Military Records: Hiram Wright, 1949, Winn Parish, LA
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483
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From: December 15, 1949 Winn Parish Enterprise

Experiences As POW Told By Atty. Wright

Wednesday, December 7, was the eighth anniversary of Pearl Harbor.  Winnfield
Rotarians might have forgotten the date if it hadn't been for the program
at their meeting last week Wednesday noon.

The program chairman, ex-Army officer James Russell, Jr., remembered, and
he invited another Rotarian, Attorney Hiram Wright, to refresh Rotary
memories of the now distant war.

Attorney Wright, a former infantry officer who served in the European theater
and was captured by the Nazis in July, 1944, was well qualified for the
after-dinner speaking assignment.

He spoke about food, mostly, because that was the subject which he and fellow
prisoners of war talked, thought, and dreamed for seven months, Wright was
at Auglag 64 (officers camp), in the Polish Corridor.

With 500 American officers he was housed within several barbed wire barricades
in a group of brick buildings.  German guards patrolled the area.

Aside from constant concern about food, the Americans gained pleasure from
confusing their keepers when the twice-a-day count of noses was held.  By
calling out any number in German, a prisoner could throw off count and they
proceeded counting with the last number mentioned. 

There was little mistreatment physically, Lieut. Wright recalled, but the
meals were very poor.  Breakfast consisted of one cup of ersatz (substitute)
coffee which many men used for shave because it was so warm.

Dinner brought a thin cabbage and turnip soup, 1.26 ounces of fresh uncooked
meat, including bones, and a small ration of black bread.

For supper the usual fare was two or three boiled potatoes, turnips, or sugar
beets with ersatz coffee.

Red Cross parcels helped greatly when they came, but they ran out before
Christmas.  They contained powdered milk, sugar, meat spread, spam, crackers,
jam, and margarine.

Lieut. Wright and a buddy usually cooked up their entire parcel of food when
they received it, thus enjoying one big feast.  Other prisoners, most of whom
stretched their parcel's contents as far as possible, gathered in a crowd to
watch the two "gluttons" eat.  Wright even built a stove from tin cans, one
container inside the other, and it gave out a hot, blue flame when fed pieces
of cardboard.  On this improvised range, Wright baked a "delicious" chocolate
pie, using Red Cross food.

In addition to food, the prisoners had few interests, but one pastime Lieut.
Wright remembered was that of starting rumors.  For instance someone would go
to the far end of the barracks and start a story that a car of Red Cross
packages was on the way.  Then he would go to the opposite end of the camp and
wait to see how long the rumor would take to get there.  When it did arrive,
it usually was much exaggerated.

When the camp grew to 1300 prisoners, things became critical for all because
of a lack of good food.  The Americans maintained their own kitchen and
devised a system to give each man his exact portion of the available rations.

Extremely cold weather made the barracks uncomfortable and increased the
popularity of the inefficient, coal burning heating unit.  Six lumps of coal
were expected to last four days in each of these stoves.  Jockeying for
positions near the stove's warmest portion was a favorite spot.

Despite German precautions and threats of death to anyone smuggling in a
radio, the Americans did have a radio and listened to BBC broadcasts.

The Americans never lost their sense of humor and that broke the monotony of
confinement.

Once, though, their joke backfired, Lieut. Wright said.  A Swedish Y. M. C. A.
representative visited the camp and asked what the Americans wanted for
Christmas.

Everything was going well then, and the men suggested a lawn mower, ice cream
freezer, cocktail trays, and other unusables.

Nothing was heard from the Swedish Y. M. C. A. until Christmas had nearly
arrived.  By that time food was scarcer than ever and the prisoners were
somewhat gloomy.

Word spread around that a car of gifts had arrived.  When it was opened and
the camp got its share, they found a lawn mower, ice cream freezers, cocktail
trays, meat cleavers, individual muffin tins, a double boiler, spatulas for
turning pancakes, and more of the articles they mentioned to the Y. M. C. A.
representative.  Nobody laughed that time.