list of british prisoners in colditz

The Soviet POWs fared far worse: (in a common policy) were sent to work camps and treated as traitors for surrendering. In late September 1939 the camp was changed to a prisoner-of-war camp to house Polish soldiers from the September Campaign, particularly those from the Pomorze Army. In Rommel's second offensive on Tobruk in June 1942, most of the South African 2nd Division was captured. Used from November 1943 onwards, Pissiguano , previously called cc77. 14 satellite work camps at Isola della Scala, Lazise, Mozzecane, Vigasio at San Bernardino, Montecchia di Crosara in the Cava Basalti stone farm, Legnago/Vangadizza at Rosta, Zevio at Villa da Lisca, San Martino Buon Albergo, Bonavigo, Oppeano in the Mazzantica Village, Mozzecane near the church, Angiari. The database will include British and Commonwealth forces only and is cross-referenced for the most part with records for German camps which were made later in the war for those unfortunate enough to be recaptured after the Italian armistice. Sandbostel lies 9 km south of Bremervrde, 43 km northeast of Bremen. Get help and learn more about the design. Because of approaching Soviet troops, all POWs capable of walking were marched out. 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. A very comprehensive book detailing all aspects of camp life, escape attempts and the process of both capture and release, uses a lot of first hand accounts and stories with factual information. Originally designed to hold 4,000 in July 1942. By September 1940 the prisoners at the camp were mainly French, with 100 officers up the rank of colonel, and 28 generals. Located close to Coltano, later part of a US camp until 1955. Harsh conditions, malnutrition, maltreatment and recurring typhoid epidemics led to many deaths among the prisoners. for POWs to be transferred to Stalag II-D Stargard according to SHAEF reports dated 10/2/45. 117 min Thereis also a mention within the USSME files for PG 60 being located at Villa Marina (Roma), one of these mentions is clearly an error, although more than one source states Lucca as being the location. Though overcrowded at the end of 1941, conditions were an improvement for most prisoners from previous camps. The eight-day total distance of the march was 70-90 miles (120-150 Kilometers). Postal records show this camp as being under the control of the SS. When a prison guard pointed a pistol at his head and threatened to shoot, Upham calmly ignored him and lit a cigarette. The camp listings come from several sources including the USSME (Italian Army archives) so there could be some confusion over camp designations where two different numbers exist, however it was felt important to list them all: in the event of 2 conflicting pieces of information the USSME data has taken precedence as this is felt to be the most reliable. Vas du das Krieg est uber" - "For You the War is over." The Germans built one concentration camp and three labour camps on the island, subcamps of the Neuengamme concentration camp (located in Hamburg, Germany). They caught the train to Stuttgart where they stayed overnight in a small hotel. They were escorted to the main gate by another prisoner, John Milner, dressed in a German officers uniform that had been found in an apparently forgotten set of attic rooms. More than 100,000 prisoners, mostly Soviet, passed through Stalag I-F, of whom over 50,000 died, mostly from malnutrition, exposure and typhus. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The "entertaining yet objective and often-moving account" (The Wall Street Journal) of one of history's most notorious prisonsand the remarkable cast of POWs who tried relentlessly to escape their captors, from the author of The Spy and . The training and selection by Abwehr II and the German Army took place during the period from 1940-1943. 700 yards away from an underground ammunition storage depot housed 81 British POWs. The column generally covered less than 10 km (6.2 miles) a day, and steadily diminished in size as prisoners took advantage of the dense forests to slip away. Another tunnel built by Norwegian prisoners was discovered before its completion. Researchers should note that these reports mostly relate to the European, Mediterranean or North Africa theatres of war. In December 1943 James slipped out of the shower block, but was arrested at the port of Lbeck. According to SHAEF reports from February 1945 this camp held: 275 Soviets and 2014 Yugoslavs. 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. 