Prisoners of War in the farm field, Houlton, 1945 Click on the
image to zoom. Click and drag your mouse over the image to move
it left or right. Use the small navigation window to select the
area you wish to zoom on. Camp Houlton was established in 1944
for the internment of prisoners of war to provide laborers for
local farms to harvest peas, pick potatoes and other work. The
prisoners were paid a dollar a day in scrip that they could
spend at the post exchange, the base store, for toiletries,
tobacco, chocolate, and even beer. Not all POWs were allowed to
work on the farms for security reasons. Many farmers came to see
the POWs who worked their fields as good laborers rather than
enemy soldiers. In this picture, the POW farm workers are posing
for the picture with the farmer's wife. Pictures of POWs are
unusual because photographing POWs was not allowed.