Shelter was either a barn or under the stars, in the rain, snow, or whatever happened to be. The first Senior British Officer (SBO) was Wing Commander Harry Day. Unfortunately COVID-19 has significantly delayed progress on the project, which requires consultation of original documents at Kew. In October 1944 most of the officers from the Warsaw Uprising were brought to this camp. POWs were allowed to send two letters and four postcards each month. The camp was liberated in May 1945 by troops of the British 7th Armoured Division, 2nd Army. June 1940 - ca 26,251 French and ca 17,793 Belgian soldiers taken prisoner during the Battle of France arrive. POW camp in the castle of Bad Wurzach, although this was unlike Colditz in that it was really a large country house, not a castle as such. One attempt to escape occurred when a group of POWs were being transported in open trucks through Italy. The senior U.S. officer was Lieutenant Colonel Paul Goode. Prisoners ran courses in languages and mathematics, as well as commercial, vocational, economic, and scientific subjects. | Jack Warner, In late 1942 all the ratings were sent to Stalag VIII-B at Lamsdorf and assigned to Arbeitskommando ("Work details"), and "M" housed only NCOs. Some POWs had a brutal and life-threatening time from day to day particularly as the war dragged on into 1944 and 1945, the magazines tended to concentrate on keeping families morale up rather than giving accurate news, whether this accuracy was possible or not is arguable, however. Of these 10,667 were British and Commonwealth troops, of which only 825 were in the main camp, while the rest were attached to various Arbeitskommando ("Labour Units"). Transferred to Lamsdorf since not officers, escaped from Breslau work party, Hunger strike in order to receive transfer, escapes twice from new camp, reaches Switzerland. Opened October 1940, closed March 1944 and redesignated as Oflag 67 (LXVII). There was a hospital located near here at Saandhof & Stolzenberg and 350 British & US and 200 other ranks were there on March 17th 1945. Eventually, the Stutthof camp system became a vast network of forced-labour camps; 105 Stutthof subcamps were established throughout northern and central Poland. Additional wooden barrack huts were also constructed on the grounds, to accommodate the camp's growing prisoner population. Twelve prisoners escaped, though all were recaptured within two weeks. 14 sub work camps also at isola della scala, Lazise, Mozzecane, Vigasio, San Bernadino, Montecchia di Crosara, Legnano, Vendagadizza, Zevio, San Matino buon Albergo, Bonavigo, Oppeano & Angiari. Frederick Valk, 60 min Between 1939 and 1945 1 million POWs of 46 nations passed through. On 31 January the South Compound men plus 200 men from the West Compound went to Stalag 7A at Moosburg in railway boxcars packed 50 men and 1 armed guard in each boxcar. Please note that the surviving appendices for WO 208/3298-3327 are held separately in nominal card indexes WO 208/5582-5583 which can be searched on findmypast.co.uk by name. Action, Drama, History, Deep in Malaya, as World War II is rapidly coming to an end, men, women and children, trapped by the Japanese invasion, are held captive in the Blood Island prison camp. Roy Ward Baker William Sylvester, R Opened originally in May 1942, 562other ranks were reported here on December30th 1942.. It seems a shame if no one is encouraging continued interest in a remarkable group of men. Miraculously only two Soviet prisoners were killed in the camp. About 5% of the Soviet prisoners who died . P.G. Built on what had been the training camp at Hammelburg, Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. A limited number of non-commissioned soldiers working as orderlies were allowed in Oflags to carry out the work needed to care for the officers so dont be too surprised to find a Corporal in Colditz! The prisoners of war - mostly from France and the Soviet Union - had to perform forced labour in nearby factories and in agriculture. Stalag VIII-A Gorlitz (Moved to Moosburg Murenberg) Silesia Location N/E 51-15. The number of inmates reached its peak of 5,944 officers and 796 orderlies. However in doing so risking the farmers and the POWs' lives. They were forced to march under guard about 1520 miles (2432 km) per day. Sophia Myles, Stalag was short for Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschafts-Stammlager. that had been held in Italian prisoner of war camps were transferred to Oflag IV-D. Most Australian officers were concentrated into Sulmona, just as Australian NCOs and other ranks were gradually brought together to Campo 57. Typical contents of such a parcel included: Approximately 163,000 such parcels were made up each week during World War II; after being assembled, they were shipped on special ships to Lisbon, Portugal or Marseilles, France, where they were loaded onto railway cars and shipped to Geneva, Switzerland. It housed 2455 officers with 297 other ranks. Many prisoners escaped into the Apennine Mountains when guards deserted as the Italian Armistice was announced on 8th September 1943. German camps were arranged by district and then often had many sub-camps, these could be a small barracks attached to a factory or even just a barn on a farm, these could be up to 100 miles from the main camp, this combined with the fact that camps were sometimes moved or renamed means that researchers should take great care in identifying camps by both designation number and location to ensure they locate the correct camp. It opened in the spring or early summer of 1941, operating until the end of the war. The prisoners and the Germans as well, knew liberation was close at hand. Stars: Stalag IV-H Zeithain (also known as Jacobstahl), Stalag Luft V, Wolfen, Groditz, Halle (Saale), Stalag Va Ludwigsburg, Germany (Baden-Wrttemberg), Stalag V-A Malschbach Ludwigsburg Wurtemberg Location N/E 49-09. PG They crossed into Switzerland at 01.30 on 13 September 1942, and were taken to the British legation at Bern. The Military Headquarters Papers: SHAEF (GI Division) contain files relating to the organisation of the Prisoners of War Executive and reports on Allied POWs (WO 219/1402, WO 219/1448-1474). In September 1939 some of the forts were used as POW camps for Polish prisoners, specifically those captured after the surrender of the Polish fort at Westerplatte at the mouth of the river Vistula and on the Hel Peninsula. P.G. Friesack Camp/Camp Friesack is a name commonly used to refer to a special World War II prisoner of war camp where a group of Irishmen serving in the British Army volunteered for recruitment and selection by the Abwehr (German Intelligence) and the German Army. Then, from 1950, he served as a British MP before his untimely death in March 1979 when a car bomb exploded as he drove out of the Palace of Westminster car park. Emptied by German forces in December 1944 and POWs transferred elsewhere. Ben Macintyre returns here, with his devilishly absorbing writing style, to examine one of the legendary POW camps used by the Germans to house Allied officers during the Second World War, Colditz Castle. New Zealand Brigadiers James Hargest and Reginald Miles esc. Jumps over wall of exercise area of Colditz town jail. As with a lot of German POW camps originally this was a much smaller camp based at the ex Hitler Youth hostel set up in the castle and transformed between an officers camp only then into a stalag with all the satellite work camps I have listed here. 4,000 lower-ranked British, South African and Ghurka prisoners, mostly from the surrender of Tobruk, were held in two compounds of tents, with very poor conditions and food shortages. Eventually, all 65 were recaptured, but had occupied over 50,000 police, soldiers, home guard and Hitler Youth for a week. Then a separate camp, Oflag II-E, was built for them on the west side of the