When a wagon was not available and a POW fell out along the road, a German guard would drop back and a shot would be heard. Camp D contains American and British. A. For what reason was "Big Stoop" disliked? The prisoners, and the Germans as well, knew liberation was close at hand. Q. Captain Henry E. Wysen, 346 E. Havenswood Ave., Youngstown, Ohio, also knew of the incidents. No doubt many men are still suffering today as a result of that ordeal. The German High Command wanted to keep the POWs at any cost, to be able to negotiate more favorable peace terms, and it was therefore necessary to evacuate them under these most inhumane conditions instead of just leaving them to await the advancing Allied armies. They decided to move us to Munich, Germany (that was on April 4th). In the summer of 1944 the Russian offensive threatened Stalag Luft #6, 50 approximately 1000 Americans were placed on a ship for evacuation to Stalag Luft #4. If you are a former Prisoner of War or a next of The most these wagons ever accommodated was 35 men but we had hundreds of men on the verge of collapse. A. google_alternate_color = "CC0000"; The suffering this caused was unnecessary for there was a pump with a good supply of water in the railroad yards a short distance from the train. The Germans could not be collaborated with. The POW's ate charcoal to help stop dysentery and every POW became infected with lice. To call my group's walk across Germany guarded by non-hostile members of, first the Luftwaffe, and finally the Volkstrum a Death March, denigrates the terrible ordeal of those POWs who endured the Bataan Death March in the Pacific. During these 26 days we received about 1235 calories daily from the Germans and an additional 1500 calories daily from the Red Cross for a total caloric intake. After walking all day with frequent pauses to care for stragglers, they spent the night caring for the ill, then marched again the next day. If our long walk required a name, one might be tempted to title it the "Misery Walk" and not be wrong. I personally slept with men suffering from Erysipelas, Diphtheria, Pneumonia, Malaria, Dysentery and other diseases. There was a tall British sergeant with them. Her possessions were in the pram, or tied to it, and she was carrying a child that would periodically walk for maybe a quarter of a mile before having to be picked up and carried again. We added to this by bartering scarce cigarettes and other Red Cross items with German civilians and foreign nationals working on farms, and by scrounging, thievery of vegetables stored in mounds in the fields and even foraging for edible wild plants. John Kempf tells of two POWs who ran, against a guard's wishes, to the bottom of a muddy slope to grab a choice piece of firewood. Under these conditions, virtually all the marchers grew gaunt and weak. Q. At 1500 hours on 28 March 1945 a large number of our men were loaded on freight cars at Ebbsdorf, Gem We were forced in at the rate of 60 men or more to a car.
I think a sense of relief and even a sort of elation overcame our fear that anything other than our liberation could finally happen. Severely ill GIs were sometimes delivered to hospitals passed en route -- and usually never seen again. 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. There was still little or no food available, and the pace was much slower, advancing 4–5 miles a day. A. Knowing it was getting closer each day was probably the main thing that sustained us during our almost three-month-long migration. His result is 931 kilometers, or 580 miles. google_color_bg = "FFFFFF";
I was then marching with a party of several hundred of our stragglers who were tagging along behind our main column. The five Allied doctors on the march were provided almost no medicines or help by the Germans. Usually there was some straw for some of us to lie on but many had to lie in barn filth or in dampness. On 6 February 1945 about 6,000 prisoners were ordered to leave the camp on foot after only a few hours notice. State your name, permanent home address, and occupation. On 18 February 1945, I personally protested to Capt. It was located at Gross Tychow about two miles from the Kiefheide railroad station. On the 6th of February, the remaining 5700 Americans left Stalag Luft 4. Food was absolutely inadequate. On arrival at the hospital they were denied admission and continued the march with little or no rations. By early 1945, the war was going badly for the Germans, with Allied forces poised to overrun Hitler's homeland. Few have even heard of an equally grim march of Allied POWs in northern Germany, during the winter of 1945, (the most severe winter Europe had suffered in many years). It should be widely recognized and its many heroes honored for their valor. Greg Hatton's note: Doc Caplan's" testimony is widely revered among former Luft IV prisoners. Col. Gudderly survived the March and went on to a successful career in the Air Force. There were beatings by the guards at times but it was a minor problem. It tells the moving story of the unbreakable spirit that allowed the inmates to survive. Red Cross food parcels added additional calories when and if the Germans decided to distribute them. After only about a week, even this respite ended. We always barns to sleep in although the weather was much milder than when we had previously cover this same territory. A.
There are maps, documents, narratives, camp rosters, audio and video files, a reading room. Copyright (c) 2007 WWW.Stalagluft4.org All rights reserved. The march started at Stalag Luft IV in German Pomerania (now part of Poland), a POW camp for US and British aircrew men.
However, not all Germans were hated - the guard Shorty was carried by several prisoners after he couldn't go on. One afternoon, I pushed a woman's pram with an infant in it. Our sources of water were unsanitary surface water and well water often of questionable sanitary quality. Assertions are made by Turbak, regarding the number of casuaties. Hundreds of men on this march suffered so severely from dysentery that they lost control of their bowel movements because of severe cramps and soiled themselves. Pneumonia, diphtheria, pellagra, typhus, trench foot, tuberculosis and other diseases ran rampant among the POWs. The camp had been open since 1942 and began to receive American fliers in 1943. Fittingly, a memorial to these soldiers now stands on the Polish ground where Stalag Luft IV once stood. Say the phrase "death march," and most Americans respond with a single word: Bataan.
They carried two blankets, and an overcoat for bedding.
George W. Briggs was suddenly overcome by violent shaking of the entire body and soon after he went into a coma. google_ad_type = "text_image"; I never saw him for long periods of time. Finally, in spring 1945, the hideous march was over. They were pitiful. On the 2nd of February, 1500 Americans were sent to Nurnburg. The only ration of salt that I have a record of or can recall was one small bag of salt weighing less than a pound.
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