please Meanwhile, here’s a bit more about what life at Stalag Luft III was like. Edward "Ski" Wisneski Company E 47th Infantry Regiment. Looking back, it seems like the POW camps were relatively safe places to be… but then, that’s with the hindsight of knowing that the Allies won the war. The time on the march and the train journey had had its effect on us. At 11:00 PM on 27 January 1945, Germans marched the POWs out of Stalag. In 2002 at the tender age of 16 I had found Mr. Westheimer's e-mail address. It was designed to hold 10,000 men, was the largest in the 3rd Military District, and was considered a model for other camps. The great escape was mass escape of Allied POWs from the WW II German prison camp named Stalag Luft III. Copy of a list of prisoners of war at Stalag Luft 4, Gross Tychow. My question is, since this was a very limited production run, how rare is this book? [citation needed], It is estimated that 4,000 to 5,000 prisoners died while in the camp. In February 1945 prisoners from Stalag III-B Furstenberg were evacuated to Stalag III-B, adding to the already overcrowded and unhygienic conditions. Planning for the camp commenced before the invasion of Poland. Padre Costanzo is also based on a real person, Father Stanley Brach, who was in the Italian POW camp P.G. Finally, as the Russians approached the guards fled the camp leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army on 22 April 1945. I will hold." Here is a picture of the first page of the one I own. Some men also signed up for a variety of study courses on offer. By this time we were all lousy so one of the prisoners was given a pair of clippers and the task of running them over our heads. Want to find out more about your German or Italian POW relative’s war? Paul's 34th Infantry Division was sent straight from Newport News,VA to Oran, North Africa to begin "Operation Torch". Several pages of his wartime log (a sort of diary) were taken up with what seems to be a type of roster of fellow POW's. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. WWII Prisoner of War items : Medals, Mail, Diaries, Photos, Documents, Scrapbooks + More, WWII Naval Aviation Groupings : Medals, Documents, Scrapbooks, Photos, Flight Logs, Flight Jackets + More. He was then a captain and Commandant of Cadets. [1], In mid-September 1939 the first Polish POWs arrived, and were housed in large 12 m (39 ft) by 35 m (115 ft) tents, and set to work building the barrack huts before the winter set in. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use. Once their work was complete the Poles were relocated, and the first inhabitants of the camp were Dutch and Belgian. [4] If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. During the winter of 1941/42 a typhus epidemic killed around 2,000-2,500 Russians, and mortality rates of Soviet prisoners was extremely high compared to the POW of other nations. One day we marched to a large building which was the administration building and the stores. Russian POWs were excluded from this on the grounds that the USSR was not a signatory of the Geneva Convention, and suffered significantly poorer conditions as a result. It was designed to hold 10,000 men, was the largest in the … He and his fellow prisoners, spent the remainder of World War 2 surviving in the inhumane confines of P.O.W. I tried to do some research on Stanley Branch. And he is supposed to have answered, "I was but I'm not any more.". I have several items he gave to me while he was still alive: the Luft III postcard with his hand drawn Donald Duck, all of the correspondence (letters and postcards) he sent home from Luft III that his mother kept and gave back to him when he returned home after the war, two b/w photos taken within the camp, the original art for a Christmas card he created while in the camp and some books published by former Luft III Kreigies in the mid-40s after the war. The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers and this website is funded by donations from our visitors. One of our Directors recently came across an intriguing collection of 1000 names in the National Archives, a complete nominal roll of all men from Stalag Luft III in Silesia, Poland (the famous camp of the Great Escape). It was not level but had little hills and valleys where gun emplacements and ammunition bunkers had been covered with earth. When I woke up in the morning I put my hat on and only took it off again when I went to bed at night. The roster does not include ALL Americans. (Message sent by 1st Lt. Clifton B. Cates. They received a half-barrel of coffee that was so bad, they took turns bathing in it until it was cold. He was a B17 navigator. One morning I was standing