Larive did not forget and many prisoners later escaped using this route. Leo Genn, Paul Chapman, A cocky German fighter pilot is shot down over England in 1940 and makes numerous attempts to escape to fight again. Solitary confinement: Barry cut through bars, Reid dug tunnel, Escaped from Colditz train station (returning from Lamsdorf), Attempted escape while on exercise in the park. With luck, the office door had been relocked and this satisfied the soldiers that nobody had entered the office. They successfully hid in one box-car full of boxes. A second tunnel, about 40 m (130 ft) long, was built from April to August 1944. In their place British, French and other Allied officers were transferred to Hadamar from the citadel of Mainz. More prisoners arrived in July 1944 transferred from Oflag VIII-F. On 24 August 1944 the camp was strafed by American and British aircraft. camp housed in a Medieval castle known as "Colditz". Two officers; Lieutenant Denis Kelleher RNVR, and Lieutenant Stewart Campbell, FFA, escaped from Marlag in early 1944, wearing blue overalls to cover their uniforms, and managed to reach England within 22 days, having been smuggled to neutral Sweden on a ship from Bremen. It held Norwegian officers captured in 1942 and 1943. Army medical units were detached to deliver medical attention. The camp then served as a British detention centre for ex-Nazis, before finally closing in mid-1947. In March 1945 two bombs dropped by a Soviet aircraft hit Block B killing eight POWs, and injuring several others. Stalag 366 also had a branch in White Podlaska, which until late 1942/43 was an independent Dulag. During the conflict, over 20 million standard food parcels were sent. While no discrete record holds these forms, they are occasionally found in War Crimes files. Jack Watson, PG P.G. The first to arrive were 403 men from the Allied campaign in Norway. 106 US POWs here on the road to Falkenburg. Patric Knowles, All books are based on sound research and his readers will welcome his latest effort PRISONERS OF THE CASTLE: AN EPIC STORY OF SURVIVAL AND ESCAPE FROM COLDITZ, THE NAZIS FORTRESS PRISON. Virginia McKenna, Stalag XIII-D Nrnberg Langwasser was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp built on what had been the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg, northern Bavaria. John Beaumont, Stars: After entering the clothing store, the tunnel was sealed to allow later use (it was discovered the following day during the search for the missing officers). Carl Mhner, Oflag VII-B Eichstatt (British) Bavaria 49-11, Oflag X-B Nienburg An Der Weser Hanover, Prussia 52-09, Oflag XII-B Hadamar Hessen-Nassau, Prussia 50-08. The lighting was poor, and heating didnt function. Most Australian officers were concentrated into Sulmona, just as Australian NCOs and other ranks were gradually brought together to Campo 57. In October 1942 the camp was repopulated with Jews and run by the infamous Amon Goth (Later the commandant of Plaszow KZ concentration camp) this had many thousands of Jews brought here from the Warsaw Ghetto, and these were the Jewish families (men, women and children) who were working for various German run firms in the locale, particularly the Toebbens uniform factory. Alternatively, search more than 1 million objects from Peter Parker, When the offensive of the Soviet Red Army resumed in 1945, all inmates were marched westward on 28 January 1945. Drama, War. Colditz, the medieval castle, located in the state of Saxony in Germany, is probably the most famous of the Nazi's POW camps in WWII.so well known that films have been made about it (although usually fictional). There were constant, and very creative, escape attempts utilizing tunnels, disguises, forged papers and even hiding in a mattress. Drama, History, War, The prisoners in Colditz Castle make many attempts to escape captivity from the arrival of the first British prisoners after Dunkirk in 1940 until the liberation of the castle by the See full summary, Stars: They worked predominately on farms and had the possibility to obtain better nourishment. In each of the barracks surrounded by barbed wire lived 140-200 people. After 1935 it was a training camp and military training area for the newly reconstituted German Army. Naturally all incoming and outgoing mail was censored. Camp closed following a mass breakout of POWs after the armistice. Finally, in January 1942, Stutthof became a regular concentration camp. 50,000-55,000 of them were buried in 500 mass graves at the Sudwa cemetery located nearby. May 1940: The camp was built to house Belgian and French enlisted men captured in the Battle of France; initial count: 600. Most data files are not currently available online however and would need either a personal visit by yourself or a professional researcher to seek these files out. Miraculously only two Soviet prisoners were killed in the camp. 150 feet above sea level, bungalows surrounded by playing fields and gardens, educational courses also were held here! New Zealand Brigadiers James Hargest and Reginald Miles escaped to Switzerland. It could have ended much worse. Any man who stepped between the wire and the fence was shot on sight. Most ANZAC POWs were transferred to PG 57 early in 1942, some did remain behind in Sulmona as batmen to officers, being given separate accommodation in the lower section of the main camp. In early 1942 three officers managed to hide inside empty boxes in a truck that was unloading food supplies. | The POWs were hired out to military and civilian contractors. The Villa Orsini close by, was used to house very senior British and Commonwealth officers including: Major-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame, Air Marshal Boyd, General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor, Brigadier Reginald Miles and Brigadier James Hargest. Stanislau camp, also known as