Escape from Fort Stanton
Date | November 1–3, 1942 |
---|---|
Location | Fort Stanton, New Mexico, United States |
Outcome | 1 wounded |
The Escape from Fort Stanton occurred on November 1, 1942, when four
Background
Fort Stanton, located about seven miles northeast of
The first of the internees to arrive at Fort Stanton came in January 1941. At that time, the post was still under construction, so the Germans were tasked with building accommodations for the newcomers. The Germans built four barracks, a kitchen, a mess hall, a laundry room, lavatories and washrooms, shops, an officer's quarters, and a medical dispensary. There were also gardens for fresh produce, a recreation hall, and a swimming pool in which "mini-Olympic" competitions were held with the local population.[2][3]
At first, the camp resembled more of a small town than a prison. The Germans were allowed a lot of freedom because the United States and Germany were not yet at war, but after Adolf Hitler's declaration on December 9, 1941, permission to go to Capitan, or hike in the nearby mountains, was no longer obtainable. For two years the German sailors had waited to go home, and now that the war had begun they were no longer being held as "distressed seamen", but rather enemy aliens that could only be released when the war was over. It was at this time that the guard towers and barbed wire fences were built.[2]
The escape
There were a few escape attempts before and after the incident in November 1942; the Germans "climbed fences, walked off work details, or dug tunnels", but all of the escapees were caught and returned to the camp. After a while, the Germans likely felt that escaping was futile because of the remoteness of the area. Apart from Mexico, which is over 100 miles south of the Fort Stanton, there was nowhere to escape to. Even still, four men attempted to make the journey.[1][2]
On the night of November 1, 1942, Bruno Dathe, Willy Michel, Hermann Runne, and Johannes Grantz, managed to sneak out of the camp, using the darkness as cover, and make their way south towards the border. Their absence from the camp was soon discovered though, so a large manhunt conducted by the police in New Mexico,
Newspaper accounts
The following was reported in the November 3, 1942 edition of the
German seamen prisoners in a federal detention camp at Fort Stanton were trapped by armed possemen in the mountains west of here today [fol]lowing their escape Sunday night[.] The quartet was spotted by Bob Boyce a rancher as they were [tak]ing a bath in a canyon stream[.] One of the Germans Boyce reported back was armed with an pistol[.] Boyce took up guard and sent word back to the posse which had been searching the mountains all night for the prisoners. Armed men at once departed for the scene only a few miles from Fort [Stan]ton Given The [F]ederal Bureau of [Investiga]tion gave the names... Bruno Dathe Willy Michel Hermanne Runne and Johannes Grantz[.] They are among some 400 [men] interned by the government at Fort Stanton after they scuttled their ship the German liner [Col]lumbus in the Atlantic at the out- break of the war in Europe They were brought to the central New Mexico mountains here from San Francisco[.] (sic)[4]
The following appeared in the November 4, 1942, edition of the Montreal Gazette:
A mounted, gun-toting posse of ranchers and cattlemen rounded up and corralled four escaped German prisoners from the federal internment camp at Fort Stanton today. On[e] prisoner was wounded slightly in a brief exchange of gunfire as the posse surprised the sleeping Germans on a hillside in the Lincoln National Forest about 14 miles from Fort Stanton. The Germans, seamen from the scuttled liner Columbus, were interned after the outbreak of the European war in 1939. They escaped Sunday night. They were spotted earlier in the day in Gabaldon Canyon west of Ruidoso by Bob Boyce, a rancher. Standing guard at the Canyon. Boyce sent back word to the main body of the p[o]sse. He was joined by about 25 armed men led by Deputy Sheriff Joe Nelson. The group rode up on the Germans with guns out. It hart previously been reported that at least one of the prisoners carried an automatic pistol. (sic)[1]
See also
- Arizona during World War II
- List of prisoner-of-war escapes
- Military history of the United States during World War II
References
- ^ The Gazette. Montreal. Associated Press. November 4, 1942. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e "German Sailors On the High Desert: A World War II German Detainment Camp At Fort Stanton" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 9, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b "The History of Fort Stanton". Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b "Page 7, Tucson Daily Citizen, Tuesday, November 03, 1942: NewspaperARCHIVE.com". 3 November 1942. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ "Albuquerque Journal, Tuesday, November 03, 1942: Front Page: NewspaperARCHIVE.com". 3 November 1942. Retrieved November 20, 2012.