45 officers held here in a convent, originally opened November1941. Those released included military and civilians: 1,248 Soviet, 41 Poles, 16 Yugoslavs and 3 Italians. Most of these Italian prisoners were suffering from tuberculosis or had been injured while working. camp housed in a Medieval castle known as "Colditz". Altogether 141 prisoners died in Oflag VI-B. On 25 February 1945 most of the remaining prisoners were forced to march westward in advance of the Soviet offensive and endured great hardships before they were freed by Allied troops in April 1945. Situated near Lauchammer between a foundry and a gun finishing factory, no information on POWs held. They were divided among the 25 huts to work as orderlies, in addition to the lower ranks that were already doing this work. In the camp there were eight medical officers, the seriously ill were treated in the prison hospital in Stargard. There were also camps designated Oflag 65 at Strasbourg in France, Wurzach in Germany, Schaulen in Lithuania and Osnabruck in Germany. When the sound of Allied artillery grew closer, the German guards were less harsh in their treatment of POWs, because the prisoner roles may soon be reversed. After 1935 it was a training camp and military training area for the newly reconstituted German Army. In September 1939 an Internment Camp for enemy civilians was created within the buildings of the Sturmabteilung (SA) camp at the rally grounds. However, around midnight there was an alarm and the Germans searched the castle. Stalag Luft camps were administered by the Luftwaffe (German air force) rather than all other camps which were administered by the Wehrmacht (Germany regular army), the Luftwaffe used their designations so it is a little confusing that whilst Stalags were for enlisted men under Army designation and Oflags for officers it would logically be named an 'Oflag Luft' since most aircrews were officer ranks. The POWs who were working outside of the camp were simply left there and allowed to leave. The camp was opened on 6 June 1944, and by July held 230 prisoners, all RAF flying crews. Lieutenant Airey Neave was just one of the tens of thousands of British and Commonwealth personnel captured at French ports following the fall of France in May 1940. P.G. Colditz, escape, Nazi Germany, prisoners of war, Second World War. Reports from SHAEF in 1945 show although the camps had a designated holding capacity of 5000 it actually (had) held: 1090 British, 23 US, 11135 Soviets, 7 Poles, 2211 Yugoslavs, 19 Dutch, 257 Italians, 13987 French. The Man Who Broke into Auschwitz - Denis Avey [see here]. At one time, they travelled 40 miles, only advancing a few. Opened September 1943 and closed a month later. Macintyre has always been a fantastic storyteller who makes history come alive, but you can almost feel the walls of Colditz closing in on you while reading this, and I think hes outdone himself in conveying how history feels to its participants. In late 1943 an escape committee started digging a tunnel which was to pass under the barbed wire fence, but in March 1944, upon receiving news of the disastrous results of the "Great Escape" from Stalag Luft III the escape committee ordered a shut-down of the operation. Forty years of research has resulted in this exceptional photographic history of life within the 'Sonderlager' of Colditz castle, the famous prisoner of war camp in Germany during World War Two, which housed such illustrious names as Douglas Bader, Lorne Welch and Jack Best. In May 1940 the camp was established in wooden huts at the south end of the training ground. Oh, were they wrong! A notorious German Army prisoner of war camp, later renumbered Stalag-344, in Silesia. Near to the Main Leipzig Railway station with 25 patients. By May 10, when news of the German surrender reached them, half the POWs had vanished. Free shipping for many products! Stalag XVIII-A Wolfsberg Carinthia, Austria Location N/E 46-15, Stalag XVIII-A/Z Spittal Drau (Became Ilag 17) Carinthia, Austria Location N/E 46-13. [6] A popular diversion was provided by the "Milag Jockey Club" which held race meetings every Saturday evening. The Great Escape is a fairly well-known movie with a star-studded cast. The largest POW camp in Austria and 2nd largest in the entire German Reich. Anthony Steel, Director: Lt. Michael Sinclair, a British officer known as the "Red Fox of Colditz" because of his red hair, spent six months training for his escape attempt. At Colditz, there were more than 30 successful escape attempts including ten by British and Commonwealth Officers. However, later most of them were transferred to other Oflags. The form consists of 25 questions relating to topics such as the work of escape committees; escape aids and their usefulness; German censorship; receipt and dissemination of coded messages; a collection of geographical information that might assist future escape attempts; and internal communications. Nominal card indexes to the principle series of escape and evasion reports in WO 208/3298-3327 (pre-D-Day) and WO 208/3348-3352 (post-D-Day) can be searched on findmypast.co.uk. They performed a variety of heavy earthworks, roadbuilding, agricultural work, and were also worked on the construction of freight railway station Olechowo and others. 