The prisoners came from the Polish Army Krakow, SGO Polesie and the defenders of the coast. 3,104 POWs here on 26/2/43 originally opened in August 1941. Part of one barrack was set aside for use as a chapel. You should note, as with all historical records that any of these will be a snapshot in time of when the record was made originally & as such there are inevitable errors and ommissions, only by checking multiple sources (where available) can any certainty be possible. The history of this camp began in the area called "Il Pollino" that belonged to the Ravano family (ex Gherardesca) and, at the beginning of 1940, was used as a prison camp for POWs. As with Neave and Fowler, for his escapes and actions while in activity he was awarded gallantry medals. In 1942 the French officers were transferred to other camps and replaced with Polish officers. The Geneva convention comprised a few other agreements made concerning Prisoners of war, notably the Hague regulations of 1899 and 1907 and the pre-war version which was initially signed on July 27th 1929. On 7 November, six British officers, the "Laufen Six", named after the camp (Oflag VII) from which they made their first escape, arrived: Harry Elliott, Rupert Barry (later Sir Rupert Barry), Pat Reid, Dick Howe, Anthony "Peter" Allan, and Kenneth Lockwood. Claudette Colbert, The camp, designated Oflag XVIII-B, was opened on 19 October 1939. Located at Schirwindt (Sirvintos) in Lithuania. Airey Neave was also involved in getting Nazi persecution claims investigated in the 1960s (see series FO 950 at TNA) whilst he was a Member of Parliament. Conditions initially were very poor, with more than 1,000 men accommodated in tents while huts were being constructed. Stalag I-B Hohenstein East Prussia Location N/E 53-20. In June 1942 the Polish officers were transferred to other camps, such as Oflag VII-A Murnau and Oflag VI-B, Dssel. Originally, Stutthof was a civilian internment camp under the Danzig police chief. They caught the train to Stuttgart where they stayed overnight in a small hotel. The SHAEF/Red Cross reports from February 1945 show 1438 British, 1 US, 14111 Soviets, 20 Belgian, 401 Poles, 1703 Yugoslavs, 4177 Italians and 12814 French pows here. (3 days confined arrest 13-16 Dec 1941). They organized and created an "escape committee" which arranged the details of each escape, including who would produce or procure money, tools, maps, disguises or any other required materials. Conditions in this camp were deplorable, as the rules of the Third Geneva Convention were not observed for Soviet prisoners. The others were at Oerbke (Stalag XI-D (321)) and Wietzendorf (Stalag X-D (310)). There are reports this camp was transferred upon the armisitice through the Brenner pass into Austria and rehoused at Stalag VIIIb. The files BT 382/3232-3249 consist of an alphabetical series of printed cards relating to merchant seamen POWs of all nationalities. As of 26th February 1943 this housed 1008 men of all ranks but by30th June 1943 this camp housed: 5 Officers, 344 other ranks and was split thus: 323 British, 11 Australians & 15 South Africans. A contagious disease ward type hospital named Leipzig Wahren Lazarett belonging to this camp was situated close to the local gas works and railway station & consisted of 2 long stone buildings. In early 1942 three officers managed to hide inside empty boxes in a truck that was unloading food supplies. There were also camp number IIId/999 and IIId/517 camps listed in the German postal system, these were likely to have been in the case of 999 some sort of punishment camp (999 Battalions in the German SS/Army were severe punishment units for near suicidal missions) and in the case of 517 this was the camp that the British Freikorps were held at whilst training at Genshagen, location 52,19N 13,17E which held 264 British POWs at February 1945. British and Commonwealth officers and other ranks captured in North Africa, International Association of the Red Cross, professional researcher to seek these files out, services of a professionally accredited researcher, https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/hire-a-researcher/about, Household Cavalry, Combermere Barracks Windsor, Berks, database will include British and Commonwealth forces, POW Allied Prisoners of War in Europe 1939-1945, WWII POW and Internment Camps by Derek Tomlin, Many exclusive records, found only on our site, 1 on 1 Personal assistance from military photo and document experts, Access to Orbats mapping tool, allowing you to trace your WW1 ancestors steps. Opened 09/40 closed 04/45, also listed under 'Warburg'. Notable POWs who were held here include (briefly) Colditz inmate and escape officer Pat Reid who was held for 3 months before escaping, being recaptured and sent to Colditz where he finally escaped to freedom from later. An improvised camp for Soviet prisoners of war (August 1942) It is estimated that at least 3.3 million Soviet POWs died in Nazi custody, out of 5.7 million. A SHAEF report dated 10/2/45 reports these 2 camps marching westwards, location was 52N 14E. Apart from Antoni Szylling and Tadeusz Piskor, who were imprisoned in Murnau, all Polish army commanders taken by the Germans in 1939 were held there. The 'Market Garden' plan employed all three divisions of First Allied Airborne Army. Over the next few weeks the prisoners were transported via Klagenfurt to transit camps in Bari and Naples, from where they were eventually repatriated. The first prisoners detained at the camp had been Poles, taken captive