During WWII, Camp Shelby was home to a large German POW camp. They were from Rommel’s Africa Corps.
German Engineers designed and built Paul B. Johnson State Park which is next door to Camp Shelby. They also built the dam and lake.
I’ve been to Paul B. Johnson State Park many times. IIRC, there’s a hiking trail south of Camp Shelby that runs east from Hwy. 49 through the DeSoto National Forest and eventually reaches the old POW camp site.
Good evening, yarddog...thanks for adding more history.