POW Camp: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

During major wars, armies will often capture numerous enemy soldiers. These enemies must be kept somewhere, preferably some place where they can not return to their fellows. This usually results in a Prisoner of War Camp. As soldiers on the battlefield, these two groups are enemies. For whatever reason, a group of soldiers has been captured by the very guys they were trying to kill just the day before. The camp guards will not like the prisoners because those same prisoners may have been responsible for the death and destruction visited upon their homeland. Typically, the guards will not be nice about the way they treat their prisoners.

As a [[Sub-Trope]] of [[Prison]], most [[Prison Tropes]] will apply. This camp can readily turn into a [[Hellhole Prison]]. If it is sufficiently escape-resistant, it can become [[The Alcatraz]]. You will always see plenty of heavily armed guards, unfriendly guard dogs, guard towers with [[More Dakka|machine guns]] and spotlights. Expect miles of barbed wire, often in tangled loops. Sometimes, the wire can be connected to high voltage for added deterrent to escape attempts. Frequently, you will see someone working on a [[Great Escape]]. Many [[Military and Warfare Tropes]] will be seen as well.

 

 

 

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{{examples}}

=== [[Comic Books]] ===

* Several issues of ''[[Jonah Hex]]'' deal with Jonah's experiences in the Union prison camp of Fort Charlotte during the [[American Civil War]].

 

 

===Film===

* ''[[Empire of the Sun (film)|Empire of the Sun]]'' tells the story of Jamie "Jim" Graham, a young boy who goes from living in a wealthy British family in Shanghai, to becoming a prisoner in the Lunghua Civilian Assembly Center, a Japanese run internment camp in occupied China, during [[World War II]].