Hank Lunn will give a first-person presentation about the German Prisoners of War in Maine: From Foe to Friend at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 28, at the Temple Town Hall, 258 Temple Road, Temple.
In 1944, the U.S. Army Air Base in Houlton became the site of a Prisoner of War internment camp for German soldiers captured in North Africa and France. The POW’s could not be forced to work, but could volunteer. Those who wanted to work helped the local farmers harvest peas, pick potatoes and cut wood in the forest during winter, according to a news release from the Temple Historical Society.
In the fall of 1945, Lunn’s father decided to request prisoners to help with the potato harvest because the people they usually hired were not available because of the war.
As a 13-year-old boy, the arrival of German soldiers, who may have killed some of our neighbors, was fearsome. Lunn’s young mind was not too sure it was a good idea to have the “enemy” right here on the family farm.
From Foe to Friend will tell the personal story of what the experience was like to have German soldiers working on the family farm in Littleton, Aroostook County.
This program is sponsored by the Temple Historical Society and is open, free of charge to the public. There will be a Q&A time following the presentation. Refreshments will be available and hosted by the Temple Girl Scouts.
For more information, email Betsy Graves at betsyag74@gmail.com.
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