main road. Stalag IX-C Bad Sulza Saxe-Weimar Location N/E 51-11, Stalag IX-C/Z Muhlausen Sachen, Prussia Location N/E 51-10. While the plans to question all liberated POWs never materialised, these records still represent a large percentage of those in enemy hands in 1945. For completeness however, theyare listed below, where no address is listed it is probable that the local barracks also housed the records office. By Peter Jackson. Stalag Luft I Barth-Vogelsang Prussia Location N/E 54-12. Within a couple of months, the civilians were moved out and prisoners from the invasion of Poland arrived. We add around 200,000 new records each month. Other camps in this area identified in SHAEF reports in 1944. (7 days confined arrest, 7-13 Dec 1941). As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License . Intentionally sloppy escape attempt in hopes to be placed in town jail. The camp was liberated by Combat Command B of the U.S. 14th Armored Division on 6 April 1945. Located in Warthegau, a western province of Poland that had been incorporated into the German Reich in 1939. Afterwards a number of would-be escapees would borrow Dutch greatcoats as their disguise. Drama, War. Eric Portman, When a prison guard pointed a pistol at his head and threatened to shoot, Upham calmly ignored him and lit a cigarette. On 8 September 1943, the day of the Italian Armistice, the gates at the Bologna POW camp were thrown open and those inside invited by their guards to break for freedom. Flight Lieutenant Hedley Fowlers plane was shot down in May 1940. Ilag A/H Tost (Civilian Internment Camp) Upper Silesia 50-18, Ilag Biberach Biberach/Riss (Civilian Internment Camp) Wurttemberg 48-09, Ilag Liebenau Near Tettnang (Civilian Internment Camp) Ravensburg 47-09, Ilag Wurzach Wurzach (Civilian Internment Camp) Wurttemberg 48-10, Indre Restricted Residence For Civilians Indre France 47-01, Internment Camp Lekkende Seeland (Formerly Faarevejli High School) Copenhagen Denmark 55-12, Klara Haus (St. Josef) Liebenau (Civilian Internment Camp) Ravensburg 47-09, Komarom POW Camp #4, Komarom, Hungary 47-18, Konigsberg Prison Konigsberg East Prussia 54-20, Konigswartha Hospital #744 (Serves Stalag IV-A) Konigswartha Saxony 51-14, La Ciotat Civilian Internment Camp La Ciotat France 43-05, Lager Lazarett Stalag XI-B Fallingbostel Prussia 53-09, Lager Lazarett XI-A Tanger-Hutte Sachsen, Prussia 52-12, Lager Lazarett XI-B Wolfenbuttel Brunswick 52-10, Largarule Prizoiniero #2, 13,14, 18 Timisul de Jos, Romania 45-21, Lazarett at Hildburghausen (Hospital #1251) Hildburghausen Saxe-Meiningen 50-10, Lazarett at Nuremberg-Langwasser (Serves Stalag XIII-D) Nuremberg Bavaria 49-11, Lazarett at Stalag II-B Hammerstein West Prussia 53-17, Lazarett at Stalag IV-B (Hospital #735) Muhlberg Sachsen, Prussia 51-13, Lazarett at Stalag VI-C Bathorn, Munster Westfalen, Prussia 52-07, Lazarett at Stalag XVII-B Gneixendorf Krems, Austria 48-15, Lazarett at Stalag XVIII-B Spittal Drau Carinthia, Austria 46-13, Lazarett Barth (serves Stalag Luft I) Barth Vogelsang Prussia 54-12, Lazarett I Marrienhill Wurzburg Bavaria 49-10, Lazarett Memminger, Stalag VII-B Memminger Bavaria 48-10, Lazarett Rottenmunster/Rottweil (Serves Stalag V- Rottenmunster Wurttenberg 48-08, Lazarett Tubingen Tubingen, Wurttemberg 48-09, Lazarett Wollstein (Serves Oflag 64-Z Heilag) Wollstein Poland 52-16, Leonessa Civilian Internment Camp Leonessa Italy 42-13, Linz-Donau Hospital Linz (An-Der-Donau) Austria 48-14, Ludwigsburg Military Hospital (Transit) (Serves Stalag V-A) Ludwigsburg Wurttemberg 49-09, Luftwaffen Hospital IV/XVII Vienna Austria 48-16, Luftwaffen Lazarett I/XVII ABT IIA Brunn Austria 48-16, Marlag Und Milag Nord Westertimke (Tarmstedt) Hanover, Prussia 53-09, Military Hospital for Stalag III-B Fuerstenberg Brandenburg, Prussia 52-14, Military Hospital Siegburg Rheinland, Prussia 50-07, Montechiarugolo Civilian Internment Camp Montechiarugolo Italy 