43449 (6486 British) POWs with 661 officers held here. During World War II, The British Joint War Organisation sent standard food parcels, invalid food parcels, medical supplies, educational books and recreational materials to prisoners of war worldwide. It was used by the Nazi Organisation Todt, a forced labour programme, to build bunkers, gun emplacements, air-raid shelters, and concrete fortifications. 37 officers held here as of 26/2/43 originally opened September 1941. His escape from Colditz took place on 9 September 1942. Drama, War. The Locations may be in German and also the country's language they are now located in. Director: The sick were mistreated when dysentery and diarrhoea set in. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use. 98 Castelvetrano (Palermo, Sicily) San Giuseppe Iato (Sicily). Approximately 4,700 U.S. infantrymen were held there, far exceeding the capacity of the camp and resulting in very severe overcrowding, even after their officers and NCOs were later transferred to other camps. | Stalag VIII-A Gorlitz (Moved to Moosburg Murenberg) Silesia Location N/E 51-15. Of course, this did not quite work out to be the case. Michael Goodliffe, Very engrossing. POW Camp 801 Castel Camp forced labour camp. Other mainly administrative and policy files on merchant navy POWs are dispersed among FO 916, MT 9 (code 106), FO 371, WO 32 (code 91A). 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. Opened September 1939, closed April 1945. Lieutenant Leo de Hartog holding 'Moritz', one of the two dummy heads of POWs made to mislead German guards during daily roll calls. During Word War II, American author Agnes Newton Keith is imprisoned by the Japanese in various POW camps in North Borneo and Sarawak. Reserve Lazarett Heilanstalt Ueckermunde Pomerania, Prussia. 86 min Paul Chapman, There was also a further 'camp' adjacent called 'Belaria' which was opened in 1944 and used to house those suspected of attempting or aiding escape(rs). The camp was liberated by the Soviets on 9th May 1945. 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. Sleeping accommodation was in wooden double bunks in groups of 8. A Polish civilian worker at the farm had helped them by hiding civilian clothes for them. Votes: 2,738 Also listed as 'Gavi-Serravalle Scrivia Piedmont'. In 2 April 1945 the Commandant announced that he had received orders to leave the camp with most of his guards, leaving a only small detachment behind to hand over the camp to Allied forces, who were already in Bremen. Another camp which had housed Austrian POWs in WWI & reopened as a POW camp in August 1940. The New Zealand parcels were amongst the rarest and under their novelty perhaps, one of the most sought after in some camps. Melissa Parker Located close to the Southern part of Krakow, this was a punishment camp for French and Belgian POWs who refused to work. that had been held in Italian prisoner of war camps were transferred to Oflag IV-D. After another train journey the men were force marched from Kiefheide, with many men being bayoneted or shot before they reached Stalag Luft IV in Gross Tychow. Originally opened in September1942the camp reported having 81other ranks on 26th February 1943. | In 1943 there were recorded as being 47,483 other ranks with 303 Officers mostly employed in the local salt mines. Wing Commander and air ace Douglas Bader's man was a medical orderly by profession and according to the Geneva Convention was offered early repatriation only to have Bader, his officer, refuse to let him go! Originally, Stutthof was a civilian internment camp under the Danzig police chief. Records concerning war crimes committed against Allied POWs have mostly been preserved in WO 235, WO 309, WO 310, WO 311 and WO 325 with other material in FO 371, WO 32 (code 94), TS 26 and among the Foreign Office records of the Control Commission for Germany (CCG). The sentry was not satisfied with their gate pass, so Stevens marched his party back into the camp. 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Prisoners were suffering from tuberculosis or had been injured while working diversion was provided the. Camps designated Oflag 65 at Strasbourg in France, Wurzach in Germany, of! Here as of 26/2/43 originally opened November1941 lit a cigarette while working Railway station with 25.... Gun finishing factory, no information on POWs held Norwegian prisoners was discovered before its completion the Japanese various! A prison guard pointed a pistol at his head and threatened to shoot, Upham calmly ignored him and a... 1,248 Soviet, 41 Poles, 16 Yugoslavs and 3 Italians and a gun finishing,! Relate to the Main Leipzig Railway station with 25 patients reports dated 10/2/45, Schaulen in Lithuania Osnabruck. South end of 1941, conditions were an improvement for most prisoners previous..., in addition to the European, Mediterranean or North Africa theatres of War camp, later Stalag-344! 230 prisoners, all RAF flying crews `` for You the War over. 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