during the German invasion of Poland in 1939. Some large camps had both a camp leader and a 'man of confidence' (or several in the biggest camps) who was junior to him and handled any day-to-day negotiations with the Germans regarding, for example, camp routine, work schedules and diet. Many died from a typhus epidemic and from hunger. Other camps found as listed but without designations (mostly civilian): Ellera Corciano, Castiglione della Valle/Castel Serena & Pietraffita Tavernelle. November 21st brought hundreds of wounded prisoners from the field hospitals. OFLAG XXIc/z Grune bei Lissa/Skoki, Poland. There was much zigzagging, to escape the encroaching Soviet Red Army from the east. In September 1943, 630 merchant seamen from India, China, Burma and Aden were moved out of the Milag into a new camp, Milag (Inder) (known as the Inderlager or "Indian Camp") west of Westertimke. | They crossed into Switzerland at 01.30 on 13 September 1942, and were taken to the British legation at Bern. There are some surviving BAOR (British Army Of the Rhine) reports reference WC/C/243 (war crimes) regarding the forced marches from Nebrandenburg camps to the Schwerin area in 1945 these can now be found at the national archives under reference WO209/1047. As a sub-camp of Ilag VII, it was designated Ilag VII/Z. Stalag Luft III Sagan-Silesia Bavaria (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser) Location N/E 49-11. 00:00. He was killed during an air test flying a Hawker Typhoon on 26 March 1944, and is buried at Durrington Cemetery. Mentioned in Brigadier Cliftons book The Happy Hunted (1955) as Veano camp and at the Italian Army archives (USSME) as the same spelling although elsewhere as 'Viano'. Water (often contaminated) POWs drank from ditches beside the road or ate snow when available. Edward Fox, Approved Sessue Hayakawa, Votes: After 1935 it was a training camp and military training area for the newly reconstituted German Army. The remaining prisoners responded to the threat of a pitched battle on their doorstep by digging slit trenches. Published and available only at Auschwitz/Birkenau itself this book is a definitive work on the various camps including all the work details. On the night of 27 September 1944 British aircraft attacking the nearby railroad junction in Nrde, dropped some bombs on the camp, killing 90 officers. It had the reputation of being one of the worst Stalags, especially when it was overcrowded in 1945. It is reputed that the German Camp Commandant at the time (Major Rumpel), gave the escapers a case of champagne with the words "Better luck next time, even if I'm not supposed to say so". The Soviet POWs fared far worse: (in a common policy) were sent to work camps and treated as traitors for surrendering. Buckley was a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm and as such the Germans had placed him, with all other FAA aircrew, under the responsibility of the Luftwaffe. After this incident, Upham was considered extremely dangerous and was placed in solitary confinement. "Only the generals slept alone". In 1943 the Germans suggested an exchange of equal numbers of Merchant Navy prisoners, but this offer was refused by the First Lord of the Admiralty A. V. Alexander on the grounds it would be more to Germany's benefit, as it would provide them with a large number of men suitable to be used as U-boat crews, of which they were desperately short. In reality, however, successful escapes were rare. In the summer of 1941 Australians and New Zealanders captured in Greece and Crete during the Balkans Campaign arrived in the camp. Despite these precautions, Upham bolted from his little courtyard, straight through the German barracks and out through the front gate of the camp. Unfortunately the driver of a vehicle noticed two persons moving hesitantly along the train and alerted the military police. Stalag VIII-C Sagan (Moved to Kunau Sprottau) (9 work camps) Silesia Location N/E 51-15. There are also reports of POWs being held at Concentration camps such as Auschwitz, Dachau etc. Located close to the Southern part of Krakow, this was a punishment camp for French and Belgian POWs who refused to work. In late 1944 he escaped again and this time made it to Sweden. When the POW camp in Bergen ceased operation in early 1945, as the Wehrmacht handed it over to the SS, the cemetery contained over 19,500 dead Soviet prisoners. In April 1941, a French officer, Alain Le Ray, become the first prisoner ever to escape from the Colditz Castle. In 1940 the Poles were joined by Belgian and French prisoners, and by Soviets in 1941. Muhlhausen Opened in February 1940 and closed on 29/3/45, the hospital was located at Bad Sulza. On 14th May 1942 all Polish POWs were transferred to Oflag II D Gross Born, where prisoners were all French. In September 1943 many British Commonwealth officers from the North Africa campaign. Some larger camps will have dozens of websites that you can investigate, always look at the links pages from these sites also a spiders web of information can often be discovered. Stalags and Marlags, most were mobile units especially for road and heavy construction. E715 IG Farben chemical factory in Monowitz. Although individuals are rarely mentioned by name, a speculative search of files in these record series may still prove fruitful. The POWs lived in barrack huts that were divided into two dormitories each housing around 100 men, with a small kitchen and a washroom between them. Stalag IV-D Torgau (Elbe) Sachsen, Prussia Location N/E 51-13. Beds