44-10, Montolivet Civilian Internment Camp Marseille France 43-05, Obermassfeld Hospital #1249 (Serves Stalag IX-C) Obermassfeld Thuringia, Germany 50-10, OPost Tettnang Liebenau (Civilian Internment Camp) Ravensburg 47-09, Perpignan Restricted Residence For Civilians Perpignan France 42-03, Perugia Civilian Internment Camp Perugia Italy 43-12, Piraeus Civilian Internment Camp Piraeus Greece 38-23, POW Camp and Lazarett Mostar Yugoslavia 43-17, POW Hospital (Serves Stalag III- Guben Brandenburg, Prussia 52-14, POW Lazarett (Serves Stalag VI-J) Dusseldorf-Gerresheim Rheinland, Prussia 51-07, Puget-Theniers For Civilians Puget-Theniers France 44-07, Regina Elizabeta Hospital, Bucharest, Romania 44-26, Regina Maria Military Hospital, Brasov, Romania 45-25, Riems Military Hospital Reims France 49-4, Rennes Military Hospital Rennes France 48-01, Reserve Lazarett (Serves Stalag IV-F) Hohenstein-Ernstthal Saxony 50-12, Reserve Lazarett (Serves Stalag VI-A) Hemer Iserlohn, Westfalen 51-07, Reserve Lazarett 101 (Serves Stalag III- Furstenberg Brandenburg, Prussia 52-14, Reserve Lazarett 102 (Serves Stalag III- Furstenberg Brandenburg, Prussia 52-14, Reserve Lazarett 11A-17A Vienna Austria 48-16, Reserve Lazarett 2 (Serves Stalag II-D) Stargard Pomerania, Prussia 53-15, Reserve Lazarett Biesdorf (Hospital #128) (Serves Stalag III-D) Berlin Prussia 52-13, Reserve Lazarett Burgsteinfurt Burgsteinfurt, Prussia 52-07, Reserve Lazarett Clausthalharz Clausthal Hanover, Prussia 51-10, Reserve Lazarett Dortmund Kirchlinde (serves Stalag VI-C) Prussia 51-07, Reserve Lazarett Eberswalde, Eberswalde Prussia 53-13, Reserve Lazarett Gronau Hanover, Prussia 52-09, Reserve Lazarett Haid b/Traun dependent on Stalag 398 Pupping-Wels Austria 48-14, Reserve Lazarett II Halle Saxony, Prussia 51-11, Reserve Lazarett II Lubeck Schleswig 54-10, Reserve Lazarett III (St. Joseph's Stift.) | The prisoners were from Russia and Europe, usually the east, but including Spanish Republicans. Located in the town of Prenzlau, Brandenburg, 93 kilometres (58 mi) north of Berlin. By May 10, when news of the German surrender reached them, half the POWs had vanished. Over 700 of the inmates are said to have lost their lives before the camps were closed and the remaining inmates transferred to Germany in 1944. Access to full details of seamen born less than 100 years ago may be restricted. Further back stands a stone structure enclosing the toilets. The camp ended in an area called "Padule", under the village of Castelvecchio, next to the railway station of CollelinkingLucca to Pontedera until 1958. Also recorded as Johannis Bannberg/Denting, although this part of the camp/sub camp was for Soviet POWs only. Used for punishment and for keeping peristent escapers. David Greene, PG-13 Comedy, Drama, War. Prisoners were separated by nationality, and were intentionally kept from communicating with any other nations POWs this was common in most POW camps however. It was surrounded by a countryside divided into huge fields of wheat and oats, and the city of Altamura could be seen in the distance. Whilst they were ostensibly for collection of air force personnel their main purpose was as interrogation centres for newly captured aircrew, before they were transferred in batches to the permanent camps. BAB -Bau-und Arbeits Battalion (construction battalion). When U.S. troops liberated Colditz in April 1945, 31 prisoners had successfully reached home after more than 300 attempts. (this is just an example of the out-sourcing of POW labour which was used particularly by the larger camps- as you can see there are dozens of smaller sattellite camps listed spread over a very wide area). He and five other prisoners were to leave the castle disguised as a work party removing clothes from the clothing store, four to be dressed as Polish orderlies, one disguised as a German officer, the other as a German soldier. 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