Built on what had been the training camp at Hammelburg, Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. The prisoners quickly found German bugs in their rooms, and discovered that an "English general" imprisoned with them was a German agent. H 203 Ospedale Castel St. Pietro, Bologna, CC 38 Civilian Internment CAMP Arezzo Italy 43-12, CC77 (was Dulag 226) Pissiguano Italy 43-12. The German Navy also operated a Dulag (Durchgangslager, "Transit camp") in Wilhelmshaven, where newly-arrived prisoners were processed before being sent to other camps. Also, Papers dealing with the treatment of British POWs in German hands are in DEFE 2/1126-1128. 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. These are searchable by surname and sometimes by forename as well. It was designed with a holding capacity of 10,000 only despite (as many) holding many more than this for most of its existence. The camp reported having 298other ranks on 26th February 1943. | At one time, they travelled 40 miles, only advancing a few. Nominee for Best History & Biography (2022). 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. The camp was built around a Polish boys' school by adding barracks. At this point, the average POW lost 1/3 of his body weight since capture. | Opened 02/41 Closed 10/44 - mostly French officers. At the time of its liberation on 29 April 1945, there were 76,248 (7975 British) prisoners in the camp, with 1823 officers. P.G. They also organized the dates of escapes so that one group did not interfere with another. Director: Another sub camp was built at Wetzlar later in the war to help cope with the large numbers of aircrew captured as the bombing campaign intensified against Germany with between 1000 and 2000 kept during any one month, although most were there for only a few days before being transferred to their permanent Stalag Luft/Oflag camps. About 5% of the Soviet prisoners who died . 189 officers held here as of 26/2/41 originally opened May 1941. Mark Robson Register with your email address now, we can then send you an alert as soon as we add a record close matching the one you were searching for. This handmade card was addressed to him at Christmas 1944. It can give details of the escape method and allied personnel who assisted in an escape. Also listed as 'Gavi-Serravalle Scrivia Piedmont'. | The POW bet on the races, and money was raised and donated to the Red Cross. There was a hospital for Italian military internees in the Oerbke camp, but its patients were transferred to a separate section of the Bergen-Belsen POW hospital in late July 1944. | There are document pouches for individual seamen in BT 373/360-3716. September 1943 - Italians interned after the Allied Armistice with Italy arrived. But, between 1939 and 1945, it was famously used as a prisoner of war camp to house British and Allied Officers who had previously escaped from other camps, or were deemed to be a high security risk. In June 1942, to ease overcrowding, three new barracks were built, and 400 British NCOs were transferred to Stalag XVIII-B at Spittal. Senior NCOs (sergeants and above) were required to work only in a supervisory role, although they could join in with the lower ranks if they wished to do so, this became a contentious issue as the Germans (but not the Italians for the most part) were very keen to make all non-officer ranks work especially as the continuing war after 1941 was sapping German industry and agriculture of its manpower. In June 1943 it was placed under the administrative control of Stalag VIII-B Lamsdorf and was renamed Stalag IV-B/Z. Located at Lichterfelde-Sud in the south west of Berlin also known as Steglitz-Berlin. In September 1942 the British prisoners were transferred to other camps, and were replaced with Polish officers, with 1,077 brought from Romania, where they had been interned since September 1939, and another 1,500 transferred from other camps in Germany. It could have ended much worse. A newly wealthy English woman returns to Malaya to build a well for the villagers who helped her during war. 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. Then a separate camp, Oflag II-E, was built for them on the west side of the road. Soon after their arrival the senior Canadian officer, Brigadier W.W. Southam, convened a conference which compiled an after action report on the Raid. The Italian camps were in operation right up until the armistice on September 8th 1943, however the Germans very quickly took control of the north of Italy immediately afterwards and any POWs either still in the camps (under the stand fast order of the British high command) or in the vicinity were quickly rounded up and sent north to camps in Germany. The march lasted until February 25th and ended up in the town of Waren where they were liberated by the Soviet Army soon after. Reserve Lazarett Heilanstalt Ueckermunde Pomerania, Prussia. Despite the designation of "escape proof," Colditz turned out to be the ideal camp for escape-inclined Allied prisoners. 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 main camp was in a former brewery in a suburb of the town with a few large brick buildings up to 3 storeys high. In 1941 more officer prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign mostly British, Yugoslavian, Serbs and Greeks. An excellent book by Major Pantcheff Alderney Fortress Island is recommended reading for more information. On 17 April 1945, the camp was evacuated in the face of the approaching Red Army. Stars: List of attempts to escape Oflag IV-C - Wikipedia List of attempts to escape Oflag IV-C Below is a list of attempts to escape from Oflag IV-C, the famous prisoner-of-war camp . Nearest Village Lauta, 85 British POWs here. On 23 November 1941, N and three other English officers and one (Polish) officer (held up someone) to enable an English officer to make an escape attempt near the (Polish) orderly office. Opened originally in August1942, 250other ranks were reported here on December30th 1942.. Also known as San Pietro Novara near to Milan. 