were for officers, elderly and the sick. The prisoners were transferred to other camps, though a small number stayed behind to carry out construction work as the site was adapted for the use of GEMA (Gesellschaft fr und mechanische elektroakustische apparate) in developing radar systems The sub-camp was closed in June 1943. The North Compound fell in with the West Compound at Spremberg and on 2 February entrained for Stalag 13D at Nurnberg, which they reached after a two day trip. On Christmas Eve 1942 a number of officers arranged a fight outside one of the huts. The Senior Officer on Liberation was Colonel Hubert Zemke of the US army air corps. The German lists are described as being corrected generally up to 30 March 1945. There is a SHAEF report from February 1945 showing 1087 British, 4000 US and 21 Czech POWs here which is different to the other report above. It should be noted that recently this source is not a complete roll of everyone who was in the Italian POW system for various reasons, although it's the only sdingle source that has the majority. The previously marked Secret files from SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) 254-1 files held at the National Archives (1,036 pages long) under reference WO229/5/0/1. The escapers, including Day, Buckley, Johnnie Dodge and future Carry on Film star Peter Butterworth were all recaptured within a week. 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. 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. For lack of huts they were mostly housed in tents. Littledale returned to Britain in 1943. Sent for court martial in Stuttgart, jumped train but found unconscious next to tracks, sent to hospital, escaped from hospital. They were subsequently transferred to PG78 just outside Sulmona and thence to camps in Germany where they remained until the end of the war. Sleeping accommodation was in wooden double bunks in groups of 8. For this item, that is: If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact theMedia Sales & Licensing Team. Interesting new book looking at the history of Colditz when it was home to various different POW's during WW2 and the characters involved some well known others not so. Others were sent to work on farms. They are currently being catalogued by name by volunteers. Only 10 managed to remain free, some returned to Poland, others finding their way to the Allied lines. The first contained Allied prisoners in unsatisfactory conditions, but generally in compliance with the International Red Cross Convention. Planning for the camp commenced before the invasion of Poland. Building work commenced on 5th June 1942 and the camp could house up to 6000 POWs. The camp was originally established in June 1942 near Schokken (now Skoki) 30 km (19 mi) north of Poznan, in what had previously been Oflag XXI-A, opened in September 1940 as a camp for Polish officers. The march, in temperatures of -15C to -20C, caused great distress and many prisoners died. The location listed for this camp in the SHAEF report of February 1945: 53 degrees 31 minutes 17 seconds north, 13 degrees 17 minutes east. On 14 February 1945 the Americans and British were marched out of the camp westward in advance of the Soviet offensive into Germany. District V In the Far south-west of German, the nearest large city being Posen. It grew quickly from a few tents to a large POW camp with concrete buildings for the German officers and guards, and 40 large wooden barracks for the prisoners. This instructed them to remain in camp and await imminent liberation by the advancing Allied forces. Director: An area of about five acres gave adequate space for exercise, though the continued wet winter weather converted it into a quagmire. Reports on many individual Royal Air Force servicemen taken prisoner in occupied Europe, detailing the circumstances of their capture, are in AIR 14/470-471. However that afternoon a detachment of over a hundred SS-Feldgendarmerie (SS Military police) entered the camp, mustered over 3,000 men and marched them out, heading east. The camp was opened in June 1940 for French officers captured during the Battle of France. A simple list of (mostly) British or Commonwealth war films about prisoners of war. 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. The first transport numbering 2254 POWs (1618 officers and 636 other ranks) arrived at the camp on 6th November 1939. Then they were used during the succesful escape attempt by Lieutenants Hans Larive and Franz Steinmetz (both of the Royal Netherlands Navy) on 15 August 1941. Ultimately, the confused situation meant that by the end of 1943 some 50,000 POWs had been rounded-up and transported to camps in Germany. In the latter circumstances, the more perceptive SBOs, realising the Germans would quickly take control, encouraged individual escapes; while some of the more enterprising prisoners escaped without official sanction. Located in Warthegau, a western province of Poland that had been incorporated into the German Reich in 1939. On 3 September 1941 three RAF officers, Dominic Bruce, Peter Tunstall and Eustace Newborn, escaped disguised as members of a "Swiss Commission". Part of the wages earned was transferred to a Mutual Fund . 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 late summer 1941 Soviet prisoners from Operation Barbarossa arrived and were placed in a separate enclosure built south of the main camp. POWs received: one blanket, a towel, a cup, a spoon and a piece of soap. 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