Barbwire Bowl Classic

Barbwire Bowl Classic
6	0
Date	January 23, 1946
Stadium	Stockton Ordnance Depot, Stockton, California
Referee	Carlos Souza [1]
Attendance	2,000

Last updated October 11, 2019

The Barbwire Bowl Classic was an American football game played at Stockton Ordnance Depot, California, on January 13, 1946, between German prisoners of war.^[2]

American football, referred to as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with possession of the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with the ball or passing it, while the defense, the team without possession of the ball, aims to stop the offense's advance and to take control of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs or plays; if they fail, they turn over the football to the defense, but if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue the drive. Points are scored primarily by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins.

The Stockton Ordance Depot was a World War II vehicle repair facility, supply depot, and camp for German and Italian prisoners of war. The installation was also used as a USAF radar station and a DLA Defense Distribution Center.

Members of the German military were interned as prisoners of war in the United States during World War I and World War II. In all, 425,000 German prisoners lived in 700 camps throughout the United States during World War II.

Game

In December 1945, the commanding officer of Camp Stockton, Colonel Kenneth Barager, proposed a football game between the German prisoners of the main camp in Stockade and the smaller camp at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds as part of the reeducation program for the POWs. Barager hoped the game would encourage the Germans to spread the sport of football in their home country upon being repatriated.^[3]

44 prisoners expressed interest in participating and received equipment through donations from organized football teams. Although the items were of quality, only the first-string players received certain articles like shoes, and only one player's helmet featured a facemask.^[4]

The Germans were split into two teams based on their station. The Fairgrounds players, who worked on tomato farms in the camp, were named the Fairgrounds Aggies, while those in the Stockade were dubbed Stockade Tech. The teams were later nicknamed after various figures: Fairgrounds, coached by former Marquette player Sergeant Johnny Polczynski, was called "Barager's Bears" after Barager; Stockade, led by Texas Longhorn Ed Tipton and backfield coach Captain James M. Kiernan Jr., was named "Kiernan's Krushers".^[4]^[5]

The Marquette Golden Avalanche football program, commonly known as the Marquette Hilltoppers from approximately 1940 to 1953 and as the Marquette Warriors from 1954 to 1960, was the intercollegiate American football team for Marquette University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The first team was fielded in 1892.

The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate team representing the University of Texas at Austin in the sport of American football. The Longhorns compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big 12 Conference. The team has been coached by Tom Herman since 2017, and home games are played at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.

In the month before the game, both teams held practices. The Bears elected to use the double-wing formation as they hoped the Krushers would expect them to run the more popular T formation; in a photo for the camp's newspaper, the Bears also posed in the T formation.^[1]

In American football, a T formation is a formation used by the offensive team in which three running backs line up in a row about five yards behind the quarterback, forming the shape of a "T".

On January 13, the game was held as part of a camp-wide sports festival. A soccer game was held prior to the football game, with the former's first half occurring before kickoff and the second half during halftime.^[1] Large grandstands were built for the game, with attendance ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 spectators and consisting of fellow prisoners and American military personnel;^[6] German paratrooper and running back Richard Statetzny described the fan excitement as mostly dominated by Americans since the POWs did not understand the sport's rules.^[4]

The Fallschirmjäger were the paratrooper branch of the German Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first German paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations and came to be known as the "green devils" by the Allied forces they fought against. The Fallschirmjäger were very effective when used in commando style raids. The Fallschirmjäger were famous for their willingness to give every effort unwaveringly even in the grimmest of situations. The Fallschirmjäger were seldom used as parachutists. Instead, they were prized for their combat abilities and frequently acted in a "fire brigade" role as roving elite infantrymen. Throughout World War II the Fallschirmjäger commander was Kurt Student.

The Krushers scored first on a 30-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, but it was nullified by a holding penalty. In the third quarter, the team mounted a 90-yard drive that ended with a touchdown on a quarterback sneak by Hubert Lüngen. Lüngen, also a paratrooper and handball player, commented throwing a football was much more difficult as it required a different form than throwing a handball. Since his receivers struggled to catch the ball, the team relied on rushing plays, which resulted in numerous fights. The Bears could not score as the Krushers won 6–0.^[7]

After the game, the players changed into their military uniforms and assembled at the Officers' Club, where they were individually introduced and treated to a banquet and team photo. For Statetzy, the picture also served as identification when he was moved to different prison camps.^[4]

Unsatisfied with their first outing, the Bears intensified their preparations for the rematch four weeks later and won 20–0.^[8]^[1] Unlike the first game, the rematch did not have as much fanfare as the only spectators were Fairgrounds POWs.^[4]

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References

1 2 3 4 Dzikus, Lars. "From Violence to Party: A History of the Presentation of American Football in England and Germany". Ohio State University . Retrieved August 6, 2015.
↑ "The Barbed Wire Bowl" Archived 2015-11-21 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved August 6, 2015
↑ "Nazi Pw Teams Meet in Stockade Barbwire Bowl". The Monitor . January 13, 1943. Retrieved June 12, 2018– via Newspapers.com.
1 2 3 4 5 Statetzny, Richard; Carr, Ward; Zer, Detlef (September 12, 2017). "From Battlefield to Football". Warfare History Network. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
↑ "German P.O.W.'s Play in 'Barbed Wire' Bowl". The Montana Standard . January 13, 1946. Retrieved June 12, 2018– via Newspapers.com.
↑ Dunbar, Lee (January 23, 1946). "Another Bowl Game". Oakland Tribune . Retrieved June 12, 2018– via Newspapers.com.
↑ Foglio, Massimo (November 17, 2016). "The Barbed Wire Bowl". US Sport History. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
↑ "The Barbed Wire Bowl" Retrieved August 6, 2015

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[From_Violence_to_Party-1] 1 2 3 4 Dzikus, Lars. "From Violence to Party: A History of the Presentation of American Football in England and Germany". Ohio State University . Retrieved August 6, 2015.

[2] "The Barbed Wire Bowl" Archived 2015-11-21 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved August 6, 2015

[3] "Nazi Pw Teams Meet in Stockade Barbwire Bowl". The Monitor . January 13, 1943. Retrieved June 12, 2018– via Newspapers.com.

[From_Battlefield_to_Football-4] 1 2 3 4 5 Statetzny, Richard; Carr, Ward; Zer, Detlef (September 12, 2017). "From Battlefield to Football". Warfare History Network. Retrieved June 12, 2018.

[5] "German P.O.W.'s Play in 'Barbed Wire' Bowl". The Montana Standard . January 13, 1946. Retrieved June 12, 2018– via Newspapers.com.

[6] Dunbar, Lee (January 23, 1946). "Another Bowl Game". Oakland Tribune . Retrieved June 12, 2018– via Newspapers.com.

[7] Foglio, Massimo (November 17, 2016). "The Barbed Wire Bowl". US Sport History. Retrieved June 12, 2018.

[8] "The Barbed Wire Bowl" Retrieved August 6, 2015