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. Upham was soon recaptured and sent to the infamous Oflag IV-C (Colditz) on 14 October 1944. They were joined by members of the Glider Pilot Regiment captured at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. On each floor there were toilets and sinks with running cold water but no baths. Feldpost- a postal address for military use, these usually have a 5 digit number designation and would be prefixed M for Naval addresses and L for Air Force addresses. This information will help us make improvements to the website. Sleeping accommodation was in wooden double bunks in groups of 8. Naturally all incoming and outgoing mail was censored. POW camp consisted mostly of New Zealanders and South Africans. The dormitory huts were made of double wooden walls located on concrete foundations, with a felt roof, and one heating stove, although there were reports fuel was never supplied. Upon capture, he was transferred to Colditz. | The camp was liberated by the Soviet Red Army in mid-April 1945 although this was long after most had been force marched out westwards. Arrested at the docks, he was transferred to Colditz in December 1941. The forts had been built at the end of 19th century to defend the western border of Kingdom of Prussia. The camp was established on a military training ground in September 1939 to detain Polish prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive. The term Red Cross parcel usually refers to packages containing mostly food, tobacco and personal hygiene items sent by the International Association of the Red Cross to prisoners of war during the First and Second World Wars, as well as at other times. Richard Attenborough, If the person you are searching for is an officer then its likely he was held in an Oflag (Officers camp) however many officers were also incarcerated into Stalags (other ranks camps) and particularly at the very beginning and end of the war you may find an officer in a stalag or an airman in a stalag rather than a stalag luft and vice versa. Drama, War. The camp then served as a British detention centre for ex-Nazis, before finally closing in mid-1947. They document the German accounts of the escapes and create a fascinating comparison to the subsequent MI9 escape reports in series WO 208, which were compiled when the individuals made it safely to neutral and Allied territory. In spring of 1943 American personnel captured in the Tunisia Campaign arrived. Jack Lee, By early 1945 the number of POWs held in the camp reached over 5,000. In particular, the memoir of British Army officer . Broadcast Sun 26 Feb 2023 at 9:30pm. Many prisoners died, mainly Soviets, as their living conditions and rations were substantially inferior to the other prisoners. Located at Heydekrug- Pogegen (Pagegiai) in Lithuania. Located in Laufen Castle, in Laufen in south-eastern Bavaria from 1940 to 1942. By the end of July there were a few Free French officers, and 228 British officers, with a contingent consisting of Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Irish, and one Indian. Most POWs captured in the North Africa campaign were handed onto the Italians for processing. Stalag XI-B Fallingbostel Prussia (Work Camps) Location N/E 53-09. Polish prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive were placed in Stalag II-A. These contain every name officially recorded for March/April 1945 for German camps and August/September 1943 for Italian camps. On 28 January 1945 the POWs were assembled and marched westward, but after two days they were liberated by the Soviet Red Army. Construction of the camp began in April 1941, before the attack on Russia, to accommodate the expected POWs. 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. In June 1941 British and Commonwealth officers from the Battle of Crete and the North African Campaign arrived. The camp was built in September 1939 to house Polish prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive. Best, Later in 1943 onwards it also housed British/Commonwealth POWs although they were very much the smaller numbers of those incarcerated, and later still US POWs, it was evacuated due to the approach opf the Red Army in February 1945. This camp consisted of high ranking officers, mostly of the rank Major and above. 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. 11, Hospital #12-Gombos Gyul, Budapest, Hungary 47-19, Salonika Civilian Internment Camp Salonika Greece 40-23, San Martino Civilian Internment Camp Monferrato Italy 45-08, Schuler Military Hospital, Ploesti (Ploesci) Romania 45-26, Serbian Hospital Zagreb Croatia, Yugoslavia 45-16, Sinaia Military Hospital #415, Sinaia, Romania 45-25, Skoplue Military Hospital Serbia Southern Yugoslavia 42-21, Sofia Military Hospital Sofia Bulgaria 42-23, Sospel Civilian Internment Camp Monaco France 44-07, Spitalul de Stat, Targoviste, Romania 45-25, St. Denis (Grand Caserine) Civilian Internment Camp Paris France 49-02, Stadtroda Hospital #1170 (Serves Stalag IX-C) Stadtroda Thuringia, Germany 51-11, State Hospital Trencin Czechoslovakia 49-18, Sub-Lagarule Timis, Timisul de Jos, Romania 45-21, Targu-Jiu POW Camp, Targu-Jiu, Romania 45-23, Teil Lazarett (Serves Stalag XVIII-A) Spittal/Drau Carinthia, Austria 46-13, Transit Camp 133 Unknown (probably located in Rennes, France as Lazarett 133), Transit Camp and Hospital (Dulag 127) Zemun Slavonia 45-20, Transit Camp Feld Post #319797 Location Unknown, Val De Grace Hospital For Civilians Paris France 49-02, Vaucluse Restricted Residence For Civilians Vaucluse France 44-05, Venlo Restricted Residence For Civilians Venloo Holland 51-06, Vernet Civilian Internment Camp Ariege France 43-01, Vincenzo Civilian Internment Camp Vincenzo Italy 45-11, Von Kormend Civilian Hospital Szombathely, Hungary 47-16, Wartenburg Prison Wartenburg East Prussia 53-20, The International Committee of the Red Cross, The Red Cross together with the order of St John joined forces during WWII just as they had in WWI to carry out extensive humane services for the sick and wounded, for POWs and civilians alike. 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