POW Medals Part II

In part two I will describe some American medals of WWII. These are the most interesting medals to me because they were designed by Lt. John Welles who actually was a POW in the camps named on these medals. He carved the designs in wood and passed the models around camps and listed the names of those who would be interested in having these medals minted after the war. In 1945 the interested ex-POWs were contacted and 7000 of the medals were produced in bronze, silver and silver plated gold by the Colorado Badge and Novelty Co. of Denver, Colorado. The medals exist in at least five different design types: Luftwaffe eagle / captive wings, Nazi eagle / guard tower, Hand cranked air super charger for a fire / captive wings, Cargo sled / coiled place names, Baby buggy / coiled place names. The fifth type has been described to me by some ex-POWs but I have never seen one. Of the metal versions I know that there are some bronzes out there but I have yet to see one. I have seen four of the five silvers but I have never seen any of the gold plated versions or even heard of any one claiming to own any of them.