North Vietnamese POW Camps (1964-73)

Extract from Wikipedia

The Vietnam War (Vietnamese: Chiến tranh Việt Nam, in Vietnam also known as the American War, Vietnamese Chiến tranh Mỹ), also known as the Second Indochina War, was a Cold War-era war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from December 1956 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam—supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies and the government of South Vietnam supported by the United States and other anti-communist countries.

The Viet Cong (also known as the National Liberation Front, or NLF) a lightly armed South Vietnamese communist common front directed by the North, fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The People's Army of Vietnam ( the North Vietnamese Army) engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units into battle North Vietnam invaded Laos in 1959, and used 30,000 men to build invasion routes through Laos and Cambodia by 1961. About 40,000 communist soldiers infiltrated into the south from 1961–63.North Vietnam sent 10,000 troops of the North Vietnamese Army to attack the south in 1964, and this figure increased to 100,000 in 1965

North Vietnamese POW Camps

	Name and American Nicknames	Notes on Camp
North Vietnam	Bat Bat Baats Batj.Briarpatch, Tic-tac-toe, Country Club, Farm, Xom Ap Lo.	Bat Bat was transferred to the Enemy Proselyting Department in 1965 for use as a POW camp for Americans. Several American civilians that PAVN forces picked up during the final offensive in 1975 were held at Bat Bat. One of those Americans, a man named Arlo Gay, escaped in 1976 and remained free for nearly one month. Eventually, he succumbed to hunger and the realization that he had no realistic hope of finding his way out of Vietnam and turned himself in. Hanoi released him in September 1996.
North Vietnam	Bo Giuong ((Bos Giuowngf)) and, Dong Khe Dogpatch, Luong Lang, That Khe, Dong Khe.	More than 200 American POWs were moved to this site in Cao Bang Province, about 190 kilometers north of Hanoi, after Group 875, took over responsibility, in about April 1972, for the increasing numbers of American and Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces POWs in North Vietnam of Office 22,the Americans were moved to this location near the buffer zone along the China-Vietnam border because they knew that American policy was to not conduct operations in this buffer zone.
North Vietnam	Hỏa Lò Prison "Hanoi Hilton" Hanoi	The Hỏa Lò Prison was a prison used by North Vietnam for prisoners of war during the Vietnam War when it was sarcastically known to American prisoners of war as the "Hanoi Hilton". The Hanoi Hilton was one site used by the North Vietnamese Army to house, torture and interrogate captured servicemen, mostly American pilots shot down during bombing raids.Although North Vietnam was a signatory of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949,which demanded "decent and humane treatment" of prisoners of war, severe torture methods were employed, such as rope bindings, irons, beatings, and prolonged solitary confinement.The aim of the torture was usually not acquiring military information rather, it was to break the will of the prisoners, both individually and as a group
North Vietnam	Lai Xa Camp Faith, Don Hoi.	It is an isolated installation, surrounded by farm land, about 10 miles west of Hanoi, on the north side of National Route 11 PAVN's Enemy Proselyting Department housed a number of American POWs in one section of this installation for a brief period.
North Vietnam	Nam Ha (Nam Haf) and Ba Sao The Rockpile, Noi Coc, Camp B.	Nam Ha was located about 35 kilometers south of Hanoi and about 15 kilometers west of Phu Ly Town 10-12 American POWs were held in a small compound separate from Vietnamese prisoners two or three Americans escaped briefly from this camp.
North Vietnam	Nha May Dien Yen Phu Thermal Power Plant.	According to a mural on the wall outside the main entrance, an AAA gun crew defending the Yen Phu power plant shot down Senator McCain. A separate monument on the shore of Truc Bach Lake, a short distance west of the power plant, commemorates the persons who pulled him from the lake and captured him. In 1992, a former deputy director of the Enemy Proselyting Department told American interviewers that after the U.S. announced plans to bomb the Yen Phu power plant and the nearby Doumier Bridge, PAVN decided to place American POWs in the power plant and publicize the fact to prevent the U.S. from bombing the plant. Two American POWs escaped from the camp, but were recaptured as they tried to make their way down the Red River to the coast.
North Vietnam	Nga Tu So Zoo, Zoo Annex, Cu Loc, BOQ, Camp Two, Camp America	This was the location of the PAVN motion picture institute's film studio before the war In 1965, the facility was transferred temporarily to the Enemy Proselyting Department for use as a POW camp in about April 1972, Office 22 of the newly formed PAVN Group 875 took responsibility for administration of this and other US POW camps in North Vietnam.
North Vietnam	4 Pho Ly Nam De Camp Alcatraz, Country Club Annex, Plantation West	This facility was a small jail that the French built prior to 1954. It was located on the grounds of the Ministry of Defense Headquarters Compound, behind the offices of the Military Arts and Literature Magazine (Van Nghe Quan Doi). According to Vietnamese sources, the Enemy Proselyting Department used this old jail to house American POWs it considered to be disciplinary problems. This jail was torn down sometime prior to 1991 and replaced by a multi-story apartment building that houses PAVN officers and their families.
North Vietnam	17 Pho Ly Nam De (17 Phoos Lys Nam DDees) "Citadel, Plantation, Country Club, Camp Four, Funny Farm, Holiday Inn, Lows or Lowes Camp" 17 Ly Nam De Street.	In 1967, the Enemy Proselyting Department (another component of the General Political Directorate) took control of the compound and used it to detain American POWs April 1972, Office 22 of the newly formed PAVN Group 875 assumed responsibility for administration of this and other American POW camps in North Vietnam. (The Enemy Proselyting Department apparently retained responsibility for interrogation, indoctrination, and records keeping.
North Vietnam	Son Tay Camp Hope, Son Tay	Used as a POW camp for Americans target of the U.S. rescue attempt in November 1970.
North Vietnam	Xa Dao Tru (Xax DDao Truwf) (Dao Tru Village) Mountain Camp, Mountain Retreat, K.77 or K.71, Duong Ke, Vinh Quang B, Vinh Ninh, D.	The military apparently took control of the camp after the escape after LTC Ben Purcell , USAF Captain Robert N. Daughtrey who was captured after his F105 went down in NVN on 2 Aug 65, called this site "Camp D.1" because the "D.1" was posted on the building in which he was detained. "D.1" might be an abbreviation for "Doanh Trai ((Zoanh traij)) No. 1;" i.e., Barracks No. 1. Daughtrey recalled that the American POWs were moved to the Plantation (17 Ly Nam De Street) about two days after the American raid on Son Tay in November 1970.

Sources

• POW Camps North Vietnam