"Prisoners of War
In April 1944 Camp Reynolds was designated as a Prisoner of War Camp with four branch camps which were located in North East (Lakeside Hotel), Erie County, PA, Kane, McKeon County, PA, Marienville, Forest County, PA, and Sheffield, Warren County, PA. The original group of 300 prisoners arrived at Camp Reynolds in the first part of April 1944.
Of the 1800 plus prisoners of war around 800 were at Camp Reynolds with the remaining POWS being located at Reynolds' four branch camps.
The prisoners of war living at Camp Reynolds were placed in a rectangle of barracks in the northeastern area of the reservation. A high barbwire fence surrounded it and there were towers at the four corners occupied by armed enlisted men.
The POWS worked in and also outside the camp as well. They were divided into "on-post" and "off-post" prisoners.
A few of the prisoners did attempt to escape from Camp Reynolds. Many of the escapees were captured nearby. Those that did manage to get out of the area were mostly captured in larger cities, like Pittsburgh, PA, with the language barrier being a factor in their capture."
Source
The prisoner of war camp, which had been established in April 1944, was discontinued Jan, 15, 1946.
Originally named the Shenango Personnel Replace Depot was a U.S. Army post in World War II located Mercer County, PA spanning approximately 3,300 acres. Its name was changed to Camp Reynolds on September 21, 1943. Its purpose was to receive, process and forward both officers and enlisted men, who were mostly bound for the European Theater of Operations. It also housed 1800 German prisoners of war. During its existence, over 1,000,000 soldiers passed through the camp.
Source There is a Pennsylvania Historical Marker along Rt 18 adjacent to the camps location.
Marker Text: "Site of a 3300-acre U.S. Army facility, 1942-45. Originally the Shenango Personnel Replacement Depot; renamed 1943. During World War II about a million troops passed through here; most were headed for Europe. A peak of 75,000 were housed here at one time; racial unrest flared up, July 1943. Here also were over 1800 German prisoners of war, 1944-46. After 1946 this became a scene of major civilian development."