on the bridge with another prisoner who suddenly said, "I wish I was where I was at this time last year." He and his fellow prisoners, spent the remainder of World War 2 surviving in the inhumane confines of P.O.W. These men were also marched mercilessly in sub-zero temperatures with little food or clothing. I also had a soft Polish Army cap with a floppy brim that had warped into a curve. Would you fellows mind looking up these names in your books? Thanks......Bobgee, "I have only two men out of my company and 20 out of some other company. I understand most of it, but I am confused by the numbers at the end and the numbers after the names. The Worcestershire Regiment Add a Name to this List The discovery of a single wooden club prompted the founding of a ‘Sagan Golf Club’, and before the winter storms set in, 10 more clubs had been found and several more fashioned besides, using home-fashioned shafts and heads cast from melted stove pipes and water jugs. public. Once inside we turned left and were sent into a room with a curved brick ceiling, a small window facing the moat and piles of straw along each side for us to sleep on. I'll post the details tomorrow. Records from Stalag 3A Prisoner of War Camp other sources. There are about twenty of these forts around Thorn and I was told that some of them were built by French P. 0 W. s during the Franco Prussian war of 1870. It was very similar to the fashionable style for women's coats at home before we left. photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. Bailed out-, Before explosion in setting bay, Germany. The book also lists service numbers, hometowns, and other info. Any info will be helpful. List of prisoner-of-war camps in Germany - Wikiwand Diorama of the German World War II PoW camp Stalag Luft: pin. Jack Westley Estes (d.8th January 1945 ). 2111. It has not been reprinted . Planning for the camp commenced before the invasion of Poland. [1] Coded messages were delivered as part of the news bulletins, and these were read to each compound when no guards were around. If you have any unwanted They only remained there for a brief time before being replaced by 43,000 French POWs, who arrived in mid-1940, and remained the largest group of prisoners until the end of the war. We were all very worried about what was happening to the people at home and by this time I think that we knew that there would be no miracle reversal of fortune. [3] However, no more than 6,000-8,000 were ever housed at the main camp, with the rest sent out to work in forestry and industry in more than 1,000 Arbeitskommando ("Work Companies") spread out over the entire state of Brandenburg.[1]. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions. He was listed as 5'11" and 147 lbs. Very nice! We add around 200,000 new records each month. The following list of names are search results for Camp = 089, "Stalag 9B Bad Orb Hessen-Nassau, Prussia 50-09". This website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. Ernest was sent to Stalag 3A Pow Number 142401 and remained a prisoner until May 1945 when he was liberated. The storm was blowing from east to west - right into the faces of the Americans atop these three hills. Find out how now in our free tutorial: Your comment has been sent for approval. In 1941 some 300 of these took part in the Nazi propaganda film Germanin. It lists over 2100 airmen who were interned in the compound. In February 1945 prisoners from Stalag III-B Furstenberg were evacuated to Stalag III-A, adding to the already overcrowded and unhygienic conditions. I would love to get to the bottom 1036. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites Emmet and I were good friends. The one I just found is signed in blue ink Emmet E. Cook KG 944 also! The Welsh Guards Welsh Guards other ranks who were captured and spent time in Lamsdorf Prisoner of War Camp (Stalag 344). Terms of Service apply. I know he was a 390th BG Navigator who went down on 10-10-43 at Munster. Most of the content on this site is created by our users, who are members of the I am trying to find information re: my father-in-law, who was shot down on 7/29/1944, and sent to Luft III after he was captured. Five watched like hawks while the sixth cut it as fairly and evenly as possible. I'm wondering I looked at all of the rosters of Stalag Luft III as printed by Arnold Wright - he transcribed Ewell McCright's log books and published a "Behind the Wire" for the north, south, center and west compounds. Cuts on, Forehead, cuts on hand Picked up by Germans in small. It was surrounded by a high bank, with tall gates across the entrance road which cut through it.

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