Stalag 371, was a POW camp during World War II. Stalag XXa (also known as Stalag 301, 312 and 357). Unfortunately the driver of a vehicle noticed two persons moving hesitantly along the train and alerted the military police. Alfred Lynch, It would appear that the records are incomplete as the number sequence of the first file - WO 208/5451 - starts at 238. It is now known as Sankt Johann im Pongau. US, Serbian, Italian and French/Belgian POWs were held at this camp. Fascism's European Empire - Davide Rodogno [see here]. The Index to the correspondence of the Foreign Office, 1920-1951 (131 vols, Nendeln, 1969-1982) available at The National Archives, contains numerous entries relating to all aspects of British POWs. The first transport numbering 2254 POWs (1618 officers and 636 other ranks) arrived at the camp on 6th November 1939. Forces war records gratefully acknowledge individual contributions towards our databases and information sources: we would like to work with anyone who feels they have camp or individuals POW data which would be of interest. On 14 February 1945 the Americans and British were marched out of the camp westward in advance of the Soviet offensive into Germany. Oflag IX-A/Z Rotenburg An Der Fulda Hessen-Nassau, Prussia 51-09. Allied prisoners - British, Dutch, French and Polish - pool their resources to plan numerous escapes from the "escape-proof" German P.O.W. 161 officers were held here on 26/2/43 and it opened originally in June 1941. Placed on swampy ground, with a damp, cold climate, it is one of the most notorious prisoner-of-war camps. The sick were mistreated when dysentery and diarrhoea set in. | P.G. As was usual for Stalags, many of the prisoners were located in Arbeitslager ("Work camps") on farms or adjacent to factories or other industrial operations. The camp covered an area of 37,000 square metres, divided into two sections but not separated by barbed wire. By early 1945 the number of POWs held in the camp reached over 5,000. The training and selection by Abwehr II and the German Army took place during the period from 1940-1943. Many of the sick and infirmed were left behind in the Lazzarett (camp clinic) and were transported by rail or truck at a later date. Their task included settling financial claims and making recommendations for awards to helpers, the latter being done in conjunction with the Americans and the Intelligence Services of the countries concerned. Opened November 1939, Liberated 16th April 1945. In reality, overall victory in Italy took far longer than anticipated. The lower ranks prisoners at this camp fared much better than those in many other camps further south. With so many escape-prone prisoners housed together it was inevitable that they would plan escapes. Operated from 1939 to June 1940 when inmates were transferred to Oflag VIb. These are searchable by surname and sometimes by forename as well. The prisoners and the Germans as well, knew liberation was close at hand. . Stalag Luft IV Gross Tychow/Burzlaff, Poland, Stalag Luft IV Gross-Tychow (formerly Heydekrug) Pomerania, Prussia (moved to Wobbelin Bei Ludwigslust) (To Usedom Bei Savenmunde) Location N/E 54-16. Records of some 125,000 captives with surnames A-L can now be fully searched in our catalogue, Discovery, and you can see when we expect to fully catalogue the remaining pieces by looking at this page, under arrangement. As with Neave and Fowler, for his escapes and actions while in activity he was awarded gallantry medals. An excellent book on Colditz, much more realistic and rounded than some of the previous accounts which seemed to glamourise the legend. The prisoners' dramatic and ingenious escapes have been the subject of over 40 books, two films, board games, video games and a popular TV series. District XXI Nearest city Saarbrucken, Germany, on the French border. camp housed in a Medieval castle known as "Colditz". Tin of 50 cigarettes or tobacco (sent separatelyusually Player's brand cigarettes or Digger flake pipe tobacco). Eventually the camp from 1942 to early 1944 accommodated two thousand Dutch officers who between 1940 and 1942 were taken prisoner in the Netherlands. After the Fall of France in 1940, most Polish officers were transferred to either Oflag VIIA Murnau or Oflag VIII E Johannisbrunn, and French officers were imprisoned in the castle. 52 Pian di Coreglia (Chiabati, Genoa). It is clear that other reports were produced, for example, those with a reference starting PW/REP/IT. The SHAEF report mentions malnutrition/lice and infections hence it is thought unlikely there were any remaining Western Allied officer POWs still held at liberation at this camp. Milag (Marineinterniertenlager, "Marine internment camp"), the Merchant Navy camp, was 300 m (980 ft) to the east of Marlag. Conflicting reports from various sources place this also as PG 93 and relocated at Fontanellato in Parma. Although the camp was almost exclusively for prisoners from the Soviet Union, France and Italy, Poles were also incarcerated here. All of these reports were made by officers and men of the armed forces and merchant navy and usually provide: service details; when and where captured; home address and civilian occupation. From the 15th of August 1940 there were 356 officers and 140 other ranks. In the (Fascist) Italian system camps were prefixed 'CC' or 'PG' and still split between officers and enlisted men however there was no denomination between the 2 main types of camp. In 1940 the Poles were joined by Belgian and French prisoners, and by Soviets in 1941. Returned to Spangenberg, the three were each sentenced to fifty-three days in solitary. The prisoners were from Russia and Europe, usually the east, but including Spanish Republicans. Attempts utilizing tunnels, disguises, forged papers and even hiding in a mattress & quot ; the office had! 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