The Camp Ashby Historical Marker is locatied on Virginia Beach Boulevard in the front of Wayside Shoppes. The marker is so close to the busy thoroughfare that it requires your vehicle to be stopped at the traffic light to get a good view. It speaks to a fascinating history of the land on which it stands.
During World War II Camp Ashby was a 200 acre Prisoner of War Camp. The shopping center and what is now the Thalia neighborhood was the site. Housed as POW's were 6,000 German soldiers from Field Marshal Rommel's North Africa Corps. The headquarters was a former tuberculosis sanitarium. That original structure still stands as a part of the Willis Furniture Store. Barracks were spread through 22 areas to house the men who participated in a paid work release program. They had many amenities in the camp.
In addition to the Willis Wayside building some structures remain, having been converted to residences in Thalia. Earthworks can be detected faintly in the wooded area behind a Thalia neighborhood park.
The Virginia Beach Historic Preservation Commission has installed markers showing the boundaries of 21 acres of the barracks area. But part of the Camp is forever hidden under homes, Loehmanns Plaza Shopping Center and even the Virginia Beach Central Library.
The Camp was closed in 1946. Prisoners were transferred to Fort Eustis for a Re-Education process.
Virginia Beach's past holds fascinating history that can be uncovered by the placement of historical markers such as this. read more