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Show War Prisoners Relieve Manpower Shortage Italian Prisoners Seem Cooperative And Good Workmen With Special Aptitude For Farm Labor, Newsmen Told On Tour Of Ogden Camp -By-0. N. MALMQUIST A large number of Italian prisoners of war, gathered ga-thered up by United Nations troops in the process of sweeping Mussolini's African empire into oblivion. are contributing in a small way to the relief of the manpower shortage shor-tage in the Ogden area. Held in the Ogden internment camp, which is attached to the Utah army service forces depot, about 1,000 of the prisoners have been used thus far in cleaning up the reservation, taking care of a 40-acre victory garden and performance perfor-mance of other work not, directly connected with military operations. opera-tions. Officers in charge of the camp regard the transfer of toe prisoners to the depot as an experiment expe-riment in the utilization of war-prisoner war-prisoner labor. And on Uie basis of a rather brief experience, they believe the experiment is encouraging. encour-aging. On the whole, the prisoners are cooperative, good workmen, and many have a special aptitude for farm work, according to Colonel B. I. Lawrence, commanding officer offi-cer of the camp. Because of the guarding problem, however, they obviously could not be employed to advantage in small groups. Details of the prison camp and its operation were disclosed to (Continued on page ten) PRISONERS ... ' (Continued from page one) representatives of the daily and weekly newspapers of Utah during dur-ing a tour under the sponsorship of the Ninth service command. Harrison Conover, Springville publisher, pub-lisher, represented the Utah State Press association as president of the organization. Regulations forbid the interviewing inter-viewing of the internees, but from all appearances the prisoners are not unduly depressed by their removal re-moval or escape from the fighting phase of -the war. They are well fed, comfortably housed and clothed and in good health, exeept for some malaria picked up in Africa. Af-rica. They are, in fact, treated like U. S. soldiers, in compliance with the terms of the Geneva convention. con-vention. And the most convincing proof that the "ruTes" are being strictly observed at the camp is the hope so frequently expressed by the American officers in charge : "I only hope our prisoners are being treated as well." Of the prisoners in the camp at the time of the tour, two had been transferred to a general hospital for treatment. They were received in two contingents one group arriving ar-riving last April 9th, and the second sec-ond on May 10. The first group were captured by American, British, Brit-ish, Free French and Arab troops in North Africa early this year. The second group were captured over a three-year period in North Africa and Ethiopia and held in camps in Africa for varying periods per-iods before transfer to this country. coun-try. The contingent with the longer prison-camp experience, according to the American officers, have been more difficult to handle, having hav-ing developed more "barracks lawyers" law-yers" who regard themselves as expert interpreters of international internation-al agreements covering treatment of war prisoners. Their internal military organization, which had deteriorated to some extent, has been built up again and they are now cooperating satisfactorily. The prisoners are entitled to the same food rations as American Ameri-can soldiers but this has been modified to suit Italian tastes. They do not like so much meat, for example, as the U. S. troops do, but they want more fruits and macroni. Favorite items are oranges or-anges and raisins. They thoroughly thorough-ly dislike American bread and are supplied with the ingredients so they can make their own. They bake huge pans of it and beam with pride when American visitors sample it. All the prisoners are paid ten cents per day in canteen coupons, whether or not they are assigned to work. For labor not connected with the operation of the camp itself (class two work) they are paid an additional 80 cents per day. They are limited to a maximum maxi-mum of $13 per month (in canteen can-teen scrip) and any earned surplus sur-plus is placed to their credit for payment in money upon release or repatriation. The group includes a few middle-aged men and 'teen-age boys, but their, average age is about the same as American combat troops. Average age of one company com-pany of 250 is 24. They appear to have strong physiques for the most part and impress an observer as good soldiers from a physical standpoint. Some of them salute the U. S. , officers fascist style, while other i have adopted the American salute. The officers do not mind this ,as both have the same meaning. Some of the prisoners greet visitors vis-itors with ingratiating smiles, others oth-ers with curious glances and others oth-ers keep their eyes glued on whatever what-ever they are doing. A few slyly grimace at the Americans after they have passed. The camp is under the general supervision of Brigadier General Ralph Talbot, Jr., commanding general of the depot, in external matters. Internally, it has its own administrative set-up with a commanding com-manding officer, executive officer, and a staff of 24 other U. S. officers. offi-cers. The prisoners are organized into companies of approximately 250. To each one is assigned an . American first sergeant, mess sergeant, ser-geant, supply sergeant, company clerk, cook, and general utility man. Each company of prisoners has its own staff of non-commissioned officers arid control is exercised ex-ercised through them. The internees are permitted to send out two letters and one postcard post-card per week, plus one business letter when necessary. They may also send one prepaid cablegram or telegram per month and additional addi-tional ones in case of death or serious se-rious illness. Approximately 76 oer cent of the allowable quota of mail is being sent out. A 140-bed hospital, well equipped equip-ped and staffed with American medical officers and nurses, provides pro-vides the same health facilities for the prisoners that are provided for American troops. There are recreational recre-ational rooms, work shops, and fields and equipment for outdoor sports. Soccer and volley ball are favorites but they don'fg-0 for baseball. Religious services are conducted every Sunday morning at an out- door altar by the Right Reverend A. F. Giovannoni of Salt Lake City, known to thousands of Catholic Cath-olic and non-Catholic Utahns, as "Father Joe." Attendance approximates approxi-mates 100 per cent. The tour of the internment camp was followed by a brief inspection in-spection of the depot and a luncheon lunch-eon in the officers' mess as guests of General Talbot and his staff. The depot, largest in the country, coun-try, is actually a cluster of depots, for the seven supply services of the U. S. Army quartermaster, engineers, signal, chemical, ordnance, ord-nance, medical, and transportation corps. The war material stored in the approximately 150 acres of warehouses ware-houses and hundreds of acres of open storage space, staggers the imagination both as to quantity and variety. There are an estimated estimat-ed 289,000 items on hand, ready for shipment to smaller supply depots de-pots close to ports of embarkation or supply posts, camps and stations sta-tions in the Ninth service command. com-mand. The items range in size from heavy road construction equipment equip-ment for the engineers to minute radio repair parts for the signal corps. It handles virtually everything every-thing an army can need in this complex ag-e except airplane parts, tanks, munitions, guns and lethal gases, all of which are stored in other supply depots located in this state. |