Don’t forget to say a special prayer for all the young men and women serving in our nation’s military service. We appreciate you.

From the Eight Mile Still on the Woodpecker Route north of White Springs, wishing you a day filled with joy, peace, and, above all, lots of love and laughter.