German POWs not only were imprisoned in Port Allen during WWII but learned to chop sugarcane

Ernest Gueymard spent Dec. 15, 1943, at Prisoner-of-War Sub-Camp No. 7 in Port Allen for a feature story for the State-Times, The Advocate’s then-afternoon sister newspaper.

“The swish-swish of the cane knife is resounding over West Baton Rouge’s broad sugar fields as wielded by sturdy young German prisoners of war,” Gueymard wrote.

There were approximately 300 “broad-shouldered young men” who were living in the Port Allen prison of war sub-camp in 1943.

“The prisoners, who appear to be in their early twenties, are grappling with an industry new to them and are doing fairly well,” Gueymard reported…

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