This list of Prisoner of War Camps, Italian Service Unit Camps, and Prisoner of War Hospitals is based on weekly reports located on NARA microfilm #66-538 (population lists June 1942-June 1946). Additional locations based on newspapers, interviews, and other NARA records (at College Park and Regional Archives).
The POW Camps in Arizona during World War II included:
Bouse, La Paz County, AZ (part of the California-Arizona Maneuver Area (CAMA). These men supplied support services for the US Army training at CAMA. The population numbers were included under CAMA on the reports.
Buckeye #1, Maricopa County, AZ (branch camp under Pima)
Buckeye #2, Maricopa County, AZ (branch camp under Pima)
California-Arizona Maneuver Area (CAMA), Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Imperial and Riverside Counties, AZ; Yuma, La Paz, Maricopa, and Mohave Counties AZ; and Clark County, NV (branch camp under Florence)
Casa Grande #1, Pinal County, AZ (branch camp under Florence)
Casa Grande #2, Pinal County, AZ (branch camp under Florence)
Continental, Pima County, AZ (branch camp under Pima)
Cortaro #1, Pima County, AZ (branch camp under Florence)
Cortaro #2, Pima County, AZ (branch camp under Florence)
Cotton Center, Maricopa County, AZ (branch camp under Papago Park)
Dateland, Yuma, County, AZ (ISU)
Davis-Monthan Army Air Base, Tucson, Pima County (base camp), now Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
Duncan, Graham County, AZ (branch camp under Pima, sometimes Florence)
Eleven Mile Corner, Pinal County, AZ (branch camp under Florence)
Eloy #1, Pinal County, AZ (branch camp under Pima, sometimes Florence)
Eloy #2, Pinal County, AZ (branch camp under Pima, sometimes Florence)
Florence (Camp), Florence, Pinal County, AZ (base camp), now Florence Gardens retirement community and the Florence Public Health Service Clinic within the fenced area of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Horn, Yuma County, AZ (ISU)
Hyder, Yuma County, AZ. This was part of CAMA. These men supplied support services for the US Army training at CAMA. The population numbers were included under CAMA on the reports.
Imperial Dam, Yuma, Yuma County, AZ (ISU)
Laguna, Yuma County, AZ. This was part of CAMA. These men supplied support services for the US Army training at CAMA. The population numbers were included under CAMA on the reports.
Litchfield Park, Maricopa County, AZ (branch camp under Pima)
Luke (Frank) Field, Maricopa County, AZ (branch camp under Florence), now Luke Air Force Base
Marana, Pima County, AZ (branch camp under Florence)
Maricopa, Pinal County, AZ (branch camp under Florence)
McDowell Road, Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ (branch camp under Florence)
Mesa, Maricopa County, AZ (branch camp under Pima)
Mount Graham, Graham County, AZ (branch camp under Florence)
Navajo Ordnance Depot, Bellemont, Coconino County, AZ (base camp). Now called Camp Navajo, an active military installation.
Papago Park POW Camp, Papago Park, Maricopa County, AZ (base camp)
Parker, La Paz County, AZ (branch camp under Pima)
Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ (base camp, sometimes branch camp under Haan, CA)
Pima Prisoner of War Camp, Papago Park, Maricopa County, AZ (base camp), bought by the City of Phoenix in 1959
Queens Creek, Maricopa County, AZ (branch camp under Pima)
Roll, Yuma County, AZ (branch camp under Pima, sometimes Florence)
Safford, Graham County, AZ (branch camp under Florence)
Stanfield, Pinal County, AZ (branch camp under Florence)
Tolleson, Maricopa County, AZ (branch camp under Florence)
Yuma, Yuma County, AZ (branch camp under Pima)
Yuma Test Station, Yuma, Yuma County, AZ (ISU)
Enemy alien internment and relocation) camps:
Catalina Federal Honor Camp, Pima County, AZ (Japanese)
Florence (Camp), Florence, Pinal County, AZ (from June 1942 to December 1943)
Gila River, Pinal County, AZ (Japanese), Gila River Indian Reservation land
Leupp Isolation Center, Coconino County, AZ (Japanese), Navajo Nation Reservation land
Mayer, Yavapai County, AZ (assembly center) (Japanese)
Poston (also called Colorado River), La Paz County, AZ (Japanese), Colorado River Indian Reservation land
Cemeteries:
Camp Florence, AZ (13 German and 15 Italian POWs transferred to Fort Bliss National Cemetery, TX in June 1946)
There were 6 base camps, 33 branch camps, 4 Italian Service Units, 6 internment locations, and 1 cemetery in AZ. More information and source citations in my book titled Prisoner of War Camps Across America and is available in Kindle format at Amazon. The updated version of the book is available at https://www.gentracer.org/milpublications.html
Also, my book titled American Prisoner of War Camps in Arizona and Nevada is available at Amazon.
For more information about some of these camps, please see:
© Kathy Kirkpatrick 2003-2024 e-mail 